This is an electronic reproduction of The Voice of Integrity, the quarterly publication of Integrity, Inc., the lesbian and gay justice ministry of the Episcopal Church. All materials except those reproduced from other sources are copyrighted by Integrity, Inc. You may reproduce all original material herein if you state "Reproduced from the Fall, 1993 issue of The Voice of Integrity, the quarterly publication of Integrity, Inc., the lesbian and gay justice ministry of the Episcopal Church."
Material may not appear exactly as published since some changes were made after the document was transferred to desk top publishing format.
We encourage you to join Integrity. We encourage non-Episcopalians and non-lesgay persons to join. If you are a lesbian or gay Episcopalian and don't belong to Integrity, you're benefitting from all our work and we hope you'll strongly consider helping us by joining. Individual annual membership $25, Couple's annual membership $40, Low income/student/sr. citizen $10. Please mail check or money order to Integrity, Inc., P.O. Box 19561, Washington, DC 20036-0561.
**********
Fall 1993
*The Voice of Integrity*
Volume 3, Number 4
Published by Integrity, Inc.
P.O. Box 19561
Washington, D.C. 20036-0561
Telephone 718-720-3054
Bruce Garner, President
Edgar Kim Byham, Publisher
R. Scott Helsel, Editor
Contributing Editors:
Claudia Windal, Louie Crew
Paul Woodrum
Blair McFadden, Layout
Dorothy Gunn, Production
Editorial Office: 201-868-2485
PO Box 5202; NYC, NY 10185
Member Episcopal Communicators
Associate Member Gay & Lesbian Press Association
copyright 1993
********************
*TABLE OF CONTENTS*
*1993 Integrity Convention*
First Time Impressions
Convention is People
A Tribute to David Clark
Sermon by Bishop Theuner at the Convention Eucharist
Bishop Theuner Takes Us to Brooklyn and the Rotary Club
Pamela Chinnis' Convention Speech
Convention Awards
EURRR Attacks Chinnis
Claudia's Column
It's in the Prayer Book Already: Covenant Blessing Forms
On the Other Hand: A Call for New Blessing Forms
Pussycats in the Lions' Den: "Ex-Gay" Conference
Two New Integrity Regions
*1994*
Aelred, A Saint for Our Time
20 Years Ago: The Founding of Integrity
Celebrate! A 1994 Calendar
*Ecumenical News*
PRESBASH.93
Methodists Going to Denver
NY-VT Methodists Supportive
As Are West Coast Presbyterians
Homophobia and Misogyny Disrupt Christian Reformed Church
British Methodist Follow the Via Media
Anglican Fellowship of Prayer Wants Us
Operation Rescue Pickets Bishop Hunt
*cc'd*
To Bishop David Johnson of Massachusetts
To Bishop Anderson of General Seminary
To Bishops Browning and Rogers Harris
I Sing A Song...
Brooke Cleans Up!
Riding With a Bishop on Pride Day
God Wants Light & Sight: HIV/AIDS Healing
New Jersey -- New Bishop
Who Will Shape Our Future
Priest Killer Gets 8 Years
Who Will Mourn? *Opinion*
Deirdre Good Controversy Continues
RIP Denton Durland
Integrity in the "[Daily] News"
General Convention Volunteers Needed
President's Column
Chu at Church Center
********************
*FROM THE EDITOR*
This issue of "The Voice of Integrity" has several changes and new features. The type size has been increased by 25 percent. The margins have been increased and there is a change in the general format and style of the publication. Beginning with the Winter 1994 issue, I plan to begin using a newer, more flexible publishing program. I plan on further changes and enhancements. The increase in type size and margins will reduce the number of articles published and/or the level of coverage by about 30 percent. I would appreciate hearing your comments on the new format and particularly comments on the distinct possibility of having future issues of our quarterly newsletter contain approximately 30 percent less material.
A new feature in this issue is: *cc'd*, which contains letters on which we have been copied. We hope to be able to continue this feature and will need your help to be able to do so.
Finally, I strongly recommend that you read Pam Chinnis' Convention Address on page 8. It was and is one of the best addresses I have every heard.
********************
MEMBERSHIP FORM
*INTEGRITY, INC.*
P.O. Box 19561, Washington, DC 20036
I want to share in Integrity's work for justice for lesbians and gay men. Please enter my membership as checked below and begin my subscription to *The Voice of Integrity*.
[ ] Individual annual membership $25
[ ] Couple annual membership $40
[ ] Low income/student/sr. citizen $10
Mr./Ms/Miss
Mrs./Rev./Dr. __________________________________________
Address _________________________________________________
City _________________________ State ___________________
Phone ________________________ Zip _____________________
Please mail with your check or money order to: INTEGRITY, INC., PO Box 19561, Washington, DC 20036-0561. All contributions tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
********************
*LETTERS TO THE EDITOR*
Dear Scott:
It was great news to hear that "The Voice of Integrity" had won the Polly Bond awards and honorable mentions! Congratulations to all!
My mother was a fighter and knew well the wounds of her broken sisters and brothers. She counted among her staunch supporters -- and fellow fighters -- many, many gays and lesbians.
I came out to her in 1963, when I was 14 years old. It was not a cause for celebration in our family. Yet, through it all, we grew. By the time of her death from pancreatic cancer in 1979, she and I were able to share our love for God and for each other. Such grace...
I am glad to know that the name of Polly Bond and her ministry live on. The awards are well deserved. Keep up your/our ministry of truth telling and encouragement.
Rick Bond, n/TSSF
Easton, PA
Co-Convener, Integrity/Bethlehem
Dear Editor:
I am writing in response to the article "Should Integrity Change How It Addresses The Clergy?" There are a number of comments I would like to make.
First of all, I am disturbed that the use of proper, formal English grammar is now considered to reflect an "upper class bias." Of course, one should never be self-righteous because of one's grammar (or for any other reason). Nevertheless, while no one should denigrate another denomination for its usage, I do not agree that we should necessarily conform our usage to theirs. Diversity from denomination to denomination in the ways that clergy are addressed should not be considered intolerable.
Secondly, I find it odd that "the Committee [on the Status of Women] believes that 'Mother' is not an appropriate equivalent to 'Father' because of the very different values and roles assigned to male and female parents in our culture." One of the lessons of feminism is that people are more than the roles that culture assigns to them and that, indeed, mothers can be strong and fathers can be nurturing. The reasoning of the Committee is ironically similar here to the reasoning of those who scream "Blasphemy!" whenever anyone addresses God as "Mother" or "She." The presence of women in the priesthood should, in addition to meeting the demand of Divine Justice, help us to realize that God is appropriately imaged as "feminine" as well as "masculine." I realize that no priest should be defined by the gender expectations of society, and that no human priest should be confused with God. Nevertheless, if we are to have ordained priests at all, it is not inappropriate for us to experience through them the God who is manifest in both genders and limited to neither.
In addition, I find it naive of the committee to imply that the use of "Reverend" will avoid an inappropriate paternalism on the part of clergy. There are as many demagogues who call themselves "Reverend" as there are who call themselves "Father." An honorific is simply that -- an honorific. It can be either appropriate or inappropriate according to the quality of the relationship it symbolizes.
It is the privilege of each individual member of the clergy to delineate the form of address with which she or he is comfortable. I, myself, would prefer to address a woman priest as "Mother." Such a usage finds its source in the same monastic tradition as does the use of "Father," and even now the term "Reverend Mother" is not unknown when referring to the leader of an order of women. It has always been appropriate to use "The Rev. Jane (or John) Doe" as the full title of a priest. In formal salutation to a priest whose preferred form of address I did not know I would use "Reverend Madame:" or "Reverend Sir:" (This is modeled on the traditional form of salutation for a male bishop: "Right Reverend Sir:"). In conversation I would inquire as to how the priest preferred to be addressed and act accordingly.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on this matter. As you will have gathered I do not think Integrity should adopt the proposals of the committee. One of the strengths of this Church is its dual heritage of catholic spirituality and reformed sensibility. I would want women priests to be included within the richness and flavor of that heritage, as is their right.
The Rev. Gerard F. Beritela
Syracuse, NY
-----
Editor's Note: We received several more responses to our article "Should Integrity Change How It Addresses The Clergy" after our printing deadline. These responses plus others we receive will be published in the Winter 1994 issue of "The Voice of Integrity."
********************
*1993 INTEGRITY CONVENTION*
A FIRST TIMER'S IMPRESSIONS
by Ann Carlson
I was impressed both by how small and how large Integrity is. The quality and dedication of the leadership was evident in hearing the accomplishments of Integrity in the past, the dynamite speakers they were able to attract to the convention, the mutual respect and service they maintain with other groups within the Episcopal Church, and the real faith and love of God they exhibit in their daily lives -- even under the strain of organizing and running a hectic meeting.
The workshop speakers were well chosen and well prepared. They each gave generously of themselves in their presentations and in their participation throughout the convention. San Diego chapter member Bob McClure spoke movingly on Friday morning about what it means to "sow love" and what are the images of a loving people. He made a particularly moving plea to hear the pain behind differences and to feel compassion for those who oppose us. Canon Linda Strohmier agreed that it was no coincidence she was invited to speak directly after lunch. Her boundless energy and joyful, playful embrace of her audience were a high point of the day. Bishop Theuner impressed me Saturday morning with his quick mind, strong stand for convictions, and his keen insights into some of the more troubling questions of our faith. He is the bishop in my husband's home state of New Hampshire. As I shared with him before leaving San Diego, home now feels like a much friendlier place.
On Friday, both for the opening of the convention and for the evening Eucharist, our presence was protested by a group from The Mustard Tree, a local Christian community. While it is always frustrating that anyone would want to protest our integration in the Body of Christ, frankly, protesters don't come any more benign than these. I arrived early Friday morning with another hardy soul who decided to walk the approximately 1.5 miles from the hotel. We saw a group of perhaps 8 - 10 people all dressed in blue uniforms and praying around a big cross in the courtyard of the cathedral. Not wanting to disturb, we tiptoed into the courtyard and sat on a bench to wait for the arrival of others with the convention. The people in blue stopped their praying, all came over to say hello, handed us bookmarks saying something about Christian community, and then returned to praying. I was not aware until several hours later that their intent was to protest our presence, although they surely knew who we were. I was wearing my pink triangled "Under Attack" t-shirt and we were both wearing convention name tags. In the evening they stood near the front doors of the cathedral with their cross while people were arriving for the Eucharist. Again they simply smiled and maintained a silent presence. I imagine they prayed for us as we inside the cathedral did for them during the service. Is there a lesson here somewhere?
The Eucharist Friday night was the high point of my weekend. When Bishop Theuner stepped down from his sermon I wanted to jump up and applaud, but managed to maintain my Episcopal dignity and only said a quiet Amen. At this service our founder, Louie Crew, was seated in a pew once occupied by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. Rumor has it that he now will answer only when addressed as "Majesty."
A fitting closure to the convention was the address by Pam Chinnis, President of the Episcopal House of Deputies, during the dinner cruise Saturday night. Even though many were fighting to hear her through the overloud music filtering from the lower deck, she held the complete attention of each person. When she told, for the first time anywhere and with his express permission, of her gay son and his struggles, the outpouring of compassion and empathy in the room was palpable.
It was difficult to say goodbye. Workshop small groups were just beginning to bond. There were so many that I wanted to meet, to get to know. Plans were only just forming for the Integrity presence at the 1994 General Convention: Will I volunteer? Where will I fit in? I have much now to think about, new challenges and new visions, a new experience of love and a new commitment to sow love.
CONVENTION IS PEOPLE!
by Dan Wall
His name is Bill. I met him over coffee the first morning of the Integrity National Convention in San Diego. Bill is convener of the new chapter in Palm Springs, CA, but he seemed more interested in my name tag's Chicago label. It took about three minutes to discern a connection. Bill had grown up about six blocks from where I now live in Maywood. With that bond, a fast friendship was ignited.
I was regaled by a colorful character's stories about coming of age as a gay male in Chicago's conservative suburbs fifty-some years ago. We laughed and cried, sharing stories about the Nutbush, Chicago's police and politicians, and Episcopalians both lay and clergy. He was my tour guide, and I was his connection to the home remembered. We were blessed to share the sacredness of the story.
It was at convention that I experienced anew the liberating power in telling the story. When we meet as Integrity to pray and play, we tell our story as gay and lesbian Christians among ourselves, and with our friends who will celebrate. We are people of God set on the margin with a story to enliven the Church, to encourage those who dare to hope for insurrection. We bless each other with the story of a caring community called in witness to the Church on God's journey toward wholeness for Creation.
There are mountain top experiences that empower us on this journey, and they usually are connected to the intimacy of a shared story. Pam Chinnis' keynote address during the Convention's closing banquet was one such experience for me. Chinnis is president of the Episcopal Church General Convention's House of Deputies, and the first woman to hold that position. Earlier in the day, she had met with the first woman ever elected a deputy to General Convention, but denied seating by the males in power. Present at that same meeting was the last elected deputy denied seating before women were granted equal standing during the 1970's.
She is familiar with the Church's sometime obsession with the familiar, in defiance of God's insistence on continuing to reveal and make new. She told a story about a young man who was refused partnership in his law firm because he would not lie in discreet silence about his sexual orientation. That same young many was also ostracized by the gay community when he was clerking for a Supreme Court justice who was considered the swing vote in the Hardwick sodomy decision. That young may is Pam Chinnis' son, and we were blessed by the awe of the Holy in the loving story borne with pain.
Those of us who heard that story can never be the same. It is in sharing the story of our lives and loves that we will make a difference. We must risk the vulnerability of being identified emerging alive outside the familiar tomb of closets if we ever hope to be healthy and whole, integrated into the Body of the resurrected Christ. Those who are so threatened by our openness in making the community of Integrity visible on committees and commissions, on vestries and in conventions, cannot prevail in their deathly darkness of power restraint. It is the transforming power of God's love they resist, not us.
I heard stories at the convention that will always empower me. I hear stories at each Integrity gathering full of this same resurrection power. There is sometimes sadness in the story. I bade my new friend Bill to return home to Chicago, and offered to be his tour guide. He quietly said, "I'll never be back." Bill has both emphysema and AIDS. He cannot travel with his oxygenator. I may not ever again be able to ascend the mountain with this storyteller, but I will always remember, be blessed and empowered by the story -- and hope.
-----
This article by Dan Wall, Convener of Integrity/Chicago, appeared in the August/September 1993 issue of the chapter newsletter: "News Notes."
********************
*A TRIBUTE TO DAVID CLARK*
Against tremendous odds and often almost single-handedly, David Clark held together Integrity/San Antonio for the last decade. The Diocese of West Texas is among the least hospitable in the Church, and yet Integrity maintained a consistent and important presence. Although never large, the San Antonio chapter was a witness against oppression and celebrated the faith of lesbian and gay Episcopalians.
So too has the remarkable service of David Clark. Now approaching 70, David was one our most energetic and helpful and cheerful volunteers at General Convention in 1991. And he had similarly served in 1988.
David is now undergoing medical treatment for cancer and is hopeful of making a full recovery. David's health is in our prayers, as is our thankfulness for his tremendous service to Integrity.
A Statement by the Board of Integrity, Inc., read by E. Bruce Garner, National President, at the National Business Meeting of the 1993 Integrity National Convention, July 16, 1993.
********************
*SERMON BY BISHOP THEUNER AT THE CONVENTION EUCHARIST*
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. JOHN 3:16-18
When I was a young child someone gave me a little, gray book entitled "Halley's Pocket Bible Commentary" and in that book this passage was referred to as "the Gospel in a nutshell." It's probably the first piece of scripture that I learned and its certainly the first that I remember. Indeed, it is "the Gospel in a nutshell"! The context of this summary of the Good News of Jesus Christ in John's Gospel is the visit which the curious Pharisee Nicodemus made to Jesus by night. Timid Nicodemus who came out under the cover of darkness to see this radical new rabbi. Timid Nicodemus who later mounted a half-hearted defense of Jesus before the Sanhedrin. Timid Nicodemus who had something to do behind the scenes with securing Joseph of Arimathea's tomb for the last resting place of our Lord, or so they thought. Nicodemus apparently sneaked out of the closet of the religious establishment to come by night. He was a timid man; he was afraid. We all live in closets; some of our own making and some made by the world in which we live. Some we can't come out of; others we choose not to. Nicodemus' action has nothing to do specifically with gay and lesbian Christians, but it has everything to do with all Christians.
Jesus says in this passage that those who believe in Him are not condemned! Let's try a little interactive homilizing here. How many of us believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Raise your right hands. If we take John's reporting of Jesus' words here seriously, consistent as they are with the rest of his gospel, then we are not condemned, simply because we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And, if we are not condemned, we are blessed. We *are* blessed. Not we *will* be blessed, or we *may be* blessed, but we *are* blessed. For the blessing of God is not something that we effect - not even we bishops. The blessing of God is something which God effects and that we accept and to which we bear witness. We are witnesses. We do nothing ourselves to be blessed of God, except to accept God's blessing and all that that implies. We only call attention to what God does including what we believe God has done and what God will do. It is only by refusing to accept God's blessing in our lives, on our lives, through our lives, that we are condemned.
It is as Paul says in this evening's reading from the Second Letter to the Corinthians: "Therefore, if any one is in Christ, there *is* a new creation." Not *there will be* a new creation, but there *is* a new creation! " ... the old *has Passed* away, behold, the new *has come*." We are blessed by our life in Christ and we need to recognize, accept and *be* that blessing in the world. Believing, as we Christians do, that it is God who acts in creation, we need to focus more on being rather than on doing. As we are, so we do. Quite frankly, that's the fault in affirming someone's "orientation" while forbidding them to "practice" it. It's like telling people to be Christians but not to let it show in their behavior. "Don't ask; don't tell" is incompatible with Christian witness, honestly. That's been done many times in history. Someone recently advised me: "Don't just do something, stand there." It's by standing there in the Church in the world that *Integrity* and its membership do best what we do. We be who we are. But I know it's not easy.
As an educated, tall, middle-aged, heterosexual, white male Protestant whose roots in this country on my mother's side go back before the Revolution, I don't know a great deal about societal rejection. Generally speaking almost every even marginally risky thing I have done in my life I have done either because I am a Christian or because I am a sinner. And, quite frankly, it's essentially only as a Christian that I have experienced rejection. It's only as my faith has led me to identify with that which is different and, therefore considered to be inferior or - at best - marginal, that I myself have experienced societal rejection. And because I live so much in the church, it is there that I have experienced the most rejection. But I don't despair. It was over two centuries ago that the acerbic Anglican Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, Jonathan Swift, noted that: "If Christianity were to disappear entirely from the earth, in time even the Church would suffer." It is, of course, also in the Church that I have experienced the most acceptance, since it is here that I have heard the message that God loves and cares for me without condition because I am God's child, created in God's Image, and God's own Son has given His Life for me, and for us all. And, that's what this convention is all about. "Where there is hatred, let us sow love." We have been given three goals:
"First, a personal and spiritual awakening for each member, renewing within him or her the love of God for themselves, getting rid of self hate, and replacing that hate with the profound knowledge that God loves all of us as we are and that we are worthy of that love through grace. [That is "the Gospel in a nutshell."]
Second, a movement toward unity *within Integrity* as we carry the love of God to each other, regardless of gender, ridding ourselves of our own prejudices, so that we can move as a serviceable organization, united in our mission to further the work of the Church.
Third, a movement toward integration within the Church, offering practical ways of helping our respective parishes and dioceses with the great work of God, specifically with regard to AIDS outreach." ["Where there is hatred, let us sow love."]
"The Voice of Integrity" has often carried on its masthead a quotation from me which states: "Unity without justice is hardly worth preserving." That quotation, as I wrote it, is quite incomplete. It says nothing of the love of God which this convention seeks to sow. As there cannot truly be any unity without justice, so there cannot be true justice without love. The justice of God is rooted in the love of God, as articulated in this evening's Gospel. If we are judged to be condemned, it is because we have not accepted the love of God. It is among the easiest things in the world to tell people to love. It is among the hardest to let them do it. Because the love of which we speak is from God it is therefore by nature free; boundless and unbounded. It cannot be controlled. It cannot be meted out or withheld by us for whom it is derivative. Love leads to commitment. It leads to transformation. It leads to the false imprisonment of the Cross ... and to the real liberation of the empty tomb. It leads to God from Whom it comes. Are we ready for that kind of love? Is the Church ready for that kind of love? I recently heard retired Bishop Bennett Sims of Atlanta say that two thirds of all the people killed since Christianity emerged have been the result of Christians killing Christians. He went on to quote Ghandi who said: "Everybody knows that Christianity is a non-violent religion, except the Christians!"
Why does this anomaly exist? I suspect that it is because Christians have sought "community" in the church instead of seeking "the Communion of Saints." The Very Reverend Philip Turner, Dean of the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale - a man with whom I have been inclined to disagree on matters sexual - has recently written:
"What I have come to believe is that if Christians look to the church in any of its manifestations or institutional forms to provide them with a community, they distort the nature of the church and, more seriously, construct an idol that, like all idols, is the reverse image of themselves. If, however, they learn, in coming to God through Christ, to long for and rejoice in the communion of the saints, they will find union with God and with the saints of God that both transcends and transfigures any community they have ever known or ever will know."
"The problem is this:" says Turner, "the only way in which a community of the sort we would prefer can come about is for everyone to behave like everyone else, and the only way this can happen is for one community within 'the community' to impose its identifying features upon others. Thus the cry for Christian community becomes a veiled struggle for power that goes on between the differing groups that make up the population as a whole."
The existence of a lesgay community within the church, claiming full participation in the church, is a challenge to the church which has at this time, I believe, almost the nature of a divine imperative. It is a challenge to each member of that community to be who she or he can be in Christ. It is a challenge to the church to be what it claims to be - not a community which has achieved "unity" through uniformity and conformity, which is the failed way of the world, but to be a communion of saints which finds its unity in the only true unity there is; the unity of God in Whose Image we have all been created and which each of us reflects uniquely.
As we are all one in Christ, so is each of us unique, as He was in His Human Form. That is what the Incarnation is all about: the realization of the general - the Creator and the creation - in the particular; God's Only-Begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. As it is only in the particular that the universal can be experienced, so the particular points back to the universal - to God. Each one of us is different, and each one of us is an image of God. Never forget that. And, if you believe that through the manifestation of God in Christ, then you are not condemned; you are blessed! "In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither male nor female, neither slave nor free"...nor any other distinction which would separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord!
"I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not believe it?", says God through Isaiah's words in this evening's lesson from the Hebrew Scriptures. To this point I have preached to you what I believe to be the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, allow me to draw some conclusions of my own, which I believe are directly related to that Gospel as it makes itself known to the world in this time and place.
There is a great revolution sweeping the world today; perhaps the greatest revolution in the history of humankind. It is a sexual revolution and I say that it is perhaps the greatest in human history because it has the potential of affecting every human being because we are all sexual beings and we live in a world in which we are without precedent aware of one another's lives and the impact they all have on one another.
From the concerns of family planning in China to the issue of women driving cars in Saudi Arabia to the right of homosexual people and women to take Holy Orders in the Episcopal Church, this revolution crosses geographical, cultural, social and religious boundaries. Virtually every controversial issue before the Episcopal Church today: marriage and divorce, abortion, same sex unions, homosexuality, ordination, inclusive language liturgy; sexual harassment, abuse and misconduct is essentially a sexual issue.
Can it be that God is doing a new thing in this revolution? And who shall answer that question? Gay men and lesbians are in the forefront of that revolution in our culture and our church and we must all seek together to answer that question.
It is no small thing to question whether or not what we do is of God. But we must never fail to ask that question. We must never fail to seek that answer. In so doing we are helping all of our sisters and brothers, as well as ourselves, to find not community but something far greater; the communion of saints.
And, always remember, if we believe in Him we are not
condemned. We are blessed!
God bless you! AMEN!
-----
The Rt. Rev. Douglas Theuner is Bishop of New Hampshire. Bishop Theuner was both celebrant and preacher for the Integrity National Convention Eucharist, July 17, 1993, in San Diego.
********************
*BISHOP THEUNER TAKES US TO BROOKLYN AND THE ROTARY CLUB*
by Louie Crew
At the Convention Eucharist on Friday evening, July 16, the Rt. Rev. Douglas Theuner, Bishop of New Hampshire, preached on the text "No one is condemned who has believed." At a workshop on Saturday morning, a questioner asked Bishop Theuner to speak on the fate of those who do not profess faith in Jesus. Bishop Theuner spoke first of the enormous salvation he has experienced in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. "It is not something that happened just in one magical moment of insight, but is an on-going experience over all the decades of my life," he elaborated. "And in terms of this life, truly for me not to know this experience would be for me to be condemned."
"On the other hand," Bishop Theuner continued, "nothing that I know of God suggests that anyone will finally be condemned. God is not running a massive data base to assure that those are punished who do not know God or profess God's name."
Bishop Theuner explained that for him it's a bit like the magnificent engineering marvel of the Brooklyn Bridge. He named the father and son team who engineered it and brought it to fruition. Without the Roeblings, there would be no Brooklyn Bridge. On the other hand, most people who benefit from the bridge cannot even name those who created it. You don't get to Brooklyn by knowing their name; you get to Brooklyn by using their bridge. You don't really even have to know the bridge's name.
In another part of his address, Bishop Theuner recalled meeting with a brother bishop shortly after Bishop Spong had ordained Robert Williams as an openly gay priest in 1989, with the attendant media blitz. The host bishop vociferously insisted that the rest of the House of Bishops ought to demand Jack Spong's resignation.
"Scripture absolutely condemns homosexuality!" the host bishop repeated each time that Bishop Theuner suggested alternative ways of responding to the ordination. Exasperated, the host bishop said to Theuner, "You don't know what it is like to walk into the Rotary Club and have everyone in the room look at you with puzzlement or even contempt because you're a bishop in a church that would do something like that and not stop the bishop who did it! And you can't know what it's like to have some of your major donors call you up over the phone and withdraw their pledges because your church ordains queers!"
"See," Bishop Theuner said gently with great pain, "he thought it was about Scripture, but it really was not. He was running scared because of what people might think about him personally, and he was running scared about the bank account."
********************
*PAMELA CHINNIS' CONVENTION SPEECH*
I've made a lot of speeches in my time, but never like this. I want you to know how delighted I am to be with you this evening on this beautiful harbor cruise. I've taken my Dramamine so I shouldn't get seasick, and when I asked Robert Heylmun how long I should speak, he said, "It doesn't matter. They can't go anywhere." He didn't tell me, though, that we have to be off at 9:30. Now I know what a "captive audience" is, and when I see people heading for the railing to jump over, I'll know I've talked too long.
This is my first visit to San Diego (we are inclined to be so provincial on the East Coast). I think Robert referred to San Diego as "America's Finest City." And the warmth of the welcome by Mary Eunice Oliver is incredible. If you don't know Mary Eunice, I hope you'll get to know her; and, if you're lucky, you might get on her mailing list.
Mary Eunice is one of the pioneers for women's participation in the life and councils of the Episcopal Church. Were it not for her and women like her, I would not be standing before you tonight as the first woman president of the House of Deputies.
A serendipity of this visit happened today when Mary Eunice took me to call on Dr. Ruth Jenkins, who lives in La Jolla. Ruth was the first [elected] woman [deputy], who was denied a seat at the General Convention in 1949. Mary Eunice was the last woman to be denied a seat, in 1969. We had a photographer there taking pictures of the first, the last, and the middle.
The theme of your convention ‑‑ "Where There Is Hatred, Let Us Sow Love" ‑‑ is very moving and might well be the theme for every group meeting as we head into Indianapolis slightly more than a year from now for the 71st General Convention. As I understand it, you had three foci for this convention: Let us sow love for ourselves. Let us sow love for one another within this organization and outside. Let us sow love for one another in our Church and our larger community. If all of us could do that, we would be much healthier people, moving a much healthier church along to a much better place.
As you may well imagine, I have done a great deal of reading and studying as I thought about what I would say to you this evening. Some of what I want to share with you has resulted from the draft of the Pastoral Teaching on Human Sexuality which was mandated by the 1991 General Convention in Phoenix. Pastoral Teachings are traditionally issued by the House of Bishops, but someone had the good sense to amend Resolution A-l04s to include the addition of three clergy and three lay members of the House of Deputies. It was my privilege to make those appointments.
Let me tell you who those Deputies are: the Rev. Jane Garrett, who came out on the floor of the 1991 Convention; the Rev. Barnum McCarty; the Rev. Warner Traynham, who was your speaker last year; Mrs. Kit Caffey, John Paul Causey, and Mary Meader. My spies tell me that those six Deputies have had a tremendous influence on the work of the committee. I am very proud of them and they all feel very positive about the work of the committee thus far. The first draft of that pastoral teaching will go to the House of Bishops in Panama in September and to the General Convention next summer.
Let Us Sow Love For Ourselves: We hear a lot these days about the origins of homosexuality. And since I have been here the last couple of days, I ‑‑ as you have, as well ‑‑ have heard about new studies which indicate that homosexuality is inherited ‑‑ from the mother.
I must tell you about a play that I saw in Washington not too long ago, called "The Twilight of the Golds." The young man (who is homosexual) goes to his Jewish mama and tells her that he's gay. And she says, "I knew I shouldn't have taken your temperature that way!"
Are homosexuals born "that way," or are they the product of their environment, or some combination of these factors? There seem to be no conclusive answers at this point, and in my opinion, it really doesn't make much difference. Quoting from the draft of the pastoral teaching, it says this:
Many gays and lesbians report wanting desperately to understand 'Why me?' at some stage of their coming to terms with the reality of their sexual orientation. Later in their journey, they frequently cease to care very much about how they got that way and focus instead on leading a happy, well-adjusted life; and for Christians, a life focused on relationships with God, partner, family, and the community at large. Too often, members of the Church community, in seeking the 'cause,' are really wanting 'a cure'.
The Church's energy needs, instead, to be focused on persons who need to be loved, nurtured, cherished, accepted, and supported, including gays, lesbians and their families, as well as the rest of us. If we really mean that we are *all* made in the image of God and we are *all* children of God, that means everyone ‑‑ not just whites, or males, or straights ‑‑ but *everyone*. You can be happy and I can be happy because God has redeemed us through God's grace and not because of anything *we* have done to earn that. Therefore, if we do not love what God has made ‑‑ you and me ‑‑ there is not much hope for us; and that is sin.
We absolutely have to believe and work toward the idea that we are *all* children of God and equally loved in God's sight.
My anger was raised to the boiling point not long ago when a wonderful young man I have known since childhood came to me in deep distress. He comes from a good family, received a superior education in church schools and Ivy League colleges, attending one as an undergraduate and graduating from the law school of the second. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa, and has had a brilliant career path. He is a member of a prestigious law firm and was on the track to partner. His integrity ‑‑ and I use that word advisedly ‑‑ is without question. He is kind, good, the soul of honor, has never been involved in any untoward event, *he is gay*.
Although he was a regular member of a church growing up, he has stopped attending a church now. He was recently told by the review committee of his law firm that they were having second thoughts about making him partner because the question was being asked, "Can we trust him around the clients?" Translate: Will he try to put the make on a male CEO? ‑‑ although there has never been one instance where he did not behave with the utmost propriety.
When we as a Church give such mixed signals to people in society, who give mixed signals to people like this young man, do we find it surprising that they drop away from the Church? At least you are still here, and I vow to do everything in my power to see that you want to stay. I want to pledge to you tonight that I am committed to this endeavor.
If we can love ourselves, then we can begin to love one another.
It has been said that we are living in a time of violence, and even the network producers have finally admitted that violence on the television screen is having a harmful effect. I recently heard it said that love is not an emotion but a *disciplined act of will*. We *choose* to love, and, as John tells us in his letter, "For love must not be a matter of words or talk. Love must be genuine and show itself in action" (I John 3:18-19). There are many forms of violence; only one is physical. But also we must recognize that hatred *is* a form of violence. When one hates, one is engaging in violence.
I recently read a quote from a professor of humanities at Harvard. He said, "There isn't one way to be ‑‑ white or black, straight or gay, Hispanic or Asian, liberal or conservative, male or female. And the stronger a sense you nurture of the contingent nature of all such identities, the less likely it is that you will be harmed by them, or ‑‑ in their name ‑‑ inflict harm upon others."
It is a lesson that was perhaps best expressed by James Baldwin, who represented a melange of identities too complex for labels. "Each of us," he wrote, "helplessly and forever, contains the other ‑‑ male in female, female in male, white in black, and black in white. We are part of each other."
He goes on to say, "Many of my countrymen appear to find this fact exceedingly inconvenient and even unfair, and so, very often, do I. But none of us can do anything about it."
If we are sowing love where there is hatred, we are turning upside down the violence that is in our church and our society because violence is ultimately a form of hatred. I recently read something which I thought was too true of our modern-day society, "Violence begins in the context of having contact with another person, but no real fellowship, and when we become intolerant of those who are different and project onto them our images of fear and evil, they become our scapegoats, our means of avoiding thinking and acting in a more socially and morally responsible way."
Now let me tell you another story. It is about the same young man who failed to make partner in a prestigious law firm because he was gay. Before going to the law firm he clerked for a Supreme Court Justice who was considered to be the swing vote in the Court's consideration of Bowers vs. Hardwick, the Georgia case challenging the sodomy laws in that state. Justices normally assign research on pending cases to any one of their several law clerks.
In this case, research was *not* assigned to this young man, and he had no influence on the Justice's decision in the case. However, the gay community in Washington held the young man personally responsible for the Justice's decision not to overturn the Georgia statute, and the young man has been told that he is a "pariah" in the gay community. This young man has no home either in the straight community nor the gay community. Seeds of love, I am reminded from the Gospel lesson last Sunday, fell on extremely rocky soil. I know because that young man is my son, and I grieve for his exclusion by both straights and gays. I have not before said publicly anything about my son's sexual orientation but I do so to you tonight with his permission.
It is easy for those who have been persecuted and oppressed to be seduced into replying in kind, but as we heard so eloquently from Bishop Theuner, we must avoid triangulation. We must avoid retribution, and we must remember that people don't inflict pain unless they are in pain themselves.
The essence of our ministries is found in our relationship with people, so we must train ourselves to see the subtle ways in which violence is promoted and lived out in our communities. This applies to ethnic minorities, women, gays, lesbians, whatever. In a recent article in the Alban Institute magazine, Nancy Hopkins wrote, "... for many there continues an implicit belief of women as embodiment of evil, a belief that may support the practice of celibacy if it is felt that a holy man must not lie with a woman, and that may contribute to continuing resistance in some quarters against the ordination of women. Unfortunately, fear and repression of the feminine are alive and well in our culture." The same could be said for any oppressed group.
It is not going to be easy to sow love where there is hatred. I hardly need tell you that. It is going to be hard as hell. In a review I read recently about a book by William Safire on Job, the person being interviewed says that "quid pro quo justice" does not apply in relationships. In other words, "If I do this, will you do that?"
"What is left?" he is asked.
"Simply relationship without any expectations. I tell my students that the most powerful analogy here is *love*. You don't love a person because you expect something from him or her. If it is a real relationship of love, you don't love in the expectation that you are going to get *something*. You hope that the love will be reciprocated, but the very act of love is its own reward."
How do we sow love in the wider Church?
As President of the House of Deputies, I try to make a point of reading as many church publications as I possibly can. I have seen some of what I consider scurrilous reporting and accusations against Integrity. That is wrong. At the most recent meeting of the Executive Council, the Presiding Bishop's address from the chair was, in my opinion, one of the best I've ever heard, and I've been attending Executive Council meetings since 1979.
He said, and I quote, "We are under the sway of the politics of 'gotcha' when those holding differing points of view take on as their main work the dubious activity of making the other side look bad. When this happens there is a risk of losing sight of what our efforts are meant to point toward. Those in political life, and I might add parenthetically, church life, risk forgetting that what they are meant to care about is the common good and the general welfare. In the case of the church, those preoccupied with discrediting other points of view risk forgetting that we are meant to advance the mission of the church, bring souls to Christ and usher in the reign of God.
The Presiding Bishop went on to say, "The real tragedy of such tactics is that both accuser and accused are diverted from what they are truly called to be. Everyone becomes less than they are called to be. And our mission suffers. In times of 'gotcha,' appearance has more substance than reality. Looking good gets the prize, and leadership means telling people what to do as if you had *no doubt* about it rather than allowing for ambiguity and waiting on the Lord rather than listening to the various voices and weaving the rich and varied strands together."
I'm sure it seems slow to you, but I do believe we are moving. After my election as President of the House of Deputies, both the Presiding Bishop and I intentionally appointed more Integrity members to Interim Bodies ‑‑ Jane Garrett, Bruce Garner, David Norgard, Patrick Waddell and many others. Their leadership has been superb, and they have made an enormous contribution to the Church. More members of Integrity have been elected as Deputies to the next General Convention, and I shall certainly appoint them to legislative committees of the 1994 Convention. But I need your help in this. I need you to tell me about the persons I don't know.
I am pleased by the theme of your Convention. It seems to me that you have taken the "high road." We need Integrity to sow love, to exert influence by virtue of your ability to create an atmosphere of tolerance and a common ground agenda for all people, and especially those marginalized by basic principles of love, justice and mercy.
I am deeply indebted to you for asking me to be the speaker at your Convention. Let me tell you why. Most obviously I am pleased that you would want to hear what I had to say. If love, in fact, is reaching out, I have had more evidence of love from members of Integrity than most other groups I've addressed. Any number of members of Integrity called before I came here to welcome me and to say they were looking forward to seeing me. That is an act of hospitality and love and grace that I deeply treasure.
But let me tell you another reason I am grateful. Whether it is coincidence or because I have been thinking so hard about what I wanted to say to you tonight, my ears and eyes have been opened in new ways to the whole issue of gay and lesbian rights and homophobia; and almost everywhere I turn, there is something new. I referred earlier to the play, "The Twilight of the Golds," a new play by Jonathan Tolins.
Essentially, the theme is about a liberal Jewish family of four. The adult son is gay. The adult daughter is married and pregnant. Through advanced amniocentesis, the fetus is discovered to be gay, and the struggle becomes whether to have an abortion, which the rest of the family urges, or to have the baby, which the brother urges. As the mother of a gay son, I could hardly restrain myself from standing up and screaming at the stage, "Don't have an abortion. You will be losing a wonderful treasure."
Then last Sunday, Ellen Goodman had an op-ed piece in "The Washington Post" entitled, "The Barracks and the Closet" about the military policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." She says the "primary symbol of gay repression hasn't been a ghetto or a list of segregation laws. It's been the much more psychologically complex issue of the closet: the dark place where cultural hate meets, and makes, self-hate." She goes on to say that because of the closet, the gay rights movement has not just been about breaking the barriers. It's been about breaking silence. For a generation, the most important gay march has been a long line of men and women coming out, one at a time.
Just last Sunday I read in "The Washington Post" a review of "Queer in America" by Michelangelo Signorile. I must admit that I had some concerns about "outing" for the same reason the reviewer had. The reviewer said, "I was raised to believe in the immorality of McCarthyite tactics, so I balk at any book with a preface titled 'On Naming Names.' I embrace the liberal belief," the review goes on, "in the right to privacy and self-definition and outing certainly runs counter to that belief. Most of all I worry about what happens if the tool of outing falls into the wrong hands."
The reviewer goes on to say that while he is not totally convinced of the argument for outing as a political tactic, he is compelled by the large social analysis that underlies the argument, and he says, "The invisibility of lesbians and gay men reinforces their marginality. Straight people won't be able to learn how normal, numerous, or productive homosexuals are until they discover them among their friends, their families, their colleagues, their leaders and their heroes."
Yes, I am grateful to you because you have hung in there. You have lived with the ambiguity of the good news and the bad news. You have wrestled with the dilemma of choosing to love in a church and society that often choose to reject that love. You have confronted us straights with the injustice, yes the sin, of judging other human beings by artificial standards. I want my son ‑‑ and you ‑‑ to have the same right to happiness ‑‑ or unhappiness ‑‑ as any straight person. He doesn't have that now, because he is judged differently. That is not just.
But those of us who are oppressed, and I say "us" because I am a woman, must not fall into the trap of oppressing one another. Let us not become single-issue persons. We need to seek out others who are suffering discrimination, too. We need to be concerned with the common good.
In the very early '70s I discovered the whole issue of the ordination of women. I did not want to be ordained, but I saw the injustice of denying that to women who did. I fought, bled, and almost died over it. Now, 20 years later, I am ready to join with you in sowing love where there is hate, if you want what I am able to give. I doubt that I'll be around another 20 years for the next battle, so this may be my last hurrah.
********************
*CONVENTION AWARDS*
The "Louie Crew Award" for outstanding service to Integrity was presented to Sister Brooke Bushong, C.A., a long-time Integrity member, twice president of Integrity/New York and founder of the National AIDS Memorial sponsored by Integrity and located at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City.
The Award for Outstanding Small Chapter Newsletter of 1992 was given to "Integrity News" of Integrity/El Camino Real. The Award for Outstanding Large Chapter Newsletter of 1992 went to "Walking With Integrity" of Integrity/Baltimore.
An anonymous donor made possible the presentation of a Life Membership in Integrity to the youngest person registered at the convention: Lonnie Thrasher, Secretary of Integrity/Middle Tennessee, who is 24.
********************
*EURRR ATTACKS CHINNIS*
by Kim Byham
In a stunning replay of last year, the 1993 Integrity National Convention has generated charges of bias by the church's largest right-wing organization against one of the church's two top leaders.
The principal speaker at the convention was Mrs. Pamela Chinnis, elected in 1991 as the first female president of the House of Deputies. Chinnis has long been known as an advocate of greater inclusiveness in the church and her speech continued that tradition.
Episcopalians United for Revelation, Renewal and Reformation (EURRR), based in Solon, Ohio, issued a press release on July 20 attacking Chinnis for her remarks and accusing her of "stacking committees with members who are so clearly biased."
Although all deputies are not yet known, it appears that approximately 12 openly lesgay Integrity members have been elected by their dioceses to serve at the 1994 General Convention. About one third of the 850 deputies will be appointed to the 26 legislative committees so it is inconceivable that committees can be "stacked" with Integrity members. What Mrs. Chinnis was saying is that, for the first time, lesbian and gay voices will be heard on convention committees.
The Integrity convention's theme was "Where there is hatred, let us sow love," a quote from a prayer by St. Francis. Integrity's National President, Bruce Garner, an Alternate Deputy to General Convention from the Diocese of Atlanta, said, "Apparently the EURRR representative at our convention just didn't get it." The convention's focus was on enhancing personal spirituality and strengthening Integrity chapters to minister to the lesbian and gay community in Christ's name.
EURRR's Executive Director, the Rev. Tod Wetzel, said: "I sense no concern for balance, much less diversity, in President Chinnis' remarks regarding committee appointments. I hear only a concern for winning the battle. Showing a bias is understandable and appropriate for an advocacy organization such as Episcopalians United or Integrity. It is inappropriate for the President of the House of Deputies to show such a clear bias and to act upon it."
What EURRR just doesn't get is that Integrity is not primarily an advocacy group. In over 65 chapters in the United States (plus unaffiliated chapters in Australia and Canada) the primary focuses are worship in a supportive environment, emotional support and counseling, spiritual nourishment and Christian education, and service to the Church and the lesgay community. Through Integrity's evangelism, thousands of lesbians and gay men, estranged from the Episcopal and other churches, have returned to worship and fellowship. EURRR, in contrast, is solely a lobbying organization.
What EURRR also just doesn't get is that Mrs. Chinnis is merely opening up the committee structure to lesbians and gay men who have heretofore been excluded. Dr. Louie Crew, Integrity's founder and a Deputy from the Diocese of Newark, observed, "During the tenure of her predecessor as president of the House of Deputies, the Very Rev. David Collins, openly lesbian and gay Integrity members were blatantly excluded from all committees and commissions of the church, even the Joint Commission on AIDS and the committees whose primary focus was on lesbigay issues." Collins was and remains an active EURRR member and is on the steering committee to plan EURRR's first national convention to be held in June 1994.
The Most Rev. Edmond L. Browning, Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church, was the principal celebrant and preacher at last year's Integrity convention held in Houston. He also was attacked by EURRR after his appearance at the Integrity convention.
********************
*CLAUDIA'S COLUMN*
Flee...
To run in terror
From some real or imagined danger
This is never an act of faith,
But of fear.
When we're running
From something,
We're not going anywhere,
We're in retreat,
Regressing,
Reducing our grasp on life.
Only when we're running
Toward some goal, some objective,
Are our motions the actions of faith.
The steps are the same,
But what a difference
In running from
And running toward.
"Faces of God," pg. 25
Although most of us have never experienced danger simply because we're lesbigay Episcopalians, many of us have experienced a desire to run: from parishes where we're welcome provided we never reveal our sexual identities; from dioceses that refuse to blessing of our relationships; from parish clergy who "encourage" us to not teach Sunday school and prohibit us from serving as lay readers and lectors; and from bishops who refuse to ordain us. The isolation and rejection experienced by some has led to their fleeing the Episcopal Church for the welcome of lesbigay friendly and supportive denominations and parishes, while others have simply fled any form of organized religion.
Until the advent of Integrity, running was the expected and norm for lesbigay Episcopalians tired of trying to cope with the stress of a close-minded and sometimes hostile church. All the while we were running however, "we weren't going anywhere. We were in retreat, regressing." The pure and simple fact is, that running required all of our energy so that we weren't able to call the church to task or demand that someone, anyone in the church, listen to us, and realize that we are sister and brother journeyers on this earth sharing similar goals, questions, concerns, and aspirations.
During the last nineteen years, Integrity has brought together those of us who are lesbigay Episcopalians and helped us "run toward a goal, an objective, and our motions have become the actions of faith." The strength we have gained as a supportive and cohesive body, has diminished both real and imagined dangers and given us a voice to challenge the church to welcome all persons to our place within the Body of Christ.
The presence of openly lesbigay persons elected to parish and diocesan commissions as well as called to serve as deputies to the next General Convention, evidence the change of attitude taking place within our church. This change of attitude was further evidenced by the possibility of many of us lesbigay clergy to introduce our "partners" to Bishop Theuner and Pamela Chinnis at the recent Integrity convention without fear of deposition as well as in the messages of encouragement and acceptance brought to us at our community Eucharist and dinner cruise. Each of these experiences is directly attributable to the ongoing work of Integrity.
As I reflect on the mission and ministry of Integrity these last nineteen years and the work ahead, I'm reminded of one of Dag Hammorskjold's quotations:
For all that has been,
THANKS.
For all that will be,
YES.
Recalling, celebrating, and giving thanks for our groundbreaking work and our accomplishments are as essential as they are natural as we look forward to the third decade of our work as Integrity. The caution I offer, my sisters and brothers, is that we not become static as we give thanks, but that we remember also to look forward to "all that will be" and respond "yes."
The New Testament is filled with stories of the disciples who readily responded "Yes" when called by Jesus to follow him. During the early part of Jesus' public ministry, those same disciples often gave thanks for all that had been: the opportunity to spend hours with a great teacher, to experience events beyond their comprehension, and to be welcomed into a fellowship shared by few others. When times became uncertain, however, and the religious leaders began to pursue Jesus to stop his teachings, few of the disciples responded "yes" to what would be ahead.
Jesus was followed by Simon Peter and another disciple. The disciple who was acquainted with the High Priest went with Jesus into the High Priest's courtyard, but Peter halted at the door outside. ... The maid on duty at the door said to Peter, 'Are you another of this man's disciples?' 'I am not,' he said.
The Gospel According to John
As many of us gather together in Indianapolis next summer for the General Convention, we will also celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Integrity. Undoubtedly there will be much thanks giving for all that has been accomplished; and those accomplishments have been many. I pray, my friends, that we will also be prepared to respond "Yes" for all that will be; for our work in the church has really just begun. The continued successful work of Integrity is dependent upon each of us who respond "yes" not only when the outlook for full inclusion of lesbigay persons in the church looks promising, but when the road to that goal is difficult and demands risk-taking and personal commitment from each of us to forge ahead. Are we willing to respond "Yes," we are lesbigay persons, when asked by bishops, members of screening committees, and commissions on ministry? Are we willing to respond "Yes" by our chapter presence at diocesan conventions and gatherings? Are we willing to respond "Yes" by preaching sermons that address the concerns of lesbigay persons? Are we willing to respond "Yes" even if and when we're denied ordination or a place on a diocesan committee, or parish deployment, or a position as youth director or Sunday School teacher? These are the times, my friends, when our "Yes" for all that will be, will be both the most difficult and the most essential to the continuation of the work and ministry of Integrity.
Come, labor on.
Who dares stand idle on the harvest plain,
While all around us waves the golden grain?
And to each servant does the sovereign say,
"Go work today."
Come, labor on.
No time for rest, till glows the western sky,
Till the long shadows o'er our pathway lie
And glad sound comes with the setting sun,
"My friends, well done."
"Come Labor On," the 1982 Hymnal
********************
*IT'S IN THE PRAYER BOOK ALREADY!*
Forms for Covenant Blessing
by Kathryn Piccard
It is possible to strictly adhere to the canons and rubrics while applying the flexibility of the Book of Common Prayer to meet the needs of parishes and the wider Church in recognizing and affirming the presence of God's grace in the lives of committed couples. There are at least two ways the Book of Common Prayer can be used to develop a liturgical service for blessing a lesbian or gay couple's covenant. One way is to use the Order for Eucharist (p. 400) and the other is to use A Form of Commitment to Christian Service (p. 420). The resulting liturgies might not be the ideal liturgical forms for every couple, but it is possible to prepare quite adequate liturgies. *We do not have to wait until the General Convention or the Standing Liturgical Commission authorize special liturgical texts*.
Many people feel that marriage is not a good model for lesbian or gay couples, and for different reasons the House of Bishops has tried to prohibit marriages for same-sex couples although it is debatable whether or not that, by itself, constitutes Church teaching or proper exercise of authority, most priests carefully avoid using wedding liturgies for same-sex couples. There are three Book of Common Prayer services earmarked for weddings on pages 422-38, but no authorized text earmarked for covenant blessings. Many priests and bishops know that making up a new service is canonically risky: although it may fulfill a rector's pastoral responsibility, which has canonical standing*, it might also be claimed that it constitutes a violation of canon law by breaking the rubrics, and this is an offense for which a priest could be tried and even deposed. Sometimes rectors have been talked out of officiating at public covenant blessings by threat of a trial on this charge. Sometimes they substitute the blessing of a home from the "Book of Occasional Services." Although I think the Church ought to be in the blessing business, rarely does anyone who has heard of pet or car or boat blessings stop to consider that the Book of Common Prayer can be used with equal suitability to bless couples, *people* for whom Christ died & rose to new life, sending the Spirit to do new and wonderful things.
Few Episcopalians know that under the last sentence of Article X of the Constitution a bishop can authorize special liturgical texts. A few bishops have given tacit or explicit permission for various covenant blessing forms to be used in certain parishes or on certain occasions. But many priests know they would not get their bishop's consent, and instead could expect opposition, placing their jobs and orders in jeopardy.
Use of the Book of Common Prayer as detailed below means that officiating clergy are not susceptible to Church trial under Canon IV.l sec. 1 (3) for violating the rubrics of the Book of Common Prayer by using unauthorized texts. Furthermore, because the use of the Book of Common Prayer has already been authorized by the General Convention (1979), the bishop's permission is not needed. *In fact, nowhere in canon law does it say that the bishop has the right to restrict the use of the Book of Common Prayer in parishes under any circumstances*. You might, however, wish to keep your bishop informed of your plans.
Now, a bishop might object to a covenant blessing and try to stop it by claiming that in *this* case or under *these* circumstances it would constitute some other offense listed in canon IV.l sec.l. Then the priest should certainly review the canon sections 1 & 2, pray, and consult the wardens and a lawyer and the couple. A trial would resolve any question in a particular case. There has never been such a trial, but it is no secret that covenant blessings have been done using the Book of Common Prayer this way. I myself have done this.
FORM OF COMMITMENT
Several years ago I used the "Form of Commitment to Christian Service" for a lesbian couple with the theme "Bless all whose lives are closely linked to ours and grant that we may serve Christ in them, and love one another as Christ loves us" (Book of Common Prayer p. 388). This theme appeared on the invitations, the service leaflet, and was used in the intercessions and sermon. It could also be quoted in the actual prayer of blessing. It does not define the nature of the "close link," but does unite blessing with "close links" and with serving Christ in others.
Turn to Book of Common Prayer p. 420-1. This form can be used with Rite I or II or with the Order for Eucharist. In place of the prayer on p. 421 substitute or adapt it to include an appropriate prayer of blessing. The simplest way would be by inserting the phrase, "Bless them and" at the beginning of the second sentence. Readings may be selected from the suggestions below.
ORDER FOR EUCHARIST
Turn to Book of Common Prayer p 400-1. The section to develop is "Proclaim and Respond to the Word of God". For a male couple you may wish to use 1 Samuel 17:58-18:5. For a female couple I suggest Ruth 1:1-18 and/or Ecclesiastes 9:9 JB. Be sure to include the throat cutting gesture in the reading of Ruth 1:17, for it to make sense. John 15:9-12 would be a suitable Gospel passage. Perhaps you will have introductions to the readings. Or, after the readings and sermon the couple or officiant might say, "In *response* to this description of the holy vow of lifelong commitment and love Ruth made to Naomi, and to the way God has blessed and graced N and N with love and joy, we will now hear their holy vows of lifelong commitment, and respond with prayers of blessing." Or, for men, "In *response* to this description of the lifelong holy covenant Jonathan and David made and to the way God has graced N and N..." Vows and blessing would follow. The formal prayer of blessing might be part of the response section or part of the prayer section. In the sermon or elsewhere you could mention the historic ecclesiastical precedents researched by Yale Professor John Boswell.
It might be judicious to formally ask the congregation, "Will you who witness these vows do all in your power to support this couple in their life in Christ?"
In either service format those in attendance may be given the opportunity to sign a certificate as witnesses. The officiant can make a note in the service register of the special occasion. Also, while the two individuals do not have to make identical vows (unlike weddings), they do have to prepare their vows carefully. Finally, it may be wise to include in the service leaflet the headings from the Book of Common Prayer, to show more readily that this service conforms to the Book of Common Prayer rubrics. A statement to this effect can even be included. This is part of how the congregation is carefully prepared for the service. Attention to inclusive language is another appropriate part of the preparation. Such things as choir anthems, incense, holy water sprinkling, blessing of rings or a chalice or a Ruth icon, etc. can be arranged according to local custom.
IMPLICATIONS
The fact that there are at least two ways the Book of Common Prayer can be used for covenant blessings means that the debate can shift in many dioceses. Now the debate can move from breaking rubrics to what makes good liturgy better, or to whether or not God's blessing of a couple (and of their parish through them) warrants liturgical expression, or even to whether or not homosexual love is sinful.
Some bishops may welcome this information. This lets them off the hook of rubrics. Also, this is a way for the Church to gain experience, to be reflected upon later, without the legality of the liturgical forms being at issue. This allows the Church to address more directly the more central issues of sexuality and blessing. Thank God we have a flexible Book of Common Prayer!
-----
The Rev. Kathryn Piccard, M.Div., Th.M., lives in Boston.
********************
*AND ON THE OTHER HAND -- A CALL FOR NEW BLESSING FORMS*
A consultation on the Episcopal Church's celebration of the commitment to life together of gay and lesbian baptized members took place on the campus of the Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, Mass., July 8-10. Information on the consultation was embargoed until just after the Integrity Convention in San Diego.
Participating in the three-day discussion were four bishops, fourteen priests, two lay seminary faculty members, and Bruce Garner, Integrity's president. It was emphasized that Garner and all other participants were representing only themselves and not any organizations.
The participating bishops were the Rt. Revs. E. Otis Charles (recently retired EDS Dean), Richard Shimpfky (El Camino Real), Douglas Theuner (New Hampshire), and R. Stewart Wood (Michigan). The group was convened by the Rev. Charles Bennison, Jr., an EDS faculty member, as were almost half the group. Two of the participants are General Convention deputies.
The consultation focused on four different areas regarding commitment celebrations: the theological dimensions, liturgical rites and ceremonies, pastoral and ethical considerations, and the canonical and legal questions. Work in these areas is continuing in four sub-committees, the results to be published in a pamphlet to be edited by Bennison and the Rev. Jane Garrett by the end of this year.
The consultation agreed on a proposed resolution to be presented to the 1994 General Convention:
RESOLUTION ON THE PREPARATION OF LITURGICAL FORMS FOR THE CELEBRATION OF A COMMITMENT TO LIFE TOGETHER
Be it resolved that the 71st General Convention direct the Standing Liturgical Commission to prepare and present to the 72nd General Convention proposed supplementary rites and ceremonies, to be used under the direction of the diocesan bishop by clergy and congregations celebrating the commitment of gay and lesbian members of this church to life together.
EXPLANATION
Although the Book of Common Prayer authorizes bishops to set forth such forms as are fitting to the occasions "when no service or prayer has been provided in this Book" (Prayer Book Page 13), if such events become more than occasional the church customarily acknowledges a pastoral need and seeks to regularize its worship by providing appropriate supplementary forms of worship. The occurrence of services celebrating the commitment to life together on the part of baptized members of our church who are gay men or lesbians is such that the entire church would benefit from the availability of appropriate forms for such services.
********************
*PUSSYCATS IN THE LIONS' DEN*
Integrity Members Attend "Ex-Gay" Conference
Louie Crew and Ann Carlson attended the first conference in the 14 year history of Regeneration, the Baltimore-based affiliate of Exodus International headed by the Episcopal Church's "ex-gay," Alan Medinger.
_________________________________________________________________
by Ann Carlson
We started with a charismatic worship service with the approximately 120 people who attended the conference. The opening lecture was given by Joe Dallas, the president of Exodus International. It started out with a big emotional negative for me. Joe introduced the subject by talking about how homosexuality is of so much interest to the general public right now. He referred to a recent Oprah Winfrey show on the subject and said that there are three ways that people view attempts to cure homosexuality. There are:
1) Those who see the suggestion that homosexuality is unnatural as an interference to their agenda.