First, the Diocese of Hawai'i has announced the list of candidates for Bishop of Hawai'i ... election to be held in October:1. The Reverend Canon Howard Anderson
President and Warden
of Cathedral College of Washington National Cathedral
2. The Reverend Canon Kathleen Cullinane
Associate Dean and Canon Missioner,
Christ Church Cathedral, Indianapolis, Indiana
3. The Reverend Canon Robert L. Fitzpatrick
Canon to the Ordinary,
Office of the Bishop of Hawai‘i
4. The Reverend David C. Moore
Priest-in-Charge, St. Margaret’s Church,
Bellevue, Washington
5. The Reverend Dr. Joy Rogers
Rector, St. Thomas Episcopal Church,
Battle Creek, Michigan
Second, it is being reported that the Diocese of El Camino Real has changed the charge to its Nominating Committee from:
"At this time in our history and in view of General Convention Resolution B033, the Search Committee shall not nominate any homosexual person as a candidate for bishop of the Diocese of El Camino Real."
to
"The Search Committee shall be mindful of General Convention Resolution B033."
My, my, my!
8 comments:
Woot! Score one for the good guys and gals!
Uh, Jeff, when was the last time you were in Hawaii and for how long? How are you defining "natives" and from where are you getting your information?
Jeff - As someone who is in the church every day, I can tell you you are making some gross generalizations. The whole issue of who self-identifies as Hawaiian and how various hapa people here self-identify is crucial to understanding the issues. You might see those flags and sovereinty signs, but that is a very small percentage of the general population and an even smaller percentage of the Hawaiian population, however that is defined.
When you say racial problems, who specifically are you talking about? And as I asked before, exactly how are you identifying "natives"? By a specific quantum percentage? I suspect that any self-identified Hawaiian would be quite offended by the term "native". My own parishioners who self-identify as Hawaiian are either Hawaiian or indigenous.
Ni'ihau is a privately owned island -- owned by a long-time haole family who controls the goings and comings of that island, and by Hawaiians who choose to live there. Bad example for any kind of argument you're trying to make.
Your second-hand information is really poorly biased as far as the actual environment is concerned. Based on the very little information you have gleaned from the diocesan web site and the total lack of information you have about the search process, I suggest you get more info before making your judgements.
If your brother is feeding you this information, you might suggest he call St. Clement's and come for a discussion before making these statements about TEC in Hawaii.
Your own statements are incredibly inaccurate. You look like a really nice guy and my guess is that you are. So to read what you have written is quite disturbing. As someone who has been involved intimately with the search process and at all levels of the diocese with our many different ethnic groups, I personally find what you have written very offensive. Please, please, please check with someone who acutally knows what's going on before make comdemnations like this.
Need something to lift your spirits on "Hump Day"? Check out the butterfly diary here.
We see the danger here of seeing people only as classifications rather than value the individual and the compellation of his or her gifts.
A single or combination of demographic blocks checked off does not give any indication on qualification, effectiveness, or most importantly, movement by the Spirit.
Cramner49 - may your Diocese select the best candidate. I have soft spot for St. Clements in Makiki .... got married there 22 years ago, and guess what? It stuck!
Congratulations, bateaumaster! It's always good to hear of a success story out of this parish.
And thank you for your prayers. We have tried at every step to make sure that we leave room for the wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit!
****************
For Jeff -- Please try to understand that this is not the mainland. We're dealing with at least 12-15 different ethnicities and cultures. The word "racism" just doesn't work here the way it does on the mainland. It's much more complicated and multi-faceted. Haoles make up less than half the population. Of the candidates nominated, three have lived in Hawaii for a significant amount of time and understand that this place -- one has even been hanai'd by a Hawaiian family. That's a very big deal. A fourth candidate has extensive multi-cultural experience. Not "just" Latino or African-American, but multi-cultural. There is a crucial difference.
We can talk about various ethnic groups and where they are in the class system here -- that's a significant ism. If you'd like, we can talk about the efforts at raising up clergy from the local communities, including the Hawaiian community, and why they have or have not succeeded.
But please do not make the generalizations that you have about the Episcopal Church here or about the culture in Hawaii. They're not at all helpful in a process that has been continually sensitive to the culture and many different peoples we live with on a daily basis. You just don't know enough of who we are as a faith community in this diocese to make those kinds of negative and judgmental statements.
You can insert "women" in place of non-white or gay and get similar issues, of course.
Of the past four bishops of Hawaii, two were haole, one Chinese, and one Hawaiian. No women and, as far as we know, no gays. We do tend to forget that...
I suppose I've just become very sensitive to mainlanders who come here with their mainland understandings of racism and try to lay it over a very different culture, environment, and history. That's when I learned how very empty and ridiculous attempts to be "politically correct" are when there is not understanding of the local culture.
But as I said before, Jeff, I'd be happy to talk about the dynamics of raising up non-white faces for all levels of ministry. I'll be in Austin for two weeks in the fall. maybe we can have a cup of coffee in the refectory and refect on these issues....
Well now! Preach it! I hear a mild change of tune in this revision of the wording, but progress is progress.
Post a Comment