In a word ...
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BRAVO!
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Just a quick note this morning as it's a Multi-Meeting-Monday for me, but wanted to take a minute to post this link to the Episcopal Life article summarizing the just-completed meeting of Executive Council which included this resolution:
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Resolved, the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church, meeting in Dearborn, Michigan, expresses its appreciation to the House of Bishops for undertaking the monumental task of trying to clarify the conflict between the canons of the Episcopal Church and the demands raised by the Dar E [sic] Salaam communiqué, and be it further
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Resolved, the Executive Council affirms with the House of Bishops the essential and renewed study of human sexuality as noted in the “listening process” of the Lambeth Conference of 1998, and be it further
Resolved, that the House of Bishops’ statement exacerbated feelings of exclusion felt by many of the lesbian and gay members of our church by defining Resolution B033 from the 75th General Convention to include lesbian and gay people, and be it further
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Resolved, that by calling particular attention to the application of B033 to lesbian and gay person [sic], it may inappropriately suggest that an additional qualification for the episcopacy has been imposed beyond those contained in the constitutions and canons of the church, and be it further
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Resolved, that while B033 focuses on the consent process for bishops, the broader impact is to discourage the full participation by lesbians and gay persons in the life of the church and enshrine discrimination in the policies of the Episcopal Church, and be it further
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Resolved, that the Executive Council acknowledge with regret the additional pain and estrangement inflicted on lesbian and gay members of the church, and we pledge to work toward a time when our church will fully respect the dignity of every human being in all aspects of the life of our church.
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Not time for any other comment this morning than my own suggested "be it further ..."
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Resolved, that Executive Council rocks!
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11 comments:
Bravo for the Exective
Council!
How is it that the Executive Council "gets it" whereas the HOB, in all their machinations, doesn't, didn't?????
Yes indeed! Bravo for Executive Coundil which has demonstrated more courage and sense than HoB did.
FWIW
jimB
Well... it's a step up from total capitulation but I don't see how it's "stepping up."
"Stepping up" would have put the bishops in their proper place by declaring their statement totally irrelevant.
I see this statement as an attempt to mollify the LGBT members of the Church. It sounds great and says all the right things.
Yet there is no escaping the fact that the public policy of this Church is that gay & lesbian priests (and by inference, the LGBT laity) are immoral and unfit to serve as Bishops.
There appears to be an Episcopal tendency to be two-faced. To the world, this Church condemns us. But 'privately' the Bishops tell us how supportive they are of our needs, even going so far as to allow 'private' pastoral responses. Of what use is a private pastoral response from people who are hypocritical? I would want a public blessing of my union to a life partner, not one done in secret. The problem is that we, the LGBT community, see through this insincerity and so do the conservative fundamentalists of this Church.
I'm stung and hurt most because the General Convention of 2006 revoked the Convention's 2003 acknowledgement that we were morally fit people. I don't accept the nice words that this is a 'pause'. Maybe to our straight brothers & sisters this is a 'pause', but for me, this is a rebuke and another in a life-long condemnation of me as a person.
I'm sending an e-mail to the Dean and Rector of St. Paul's Cathedral in Syracuse today to renounce my membership in the Episcopal Church. It hurts too much to be Anglican. In fact, of what use is any organized religion?
Dan McMaster,
Syracuse, NY
"It hurts too much to be Anglican. In fact, of what use is any organized religion?"
Dan, I often find myself asking the same question. Sorry you are hurting. It is so hard to make GLBT people welcome in so many Christian churches (in fact, impossible in many), that it pains me when I see my GLBT brothers and sisters leaving the church licking their wounds. It isn't easy being a GLBT Christian -- some GLBT folks condemn us on the one hand as being crazy to try to find a place within Christianity when so many Christians use the Bible to condemn and abuse us, and some straight Christians of a more fundamentalist bent are the ones wielding the weapons on the other side.
I hate to see GLBT people abandoning TEC, but I also understand the need to protect oneself from what often feels like an onslaught of condemnation. Even the most carefully worded statements can have much more meaning between the lines, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. I hope and pray you will find a worship community that more suits your needs.
Your Sister in Christ,
Susan
{{{{{DAN}}}}}
I agree - the Executive Council rocks.
I am born in this church and will never leave as nothing and no one can ever separate me from the love of God. We are at a tipping point in our history and I want to be there on that great day - now or in a decade, but it will come. I need no one's permission or document to belong to this Church!
I will not get out of the road!
Dan,
I am so sorry we have failed you and I fear many others. I wish I could make the cost of B033, and New Orleans less. I can't. I think General Conventin erred, the Bishops erred, and the executive council erred the least. But that is NOT enough.
We all have to make choices and I respect yours. I just wish it were not so, because this controversy is not over, and we need every willing hand, every decent person, everyone who will walk a picket line, make a contribution, or simply pray with us.
And yes, I know it is way too easy for me. I am after all straight, married forty years this week, and I can always simply fade. We don't, and we wont, but it is simply not enough.
I hope you continue to seek Christ in yourself, your relationships and all, even the homophobes around you. And I hope you find a way back to us some day.
Luck in the shadows. (A Rom blessing)
FWIW
jimB
JimB -- Happy 40th Anniversary! I hope you and your wife will enjoy the day and have many, many more happy years together. :)
Susan
I'm leaving too - my baptism means too much to me and to Christ to permit its being held hostage. It's time to practice radical Christianity on the streets in my community, without a church for a while. After a season of that, I'll see if there are any churches left that would still have me as a member, manner of life and all.
I certainly don't see the Executive Council's action as entirely positive. It brings to mind Martin Luther King's remarks about the Southern white moderate who advises waiting for a future time for justice... sure, the EC says "work towards a time"... but what work are they actually doing? Time is not on our side unless we use it constructively.
Finally, I have a hard time swallowing that the president of Integrity wants to cheer about this. No thank you (respectfully and regretfully).
Karl Maria
And, after this set of pronouncements, the Executive Council listened to a long litany of lawsuits pending and in process against this Church's Christian people.
Justice is great - for the chosen.
When the history of this nightmare is written, those flexing the power to destroy dissent will be revealed for the thugs that they are.
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