Just got this email from GTS:
So I'm taking a break from conference calls, liturgy generation and confirmation class preparation to post up a few "bits & pieces" of things that caught my attention around the web of late ... in no particular order:=====
Bishop Iker has reacted to the formation of a Steering Committee committed to keeping the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth IN the Episcopal Church by calling them "vigilantes" ... no surprise there, as the same bishop has also invited the Archbishop of the Southern Cone to come to Fort Worth to work on their "exit strategy" from TEC and (but wait ... there's more!) sent a decidely terse missive to the Presiding Bishop in response to her decidedly clear message that such an invitation was an "unwarranted invasion."
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Meanwhile, +Katharine has a letter to the House of Bishops, that "reviews and comments on process related to deposition, inhibition, renunciation and resignation of bishops." ... Perhaps that will finally get everyone "on the same page" ... or not!
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Across the pond, the Archbishop of Canterbury has taken the not-unexpected-but-still-disappointing step of prohibiting the Bishop of New Hampshire from functioning as a priest while in England. Some good points made by the Episcopal Cafe post on this matter:
The email, which came to Robinson through a Lambeth official, says Williams believes that giving Robinson permission to preach and preside at the Eucharist would be construed as an acceptance of the ministry of a controversial figure within the Communion.
Williams has not denied permission to preach and preside to Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria, who gave his support to a failed legislative attempt to limit the rights of Nigerian gays and their supporters to speak, assemble and worship God collectively. Akinola has yet to respond to an Atlantic magazine article which suggests he may have had prior knowledge of plans for retributive violence against Muslims in his country that resulted in the massacre of more than 650 people in Yelwa, Nigeria.
Williams has not denied permission to preach and preside to Bishop Bernard Malango, the retired primate of Central Africa and one of the authors of the Windsor Report. Malango dismissed without reason the ecclesiastical court convened to try pro-Mugabe Bishop Nolbert Kunonga for incitement to murder and other charges.
Williams has not denied permission to preach and preside to Bishop Gregory Venables, primate of the Southern Cone, who has now claimed as his own, churches in three others provinces in the Anglican Communion (Brazil, Canada and the United States). Nor has he denied permission to preach and preside to Archbishops Henry Orombi of Uganda, Emanuel Kolini of Rwanda, or Benjamin Nzimbi of Kenya, all of whom have ignored the Windsor Report's plea not to claim churches within other provinces of the Communion.
Sources who have read the email say Williams expresses sorrow for the way the ban on Robinson must appear to the bishop and his supporters, but says he is acting for the good of the Church and the Communion.
My response at this point is a succinct: "Whatever."
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Closer to home, Matt Kennedy (of Stand Firm Fame) has finally managed to egg the diocese of Central New York into suing the congregation he has been trying to lead "out of the Episcopal Church" for lo these many years. (See also: much wailing and gnashing of teeth by the would-be martrys to the cause of "preserving the faith received from the saints through the ages.")
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Fun photo sent by a friend who was in London at Church House Bookshop where +Gene's new book is "featured" in a window display just a hop-skip-&-a-jump from Westminster Abbey.
Honest to Pete -- how cute are they?
Photograph Erwin Olaf for The New York Times; Prop stylist Jeffrey W. MillerSo here's my question: if this is what undermining the sanctity of marriage looks like where do we get some more of it?
Check this out:
[Writes author Denizet-Lewis] Like many gay men my age and older, I grew up believing that gay men in a happy long-term relationship was an oxymoron...There was a reason, of course, why so many gay men my age and older seemed intent on living a protracted adolescence: We had been cheated of our actual adolescence.
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While most of our heterosexual peers had experienced, in their teens, socialization around courtship, dating and sexuality, many of us had grown up closeted and fearful, our most precious and tender feelings rarely validated or reflected back to us by our families and communities. When we managed to express our sexuality, the experience often came booby-trapped with secrecy, manipulation or debilitating shame.
But young gay men today are coming of age in a different time from the baby-boom generation of gays and lesbians who fashioned modern gay culture in this country — or even from me, a gay man in his early 30s...Many young gay men don’t see themselves as all that different from their heterosexual peers, and many profess to want what they’ve long seen espoused by mainstream American culture: a long-term relationship and the chance to start a family.
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“For many young gay men today, settling down in a relationship in their 20s — or getting married if they live in Massachusetts — will feel like a very natural thing to do,” says Joe Kort, a psychotherapist and the author “10 Smart Things Gay Men Can Do to Improve Their Lives.”
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And that's because it is. A natural thing to do.
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So let's get on with it, shall we? Let's get on with celebrating the sanctity of marriage -- not just in Massachusetts (shout out to Byron Rushing for his dedicated advocacy!) but all across this land of "liberty and justice for all." Not just because it's the politically correct or cute or fabulous or even fair thing to do -- but because it's the natural thing to do.
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And let the people say "Mazel tov!" (And "Amen!")
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PS -- Another newlywed heard from ... check out "the 'M' word"
I know it's customary for the birthday boy to be the one receiving the gifts, but on this birthday I want to publicly celebrate the many, many gifts Michael has given so many of us over the years. The gift of the example of his work and his witness; the gift of his courage and his commitment; and the gift of his unfailing willingness to both embrace and proclaim the truth that will make you free. (To name just a few!)Watch over your child, Michael, O Lord, as his days increase; bless and guide him wherever he may be. Strengthen him when he stands; comfort him when discouraged or sorrowful; raise him up if he falls; and in his heart may your peace which passes understanding abide all the days of his life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen..
Presiding bishop of Episcopal Church to visit Dallas parish and bless garden
[photo credit C. Black]From the NYT article:
Bishop Gene Robinson, the openly gay Episcopal prelate whose consecration led conservatives to split from the church, said in an interview on Thursday that he and his partner of 20 years were planning a civil union ceremony to be held in his home church in the diocese of New Hampshire in June.
Bishop Robinson said that by scheduling the ceremony for June, he did not intend to further inflame conservatives just before the Anglican Communion gathers in August in Cambridge, England, for the Lambeth Conference, which happens only once every 10 years.
He planned his civil union for June, he said, because he wanted to provide some legal protection to his partner and his children before he left for England for the conference. Bishop Robinson has received death threats, and he wore a bulletproof vest under his vestments at his consecration in 2003.
“We could have, I suppose, just gone to the town clerk and had that signed,” he said, “but, you know, I’m a religious person, and every major event in my life has been marked with some kind of liturgy and giving thanks to God.”
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So "Mazel tov!" to Mark & +Gene! We are looking forward, more than you know, to the outward and visble sign of the blessing your love and witness already offers to the church, to the world and to other couples striving to live together in love for better or worse!
... to speak of many things.
From my vantage point, it seems that human life on this planet is threatened by two contemporary developments. One is the now seven-year old war-without-end-mentality against terrorism conducted within the context of nucear weapons and now established reality of global climate change.
So we're home ... all is well and there was a LOT of great work done on behalf of the Gospel at both the Chicago Consultation meetings at Seabury-Western and then at the Integrity Board meeting following. And I really will reflect on all those interesting and important things later this week.
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At the moment, however, I'm focused on re-entering life on the Left Coast and being grateful that our errant luggage was indeed located and reunited with us late last night.
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Finally, to the very nice man from St. Thomas, Hollywood who said such nice things about this blog and about our work on LGBT equality to me last night at the Burbank Baggage Claim, thank you SO much ... and I hope the next time we run into each other I will not be so distracted by lost luggage and I'll get a chance to hear more about what you're doing in Hollywood and how our mission and ministry can connect! More later!
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Bonnie Perry+ preaching a kick-butt sermon!
Integrity Board Members getting ready for worship.
With Ugandan Bishop Christopher Senyonjo, in front of the AMAZING Keiskamma Altarpiece, created in South Africa’s as a message of hope for people who are contending with the devastation of the AIDS pandemic. 
I had three days of mulling the state of the Anglican Communion in general and the prospect of an “Anglican Covenant” in specific at General Seminary with some of the best and brightest in this “Big Fat Anglican Family” in New York City last week. Entitled “An Anglican Covenant: Divisive or Reconciling?” the conference included keynote speeches, the presentation of academic papers and responding panels of faculty and students from the seminaries of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada.
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More on things Anglican later ...
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... it is the actual view from the actual window of the actual apartment where the fledgling iNYC (Integrity New York City) group held a meet-and-greet tea this afternoon, giving me a chance to end my stay in the Big Apple by meeting some great people and talk about The Canterbury Campaign.
...........A vision of a multifaceted Church? Noah’s Ark by Edward Hicks (1846)
Dr. Jenny Te Paa was our second Keynote Speaker at the Anglican Covenant Conference here at General Theological Seminary ... and I'll get to her "global south" perspective in a minute.
+Gomez rose and rejected the suggestion that the covenant proposal had been "top down" inspired by the primates and also used the opportunity to work in a quick treatise of his own on "global numbers" explaining that the "biblically orthodox" were a super majority in not only the Anglican Communion but in the wider Christian faith if we throw in the Romans and Eastern Orthodox, too.
In a nutshell, the Archbishop made the case that "the present crisis" makes it essential that we "articulate the bonds of affection and make explicit what has heretofore been implicit" in order to create "agreed upon mechanisms for managing differences."
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In a nutshell, the room wasn't buying it. Although +Gomez maintained that an Anglican Covenant was "not intended to calcify the Communion but to enable it to deal with disputes" he also asserted that "the covenant is the only available mechanism to hold the Communion together" -- at the same time referring with some energy to "the present crisis" which has "broken the communion" and "could have been avoided" if there had been a recognition of "the legitimate limits on autonomy."
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The only real surprise for me was his reference to "Rumors of a bold initiative to advance 'gay marriage'" ... surprising because there's no "rumor" about it -- at least not to anybody who reads this blog.
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Anyway, the Q&A that followed was interesting -- several folks here from the Canadian Anglican Church and one of the panel responders was from the Old Catholic Church so it definitely wasn't "the usual suspects." At the end of the day it fell short in the new information department but the dialogue was respectful and I give the overall tone and timbre of the evening two thumbs up.
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For the record, I did NOT hear "the case for an Anglican Covenant" get made ... but stay tuned for Day Two ... coming soon to a blog near you!
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Never mind the flight delays, jet lag and calendar juggling it took to get here, the daffodils are blooming ...
... the trees are blossoming ...
... and there is a blue sky over the chapel at GTS ... where we will soon gather for the opening service of Evensong -- scheduled to launch this "Anglican Covenant Conference" -- followed by dinner and then the first keynote address ...
... quite a change from when we were hear last summer to meet with Phil Groves and explore the Anglican Communion "Listening Process!"
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"Open the Eyes of Our Faith"
April 6, 2008
The Reverend Susan Russell
FROM TITUSONENINE: Archbishop of Canterbury condemns recent violence against lesbian and gay peopleAMEN, Kendall!
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Sadly, the Stand Firmites don't appear to be agreement with the Gentleman from South Carolina ... and instead of condemning the violence are "Calling Out" the victims ...
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Shall not be justifying that with further response -- suffice to say:
That's the title of the conference I'm in NYC to attend ... we start tomorrow and I arrived tonight ... trying to remember to be grateful that I was only 2+ hours delayed on JetBlue and not cancelled like so many other travelers were on American. Here's a link to details of the work we'll do here over the next few days ... I expect I'll be commenting along the way.
And it's time to start saying something else. It's time to start crying foul (or "Calling B.S."as my kids would say!) on those who claim for themselves the status of "victim" when they are the ones perpetrating the schism causing the divisions in this church and in this communion.
It is nothing less than unmitigated gall incarnate that those who have been sowing the seeds of dissention in this church and this communion for over a decade (see also The Chapman Memo) are now daring to paint themselves as victims of "violence" as they begin to reap their harvest of division.
Let's refresh our vocabularies:
vi·o·lence
Pronunciation: \ˈvī-lən(t)s, ˈvī-ə-\
Function: noun
Definition: exertion of physical force so as to injure or abuse
And now, let's review:
There is an ontological difference between feeling excluded because you're disagreed with and being excluded because of who you are. (AKA Apples v. Oranges, Part I)
There is a critical difference between being the victim of violence because you are gay or lesbian, bisexual or transgender and claiming to be the victim of violence because you've left the Episcopal Church and your bishop has finally deposed you. (AKA Apples v. Oranges, Part II)
Any questions?
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CHANGING ATTITUDE ENGLAND PRESS RELEASE
8 April 2008
LGBT Anglican leaders threatened with murder and violently attacked in Nigeria and England
Over the Easter weekend 2008, gay leaders of Changing Attitude Nigeria were seriously assaulted. They, and the Director of Changing Attitude England, were also threatened with death because “they are polluting Nigeria with abomination and immorality”. The attacks were reported to the police in Nigeria, Togo and the UK.
In an open letter to conservative Anglican church leaders nineteen Anglican bishops and leaders have expressed concern about the use of incautious language and urge conservative church leaders to consider the effects of the language that they use.
The Revd Colin Coward, Director of Changing Attitude England, said:“The Anglican Communion has been in turmoil for 10 years since the 1998 Lambeth Conference passed a very negative resolution about homosexuality. The conflict in the church has intensified since then, with many bishops and other leaders making highly judgemental and often abusive comments and pronouncements about LGBT Anglicans.
“Such inflammatory statements lead some members of Anglican Communion churches to believe that threats and violence against those who are LGBT (or those who support a more open stance towards LGBT people) are not only justified but are authentic expressions of Christianity.”
For further information contact: Reverend Colin Coward,
Director of Changing Attitude England
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Open Letter to the Leadership Team of GAFCON
Dear friends in Christ,
You may know that there were several instances of actual physical violence and threats of violence and death enacted against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) leaders of Changing Attitude in Nigeria over the Easter Weekend 2008. The leader of a Changing Attitude group was violently beaten. Subsequently, death threats have been issued against the Directors of Changing Attitude in Nigeria and England.
The discourse taking place in the Anglican Communion about the presence of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in our churches must be conducted in the context of Christian love and mutual respect. If it is not, then people will continue to perpetrate abuse and violence against LGBT people.
Some Anglican Christians act in this way because they believe that the language of criticism articulated against LGBT people in general and the Episcopal Church in particular gives them permission to perpetrate violence and abuse against Christians who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. We know that is not your intention, but it is the reality as many experience it.
Changing Attitude understands that the Anglican Communion is engaged in an extended period of debate about the place of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in our churches. We are committed to engage in this debate and in the Listening Process which is integral to it and authorised by the Councils of the church.
Conservative Anglicans will want to argue against the position which Changing Attitude represents. They will continue to question the pattern of life and identity adopted by some lesbian and gay Christians. We recognise the integrity of those who hold this position at the same time as we disagree with it. We are not resistant to engaging in the debate with those who hold radically different views.
We recognise that it is extremely difficult to conduct this debate in language that does not polarise opinions or inflame tensions. Tension will grow more intense in this period immediately prior to the Lambeth Conference and the GAFCON event.
The language we use has direct consequences on the lives of LGBT Christians. Language affects us emotionally, spiritually and physically. We ask that all of us within the Anglican Communion be mindful of the words we use and the opinions we express when talking about LGBT people. We ask that all of us actively discourage any form of threatening behaviour so that we may all engage in respectful listening and conform the pattern of our lives to the pattern of love embodied by our Lord Jesus Christ.
None of us wishes to encourage or condone violence and none of us wishes to be responsible, indirectly, for murder or violence perpetrated on another person, whatever their sexual identity.
Yours in Christ, (Signed)
Revd Canon Professor Marilyn MacCord Adams
Rt Revd Michael Bourke
Rt Revd Ian Brackley, Bishop of Dorking
Rt Revd Stephen Conway, Bishop of Ramsbury
Very Revd Vivienne Faull
Rt Revd Lord Harries of Pentregarth
Rt Revd Richard Holloway
Rt Revd Stephen Lowe, Bishop of Hulme
Revd Sr Una Kroll
Rt Revd Richard Lewis
Rt Revd Jack Nicholls, Bishop of Sheffield
Rt Revd John Oliver
Rt Revd John Packer, Bishop of Ripon & Leeds
Christina Rees
Rt Revd Gene Robinson, Bishop of New Hampshire
Rt Revd John Saxbee, Bishop of Lincoln
Rt Revd Dr Peter Selby
Rt Revd Kenneth Stevenson, Bishop of Portsmouth
Revd Dr Anne Townsend
The Revd Canon Angela Weaver
Letter sent to: Rt Rev Nicodemus Okille, Archbishop Henry Orombi, Rt Rev Wallace Benn, Rt Rev Martyn Minns, Canon Dr Chris Sugden, Archbishop Greg Venables, Archbishop Peter Akinola, Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini, Archbishop Peter Jensen, Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi, Archbishop Justice Akrofi, Archbishop Donald Mtetemela, Rt Revd Michael Nazir Ali
It's been quite a busy week and so blogging has been sparse. And the rest of April is shaping up to be pretty much more of the same. But, home again from meetings in New Hampshire I've got a chance to play catch up by posting a few "bits & pieces -- so here goes:
As I noted earlier on this blog, our week started out with the Los Angeles version of almost heaven -- well, almost Dodger Heaven, anyway! Here's a picture of JUST how close we were to home plate where we watched the Dodgers beat their arch-enemy San Francisco Giants Monday night. VERY cool! (And it was, too ... only in the 50's and damp ... but a taste of Dodger Heaven nonetheless!)
The trip to New Hampshire was for a meeting of the Steering Committee of Claiming the Blessing and it was, as always, a great blessing to be in company of "so great a cloud of witnesses" and to claim together the privilege of participating in the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit calling this church to be all that it can be. We heard about the great work being done in preparation for our presence at Lambeth Conference and spent some time looking ahead to General Convention 2009.
One of the highlights of our work was the chance to spend some time with the Bishop of New Hampshire ... and we had the ADDED treat of being among the first to get a look at his hot-off-the-presses book "In the Eye of the Storm." Stay tuned for some book tour news and some interesting national press opportunities coming up in the days and weeks ahead.
