Sunday, July 13, 2008

Day Two: Preaching @ Putney


You can watch the beginning of +Gene's sermon and the "heckler" who tried ... and failed ... to throw him off here ... and here's a Link to the BBC Report that ran this evening and a print version of the story.
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Here's the quote that struck me from that report:

"I can't tell you my name," said one Church of England vicar, attending incognito.

"My diocese is very conservative. I might get in trouble if people found out I had come here.

"But it was wonderful to hear someone talk so openly and so humbly about what needs to be done."

Once again ... the issue isn't Homosexuality it's Honesty.
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Rachel Zoll was here, reporting for Associated Press. She filed this report ... and Ruth Gledhill offered this piece in the Times Online.
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It was a huge privilege to be here for today ... honestly, the feeling in the church was just electric ... and what a blessing to be able to watch +Gene "do his thing" and preach the Gospel! The most amusing moment of the day, however, was actually outside before the service when a young man on a bike with his toddler in the kid-seat on the back pulled up and asked me, "Is this the church where the gay bishop is preaching? We just saw him on the telly!"
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"Yes," I told him. "At 6:00 ... do come back!"
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"Might do!" he said. And then his eyes widened and he said, "Wait a minute ... aren't you the one preached out at Salisbury this morning?"
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"No," I said. "That would be another American woman ... her name is Katharine Jefferts Schori and she's our Presiding Bishop." (Yes, there are more than one of us and we're certainly not all bishops!)
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"Well, she was great," he said. "You lot keep up the good work!"
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"Will do," I said, as he pedaled off.
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Earlier ...


... +Gene appeared with Sir Ian McKellan on BBC1's Andrew Marr Show ... reported by the Guardian here.

Finally, here's a picture of me with "the boys" ...



... who did a great job of providing security in a bemused British kind of way.

There are other photos that will have to wait til tomorrow ... turns out you can't download 'em til you recharge the battery on the camera ... (who knew??) ... and I'm not willing to wait up for that to happen. A car is picking us up early for a spot on something called SkyTV News ... I'll be the one in the black shirt, white collar and bags jet-lag bags under my eyes!

More tomorrow. Cheerio!
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9 comments:

Dave said...

Susan: That photo of you with the fellas is a keeper!

From here in Pasadena, thanks so much to you for keeping us posted on all the goings-on, and with prayers to the whole team for the amazing work that you're doing!

With gratitude,

-- Dave F.

David@Montreal said...

Susan
Thank-you for the news of Putney

Call me slow if you will, but as Lambeth approaches it's finally struck me- you'ore not only there as faith embodied for the Bishops and Primates.

You're equally, if not more there to embody us- the untold millions of LGBT baptized, and so all the news and pics you share are 'a letter home' to more quarters than you could ever imagine.

To quote the young dad on the bike 'keep up the good work' and thank-you again

David@Montreal

Unknown said...

LOVE the photos! Thank You!

Elizabeth Kaeton said...

Okay, Susan, so NOW how would you answer all those who asked you before you left, "But what will you be doing at Lambeth?"

How about: "Not letting the dust settle on my shoes."

Well done, darlings, well done. This time next week, I'll be with you.

Brother David said...

Make up tip::

Whoda thunk it, but hemorrhoid cream will help reduce those bags under your eyes!

JimB said...

Years ago, someone shouted "Give them hell Harry" in support of Harry Truman as he was campaining for re-election. He replied, "I just tell them the truth and they think they are in Hell."

Give them Hell the same way!

FWIW
jimB

Nasty, Brutish & Short said...

Susan, the last person is supposed to form a letter "A"!

Erika Baker said...

David dä'véd
Bags under eyes? I saw her and she had absolutely none! Bright eyed and bushy tailed like the liveliest squirrel!

Yellow said...

"This isn't about homosexuality it's about honesty"

That quote from the vicar is just over exagerating. I have been ordained years and I have never got into trouble for going to a talk or saying something. The only example of a vicar who has got into trouble for saying something that i can think of is a director of Post Ordination Training who wrote a book in which he admitted he didn't believe in God any more.

So as vexing as you might find that comment, actually I think it's bullshit.