Another Response to the GAFCON Communique ...

... this one from the Gospel According to Matthew appointed for Independence Day:

Matthew 5:43-48

Jesus said, "You have heard that it was said, `You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

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Jesus, it seems, had some pretty strong opinions about those who only wanted to greet those "on the inside," to love only those who loved them back and to be in communion only with those who agreed with them. In fact, Jesus had a WHOLE lot more to say about those who draw a circle to keep people out than he did about those who find the love of their life is a person of the same gender. (In fact, he preached about the former at every opportunity and mentioned the latter exactly the sum total of never, not once, zilch, zip, nada, squat.) And yet, what the Gafcon bunch has just spent the better part of week and several millions of dollars to come up with is a statement that does precisely that.

No wonder Jesus wept.

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PB on GAFCON

The following statement from the Presiding Bishop was issued today by ENS:

Much of the Anglican world must be lamenting the latest emission from GAFCON. Anglicanism has always been broader than some find comfortable. This statement does not represent the end of Anglicanism, merely another chapter in a centuries-old struggle for dominance by those who consider themselves the only true believers.

Anglicans will continue to worship God in their churches, serve the hungry and needy in their communities, and build missional relationships with others across the globe, despite the desire of a few leaders to narrow the influence of the gospel. We look forward to the opportunities of the Lambeth Conference for constructive conversation, inspired prayer, and relational encounters.

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church

Sundry reflections on a Sunday Evening

As the dust settles at the Gafcon gathering in Jerusalem, let's start with a reality check from Michael (no-relation) Russell from the Diocese of San Diego:

The number of Primates openly supporting this movement has gone down since 2006 not up. Within Gafcon itself there is a move to redirect leadership from ++Akinola to ++Jensen.

The number of American Dioceses active in the movement has dwindled and even the Windsor Compliant Bishops are now prepared to cut the jurisdiction jumpers out of the equation to raise their own influence.

There is no occasion since the fully public inception of this movement of them actually getting anything they wanted. Neither TEC nor the C of Canada have been sanctioned or side streamed, and the reasserters have not been proclaimed as the true Anglican presence by anyone with any actual authority to do that.

The promises made to parishioners that they would soon be the acknowledged by the Archbishop of Canterbury as the true presence has not and will not happen.

The Jerusalem Declaration has pinned its future to an arcane formulation of "authorities" that most Anglican provinces worldwide are not going to endorse: specifically the 39 Articles and the 1662 BCP as standards of the faith.

Nor will most of the Anglican provinces endorse their peculiar formulations and doctrine of Scripture as found in the Document.

So after a dozen years of planning and six years of bullying and threats, this movement has a smaller affiliation circle and less influence than five years ago.

And their position on the Archbishop of Canterbury will further reduce that.

Despite their assertions that they will not leave, they have simply defected in place and will now just function as an out of control irritant.

It is, in fact, what the Diocese of Washington's Jim Naughton described as "taking the status quo, tying it up in a bow and trying to make it a present." Or what Katie Sherrod of Fort Worth fame has described as "all hat and no cattle."

Perhaps the greatest irony is that those who profess to be "protecting the historic faith" are declaring that Anglican identity "need not be determined through recognition by the Archbishop of Canterbury."

For anyone who forgot their Anglican Communion 101, here's a refresher:

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the Focus for Unity for the three Instruments of Communion of the Anglican Communion, and is therefore a unique focus for Anglican unity. He calls the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference, chairs the meeting of Primates, and is President of the AnglicanConsultative Council.

Threatening to throw the Archbishop out with the bathwater is certainly "a" way to get attention but it hardly lends itself toward protecting the historic catholicity of the Anglican Communion we've been hearing so much about. Sadly, it reminds me most of all of the time one of my then-small boys pitched a fit in the cereal aisle of the supermarket stamping his foot and declaring "you are not the boss of me."

Actually, I was the "boss of him." And so is the Archbishop of Canterbury -- within the limits of his authority as "first among equals" of the primates of all Anglican primates worldwide and the focus of unity for the Communion.

The Gafcon Communique or Jerusalem Declaration or whatever they're calling it is nothing less than the last ditch effort of the dwindling schismatic fringe to declare as fait accompli that which they wish would be: an Anglican Communion created in their own image without the Archbishop of Canterbury to boss them around or those pesky bonds of affection that knit you to people you don't agree with.

Here's the Anglican Reality Check according to Dave Walker:


Here endeth the reality check.

Just another day in paradise

The Anglican Communion will have to take care of itself today ... my day is full of things that have nothing to do with the Global Anglican Posturing Conference.

Momentarily I will head over to church to preach at the 7:30 a.m. service. Then we'll welcome the Bishop of New Hampshire who will preach at both 9:00 & 11:15 (and speak at the Rector's Forum between services.) At 11:15 we'll be welcoming 40 new members and baptizing 6.

After church is the annual Women's Council "Voices of the Heart" Brunch where about 100 of us will listen to Elsie Sadler and Connie Smith talk about their many decades of ministry here at All Saints Church (Connie was married here during "the war.")

Then I'll head over to the rectory and join my staff colleagues at the new member welcoming reception. From there I'll go back to church for a GALAS event: the screening of the documentary film "Saving Marriage" (chronicling how Massachusetts defeated the anti-equality initiative in their state) and sitting on a panel to discuss how we're going to do the same thing here in November.

Tomorrow is another day ... and methinks there will still be plenty of Global Anglican Posturing going on. But as for me and my house, today we're just going to be too busy loving and serving the Lord to worry about it.
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My initial reaction to the "GAFCON Communique" ...

You can read it all here ... and I'll admit I haven't had time today to really "study" it. Maybe I'll have more to say later. Or maybe not.

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Rachel Zoll in her AP article called it a "plan to create a global fellowship that challenges worldwide Anglican unity but stops short of a formal split."
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Sorry if after a decade of saber rattling and schism mongering I'm not convinced that's actually "breaking news!"

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And Jim Naughton had this to say in the comments over at Episcopal Cafe:

Step back from the details of this particular document for a moment, and consider the nature of GAFCON. It has brought together bishops from some of the poorest countries on Earth to deliver the residents of some of the richest suburbs in America from living in a Church to which they cannot dictate terms. Zimbabwe is on fire. Darfur is bleeding. Ethnic strife and pandemic disease rage across the African continent while these bishops devote themselves to rescuing the Episcopalians of Orange County, California and Fairfax County, Virginia from persecution that does not exist.
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And how will they achieve this? By calling the world to faith in the Gospel as it was delivered to them by representatives of an empire that conquered their homelands, stole their resources and denied their ancestors even the most basic human rights.
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One doesn’t know whether to laugh or weep.

And then there was my favorite part ... this a quote from Rachel's feature: "In their official statement, conservatives said they 'do not accept that Anglican identity is determined necessarily through recognition by the archbishop of Canterbury.' "

And that makes us the revisionists?

Like I said:

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The ram in the thicket

Been reflecting all week on this reading from Genesis that is part of our lectionary appointed for this coming Sunday -- partly because I'm preaching at the 7:30 service and partly just because. And so I ended up writing about it for my Integrity "Weekly Witness" piece. And so I'm posting it here, too.
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The text in question is Genesis 22:1-14 -- the story sometimes called "the sacrifice of Isaac."
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We know, of course, that it turns out not to be the story of the sacrifice of Isaac at all but the "the ram in the thicket" that God provided. And what I'm wondering today is if this story -- disturbing as it is to our 21st century sensibilites in many ways -- doesn't offer an important teaching about the ways of God whose ways are not our ways, but whose quality is always to have mercy.
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What I hear in the good news of "The Lord will provide" (which is the punchline of the story) is a call away from being cornered into the "either/or" messaging of the world around us and open ourselves up to the "both/and-ness" of God. We do NOT belong to a God who calls us to kill our children in order to "earn" God's love -- and we do NOT belong to a church that calls us to sacrifice ANY member of the Body of Christ in order to "earn" institutional unity.
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The good news for me in Genesis 22 is -- if we're paying attention -- the same God who provided a ram in the thicket for Abraham will provide one for the Anglican Communion. If something needs to be "sacrificed" in order to "keep the communion together" then how about anything that keeps us from truly seeking and serving Christ in one another: racism, sexism, heterosexism, liturgical fundamentalism, etc., etc., etc. My prayer is that our witness at Lambeth Conference will be to point those rams in the thicket all around us and to refute the false premise that the LGBT baptized must be sacrificed on the altar of Anglican Unity.
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For the convicting part of the story about Abraham and Isaac is that we can take ANYTHING that God has given us and turn it into an object of worship -- committing the sin of worshipping the gift rather than the giver which, as my OT professor used to remind us almost daily, is the most frequently committed sin of all. Even our beloved Communion -- intended to knit us together in bonds of affection -- can become an idol itself if we allow it to be knit into a straight-jacket of doctrinal conformity.
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And the VERY good news in Genesis 22 is our God (whose quality IS always to have mercy) is always working to move us beyond that error into all truth -- always pointing to the ram in the thicket if we will but pay attention.
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So let's pay attention. Let's pray for our bishops as they prepare to journey to Cantebury to meet for study, prayer and reflection. Let's pray for the cloud of LGBT witnesses who will surround that gathering with support, prayer and invitation to conversation. And most of all, let's give thanks that we belong to the God of infinite mercy, love, justice and peace whose will it is that we make known that love to all people.
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All for now. Amen.

Food for thought from Giles Fraser ...

... "Family love is a model of injustice"

(From this week's Church Times:)

My ELDER daughter needs braces for her teeth — or so she argues. She sat me down in front of a cringe-making American promotional DVD for a “revolutionary new design in orthodontic technology”. Plastic women with perfect gnashers insisted that buying these braces, and hence perfect teeth, was the most important investment I could ever make in my child’s future.

More persuasively, our dentist has said something similar. My daughter looked up at me, wide-eyed. Pleeeease. Then I looked at the cost. How much? You must be joking. The price was astronomical.

Yet my wife and I agreed, not knowing where we would get the money from. Thankfully, the grandparents have stepped in with their chequebook — for which I am enormously grateful. But I cannot help reflecting on the morality of the whole thing. The money spent on these braces could feed a hungry family for months.

By coincidence, I have just been reading a brilliant essay by the American lawyer and philosopher Paul Kahn. He makes the following striking claim: “Love is a model of injustice. . .

“As a father, I am unresponsive to a claim that other children may make a more just demand upon my recourses. I remain unresponsive, even as I acknowledge that those resources are the product of social and legal constructions that are themselves unfair” (from an essay, “Evil and European Humanism”).

This was exactly my situation with respect to these expensive braces.

Christians often work under the assumption that there is an easy compatibility between the claims of love and the demand for justice. But it is not so. Justice demands that we treat people without favour or bias; that there must be a basic fairness in the way we distribute resources.

Yet families are fundamentally not fair. We spend most of their resources on ourselves. In The Republic, Plato argued that we ought to reorder the very idea of the family on the basis of justice, and he proposed communal families.

There speaks a man who had no children himself.

The Christian task is to press towards a state of affairs where we combine the universalism of justice and the particularism of parental love. Yet we know, realistically, that that is the God’s-eye perspective — to love all people with the passionate love of a father.

For most of us, the demands of love and justice are never going to be fully integrated. The best we can do is to expand the range of our love by constantly seeking to exercise it. Marriage must not be selfishness for two, or families selfishness for three or more.

Yet young Miss Fraser will have nice teeth, and some children will have no food. Lord, have mercy.

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Good News from Presbyterian Land!

As reported on Walking With Integrity:

Today, the 218th General Assembly of the PCUSA voted against discrimination by voting 54% to 46% in favor of providing spiritual and ordination equality for LGBT Presbyterians.

WOO HOO!

Meanwhile, this week's PBS "Religion & Ethics Weekly" includes this story about one of the weddings last week at All Saints Church here in Pasadena ... the marriage of two retired Presbyterian ministers ...

... blogged on here last week under "One More Happily Ever After Story."

Not a bad week at work in the Fields of the Lord, eh?

And now we're gearing up here for a visit from our favorite Bishop of New Hampshire ... who will be preaching at 9 & 11:15 on Sunday at All Saints (as well as speaking in the between-services-Rector's Forum) AND giving a presentation for the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center Saturday night. Check one ... or ALL ... of them out if you're in the neighborhood!

And hug a Presbyterian if you see one ... spread the joy!

And on and on it goes ...

Riazat Butt in today's Guardian:

At Gafcon, who calls the shots?
White conservative Anglican clergy are beginning to pull the strings, squeezing their African brothers out of the picture

It was Canon Vinay Samuel, from India, who accused Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury of not trusting the intelligence of developing churches. The situation is hardly any better at Gafcon, where white conservatives are slowly but surely calling the shots and squeezing their African brothers out of the picture.

The eight-day gathering – which cost $5m and looks like making a small but tidy profit – was set to be the Archbishop Peter Akinola show, until his unfortunate use of the word apostate had the more media savvy prelates cringing into their prayer books.

The explanation given was that Akinola came from a different cultural context and didn't fully understand the impact of what he was saying. The same explanation was given for the African archbishops' silence on acts of torture.
Akinola, previously described as a luminary of the conservative movement, has now been hidden away until Sunday afternoon, when a statement outlining a skeleton structure for a "flying communion" has been issued and, handily, when most of the press will have left Jerusalem altogether.

Gafcon has not been the first time that western clergy have stepped in on behalf of the African primates. Where does interpretation stop and manipulation start? There are concerns over the way the African archbishops project themselves and such a guiding hand is, at best, good public relations and, at worse, patronising. If these men are held in such high regard then they should speak in their own words, without any help.

Williams' supposed lack of trust is reflected in the western clergy's handling of Akinola and co. It is a curious alliance. To the outsider the African churches have the numbers and the westerners bring the infrastructure and savvy. Together they can rightfully claim that they represent half of the Anglican communion and have an intellectual and theological depth to rival Rowan's. The westerners are doing the briefings – on and off the record – and the messages are being put out by them too.

When I say westerners, I mean white people. The African bishops are disappointed that the US bishops – including those who are deposed or disillusioned – are going to the Lambeth conference in July. The Australians, according to Gafconites present in Jerusalem, are unhappy that the Nigerians made the Lambeth boycott decision for them and announced the news before they had the chance.

In the fateful press conference – regarding torture – Akinola said that what was permissible in one culture was not permissible in another, without realising that same-sex unions have become the norm in western society and should therefore be accommodated in the same way that discriminatory legislation and treatment of homosexuals are par for the course in some African countries.
If the white bishops can turn a blind eye to polygamy and persecution then surely the courtesy should be returned.

Gafcon is heading for a clash of civilisations, with the northern and southern hemispheres each trying to assert their superiority. And that's before you get to the rumour about Gafcon being a done deal months ago, with little or no Nigerian input, or the rivalries between the Nigerians and Ugandans, with them trying to out-do each other when praying.

Of course the exception to all this tribalism is the Bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali, who is western but not too western and other but not too other. It has been suggested that he be lined up as an alternative Archbishop of Canterbury, but another suggestion would be for him to not give up the day job

Chicago Consultation Video

It's very worth the three-minutes-and-twenty-six seconds it takes to watch but I have not had any luck trying to embed the Google video into this blog so here's the link instead!

Bits & Pieces for a Thursday Morning

Seizing the few minutes between meetings to do a quick web-prowl, found this wonderful "Picture Worth 1000 Words" from the ever-clever Dave Walker:

AS THE ANGLICAN WORLD
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ACTUALLY TURNS
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Also of notes was the launch of a new website for the Chicago Consultation:

The group’s principal focus is on strategies for advancing the inclusion on GLBT people in the sacramental life of the Church while resisting further discrimination, particularly as the Communion prepares for the Lambeth Conference of Bishops (a once-every-ten-years gathering of all Anglican bishops) in July-August 2008 and the General Convention of the Episcopal Church (the national decision-making body of the Episcopal Church) in summer 2009.

Goals Include:

• To strengthen the movement toward the blessing of same sex relationships.
• To advance the inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Christians in all orders of ministry.
• To strengthen the Anglican Communion’s witness against racism, poverty, sexism, heterosexism, and other interlocking oppressions.

Check out the great resources in its "Making the Case" section and bookmark this one for future reference!

What a difference a coupla days make ...

That was then:

Are the Anglicans About to Split?
Friday, Jun. 20, 2008 By DAVID VAN BIEMA

The schism long forecast for the Anglican Communion over the church's liberal stand on homosexuality may be getting closer. A document released by a group of conservative churchmen called the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFcon) made it clear that the more than 250 bishops who belong to the group intend to transform the 77-million-member global Communion, the world's third-largest affiliation of churches, because of their differences over the church's stance on gay priests and other issues.

Read the rest here.

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This is now:

Threat of Anglican Schism Fizzles
Wednesday, Jun. 25, 2008 By DAVID VAN BIEMA

The would-be Anglican rebels gathered with storm clouds brewing around them. But now, even though the conservative Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFcon) has not concluded its meeting in Jerusalem, the secession it threatened to bring to the 78 million-member Anglican Communion looks like a confused bust.

This all comes as a bit of surprise to the press, which — with ample encouragement from the Church's right — had been framing GAFcon as a decisive step toward schism in the Anglican Communion, the third biggest global religious fellowship.

Read the rest here.

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So there you have it. Let that be a great, big fat lesson to our friends in the press to think twice before swallowing hook, line and sinker the bait being tossed out by the Chicken Littleists in Anglican clothing.

The sky is not falling.

The Communion is not going to rent asunder -- as much as they wish it would -- just because parts of it are actually willing to respect the dignity of EVERY human being and seek and serve Christ EVEN in LGBT folks. The differences they so desperately want to exploit into divisions are the same kind of differences this Communion has muddled along holding in tension for lo-these-many-years and we're going to keep on muddling along.

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In point of fact, if the criterion for the fabric of the communion being "irreparably rent" is the fact that not every Province will receive every bishop (a current example might be Nigeria and New Hampshire!) then the minute they put rochet and chimere on +Barbara Harris we were sunk.

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And we weren't. Yes, there are still folks who do not embrace the full inclusion of women into the Body of Christ but life goes on. Ministry goes on. Mission goes on. And there are a whole lot less of them around than there were back in 1974 when the ordination of women was the LAST great schism that was going to split the church.

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SO ... as we prepare to gather with Anglicans from all around this Great Big Fat Anglican Family of ours in Canterbury for the Lambeth Conference experience, let's be committed to being open to what we can learn from each other as we sit around the table together, not be determined to keep closed the conversation so that we only have to listen to those who are willing to sign the same "confession."

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It's the ANGLICAN COMMUNION, folks -- not the ANGLICAN CONFESSION ... and if you want to belong to a confessional church, feel free to email me ... I'd be happy to refer you one of them.

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In the meantime, leave mine alone.

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A peek at the man behind the curtain ...

Ruth Gledhill, blogging from Jerusalem, posted this interesting bit today:

This is a rare photograph of the millionaire Howard Ahmanson, pictured here at Gafcon in Jerusalem.

He has made a name as a funder of the conservative Anglican cause in the US, as revealed by Jim Naughton in Following the Money. He has a delegate's badge around his neck, but has to my knowledge played no public role in the conference. I can't help but feel that his presence here is significant however. He is a friend and prayer partner of the chief executive of the American Anglican Council, David Anderson, and has a history of funding Christian right missions with an anti-gay objective.

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My, my, my!

WWJB*

*Who Would Jesus Ban?

OK -- I'll admit it. We've been having some fun with the "Gafcon 8" story Ruth Gledhill broke yesterday: the list of folks, pictured below, who ended up on the Gafcon "no entry" equivalent of the Homeland Security "no fly list."

I got dozens of emails yesterday congratulating me on the high honor of being banned from this conference I had no intention of attending anyway. Before you could sing the refrain of "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name" there was a "Ban Me, Gafcon!" t-shirt designed and an "I want to be banned by Gafcon" Facebook group. (with 232 members the last time I checked.)

This morning, though, I've been thinking about it all from a slightly different perspective. I'm wondering what it was about this particular group of eight very disparate folks that ended them up on the "no entry" list in Jerusalem?
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What is it about a priest from Pasadena, a professor from Newark, a New England blogger, a bishop from Colorado and a clergy couple who -- as far as I know -- have been singularly absent from these conversations up until now, that combine to make them such a collective threat? And what actually IS going on at Gafcon that we're lumped together with Colin & Davis -- those fearsome Changing Attitude activists -- and "banned"?

David Virtue (who I admittedly rarely read but checked in with this morning) tried this: This conference, like nearly every conference ever held, is by invitation only, unless you want to attend a Billy Graham crusade. Would the LGBT pansexual Episcopal organization possibly invite an orthodox journalist to listen in on their plans? Of course not.

Sorry, David. The answer is "Of course, yes!" David knows better, actually, having never been turned down credentials for any of the conferences we've organized over the years and Ralph Webb of IRD fame is a regular observer of all things Episcopal.

So I'm wondering if the key words are "listen in on their plans." And I'm thinking that paranoia is just a grown-up version of the little-boy game of putting up a "No Girls Allowed" sign outside their clubhouse and posting a sentry to make sure none of them sneak up and listen in on them. (AKA: The Girl Cootie Syndrome)

Besides, I thought we'd just spent a lot of energy spinning this gathering in Jerusalem as a pilgrimage of faithful Anglicans seeking God's will for themselves and the Anglican Communion? +Akinola sure spent a lot of time in his opening remarks making sure it was clear there were "no plans to break away" from the Anglican Communion.

If that is indeed the case, then what "plans" are being hatched that must be protected from Rob O'Neill ... or Deborah Edmunds? And, at the end of the day, what kind of "global future" is there for a Communion committed to excluding those with whom they disagree?

Exactly.

WWJB? Nobody.

And so, as we countdown to Lambeth Conference and our work and witness there, here's Integrity's answer to the question, Who Would Jesus Ban:

He drew a circle that shut me out
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout
But love and I had the wit to win;
We drew a circle that took him in.
Edwin Markham

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Meanwhile, back at home ...

Dobson accuses Obama of `distorting' Bible

(AP) COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - As Barack Obama broadens his outreach to evangelical voters, one of the movement's biggest names, James Dobson, accuses the likely Democratic presidential nominee of distorting the Bible and pushing a "fruitcake interpretation" of the Constitution.

(But wait ... it gets better!)

Dobson took aim at examples Obama cited in asking which Biblical passages should guide public policy - chapters like Leviticus, which Obama said suggests slavery is OK and eating shellfish is an abomination, or Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, "a passage that is so radical that it's doubtful that our own Defense Department would survive its application."

"Folks haven't been reading their Bibles," Obama said.

Dobson accused Obama of wrongly equating Old Testament texts and dietary codes that no longer apply to Jesus' teachings in the New Testament.

"I think he's deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own worldview, his own confused theology," Dobson said. "... He is dragging biblical understanding through the gutter."

(As opposed to the grand old tradition of selective literalism which allows the reader to declare some bits 'THE WORDS OF GOD' (like, oh say Leviticus 18 and Romans 1) and other bits "confused theology" (like the over 2000 passages about poverty.)
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Read it all here ... or not!

The Guardian Gets It

From Tuesday's Editorial: Clerical Errors

Traditionally, the Anglican communion has been a big tent of mutual tolerance and respect. Its bishops have always enjoyed independent authority within their own dioceses. Its conferences, which take place only once every 10 years, are places for discussion and prayer not sessions of a parliament. They are embodiments of a culture of clerical agreement not one in which a quasi-papal authority is enforced.

The Guardian on Gafcon

An unheavenly silence on homophobia
Clerics at the Global Anglican Futures Conference have been slow to condemn violence against gay people. It's incredible, and unchristian

By Riazat Butt
The Guardian
Monday June 23, 2008

Barely 24 hours into the Global Anglican Futures conference (Gafcon) in Jerusalem and the assembled leaders have already exhausted every synonym for schism, without uttering the word itself, to describe the impact of actions taken by the US Episcopal church and the Anglican church of Canada. The meeting, lasting eight days and costing £2.5m, is the climax of ultimatums and summits, spanning a decade, about the ordination and consecration of gay clergy and the blessing of same-sex unions.

Last night, the Archbishop of Nigeria, Peter Akinola, said the Gafcon movement would liberate people from religious bondage and would offer a spiritual haven for those who could not live under a 'revisionist leadership'. It sounds appealing to the millions of Anglicans disillusioned with western churches. But a press conference revealed acute differences of opinion between the bishops, especially, and most worryingly, on the subject of raping and torturing homosexuals.

A question from Iain Baxter, a media representative from the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, aroused expressions of disbelief and outright denial from the primates. The name of his organisation raised a discomfiting titter. Homosexuality is illegal in Nigeria, Uganda and Kenya and is punishable by a fine, imprisonment or death.

Archbishops from these countries were on the panel. They said they could not influence government policy on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) legislation, nor could they condone homosexual behaviour because their churches would be shut down. They added one could not break the taboos of African society without suffering the consequences.

Presumably, these cultural constraints justify the punishment meted out to Prossy Kakooza, Baxter's example of someone tortured because of her sexual orientation. She was arrested, marched naked for two miles to a police station, raped and beaten.

Akinola did not condemn these acts. Neither did the other African archbishops. Orombi said he had never heard of people being tortured because of their homosexuality, that when he learned about incidents – from the western media – he was at a loss to understand why he had not heard of them. He refused to accept that persecuting and torturing gay people was done openly in Uganda.
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It was clear they failed to grasp how homophobic rhetoric from the pulpit led to violence and intimidation, as described by Colin Coward from Changing Attitudes. Still no condemnation was forthcoming. As a follow-up I asked whether the lack of condemnation meant they condoned torture of homosexuals. It took the Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, to articulate opposition to all acts of violence towards all people. The Africans didn't even nod in agreement.

Their muteness – either because they did not understand the question or did not understand why they had to issue a condemnation – is a harrowing glimpse of a dogmatic and draconian narrative that has not been explored thoroughly; least of all, it seems, by those who have allied themselves with the populous Anglican churches in Africa.

Failure to condemn acts of torture is inhumane, incredible and unchristian. Three characteristics that no Anglican movement should be proud of.
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Honored, I'm sure!

I woke up this morning to an email from my friend Jenny Ladefoged -- longtime L.A. Deputy and former ECW President -- which cryptically said:

Dear Susan, Congratulations - good company! love Jenny

Hmmm ... I wondered. What's THIS about?

Well, pretty soon the email inbox starting "pinging" and I found out.

It was "about" what Episcopal Cafe is labeling "The GAFCON Eight" ... a list of eight folks pictured on a "watch list" described by Ruth Gledhill as "The eight men and women pictured here are on the official list of those to be denied entry to Gafcon should they try to show up."

In case you can't make out the pictures, the list includes Colorado Bishop Robert O’Neill, Nigerian gay activist Davis MacIyalla, Louie Crew, Colin Coward, Scott Gunn and Deborah and Robert Edmunds.

Honored, I'm sure, to be in such august company! (And I'm going to email Ruth and see if there's any chance of getting a copy of this for my scrapbook!)

And, just for the record, Integrity never had any intention of "showing up" for GAFCON ... in fact, we haven't even bothered to send a member of our media team to this one. There are indeed times and places and gatherings about the Anglican Communion where Integrity has felt called to show up -- but this isn't one of them.

The gathering in Jerusalem which at one point painted itself as a alternative Lambeth Conference (which makes as much sense as the bishops of Fort Worth and Pittsburgh having a conference and calling it an alternative to General Convention!) is so busy back-pedaling it's hard to keep track of the spin du jour.

Jim Naughton does his usual excellent job of helping keep it all straight (so to speak:)

GAFCON’s high profile leaders don’t have the strength to force the schism they yearn for. Too few provinces are on board, and not all of those provinces are united in their desire to leave the Communion. Indeed, the people I have spoken to at the conference suggest a wide range of opinion on the issue of schism, even among those devoted enough to fly to Jerusalem to talk about it.

So the leaders of GAFCON are attempting to dress up strategic failure as the dawning of a new phase of their march toward victory, hoping that the media will bite. After five years of schismatic maneuvering, they have said, in effect, that they will associate closely with some Anglicans while trying to make life miserable for others--a state of affairs in no way different today
than it was last month, last year or last decade.

And that, my friends, is why the GAFCON security guards can rest easy tonight.
.
I actually have a full-time job and it isn't lurking around other people's conferences "without portfolio." Sorry to disappoint!

Of course we will be at Lambeth Conference next month -- a very different kettle of fish altogether. Our extraordinarily gifted media team will be providing daily updates. Our national leadership team will be collaborating with allies from around the Anglican Communion to offer the opportunity for an LGBT witness to the Good News of God in Christ Jesus manifest in our lives, our relationships and our vocations. And we will be working with our bishops to support their witness to their brother and sister bishops during their time together as they strive to strengthen the bonds of affection that bind us together as part of the this Great Big Fat Anglican Family.

If you haven't yet contributed to the Canterbury Campaign making this witness possible, it's not too late. Click here to donate online ... or visit the Canterbury Campaign website for more information.

As for me, it's hi-ho, hi-ho and back to work I go. Eucharist at noon, a counseling session at 2, a communication meeting at 3 and then a Memorial Service. (See also: the full time job that isn't lurking about other people's conferences)

Blessings, all! Onward and upward!

.

And now, a voice from across the pond

The Reverend Richard Haggis speaks out in the June 20th TIMES ONLINE:

The establishment of the Church is trapped in a reactionary circle. The increasing power of bishops during the 20th century means that the opinions of lay people are entirely disregarded. Let us have a referendum of lay people in the Diocese of London about Dudley’s choice. But no, the opinion of Christian Londoners matters nothing in comparison with the bigotry of foreign bishops in foreign countries.

I do not mean that to be xenophobic, and the international element of Anglicanism is something I much appreciate (after all, it connects us to those splendid Americans who elected Gene Robinson to be Bishop of New Hampshire — neither Williams, Sentamu, nor Chartres was ever elected, by the way), but the Church of England began quite self-consciously as “a local church for local people.”

It honestly does not matter what they think in Nigeria or Uganda if the Anglicans of London are happy for their gay brothers and sisters to have their marital unions not only respected but blessed in London’s churches.

Gay Rights vs. Religious Freedom?

So here's an Op-ed from earlier this week in the L.A. Times. Note that it ran on June 17th -- the first official "Marriage Equality Day" here in California. And note that it offers a concise summary of what are guaranteed to be some key points in the argumentation we'll hear as we move toward the November election and the "let's put bigotry back into the Constitution" ballot initiative.

Will gay rights trample religious freedom?
By Marc D. Stern
June 17, 2008

Early this morning, gay and lesbian couples were surely lining up at county clerk's offices across the state to exercise their new right to marry, bestowed on them last month by the California Supreme Court.In its controversial decision, the court insisted that these same-sex marriages would not "diminish any other person's constitutional rights" or "impinge upon the religious freedom of any religious organization, official or any other person."

Religious liberty would be unaffected, the chief justice wrote, because no member of the clergy would be compelled to officiate at a same-sex ceremony and no church could be compelled to change its policies
or practices.

And yet there is substantial reason to believe that these assurances about the safety of religious liberty are either wrong or reflect a cramped view of religion.

Read the rest here ...

It's a page off the same playbook the Episcopal neo-cons have been using "lo these many years" -- trying to reframe the story to spin the inclusion of the LGBT faithful as an act of discrimination against "the orthodox" (See also: We're The Victims Here!) and dragging out a whole school of red herrings to sling around in the process.

(Reminder: There is an ontological difference between FEELING discriminated against because you're disagreed with and BEING discriminated against because of who you are!)

That said, as tempting as it might be, we'll be well served to not just "blow off" this op-ed or the others like it that are already in the pipeline.

The battle to secure Marriage Equality by defeating discrimination in November has already begun.

So we need to be simultaneously celebrating with GREAT joy those couples who are now living "happily ever after" in the state of wedded bliss AND concentrating with GREAT intentionality on owning the message and framing the story to preserve that right for those who come after us.

Kudos to Stephanie Campbell, Welton Gaddy and Kari Tervo who all had Letters to the Editor printed in today LATimes in response to Stern's op-ed. Let's get working on our OWN "talking points" ... and be ready to get them out there in the days and weeks and months to come!
.

Happy Summer Solstice!

We got a head start here today:

It was 106!

Dog Heaven

Readers of this blog will know that just two weeks ago, we lost our beloved Harvey who left us after nearly 15 years of tail waggingly unconditional love.

Today another beloved canine companion left this early life when Cuthbert (AKA "Bert") Bradley-Hopkins joined Harvey and all those others who have gone before us.

Michael has written a loving tribute -- "Untroubled Joy: For Cuthbert"-- on his blog "From Glory Into Glory" and I commend it to you:

Love the animals:

God has given them

the rudiments of thought

and untroubled joy.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

.

The GAFCON Spin Cycle Has Begun

Is it

.

Smiles all around

(as per the GAFCON website spash page)

or is it

.

Hard-line bishops make a mess of it

(as per the London Telegraph.)

.

My money is on the Telegraph. Here's a snippet:

.

The Global Anglican Future Conference, or GAFCON as it is appropriately abbreviated, has so far been a shambles. Over 100 bishops, principally from the theologically conservative reaches of Africa and the United States, who believe that they understand the mind of God with sufficient intimacy to dictate terms to the rest of the Communion, were meant to gather in Jordan to do their business before transferring this weekend for a week’s pilgrimage in Jerusalem.

As it turns out, the team’s cheerleader, the belligerent Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria, was denied entry to Jordan and the conference is having to transfer precipitately to Jerusalem, with its spokespeople stammering about hotel bookings becoming unexpectedly available there. The Anglican Church in Jerusalem, headed by Bishop Suheil Dawani, is a reluctant host to these schismatics, which is why their preliminary meeting was in Jordan in the first place.

It appears that the whole exercise was undertaken remotely and with arrogance, taking little or no regard for local middle-eastern sensibilities over how the presence of a bunch of Evangelical Christian hard-liners would play with painstakingly constructed relationships with local Muslim authorities. The GAFCON caravan will, nevertheless, issue demands and statements.

And the quote of the week award goes to ...

... the All Saints Church parishioner AKA "uffda51":

The biggest threat to my marriage is the driver (of either sex) of the black SUV going 85 MPH in the next lane, slurping a latte, while on a cell phone with tech support, attempting to find out why the DVD player isn't working.
.

One more "happily after story ..."

Once upon a time there was a couple who fell in love and decided to have a June wedding.

They ordered flowers for the tables with their names and the wedding date (how original is that!) ...

They decorated the lawn at the church where the reception would be with their favorite colors ...

And while their faithful "flower dog" waited outside for the reception to begin ...
... they gathered with friends and family at the altar of All Saints Church ...

... and vowed to love, honor and cherish each other til death do them part.

And then -- hand in hand and married in the sight of God AND the State of California -- they went in peace to love and serve the Lord ...

And a good time was had by all!!

From the Pasadena Star News feature:

PASADENA - Two quiet, middle-aged women made history Thursday when they became the first women to walk down the aisle and exchange vows in a traditional wedding ceremony at All Saints Church.

Susan Craig and Bear Ride said they didn't care about being first. All the two retired Presbyterian ministers wanted was to be married in the sight of God.

All Saints Rector, the Rev. Ed Bacon, called the wedding of the two longtime church members "historic" for All Saints. "We have believed with all our hearts that to refuse the blessing of the church to such relationships would be an abusive act of injustice," Bacon told the congregation.

Any relationship based on love and fidelity, he said, "always improves the social order and fabric - strengthens the state of marriage - rather than the opposite."

.

(Here's the photo gallery the Star News posted)

How Gay Marriage Threatens Heterosexual Marriage

And now, back to ...

... As the Anglican World Turns

Laurie Goodstein reports on GAFCON in her feature, Rival Conferences for Anglican Church in today's New York Times, writing about bishops who are:

"... boycotting the Lambeth Conference and attending a rival meeting for conservative Anglicans in Jerusalem.

Setting the tone for their meeting, the conservatives released a strongly worded theological manifesto on Thursday in Jerusalem, declaring that they see no possibility for reconciliation with the Episcopal Church in the United States and the Anglican Church of Canada, which have accepted a gay bishop and same-sex unions. The conservatives say that after years of emergency meetings and ultimatums, they have been “ignored,” “demonized” and “marginalized.”

“There is no longer any hope, therefore, for a unified Communion,” the document said.

============

The London Telegraph weighs in on GAFCON:

Gafcon is dominated by the single issue of homosexuality; its relative failure should remind us that ordinary Anglicans – and especially members of the Church of England – are not obsessed with sexual mores or gay marriage. The challenge of Lambeth is to revive Christianity in a secular age. Dr Williams is well aware of that fact, and we wish him well.

===========

Finally, because they're not having QUITE enough fun at GAFCON yet, it seems that the uber-orthodox are going to be sharing Jerusalem with the 2008 Jerusalem Pride Celebration and Parade.

What are the odds?
.

More from Wedding Central

We're gearing up for another wedding today -- 4:30 p.m. -- and I think we're now up to 26 in the queue.

But before I head off to the OTHER things on my "to do" list (the ordinary stuff of parish priest life: a Liturgy Cluster meeting, Newsletter deadline, a Memorial Service to plan with the family and Sunday morning staffing still to do!) I wanted to add a little update to Mel & Gary's wedding yesterday and life-at-marriage-central in general.

=====

Nice piece in Episcopal Life today, by Pat McCaughan (who was with us yesterday):

"The whole issue for us is a pastoral issue," said Zelda Kennedy, who said she first met Mel White when she baptized his grandchild. She added that 23 other same-gender couples have planned weddings at the church so far this year. The next one on the schedule will unite two women "who have made a difference in our community," Kennedy said. "They have come in and focused attention on the homeless, on people on the margins of society. It's a pastoral issue, but it's also a peace and justice issue, and as an African-American woman who is heterosexual I feel it's the right thing to do."

=====

The Los Angeles Times has this piece entitled "California's gay marriage law revives religious debate"

"Homosexual intimacy is out of bounds. It's not what God created us for," said Richard Mouw, president of the evangelical Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena.

Mouw cites Romans 1 in the New Testament that decries men and women abandoning "natural relations" and men "inflamed with lust for one another" committing "indecent acts with other men" -- behavior that carried death as punishment."Sexuality within the context of marriage is the order of creation," he said.

Nonsense, says the Rev. Mel White, a former Fuller professor and evangelical author who married his partner of 27 years in a ceremony Wednesday at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena.

White calls the Bible a living document that must be understood in its historical context -- a view shared by reform-minded clergy and theologians from other faiths.Early Jews and Christians, White said, defended a heterosexual ethic to ensure the continuity of tenuous tribal communities.

These religious pioneers, he added, had no way of foreseeing modern advances in psychology and other fields that would reveal homosexuality as an orientation rather than a choice.

"The Bible says as much about sexual orientation as it does about toasters or nuclear reactors," White said.

=====

The Huffington Post had this to say:

All Saint's rector Ed Bacon presided over the intimate service with approximately 20 friends and family in attendance. He may have surprised a few parishioners and reporters present by noting that the marriage rites were not magic, that after exchanging vows the couple would be no more married than they were before. "Mel and Gary have been living these vows for almost three-decades already," he explained. What they now were, however, was legal, he continued, "a sacred rite of love and justice at the heart of Jesus' teaching and the California Supreme Court's decision" legalizing same-sex marriage.

==========
Meanwhile, over at Stand Firm, the "loyal opposition" has reached a new benchmark in civil blog discourse with this thread posted yesterday: Liar, Liar Pants on Fire.

No quotes from that one, kids. You'll have to venture over there yourselves to "feel the love." (And before I get deluged with "why do you dignify that stuff with a link" let me just say that I find an episodic reality check on just how low the defenders of Christian Values will sink is helpful to keep it all in context.)
.
And this just in from our friends at HRC ... a chance to "share the joy" with couples all over the country AND to support the important work of seeing Marriage Equality is here to stay: HRC's Wedding Registry
.
More later!

+Bruno Reiterates Diocesan Policy

A message from the Bishop of Los Angeles

Dear Clergy and Laity of the Diocese of Los Angeles,

In my last note to you regarding the recent State Supreme Court decision on same sex marriage, I noted that there are canonical, prayer book, and pastoral questions which are raised by the decision.

I continue to be in dialogue with the other bishops throughout California on these issues. In addition, I have established this past week a panel of advice comprised of 18 clergy and laity of the diocese to prayerfully join with me in addressing the effect of the Supreme Court's decision on our diocese and the ramifications pastorally, canonically and on our prayer book. Within the next few weeks this group will have its first meeting and I anticipate that we will meet for at least five two-hour sessions.

I stress that clergy of this diocese are expected to pastorally support all members of their congregations. I remind you that pastoral acts are personal decisions between clergy and members of their congregations. Thank you for your prayers and the care you provide to all God's people.

Yours in Christ,

J. Jon Bruno
Bishop of Los Angeles

They went to the chapel, and they got ...

MARRIED!!

.

At 12:10 p.m. in the chapel at All Saints Church, Pasadena, Mel White and Gary Nixon turned their 27 year partnership into married in the sight of God and the State of California at a service attended by 30-something friends and family and the regular Wednesday Noon Eucharist congregation here at All Saints Church.

All Saints Rector Ed Bacon and Senior Associate for Pastoral Care Zelda Kennedy presided, I read one of the lessons (Book of Ruth, FYI) and a great time was had by all.

.

Here are a couple of snaps from my not-so-fabulous digital camera and I'm posting the text of Ed's sermon below. More to follow but wanted to get this up in between the work I get paid to do here at All Saints Church in order to share with the wider community the joy, privilege and blessing we've had the chance to share here today.

(And let it NOT go unnoticed that today is the VERY 2nd Anniversary of another ground-breaking event for the church-at-large: the election on June 18, 2006 of the Rt. Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori as the 26th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. Mazel tovs all around!)

Ed Bacon signing the marriage license.

The newly married couple preparing to
serve as ministers of communion.

Me with the Happy Couple at the reception following!

.

===========================

.
Mel White and Gary Nixon
Wednesday, June 18, 2008

A Homily preached by the Rev Ed Bacon
All Saints Church, Pasadena, California

Dear friends, we are gathered today with great joy to celebrate two of the strongest forces God ever gave us human beings to help us be fully alive and to help us express the truth that every person carries within him or her the image of God. Those forces are love and justice. It should be emphasized – love for all and justice for all.

Last month the California Supreme Court took a stand for justice for all, holding that marriage is a “basic civil right of personal autonomy and liberty” “to which all persons are entitled without regard to their sexual orientation.” Within a week of that legal decision, the Vestry of All Saints Church gathered and voted on a resolution* stating that All Saints Church, Pasadena will treat with equality all couples presenting themselves for the rite of marriage. This is in keeping with a now 16-year practice at All Saints of recognizing that when members of our faith community find the love of their lives and commit to live in a life-long loving relationship that we would bless those covenants regardless of sexual orientation. To use the language of resolutions of the Episcopal Church, we here at All Saints have been blessing relationships “characterized by fidelity, monogamy, mutual affection and respect, careful, honest communication, and the holy love which enables those in such relationships to see in each other the image of God."

We have believed with all our hearts that to refuse the blessing of the Church to any such relationships would be an abusive act of injustice. Dr. King, in his Letter From a Birmingham Jail, challenged religious communities not to be “adjusted to the status quo, standing as a tail-light behind other community agencies rather than a headlight leading [people] to higher levels of justice.”

So we are gathered together today refusing to be a tail-light. Rather we are here to set the light of God’s justice and love on a lamp stand before others so that they may see the wonderful works of God in bringing people together in love and fidelity so that the holy maturity and generosity that comes from loving relationships always improves the social order and fabric – strengthens the state of marriage – rather than the opposite.

After we marry Mel White and Gary Nixon, in a few minutes, we will sign their marriage license here before this altar. We will transform a thin piece of paper into a substantial sacrament of justice.

Gary and Mel informed me that there are 1,047 federal and state rights and protections that have heretofore been denied couples because they could not be married and which could not be accomplished by domestic partnership arrangements. This marriage license is a door into rights and privileges which have been denied in a discriminatory fashion.

In this act of holy matrimony this day, this church states that it will not be party to discrimination and disrespect and the violence and abuse that always accompany discrimination. For St. Paul wrote, “human standards have ceased to count in our estimate of any human being.” (1 Corinthians 5:16) What counts, rather, is whether the fruit of God’s Spirit is present: love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, generosity, faith, kindness, and self-control. (Galatians 5: 22)

But before we get to that point in our gathering, let us say something about the deeper force, the more enduring force that has brought us here today.

The Episcopal Church in its healthiest expressions has distinguished between magic and sacraments. Rituals do not have magical powers to turn, for instance, a couple from one minute not being married into in the next minute a married couple. Yes, that will happen on the legal plane to Gary and Mel, to be sure.

.

But now we are thinking about the deepest level. This wedding in the end is an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace that has been going on in these men’s life together for now 27 years. They were married long before this moment. In fact the vows they will offer are not the first time they have been expressed. As Gary told me, they have been living these vows for 27 years. They will simply reaffirm vows of which they have been walking witnesses for 27 years.

And these are vows that express a relationship that has given comfort, courage, and hope to thousands upon thousands of teenagers and men and women. That is the goal of every loving relationship – to use the words from the story of Ruth and Naomi – the whole town was stirred because of them. Not only the residents of Lynchburg, Virginia, where through Soulforce, Gary and Mel have bestirred people to hope and courage but throughout the world where people have known of the call to truthforce, soulforce of Gandhi’s satyagraha.

My friends, Gary and Mel, chose not to go to a secular venue for this wedding. Rather, they chose their spiritual headquarters, All Saints Church, Pasadena, where they met and where they were surrounded by a community of faith, whose members are nourished from the riches of God’s grace in the weekly Eucharist. It is this love made tangible that abides when all else fails and fades. It is this love made tangible that is the rock upon which each human being is called to build his or her soul, his or her life, his or her hope, his or her relationship.

Look upon Mel and Gary, yes, as walking witnesses of justice this day. But look upon them even more deeply, my friends, as love made tangible. Love is the strongest force in the world, the greatest of the three things that abide into eternity along with faith and hope, the only thing with the power to heal, to forgive, to persevere, and to transform this beautiful but broken world from the human race into the human family.

Amen.

=========

*MARRIAGE EQUALITY RESOLUTION

Adopted by the Vestry of All Saints Church, Pasadena, California on May 22, 2008

WHEREAS, our baptismal covenant commits us to “strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being;”

WHEREAS, Holy Scripture reveals that we are all created in God’s image and that God embraces all people as equally precious;

WHEREAS, the Vision Statement of All Saints Church, Pasadena, calls us to “embody the inclusive love of God in Christ” and our Foundational Values urge us to be “dispersed throughout this multicultural region for courageous and risk-filled work of peace and justice;”

WHEREAS, All Saints Church, Pasadena, currently blesses same-sex unions, but does not perform the rite of marriage for same-sex couples;

WHEREAS, on May 15, 2008, the California Supreme Court issued its decision holding that marriage is a “basic civil right of personal autonomy and liberty” “to which all persons are entitled without regard to their sexual orientation;” and

WHEREAS, as a result of the Supreme Court’s decision, on June 16, 2008, the State of California will begin to license and recognize same-sex marriages;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Rector, Wardens and Vestry do declare that, as of June 16, 2008, All Saints Church, Pasadena will treat all couples presenting themselves for the rite of marriage equally.
.

Breaking GAFCON News

While we've been busy marrying people here at All Saints Church in Pasadena (more on that shortly!) it seems that the Jordanians are declining +Peter Akinola entry into Jordan for the upcoming GAFCON event.

Episcopal Cafe is commenting on the story reported in Ruth Gledhill's blog:

The GAFCON planners have issued a press release saying that the archbishop flew into Tel Aviv, but was not allowed to cross into Jordan because "previously granted permission was deemed insufficient." The Jordanians apparently told Akinola that he needed clearances beyond those afforded by his diplomatic passport.

Readers of the Café will remember that Akinola, a fierce critic of Islam, has refused to answer questions about his knowledge of, or involvement in, the retributive massacre of some 700 Muslim
in the town of Yelwa in northern Nigeria in 2004.

The massacre was carried out by a para-militia wearing clothing
associating it with the Christian Association of Nigeria of which Akinola was then president.

Stay tuned!

NOT what I said!

Today's NYT has an article about marriage equality here in California entitled "Blessings and Anguish for Pastors in California."

.

Laurie Goodstein is a great reporter and it's a good "slice of life" here in the Golden State where we're experiencing a wide diversity of responses to the historic Supreme Court ruling that opened the way for marriage equality on June @ 5:01 p.m.
.

HOWEVER, I am quoted in the article as saying the following:

.

Bishop J. Jon Bruno of Los Angeles has authorized clergy members to perform same-sex marriages, said the Rev. Susan Russell, associate pastor at All Saints Church, and president of Integrity, a gay and lesbian advocacy group in the Episcopal Church.

.

Nope. Didn't say it. Isn't true. Not correct. Even if he wanted to he couldn't. Etc, etc, etc.

.

I've already emailed Laurie to clarify and I TOTALLY understand that given how complicated this all is -- even for those of us in the middle of it -- that secular reporters don't always "get" what we're saying when we talk to them.

.

But here ... for the record ... is how I understand the policy here in this diocese and of my bishop:

.

In his May 22nd statement to the clergy and laity of the Diocese of Los Angeles, +Jon wrote:

.

I remind you that pastoral acts are personal decisions between clergy and members of your congregation.

.

We at All Saints Church have been performing blessings of same-sex couples for over 16 years within that parameter, while at the same time advocating for systemic change within the Episcopal Church to acheive the full and equal claim it has promised it's gay and lesbian faithful since 1976. Now that civil marriage is legally available for same-sex couples in California we will be performing them within the same parameters.

.

Our bishop has not "authorized" us to "perform same-sex marriages." He has reminded us that we are called to act as pastors to our people. And that's what we're doing.

.

I hope that's clear.

.

And now, I have to get off to church and get ready for a wedding at noon!

.

"Film at Eleven"

The news truck was out front today ... and may be back tomorrow when Mel White and Gary Nixon become our first-to-be-married-at-All Saints-in-the-new-world-of-marriage-equality ... and here's the story they told on Channel 4 at 6 & 11:

Clergy affected by same-sex marriages

"For some spiritual leaders, performing a same-sex wedding ceremony means as much to them as it does to the couples joining in marriage."

==========

.

The reporter didn't get it quite right ... I am not "the" pastor here and I am NOT presiding tomorrow ... (the rector is!) ... but I will be there rejoicing with Mel and Gary ... and then on Thursday with Susan and Bear, and then ...

(The reporter did get THAT part right: we're a little busy right now!)

.

Sexism at All Saints on Sunday

Beauty Bites Beast!

We're thrilled to welcome our friend, Ellen Snortland, to the All Saints Church Rector's Forum this Sunday -- June 22nd -- at 10:15! Be there or be REALLY sorry you missed it!

As Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama emerged as front runners in the presidential primaries, it was easy to be grateful for the strides that were made because of the Civil Rights and Women’s liberation movements in this country in the ‘60s. And yet, as some voters asked themselves which Democratic candidate would be better qualified to face a Republican opponent in the fall, they asked themselves, which runs deeper in our psyches, racism or sexism?

Writer and documentary film maker Ellen Snortland reflects on the impact the recent primary season had on her as a leader whose work focuses on freeing women to claim the liberation, respect, and power every person deserves. Her book and film Beauty Bites Beast is the fruit of her work as a tireless advocate for women and girls, and the need to equip everyone to be physically safe.

A regular columnist for the Pasadena Weekly and frequent contributor to Ms Magazine, she has a law degree from Loyola, and has produced a one-woman show, Now That She’s Gone, a comic memoir about growing up Norwegian American in the Midwest. A clip from her film will be shown and copies of her book will be available.

One of those pictures worth 1000 words:

Del is 87 and Phyllis is 84

.

As our friend Malcolm Boyd

said at his and Mark's blessing a few years ago,

"At our age the words

'til death do you part'

take on a whole new meaning!"

.

May God grant them all...

.

Del & Phyllis,

Diane and Robin,

Mel & Gary,

Susan & Bear

etc

etc

etc

.

... a lifetime of love, joy and celebration

of the mystery of love and miracle of relationship!

.

(And I hold in my heart today a special place for those whose partners did not live long enough to see this historic day. I pray that the joy of those who today and in the days and weeks to come commit themselves to each other in marriage will be a comfort and solace to those who still grieve "what might have been" ... and that we remember to give thanks for all those on whose shoulders we stand as we rejoice at this inch reclaimed on the planet growing green with love and joy and celebration!)

.

A Star Is Born!

Abel Lopez, fielding questions this afternoon from Telemundo TV at All Saints Church on -- what else??? -- GAY MARRIAGE!

We are so blessed to have such an articulate advocate for the inclusive gospel "en Espanol!"

Film at 6 & 11!!!

.

At 5:01 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time ...

Marriage Equality became a reality in the State of California!

Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times

The first couple to officially start living happily ever after were Robin Tyler and Diane Olson, married by Rabbi Denise Eger on the steps of the Beverly Hills Court House.

MAZEL TOV!

A Prayer for This Day

With joy and love we celebrate the couples who will be married today. Grant them peace in their homes and love in their hearts that they might always create a place for faith in both.

Open our hearts to those who would protest our love and call us names. Guide us to be whole in our faith and know that their words are not God's.

May our covenants be blessed and our marriages honored. Let every court be called a house of marriage for all couples.

Grant us health, prosperity and peace on this day and forward.


And let the people say: Amen!

============

News coverage:

KNBC: LA County's First Same-Sex Marriage Conducted In Beverly Hills
KABC: Video report
KCAL9: Lesbian Couple Weds Legally In Beverly Hills
Reader Q&A on Gay Marriage from the L.A. Times
.

WOO HOO!!!

103-98
.

... and now it's back to Boston!!
.

WHEW!!!

.

Anna Quindlen on Marriage

Love Wins!
.
Scream, shout, jump up and down. No matter. The gay-marriage issue is over and done with. The upshot: love won.

Do read it all here ... but here's my favorite quote. (And thanks, Missy, for pointing this one out!)

"Here's what I don't understand: is there so much love and commitment in the world that we can afford, as a society, to be contemptuous of some portion of it? If two women in white want to join hands in front of their families and friends and vow to love and honor one another until they die, the only reasonable response to that is happy tears, awed admiration and societal approval. And—this part is just personal opinion—one of those big honking KitchenAid mixers with the dough hook."

And let the people say, AMEN!

Some churches open their doors to same-sex weddings

By AMANDA FEHD, Associated Press Writer

Dozens of churches throughout the state have endorsed a November ballot initiative to ban gay marriage. But when same-sex couples begin leaving municipal offices next week with marriage licenses in hand, some clergy will be meeting them at the altar.

Episcopalians, Unitarian Universalists, rabbis, a Methodist and even a Catholic priest are planning to bless some same-sex marriages when they are set to become legal in California on Monday.

"I believe the family is a cornerstone for a strong society, and I'm all in favor of everything we can do to build up the values that make strong families," said the Rev. Susan Russell of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, which has been blessing same-sex unions for 16 years.

"I think the values matter more than the gender of the people making up the heads of those families," Russell said.

Read the rest here.

Question for the "Windsor Compliant" Crowd ...

Just wondering where this quote from the foreward to the 2004 Windsor Report fits into their demands for "compliance:"



This Report is not a judgement. It is part of a process. It is part of a pilgrimage towards healing and reconciliation.

Or have they forgotten that the point of whole darned thing was to find a way to bring members of the Communion together in spite of our differences, not vote members out in the name of "compliance?"
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And what happens to the Church of England now that they've publicly crossed the "blessing" threshold?
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Looks like it'll be an interesting summer.
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Wedding Bells Across the Pond

Episcopal Cafe is reporting:

In what is apparently the first public same-sex wedding in the Church of England, two gay priests were married at one of London's oldest church, using a ritual taken substantially from the Book of Common Prayer . The ceremony included marriage vows, exchanging rings, and the Eucharist. The language was slightly edited for use by two men.

The ceremony for The Rev. Peter Cowell, Priest Vicar at Westminster Abbey, and the Rev. Dr. David Lord was held at The Priory Church of St. Bartholomew the Great in London.

See bulletin from the Liturgy here.

The Priory Church of St. Bartholomew the Great was a location used in the filming of Four Weddings and a Funeral.

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MAZEL TOV!

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On Father's Day & Family Values

Me and My Dad ...

circa 1959

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I’ll admit I’ve often thought of Father’s Day as a Hallmarkian pseudo-holiday designed to rally the nation to shop for something Dad didn’t need or want while encouraging the BBQing of something that was probably bad for his cholesterol. So I did a little research. Here is some of what I discovered:

Sonora Dodd, of Washington state is credited with the idea of a "father's day" – which she thought up while listening to a Mother's Day sermon in 1909. Sonora wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart: a Civil War veteran, who was widowed when his wife died while giving birth to their sixth child and was left to raise the newborn and his other five children by himself. After Sonora became an adult she realized the selflessness her father had shown in raising his children as a single parent and since her father was born in June, she chose to hold the first Father's Day celebration in Spokane, Washington on the 19th of June in 1910 and in 1972 it was President Richard Nixon who finally signed the law that made it a permanent holiday.

So there you have it: “fun facts to know and tell about Father’s Day” – a day that really has nothing to do with shopping and BBQing and everything to do with the extraordinarily selfless love of a devoted parent – with celebrating the values that truly make us “family.” And so it seemed to me that this Father’s Day is a particularly good day to focus our reflections on what has become a very popular topic: Family Values.

To start with, let’s look at what JESUS says about families [Matthew 10:34-42]

“Do not suppose that I came to bring peace on earth. I came not to bring peace but a sword. I have come to turn a son against his father, a daughter against her mother, in-law against in-law. One’s enemies will be the members of one’s own household.”

No surprise that this tenth chapter of Matthew turns out NOT to be the scripture text that gets chosen for the picket signs by those who sometimes drop by All Saints Church to “say hey” or by those opposing marriage equality in California. But it just may be among the texts we should bookmark the next time someone suggests that returning to “Biblical Family Values” is the way to go.

A case in point is a recently released declaration opposing marriage equality based on "the biblical teaching that God designed marriage as a lifetime union of one man and one woman." As my friend and colleague Jay Johnson put it, “For biblical literalists, they don't know much about the Bible.”

In fact, what Biblical families and American families share in common is the word "family" – and not much else.

By far the most common marriage pattern in the Bible is polygamy: not a union of one man and one woman, but a union of one man and as many women as he could afford to keep (see also: Solomon, with his 700 wives and 300 concubines). And in the Christian scriptures, the two primary figures, Jesus and the Apostle Paul, are both unmarried and childless. There is no gospel according to Ozzie – no Letter from Harriet to the church in Rome – framing the early church’s understanding of what it is to be family!

Rather – following the model of Jesus and his disciples -- the first Christians developed a model of family that broke with ancient kinship patterns in favor of a non-biological family. “Who is my mother and my brothers?” Jesus said to those trying to lay a nuclear family guilt trip on him. “Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” It was a radical concept then and it is a radical concept now.

It is a concept that continues the decidedly unsettling vision of God's world, God's agenda: our allegiance is not to even our most beloved human institutions but to a God who is making all things new while continuing to call us beyond our comfort zone – calling us to partner with God in (stop me if you’ve heard this one before) turning the human race into the human family.

THAT, my brothers and sisters, is the essence of “Biblical Family Values.” And no matter how the Religious Right tries to twist our ancient Biblical texts into the pretzels necessary to prop up their contention that Ozzie-and-Harrietism is God’s only plan for everyone’s life, the “clear truth of scripture” (and I do not use those words unadvisedly or lightly!) is that Biblical Family Values have nothing whatsoever to do with the gender of the partners who make up a family and everything to do with the VALUES lived out in that family.

Paul wrote about these values, calling them the "fruit of the spirit": "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control" (Galatians 5:22).

Surely these are Biblical Values every family would embrace. According to Paul, "love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude...It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). Even when knowledge and human institutions fail, these values, Paul says, remain constant: faith, hope and love. The greatest of these three, Paul concludes, is love (1 Corinthians 13:13).

And now more words of wisdom from Jay Johnson: “Societal definitions of marriage and family will inevitably change over the course of history. It is clear that what is important in the Bible is not a family structure based on biology or even heterosexuality, but the quality of love exhibited in the relationships. And if same-sex couples exhibit such spiritual values, they deserve the legal protection and civil recognition of marriage.

If we have any intention of preserving marriage or protecting families, we must base our support on values that are unchangeable: values such as faith, hope, and love. But the greatest among these — whether the couple is same-sex or heterosexual — is love.”

The greatest of these is love. The love of a God who loved us enough to become one of us and called us to love each other in the same radically transformative way. The love of families that come in all shapes and sizes and configurations and empower us to reach out in love to a broken world. The love that transcends boundaries, builds bridges, moves mountains and ultimately proves even more powerful than the barriers of orientation or ethnicity; of race, creed or color.

There is much to celebrate in the week ahead: Father’s Day on June 15th and then, on June 17th the extension of marriage equality to ALL families in the State of California. And as we celebrate, let's pray that we might all be given the strength and courage … the faith and fortitude … to live our lives in accordance with the Biblical Family Values that point us toward the goal of making the human race the human family -- toward the dream of the God who is Father and Mother of us all!
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Happy Father’s Day!

The Quote of the week award goes to ...

... Patt Morrison in the L.A. Times.

"She wants to not have her wedding cake and keep everyone else from eating it too."

From her June 12th Opinion Piece: Aisle denial in Bakersfield ("Following the same-sex marriage ruling, Kern County's clerk has called a halt to performing civil marriages. Freedom Rides, anyone?")

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Norway adopts gay marriage law

OSLO (AFP) — Norway's parliament on Wednesday adopted a new marriage law that allows homosexuals to marry and adopt children and permits lesbians to be artificially inseminated. After a heated debate, the members of parliament adopted the text by a vote of 84 to 41.

Norway thus became the sixth country in the world to grant homosexuals the right to marry on an equal footing with heterosexuals, according to Norwegian television TV2.

Read the rest here.

'Prophetic opportunity' says +Marc Andrus

California bishop urges all couples to seek civil union first, then church blessing

[ENS] By Pat McCaughan, June 11, 2008
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Andrus called the May 15 California Supreme Court decision a "prophetic opportunity" and noted that the church has worked for full inclusion and to further the rights of LGBT people for 40 years. Continuing those efforts will include "bringing the witness of our LGBT sisters and brothers to this summer's Lambeth conference," the July 16-August 3 decennial gathering of bishops from across the Anglican Communion at the University of Kent in Canterbury, England, Andrus said.

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Andrus also said he opposes a November 4 ballot initiative to amend the state constitution to limit marriage to a man and a woman. If passed, it would overrule the Supreme Court decision, which struck down an eight-year-old ban on gay marriage. The court on June 6 refused to stay its decision, paving the way for same-sex couples to legally marry starting June 17.

"The Diocese of California will publish advertising around June 17 celebrating the Supreme Court ruling and inviting same-sex couples to our churches for pre-marital counseling and nourishment in communities of faith," Andrus said. .
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Full inclusion will also mean "providing leadership at next summer's General Convention to bring our marriage practices and theology in line with our fundamental baptismal theology," Andrus added.

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Integrity's Russell, an associate priest at All Saints Church in Pasadena, California, said Andrus' actions "go the extra mile" by shifting the burden for past inequities away from those who are marginalized and by "offering straight couples the opportunities to step up and share that inequity."

By "encouraging all couples to do the civil union separate from the blessing of the church … that's now what gay and lesbian couples have," said Russell, who said she'd just returned from preaching at the June 7 ceremony celebrating the civil union of Bishop V. Gene Robinson and his long-time partner, Mark Andrew, in New Hampshire.

Robinson and Andrew held two services—a secular service in which they became legal partners followed by a blessing of their relationship at St. Paul's Church.

Russell said that requests for weddings have increased at All Saints, Pasadena, which has included a "One-stop Shop for Marriage Equality in California" link on its website, with several same-gender weddings "coming up quickly," on or around June 17.

"We're not changing our policy (regarding weddings), but we are opening it up to comply with the laws of the state of California," she said. That policy require couples to receive mandatory premarital preparation and that at least one person belong to the church, with some exceptions.

California has an estimated 108,734 same-sex households, according to 2006 U.S. Census figures. The state offers same-sex couples registering as domestic partners some legal rights and responsibilities afforded to married couples, including the right to divorce and to sue for child support.

Proponents of the November 4 ballot initiative hope to add California to the list of 26 states that have approved constitutional amendments banning same-gender marriage. If passed, it is unclear how the measure would affect the status of marriages performed prior to November 4.

Russell called the court ruling "an unasked for, but extraordinary opportunity to examine what we mean by the sanctity of marriage.

All Saints has received support from its congregation and across the church, "from straight couples (who) … say how much they believe their marriage is strengthened by the example of other committed couples embracing the same values they do," she said. "I like to think this is a whole new chapter for the institution of marriage to be stronger."

The Magnificat Mary DIDN'T Sing!

I'm co-leading a weekly book study group on Brian McLaren's "Everything Must Change" and tonight's class covers Parts 3 & 4. I read them on the plane home from Boston last night and just love how well he articulates -- in really accessible language -- the challenge to look beyond what he calls "the religion about Jesus" that the conventional church has become to "the religion of Jesus" that the work and witness of our Lord was all about in the first place.

Most of it isn't new to me. In McLaren's writing I hear echoes of Verna Dozier, Ed Bacon, Desmond Tutu and Barbara Harris (to name a few.) But I particularly loved his chapters on "reframing Jesus" and wanted to share in this space his example of the Magnificat Mary DIDN'T sing as food for thought.

My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my personal Savior, for he has been mindful of the correct saving faith of his servant.

My spirit will go to heaven when my body dies, for the Mighty one has provided forgiveness, assurance and eternal security for me -- holy is his name.

His mercy extends to those who have correct saving faith and orthodox articulations of belief, from generation to generation.

He will overcome the damning effects of original sin with his mighty arm; he will damn to hell those who believe they can be saved through their own efforts or through any religion other than the new one He is about to form.

He will condemn followers of other religions to hell but bring to heaven those with correct belief. He has filled correct believers with spiritual blessings but will send those who are not elect to hell forever.

He has helped those with correct doctrinal understanding, remembering to be merciful to those who believe in the correct theories of atonement, just as our preferred theologians throughout history have articulated.

[McLaren, Brian. Everything Must Change. pg. 103]

"Family Matters ..."

... in the Pasadena Weekly

Family matters

The state Supreme Court’s decision on gay marriage brings the law into sync with reality for many Pasadena parents and children
By Joe Piasecki 06/05/2008

Read the whole feature here ...

Television writer Bill Walker and corporate financial manager Kelly Ziegler, All Saints Church parishioners who met at the church and had a commitment ceremony (they call it a family blessing) there in 2001, plan to get married as quickly as possible.

“We’ve gone before God. It’s just the state we’ve been waiting on,” said Walker, who is planning another small ceremony at the couple’s home. “All the neighbor ladies want to throw it for us,” he explained.

Being able to marry is especially important to the couple because they have a 7-year-old daughter and a 2-year-old son.

“We both came from close families and really wanted a family,” said Walker. “Our friends say we’re the most old-fashioned couple they know. We feel ridiculously happy for this decision. We feel like we got it all.”

Playing Catch up ...

It's a very busy day in the All Saints neighborhood, but I wanted to post up a couple of things in between meetings before I get my nose back to the grindstone!
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For starters, yes we "felt the heatwave" when we were in New England ... a picture of these pansies outside our hotel room should be worth about a thousand words:

"Wilted" just about covers it!

In other news:

The New York Times offers:

Gay Union Shed Light on Gender in Marriage, which includes this insight:

A growing body of evidence shows that same-sex couples have a great deal to teach everyone else about marriage and relationships. Most studies show surprisingly few differences between committed gay couples and committed straight couples, but the differences that do emerge have shed light on the kinds of conflicts that can endanger heterosexual relationships.

The findings offer hope that some of the most vexing problems are not necessarily entrenched in deep-rooted biological differences between men and women. And that, in turn, offers hope that the problems can be solved.


The Advocate is running "The Bishop's Bittersweet Day", an exclusive look-behind-the-scene of +Gene & Mark's civil union last weekend by the wonderful Irene Monroe (with some great pictures!) The piece concludes with a question posed by Monroe and answered by +Gene in his new book:

So why does Robinson bother to be a June bride?

In Robinson’s new book, In the Eye of the Storm: Swept to the Center by God he answers the question.

“Our civil union will no doubt be reported by the press. I can't stop that. But I can rejoice that somewhere in Idaho or Ontario or Sussex there's a gay boy or a lesbian girl who will read about it and know that they too can aspire to a healthy, whole life with a person of the same sex -- and that they don't have to give up their faith along the way. It might occur to them that they too can put their sexuality and their spirituality together in a way that makes for happiness and spiritual depth. Like me, they may have always dreamt of being a June bride. But unlike me, they will know it is possible.”

Finally, I do take note with some bemusement at the amount of energy being expended over in Stand Firm Land in the comments around the events in New Hampshire last weekend. Not that they're commenting. Not even that they're negatively commenting. (That is, after all, what they do!) No -- the bemusement is at the focus of the comments on [a] my hair and [b] +Gene's shoes.
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I'm just going to let that one speak for itself.
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And now, back to staff meetings! (Good to be back!)

MOST an Amazing Day!

So we're getting ready to head to the airport and back home from our weekend in the New Hampshire, where I had the privilege of preaching at the blessing of the civil union of Mark Andrew and his partner Gene Robinson.

As noted in the Concord Monitor report, the service was a private celebration for family and close friends in the same church (St. Paul's, Concord) where +Gene was elected Bishop of New Hampshire five-years-ago-to-the-June 7th-day.

I did a video interview during the reception describing what a great day it was ... you can view that here ... (and for those planning to send me hair styling advice, that's what my hair looks like outside when it's windy and humid ... get over it! :)

And I've been asked for the text from the sermon, so here it is. And now, off to see some Boston/Salem sights before we wing home ... have a great Monday, everybody!

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Most This Amazing Day 2.0
1 John 4: 7-16, Matthew 5: 14-16

Our prayer book appoints certain texts in its lectionary as particularly appropriate for a day like today. Gene and Mark have chosen two of them – texts that focus our attention on the God who is the source of all love and on the light we are called to bear into the world in response to that love. And in what might be considered a preacherly presumption, I want to add a third text from my own “lectionary” of texts particularly appropriate from today: a poem of celebration, which does double duty as a prayer of thanksgiving:

i thank You God for most this amazing day:
for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;
and for everything which is natural
which is infinite
which is yes
(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birth
day of life and love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)
how should tasting touching hearing seeing breathing any-
lifted from the no of all nothing-
human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?
(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)
- e e cummings

The Gospel According to e e cummings!

What an extraordinary privilege it is to stand before you today as we share with Mark and Gene most this amazing day – as we celebrate that which is natural which is infinite which is yes! What could be more natural than that two people should find each other, find love in each other and find themselves all dressed up on a Saturday afternoon -- standing in front of God and a church full of friends and family to declare that love in a service of blessing and commitment. Most natural – most familiar – and most amazing.

It is always amazing when two people find the courage to say “yes” to love – “yes” to commitment – “yes” to each other in this profound and public way. Yet on most THIS amazing day we celebrate not only the yeses that Gene and Mark say to each other this afternoon – but all the yeses that have paved the way for them to share their joy in this celebration … and for all the yeses that will follow in the weeks and months and years to come as other couples celebrate “that which is natural that which is infinite that which is yes” in their love for God and for each other.

There may be many yeses ahead of us before we come to the blessed day when blessed days such as today are finally more ordinary than extraordinary – but even while we recognize that there is much work ahead of us, I pray that we be given the grace to ALSO recognize just how much we have to celebrate with Mark and Gene – with the Diocese of New Hampshire – with the Episcopal Church. On most this amazing day I recall in a particularly meaningful way the words of my favorite modern-day prophet: Sister Joan Chittister.

Sister Joan famously said, “We are each called to go through life reclaiming the planet an inch at a time until the Garden of Eden grows green again.” And that is precisely what we are doing in this service of blessing: witnessing the reclaiming of an inch growing very green indeed as Gene and Mark give us the chance to stand with them as they take their place in that arc of history that Martin Luther King assured us “bends toward justice.”

And lest you flinch at the word “justice” – fearing that the preacher is about to “get political” – let me hasten to contextualize what I believe is the motivating essence that bends that arc in the first place. “Justice,” as described by former presiding bishop John Hines, “is the corporate face of God’s love.”

The justice we see realized today in this community gathered – this couple blessed – this bread broken and shared – is nothing less than the corporate face of God’s love. What we are witnessing today is not only the celebration of the love these two beloved men have for each other but the most amazing love that God has for all of us – love that is so much wider, broader and more abundant than we can either ask for or imagine.

For the love of God is broader than the measure of the mind.
And the heart of the eternal is most wonderfully kind.
If our love were but more faithful, we should take Him at his word,
And our lives would be thanksgiving, for the goodness of the Lord.

“If our love were but more faithful” … Mark & Gene’s love – for God and for each other – HAS been that faithful … they have taken God at God’s word and managed – sometimes against most amazing odds – to live lives that are thanksgiving for the goodness of the Lord. Like the light on the lamp stand described in Matthew’s gospel, In the same way, you have let their light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

It is worth noting that immediately preceding this passage in Matthew are these familiar verses: 10‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely* on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

No one ever said this was going to be easy – this loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself stuff. But I can think of few couples who have been quite as “blessed” as Gene & Mark have been by the opportunities they’ve had to be reviled and persecuted – not to mention having all KINDS of evil uttered falsely against them! And yet, their life together is an example to us today of the covenant love between two people which is an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace: of what it is to live into our full humanity as creatures created in the image of the one who’s very essence is love – in the image of the God who created us, redeemed us and sustains us.

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God;
everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

The love we celebrate on most this amazing day – the light that Gene & Mark shine into the world from the lamp stand of their lives together -- has nothing whatsoever to do with the gender of this couple committing themselves to God and to each other and everything to do with the love that our Lord and Savior gave to us as his own commandment.

And so Mark and Gene stand before God -- firmly rooted in the tradition they inherit – embodying the historic faith they profess – chosen to go and bear fruit as they proclaim the Good News they have been given to a world aching to hear it … as we lift our voices to tell the “old, old story of Jesus and his love.” (And no, I’m not going to sing again!)

Our context for telling that old, old story is a culture where we are surrounded by those yearning for spiritual community but convinced they know enough about being a Christian not to want to be one. They are those who have heard Pat Robertson on Larry King Live -- and hearing words that that are narrow, judgmental and exclusive hear nothing what is represented as “Christian Values” that they want any part of. Nor should they. Nor should we.

What we have to offer instead is a unique and God-given opportunity to provide a different vision of what the Christian life and faith are all about. We have the chance to witness to our experience of a God who is about justice rather than judgment and whose inclusive love is available to all people -- to a community of faith that asks not “who do you love” but “DO you love?”

Yes, there is some controversy around our actions here in the Diocese of New Hampshire today – but there is also much joy, support and excitement … and an extraordinary opportunity to tell that old, old story. It is, my brothers and sisters, an opportunity for evangelism!Far from undermining the sacrament of marriage, I believe what intend here today builds up ALL relationships Let us take heart that while the church and culture and the communion continue to wrestle through questions about marriage and unions and sacraments and sanctity, the blessing Gene and Mark are claiming today enriches not just their lives but all of ours.

Blessed to be a blessing, they help us experience the transformative love of God – blessing us so that we may be a blessing in return and draw others in to be blessed by being part of this community of faith. It is a grand and glorious circle – and it is the work we should be about – MUST be about as the people of God if this Garden is ever to grow green again.

Finally, on most this amazing day let us rejoice and be glad in the inch reclaimed and let us pray for strength to continue the struggle until the ears of all ears awake and the eyes of all eyes are opened – til everything has breath

gives thanks to God

for all that is natural

all that is infinite

all that is yes. Amen.

Out of the Park!

"I ask all of you to join me

in working as hard for Barack Obama

as you have for me."

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Transcript of the whole speech here.

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My favorite quote:

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"Every moment wasted looking back keeps us from moving forward. Life is too short, time is too precious, and the stakes are too high to dwell on what might have been. We have to work together for what still can be."

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Amen. Amen. Amen!

On a very personal note ...

We landed in Boston at 2:30 this morning to the sad news in a message from home that our faithful friend & companion Harvey died Thursday night.

Casting about the internet for a prayer for the occasion, I came across this one by Rudyard Kipling. (Who knew?)

A Dog for Jesus
(Where dogs go when they die)
I wish someone had given Jesus a dog.

As loyal and loving as mine.
To sleep by His manger and gaze in His eyes
And adore Him for being divine.

As our Lord grew to manhood His faithful dog,
Would have followed Him all through the day.
While He preached to the crowds and made the sick well
And knelt in the garden to pray.

It is sad to remember that Christ went away.
To face death alone and apart.
With no tender dog following close behind,
To comfort its Master's Heart.
And when Jesus rose on that Easter morn,
How happy He would have been,
As His dog kissed His hand and barked it's delight,
For The One who died for all men.

Well, the Lord has a dog now,
I just sent Him mine,
The old pal so dear to me.
And I smile through my tears on this first day alone,
Knowing they're in eternity.
Day after day, the whole day through,
Wherever my road inclined,
Four feet said, "Wait, I'm coming with you!"
And trotted along behind.

Rudyard Kipling

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So give thanks with us for the life of Harvey -- and for all the faithful animal friends who show us unconditional love in their too-short-on-earth-lives. And may we be given the grace to love each other as they have loved us -- knowing that even the greatest love we know here on earth is only a glimpse of the love that the One who created us in love and is the source of love offers to us and to all creation.

R.I.P. Harvey Emerson Brooks
1994 - 2008

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Added June 7, 2008: Harvey Slideshow

Leavin' on a jet plane ...

... and I DO know when I'll be back again!

But in the meantime, blogging may be sporadic while we spend a long weekend-away combining some business and pleasure in Boston and New Hampshire.

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Up, up and away!

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Class Act

Dear Susan,

I wanted you to be one of the first to know: on Saturday, I will hold an event in Washington D.C. to thank everyone who has supported my campaign.

Over the course of the last 16 months, I have been privileged and touched to witness the incredible dedication and sacrifice of so many people working for our campaign. Every minute you put into helping us win, every dollar you gave to keep up the fight meant more to me than I can ever possibly tell you.

On Saturday, I will extend my congratulations to Senator Obama and my support for his candidacy. This has been a long and hard-fought campaign, but as I have always said, my differences with Senator Obama are small compared to the differences we have with Senator McCain and the Republicans.

I have said throughout the campaign that I would strongly support Senator Obama if he were the Democratic Party's nominee, and I intend to deliver on that promise. When I decided to run for president, I knew exactly why I was getting into this race: to work hard every day for the millions of Americans who need a voice in the White House.

I made you -- and everyone who supported me -- a promise: to stand up for our shared values and to never back down. I'm going to keep that promise today, tomorrow, and for the rest of my life.

I will be speaking on Saturday about how together we can rally the party behind Senator Obama. The stakes are too high and the task before us too important to do otherwise.

I know as I continue my lifelong work for a stronger America and a better world, I will turn to you for the support, the strength, and the commitment that you have shown me in the past 16 months. And I will always keep faith with the issues and causes that are important to you.

In the past few days, you have shown that support once again with hundreds of thousands of messages to the campaign, and again, I am touched by your thoughtfulness and kindness. I can never possibly express my gratitude, so let me say simply, thank you.

Sincerely,

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Speaking of Compassion

A Reading from Hosea (5:15–6:6)

The Lord said, “I will go back to my place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face. In their suffering they will make haste to seek me: ‘Come! Let us return to God – the One who has torn us asunder will make us whole; the One who struck us down will bind our wounds. In two days, God will bring us back to life and on the third day God will restore us so we will live in the presence of the Most High.

Let us come to know God intimately, and pursue that knowledge zealously. And as sure as the sun rises in the morning, God will come, and will return to us like the rains of winter, like the rains of spring that water the earth.’ Oh Ephraim, what am I going to do with you? And Judah, what am I going to do with you? Your devotion is like the morning fog, like the dew of the morning that vanishes! So I hack them to pieces through my prophets and slay them with the words of my mouth. My judgments flash like lightning before you.

For I desire kindness toward others, not sacrifice, acknowledgement of God, not burnt offerings.”

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PSALM 50:7–15

Hear, O my people, and I will speak!
Hear, O Israel, and I will testify against you! I am God – your God.

I do not fault you for your sacrifices – on the contrary,
your burnt offerings are always before me.

It is just that I do not need oxen from your stall or goats from your folds,
since every beast of the forest is mine already; I have cattle on a thousand hills!

I know every bird in the mountains, and all that moves in the field is mine.
If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and all that is in it is mine.

Do I eat the flesh of oxen, or drink the blood of goats?
Offer me a sacrifice of thanksgiving instead, and fulfill the vow you make to me!

Then call upon me in the day of trouble – I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”

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Matthew (9:9–13)

As Jesus was walking along, he saw Matthew, a tax collector, at his post. Jesus approached and said, “Follow me,” and Matthew got up and followed. Now it happened that, while Jesus was at table in Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and notorious “sinners” came to join Jesus and the disciples at dinner.

The Pharisees saw this and complained to the disciples, saying, “What reason can the Teacher have for eating with tax collectors and sinners?” Overhearing the remark, Jesus said, “People who are in good health do not need a doctor; sick people do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire compassion, not sacrifices.’ I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”

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First Hosea: "I desire kindness towards others, not sacrifice ..."

Then the Psalmist: "Offer me a sacrifice of thanksgiving ..."

Finally, Jesus with his "third time is the charm/what-part-of-be-good-to-each-other-don't-you-get words from Matthew's Gospel: "Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire compassion, not sacrifices.’"

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I hear these lessons for Sunday in conversation with last week's Gospel -- again from Matthew:

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Anyone who hears my words and puts them into practice is like the sage who built a house on rock. When the rainy season set in, the torrents came and the winds blew and buffeted the house. It did not collapse because it had been set solidly on rock. Anyone who hears my words but does not put them into practice is like the fool who built a house on sandy ground. The rains fell, the torrents came, the winds blew and lashed against the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”

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"Anyone who hears my words and does not put them into action ..."

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There it is -- it isn't just about feeling compassionate -- it's about acting with compassion. That is the rock we build our house on -- the one that will withstand the torrents and the winds -- the conventions and the conferences -- the resolutions and the referendums. Even the bloggers and the pundits.

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Maybe it is because of the shrill, mean-spiritedness of so much of what passes for public discourse these days that these lessons speak so much to me this week.

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What church meeting did I miss that made being Dogma Obedient more important than being Gospel Compliant? When did tearing down a candidate do anything to build up a nation? And what drives those who sit coiled to strike like poison snakes with blog comments that tear apart and break down those who differ with them on websites that purport to represent "traditional values?"

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No wonder Jesus wept.

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To paraphrase Hosea: "For I desire kindness toward others, not sacrifice, acknowledgement of God, not flaming blog posts.”
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Yes, there's room for difference, for disagreement, for PASSIONATE DEBATE even -- but when we lose sight of our call to compassion -- of the reality that the person we most disagree with -- the one who most vilifies us -- is as beloved a child of God as we are -- then no matter how orthodox our theology or rubrically correct our liturgy or adamantly adhered to our polity we're in the same boat as those with the oxen and goats and burnt offerings going nowhere.
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And that's not a boat I want to be in.
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In other news ...

The other news here in Pasadena is the All Saints Church building project, which has been on the drawing board for about the last three years and is now moving into public hearing, permit stages.

If you're interested about all the details, you can click here and go to the All Saints website for lots of great background.

We've gotten some "push back" from the Planning Commission, as reported in Monday's Pasadena Star-News but we're moving ahead to satisfy concerns and get the ground broken!
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Finally, here's a great Letter to the Editor that they printed in the Star News today in support of our project:

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Mixing styles works
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The fact that All Saints Church is one of Pasadena's best and most respected institutions is beyond question. That may not entitle that church, so wonderfully engaged in good works all around Pasadena, to a blanket pass on complying with building design standards, but it should give them firmly the benefit of any doubt.
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Mixing old Pasadena design styles with the best modern expressions that contemporary architects have to offer should be seen as the exciting plus that it is.
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That is especially true for All Saints, which has led in so many ways in preserving traditional core religious worship, music and cultural styles, while at the same time offering newer and innovative expressions of those styles.
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The adoption of fresh new design to coexist with its classic Gothic church architecture emphasizes this church's resounding commitment to contemporary life without sacrificing its essential beliefs.
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Pasadena's strength is its amazing diversity. We should all applaud All Saints' exciting new design that honors both the church's and the city's commitment to diversity. We should not have to judge compatibility through the lens of a fixed and a relatively changeless design, no matter how elegant and historical it may be.
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Anyone who has any doubt about the mixture of different architectural styles from different periods of history should see the splendor of the Harvard Yard, which combines old New England styles with the changing styles of over four centuries of its history, including even newer-style glass buildings. There are many other examples.
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As longtime admirers and former active member of All Saints, we urge the city to give the church that has been a beacon of service to the community wide latitude to create its own sense of place. Its good judgment and love for this city can be relied upon by all of us. If some limiting notion of a unifying theme must prevail, let it be through landscape architecture, even tied into the City Hall's, not through the design of the neighborhood.
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Bob Carlson
Maureen Carlson
Pasadena
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State Supreme Court won't block start of same-sex marriages

State Supreme Court won't block start of same-sex marriages

By Bill Lindelof - Sacramento Bee

The State Supreme Court has rejected a request to postpone last month's decision overturning the state's ban on same-sex marriage.
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The Alliance Defense Fund, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based group opposing gay marriage, joined with other opponents and asked the court to stay its decision until voters had a chance to cast their ballots on the matter again in November.
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But by a 4-3 vote released Wednesday by the court, a rehearing was denied.

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The order also said that the decision of the court on May 15 would become final on June 16 at 5 p.m., paving the way for gay marriages the following day at county offices throughout the state.
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In arguing for a delay, the amendment's sponsors predicted that chaos would ensue if couples could get married during the next few months, only to have the practice halted at the ballot box.
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The same four justices who joined in the majority opinion that found withholding marriage from same-sex couples constituted discrimination denied the stay request. The three dissenting justices said they thought a hearing on whether the stay should be granted was warranted.

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Other reports:

Reuters: California court says gay marriages can proceed

AP: Calif. court refuses to stay gay marriage ruling

CBS News: Calif. Gay Marriage Ruling Goes Forward

Awesome Youth Preachers from Youth Sunday @ All Saints Church

The whole sermon -- "Teach Your Children Well" -- including Wilma Jakobsen's introduction -- can be viewed here.

USA TODAY Today

Episcopal bishop downplays discord at upcoming Anglican meeting

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[USA TODAY June 2. 2008]

By Daniel Burke, Religion News Service

Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said last Tuesday that she does not expect up-or-down votes on the role of gays and lesbians in the church at a meeting of global Anglican leaders in England this summer.

The Lambeth Conference, a once-a-decade gathering of bishops from the 38 provinces of the worldwide Anglican Communion, will instead be an opportunity for bishops to work out differences in closed-door discussion groups, according to organizers.

"I don't expect legislation at Lambeth. That's not why we're going," Jefferts Schori told reporters. "It's a global conversation. ... It's not going to make a final decision about anything."

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The article concluded with this tidbit about GAFCON:
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Jefferts Schori said Bishop Robert O'Neill of Colorado will attend GAFCON on behalf of the U.S. church.

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The presiding bishop also said she looks forward to the newly designed Lambeth Conference.

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"The reality is that parliamentary procedure, including the way it's practiced in this country, leads generally to winners and losers," Jefferts Schori said. "When we meet face to face, we have far more opportunities to meet each other as complex human beings rather than as single-issue positions."

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12 years ago today ...

... at St. Francis of Assisi Episcopal Church in Simi Valley California I was ordained a deacon the church of God by the Right Reverend Frederick Houk Borsch, then Bishop of Los Angeles.

I could neither have asked for nor imagined either the challenges or the opportunities these last 12 years have offered on that June afternoon at St. Francis. I know I felt on that day that I had come to the end of a long and winding road called "the discernment process" but, in reality, it was just the beginning -- and the discernment never stops!

It has been an extraordinary privilege to be called into this ministry at this time in this diocese in this church. I feel tonight -- after a yet-another very long and VERY wonderful Sunday at All Saints Church -- the most blessed of women.

There will be time enough soon enough to get back to all the things that need sorted out, reflected upon, challenged, organized, sermonized and otherwise acted upon.

Tonight I'm grateful for the grace just to be grateful for the privilege of serving God in this church -- and for all those who share the joy of this work and witness.
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