An Inch At A Time: Reflections on the Journey: Dear Bonnie,

Thursday, February 06, 2020

Dear Bonnie,

Dear Bonnie,

It is Thursday before your Saturday consecration as the 11th Bishop of Michigan and I'm sitting here with my morning coffee feeling a bunch of feels.

I'm feeling delighted for the Diocese of Michigan in specific and the Episcopal Church in general as we gain a awesome addition to our House of Bishops -- and I'm feeling challenged by how far we have yet to go until that House genuinely reflects the diversity of our Big Fat Episcopal Family.

I'm feeling sad that I won't be there in person to celebrate -- and I'm feeling grateful for both the great cloud of witnesses who will be gathering and for having lived long enough that live-streaming is a thing and we can be part of the digital-congregation celebrating out here on the Left Coast.

And I'm feeling nostalgic. Having spent some time digging through an archive of old pictures this morning, I'm remembering a long list of milestones we've had the privilege of sharing along the way to this big day; good times and bad times; steps forward and steps back; a lot of water under a lot of bridges on the journey.

I'm remembering the year you led the conga line around the floor of the House of Deputies, introducing the budget to the tune "You Can't Always Get What You Want." And I'm remembering the dour senior clergywoman who was not only not amused ... but who shook her head and said what a shame it was Bonnie Perry had just lost any hope of every being elected as a bishop. (Shows how much she knew!)

I'm remembering the crazy wild ride of 2003 when we all worked together to secure consents to the Gene's election in New Hampshire ... and then hung together to weather the storm that followed. I'm remembering when you hosted the steering committee of Claiming the Blessing at All Saints in Chicago in January and had to explain to me that "Yes, 1 is actually a temperature around here." I'm remembering when you and Thomas teamed up as the floor managers in the House of Deputies as we fought off the push back during the height of the Inclusion Wars.

I'm remembering both the devastation of the adoption of B033 in 2006 and the work you helped drive with the Chicago Consultation to move the Episcopal Church beyond being blackmailed into bigotry by those using the lives and vocations of the LGBTQ faithful as bargaining chips in a game of global Anglican politics.

And I'm remembering the unmitigated joy we shared in Salt Lake City in 2015 as the Supreme Court decision brought civil marriage equality to our country and the General Convention brought canonical marriage equality to our church. (Look at those faces!)

In an Instagram post this morning our sister Becca Stevens wrote "I've been a minister for 28 years now. And sometimes I really do believe it's all about the hokey pokey. The answer to the questions about how we live into our faith is to put our whole selves in."

And so with all the remembering, what I'm remembering most is how fully and completely you have put your whole self into all of it.

The ups and the downs ... the battles and the celebrations ... the conga lines and the caucus fights ... as a priest and pastor, as a rector and reconciler -- 100% all the time. And what I'm rejoicing in on this Thursday morning before the Saturday of your consecration is how you will continue to put your whole self in as a Bishop in the Church of God -- and how we will all be blessed by that.

George Regas ... our rector emeritus here at All Saints in Pasadena and one of the valiant allies in the struggle for both women's ordination and LGBTQ inclusion ... famously challenged us to "set audacious goals and to celebrate incremental victories.

In these dark and challenging times we need to celebrate those incremental victories more than ever as we work to dismantle oppression in all its forms and strive to respect the dignity of every single human being. And so on Saturday, February 8 we will pause for a moment in the struggle to celebrate with the good people of the Diocese of Michigan the incremental victory for love, justice and compassion of your consecration as their 11th Bishop.

Bonnie, you're going to be a great bishop ... and I'm so very proud to know you and call you friend.

All best blessings,
Susan

1 comment:

Gloria said...: Thank you Susan for publishing this one amazing woman to another tribute to Bonnie. I, too, will be watching from afar. Sigh.; 9:06 AM

... where I try to be really clear about what I'm clear about. For example:

Religious persecution is when you're prevented from exercising your beliefs, not when you're prevented from IMPOSING your beliefs.

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Using "biblical standards" to condemn those who understand that sexual orientation is morally neutral makes as much sense as using "biblical standards" to condemn astronomers who understand that the earth revolves around the sun. The Bible may have said it but that doesn't always settle it.

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It's liberty and justice for all -- not some. It's respect the dignity of every human being -- not just straight ones. Got it? Great. Let's do it.

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In order to keep moving forward toward liberty and justice for all we can't just be right about what the 1st Amendment protects. We have to be smart about how we respond to those who skipped the 9th Commandment and think lying is a Traditional Family Value.

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Jesus said "Love your neighbor." Not "Love your neighbor unless your neighbor is gay."

Smart things other people have said you should know about

“Faith in action is called politics. Spirituality without action is fruitless and social action without spirituality is heartless. We are boldly political without being partisan. Having a partisan-free place to stand liberates the religious patriot to see clearly, speak courageously, and act daringly.” -- Ed Bacon

“Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"It's time for "tolerant" religious people to acknowledge the straight line between the official anti-gay theologies of their denominations and the deaths of these young people. Nothing short of changing our theology of human sexuality will save these young and precious lives." -- The Rt Rev Gene Robinson

"How can you initiate someone into the Body of Christ and then treat them like they’re half-assed baptized?" - The Rt Rev Barbara Harris

“I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” ~ Elie Wiesel, 1986 Nobel Peace Prize

"Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant with the weak and wrong. Sometime in your life, you will have been all of these." — Siddhārtha Gautama

"I'm so glad Mary didn't wait for the formulation of a Doctrine of the Incarnation before she said 'Yes' to God." -- Ed Bacon

"The great Easter truth is not that we will be born again someday but that we are to be alive here and now by the power of the resurrection." -- Philips Brooks (paraphrase)

"History belongs to the intercessors, who believe the future into being.” -- Walter Wink

“Patience, a quality of holiness may be sloth in the soul when associated with the lack of righteous indignation.” -- Abraham Heschel

"Don't tell me what you believe. Tell me what difference it makes that you believe!" -- Verna Dozier

“We establish no religion in this country, we command no worship, we mandate no belief. Nor will we ever. Church and state are, and must remain, separate. All are free to believe or not believe, all are free to practice a faith or not, and those who believe are free and should be free, to speak of and act on their belief. At the same time as our constitution prohibits state religion, establishment of it protects the free exercise of all religions. And walking this fine line requires government to be strictly neutral.” -- Ronald Reagan

Let's be clear. The fact that the State authorizes a marriage in no way compels any Church to perform or recognize it. Marriage equality merely guarantees equality under the law to all citizens; it does not compel churches to do anything.-- Katherine Ragsdale