On the road again ...

After a VERY successful, stimulating, inspiring Lent Event at All Saints Church (bravo/a to Michael Battle, JoAnne Terrell & James Carroll who were EXTRAORDINARY speakers on the themes of violence, religion and the American soul!) I hit the airport early this morning and am in the Bay Area for the week.

I am off to head up to CDSP momentarily for a meeting with Inclusive Church allies ... here from "across the pond" to talk more about plans for the Looming Lameth Conference ... and then for the bi-annual meeting of THE CONSULTATION and the annual EPISCOPAL URBAN CAUCUS assembly, which concludes Saturday morning.

We'll be launching our "Beyond B033" campaign with a workshop for Caucus members and I want to note here, once again, how gratifying it was to have the EUC adopt at its 2007 Annual Assembly the following resolution:

RESOLUTION OPPOSING RESOLUTION B033 of the 2006 GENERAL CONVENTION

RESOLVED, That the Assembly of the Episcopal Urban Caucus meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina, February 7 – 10, 2007 expresses its opposition to Resolution B033 of the 2006 General Convention of the Episcopal Church; and be it further,

RESOLVED, That this Assembly calls on bishops with jurisdiction and Standing Committees to give their consent to otherwise qualified persons who have been elected bishop without regard to “race, color, ethnic origin, national origin, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, disabilities or age” (Canon III.1.2); and be it further,

RESOLVED, That this Assembly asks the Board of the Episcopal Urban Caucus to determine ways in which the 2008 Assembly might more completely address the issues raised by B033 and develop a strategy for its repeal at the 2009 General Convention; and be it further,

RESOLVED, That this Assembly asks the Board of the Episcopal Urban Caucus to communicate this resolution to all bishops with jurisdiction and Standing Committees of the Episcopal Church.

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As we move forward into 2008 and look ahead to GC09, let's all bookmark these two arguments against B033, voiced by Canon Robert Brooks and posted on the EUC website:

1. It constitutes an attempt to amend the Constitution and Canons of The Episcopal Church by means of a simple resolution of General Convention without using the process for making amendments specified in the Constitution. The qualifications for election or ordination of a bishop are in the Constitution and require a constitutional amendment to add new qualifications (i.e., passage by two successive General Conventions). Resolution B-033 purports to add qualifications to the election or ordination of a bishop to those in the Constitution without having submitted them in the form of a constitutional amendment. This constitutes an end-run around the Constitution. Resolution B-033 is therefore unconstitutional and as such, it is unenforceable.

2. Resolution B-033 lacks specificity as to the “manner of life” that is prohibited in a candidate for ordination as a bishop. In the development of democracy and the rule of law, it is a principle that any prohibited behavior in a society must be narrowly defined in law. Individuals cannot have their right to full participation in civic life denied because of some vague definition that changes from day to day at the whim of those in power. Resolution B-033 is an example of the worst abuse of law, because it allows the denial of ordination as a bishop to those other-wise qualified on the basis of nothing specific, but only that someone, somewhere, might be upset by the unspecified “manner of life”. Such a resolution is a dangerous precedent and places everyone at risk by its potential for capricious application.

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And let the people say: AMEN!

And if you are NOT familiar with the extraordinary committment and dedicated work of these fine organizations, do check out their websites and give thanks for those whose vocation is to work with God toward that day when justice does INDEED roll down like waters and when righteousness flows like an ever-flowing stream!

More later ... have a great week, everybody!

Another kind of purpose driven life

This story came to me in an email from a parishioner (thanks, Jack!) and I offer it this First Sunday in Lent with prayers to all for a Holy Lent and Joyous Easter!

Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog's owners, Ron, his wife, Lisa, and their little boy, Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle.
I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn't do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home. As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.

The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker's family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away.

The little boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Belker's death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives. Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, "I know why."

Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I'd never heard a more comforting explanation.

He said, "People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life -- like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?" The six-year-old continued, "Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long."

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Lessons we can learn from a dog

(Which would also make an excellent list for a Lenten Discipline!)

• Live simply.


• Love generously.


• Care deeply.


• Speak kindly.


• When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.


• Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.


• Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy. Take naps.


• Stretch before rising.


• Run, romp, and play daily.


• Thrive on attention and let people touch you.


• Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.


• On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.


• On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.


• When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.


• Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.


• Be loyal.


• Never pretend to be something you're not.


• If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.


• When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently.

What next with the "Anglican Covenant?"

It's been an-even-busier-week-than-usual in All Saints Church land so I haven't had time to do much more than glance at the reactions to the release of the latest on the proposed Anglican Covenant. As usual Fr. Jake has a great overview and response over at "Jake's Place" and the ever eruidite Mark Harris offered a "first read" reflection. Tobias Haller's reflection is entitled "A Covenant With Death" and Episcopal Cafe asks the important question, "Yes, but what is it for?"

What I have to contribute to the conversation are not, at this point, reflections of my own, but of +Joe Morris Doss ... shared here with his permission.

Check it out ... and have a great weekend!

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I am glad to see that this will be a topic of discussion and I know it will be a good discussion. It seems to me that the most important thing — by far — is the fact that it is being submitted to Lambeth merely for “reflection” and not for some sort of ratification or acceptance. This is one hell of a victory!

Let the bishops reflect and offer their thoughts this summer, let the primates and other “instruments” reflect and offer their thoughts a year from now, and let the covenant committee continue to meet and draft away until it is timely for Provinces to consider a concrete proposal (if ever). Fine.

Meanwhile, we go about our business here, the international structures remain the same, and disagreements about human sexuality and scripture get resolved the old fashioned way: ye ol’ muddle through, slogging it out with hard work, difficult communications, and prophetic actions.

Most importantly, the statement seems to be offer recognition that the “ultimate” decision making bodies are in the individual provinces — exactly where they belong. The ACC and Primates are to be offered the opportunity to make proposals for reception of a proposed Covenant, after Lambeth and one year from now, (when the draft committee may or may not have one) but “ultimate consideration” will have to be made by “synodical process.”

To have this group recognize this is, in my opinion, significant.

What I think should be discussed, in addition to the line by line analysis of the latest draft, is anticipation of the next fight. It will not be over the draft, but over the urgent desire to speed up the process to a precipitous decision to adopt a Covenant, something like what is drafted to date, through our international instruments, beginning with Lambeth — and thus to force the rest of us to our knees or to throw us out the door.

What was produced at the last meeting is too obviously and too totally a defeat for those demanding the Covenant and thus the radical change of the Communion. There is going to be a fight. Identify that fight, on what ground, etc., and prepare.

God Moves to the Left

Great piece by our friend Giles Fraser in The Guardian today -- reflecting on his pilgrimage to the U.S. last fall, which included a stop-and-stay here in Los Angeles.

Here's the introduction to "GOD MOVES TO THE LEFT":

America's evangelical Christians are anti-gay, pro-gun, keen on capital punishment and obsessed with lower taxes. And, of course, they all vote Republican. At least, that's what vicar Giles Fraser thought -- until he went to meet them.

You really must read it all here ... but in case you're rushed for time and need to bookmark it for later, here's the conclusion:

For two months I travelled the US on my mini-pilgrimage, preaching in churches, staying with friendly church leaders and listening to the views of ordinary Christians in the pew. A lot has been said about those US Christians who are to the right of Attila the Hun and who believe multiple crazy things about the world and the world to come. We are rightly anxious about the degree of political influence these people have come to exert. But they are actually in the minority.

We don't hear about the progressive side to US religion because it doesn't fit the stereotype. These Christians are passionately concerned with issues of poverty and social justice, they run soup kitchens, give generous proportions of their income to good causes, have taskforces to reduce their carbon footprint, go on demonstrations against the war, and speak out against the use of torture. God bless America.

Indeed! And God bless Giles Fraser ... and God bless the commitment to proclaiming the Good News of God in Christ Jesus that shatters stereotypes and brings us an inch closer to that Garden of Eden growing green again!

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Truth and consequences

I had about an hour with local reporter Carl Kozlowski last week and here's the result: a feature in this week's Pasadena Weekly.




Truth and consequences
by Carl Kozlowski

As the president of Integrity USA, the 30-year-old national Episcopal lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) advocacy organization, the Rev. Susan Russell has been at the forefront of some of the boldest, most inclusive and most controversial policy statements of any church leader in America. She’s also the convener of “Claiming the Blessing,” a national ministry focused on the full inclusion of the LGBT population within the Episcopal Church, and a charter member of the Human Rights Campaign’s Religion Council.

But it’s in her role as the senior associate for parish life at All Saints Episcopal Church that Russell has a strong hand in the discussions of social, political and moral issues in Pasadena. And as All Saints celebrates its 125th anniversary this year, Russell finds the challenges to equal rights and social justice of all stripes are just as formidable as ever — but also utterly worth fighting to overcome.

This weekend, All Saints plays host to a special three-day conference on “Violence, Religion and the American Soul,” which will involve “examining the state of the American conscience” and exploring “the Christian responsibility to live a faith of nonviolence, healing and respect.”

As the Episcopal Church wrestles with the ordination of gay bishops and a pending split by conservative factions that include four Orange County parishes, Russell spoke with the Pasadena Weekly about the importance of speaking out and the occasional consequences that come with it.

“Looking back at All Saints’ history, and then considering gay and lesbian issues, it’s all part and parcel of our commitment for 125 years to be an outspoken voice on behalf of inclusion. It goes back to World War II, when our rector protested the deportation of Japanese to internment camps,” said Russell. “Later our rector was the only white clergyman willing to stand with Martin Luther King in the Rose Bowl. It’s been amazing, looking back at our history and seeing that it’s part of the DNA of this particular congregation and this particular place, not just part of [current Rector Rev. Ed] Bacon and [Rector Emeritus George] Regas. It’s a challenge to find how to continue living that out.”

As an openly gay minister herself, Russell has been a strong supporter of Bishop V. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay cleric to be selected as a bishop in the American Episcopal Church. But since his controversial appointment in 2003, a vocal minority has led a number of Episcopal parishes to break away from the national church leadership — even attaching themselves to more conservative Africa-based wings of the international Anglican Communion.

In Russell’s opinion, the fight is worrisome, yet she feels it signifies a coming seismic shift in the American Episcopal Church.

“I think that we’re coming to the end of this chapter of the saga. I think that those who have articulated their desire to leave have already done so. Some will come back,” said Russell. “I remember in the 1970s when a parish in Glendale called Holy Apostle tried to leave the church because of the ordination of women. The odds are that 20 years from now we’re going to look back with the same result, wondering what the big deal was and seeing that the church moves on as it moves forward.

“The reasons [Episcopalians are] having trouble has nothing to do with churches like All Saints or Bishop Robinson, but a small percentage of the radical conservative fringe who insist the only way to make peace is capitulate to their position,” she added. “There’s not a lot of wiggle room with people who believe they have full possession of the truth.”

In keeping with the All Saints tradition of frank and full discussion, Russell noted another factor in the struggle for full acceptance of gays and lesbians. “Bishop Gene Robinson is the only honest gay bishop in the church. There are definitely other gay bishops but he’s the only one who’s been honest about his life and his relationship,” said Russell. “So in some ways he’s the sacrificial lamb.”

There will be no sacrifices made at All Saints this weekend, as the church plays host to the anti-violence seminar featuring such guest luminaries as Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan, Archbishop Tutu disciple and author Rev. Michael Battle, Chicago Theological Seminary Professor of Ethics and Theology JoAnne Terrell, and award-winning Boston Globe journalist James Carroll.

“It’s interesting timing for us here at All Saints in terms of … the political and cultural climate right now, because issues of violence are certainly here in Pasadena,” said Russell. “In the wider culture, we’re looking at increasing evidence that we as a nation are condoning torture, and also — from many of our perspectives — waging a preemptive, unnecessary war of aggression in Iraq."

“What All Saints wants to offer in this conference is an opportunity to reflect on the impact of that kind of systemic violence on the American soul, and how we as people of faith can use our faith as a witness to be peacemakers rather than warmongers.”

“Violence, Religion and the American Soul” runs Friday through Sunday at All Saints Church, 132 N. Euclid Ave., Pasadena. Admission is $40 for the seminars on Friday and Saturday, or $25 for either Friday or Saturday only. On Sunday, the conference concludes with keynote speaker James Carroll preaching the sermon at the 9 and 11:15 a.m. services. Call (626) 583-2781 or visit www.allsaints-pas.org to find the complete schedule of events.

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Thanks, Carl! I couldn't have said it better myself! :)

Now IS the acceptable time

It is Ash Wednesday once more – the entry point for yet another 40-day Lenten journey toward Easter. We hear again the words as familiar as their outward-and-visible signs etched on our foreheads: “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.”

On this Ash Wednesday, as the liturgical season shifts from Epiphany to Lent, we are called to make a shift, too. During these weeks since Christmas our lessons have focused on the “epiphanies” of those who encountered Jesus along the way and knew somehow, at some point, in some perhaps indescribable way, that they had experienced the holy: experienced what have been called one of the “Ahas!” of God.

And now our focus shifts, as it does every year at this time, from stories about those outward manifestations of God's presence among us to a more interior place as we journey with Jesus on the road we know leads to Golgotha – to the cross – and ultimately, to the resurrection. And so, on this Ash Wednesday, here is my annual advice for the journey ahead: Do not give up epiphanies for Lent!

Let us not become so inwardly focused that we forget to notice – to give thanks for – to respond to – those encounters we can and will have with the holy in the next 40 days. Let us not become so focused on our own “journey with Jesus” that we forget that as long as there are still strangers at the gate, walking humbly with our God is not enough: let us not forget that we are also called to do justice.

Let us do an even bolder and more prophetic job of claiming “justice doing” as essential to our identity as Christian people – as Lenten pilgrims. Let us, by all means, pray silently to our God who is in secret, but let us at the same time proclaim loudly to those who would dismiss our activism as “agenda driven” that our agenda is a GOSPEL agenda: that our call to do justice is rooted deep in the roots of our history as a people of God – in these words of the prophet Isaiah:

Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up quickly.

“Here I am,” our God promises – ready to lead us through whatever wilderness we face: to accompany us wherever the journey goes. On this Ash Wednesday 2008, I wonder if a wilderness we are being called into is named “Presidential Election Year,” as I count the cost of the challenge to those of us who are called to be peacemakers – justice seekers – reconcilers – as the divisive and polarizing rhetoric of the political machine continues to ramp up.

And I wonder if a wilderness we are being called into is labeled “Anglican Politics” as those bent on dividing the Episcopal Church continue to work toward the schism they are determined to pull off here in the American Church, as bigotry continues to triumph over baptism with the exclusion of the Bishop of New Hampshire from the Anglican Communion’s Lambeth Conference and as the 30-year old commitment to listen to the experience of the gay and lesbian faithful goes unfulfilled.

And I wonder if a wilderness we are being called into is named “Interfaith Dialogue” as we continue to live into the challenges of being peacemakers and bridge-builders with our Jewish and Muslim allies committed to a just peace in the Middle East.

Yet these are just some of the “wildernesses” into which we are called this Lent.

If we are to be a people who have bread to share with the hungry we must challenge those who would spend all our resources on arms for an immoral war that continues to kill Iraqi citizens and take American lives.

If we are to serve the God whose fast is “to let the oppressed go free” we must speak out when gay and lesbian families are threatened once again with becoming sacrificial lambs on the altar of presidential politics.

If we are to choose the fast Isaiah offers us this Lent, we must continue to undo the thongs of the yokes of racism AND sexism that continue to hold this country and this church in their grasp.

And if we are to live up to our baptismal covenant we must advocate for just immigration policies that will truly respect the dignity of every human being.

It is Ash Wednesday once more – the entry point for yet another 40-day Lenten journey toward Easter. And now IS the acceptable time. May we be given the grace to choose the fast our God calls us to choose … trusting that the One who calls us into this wilderness will be with us and bless us on the journey.
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Have a SUPER Shrove Tuesday/Marvelous Mardi Gras!

“Laissez les bon temps rouler"

Whatever your celebrations look like, make them SUPER ones ... here's what we'll be doing at All Saints in Pasadena ... what's going on in your neck of the woods?

PANCAKES AND POLITICS AT PASADENA PARISH

Pancakes and politics will both be part of the February 5th Super Tuesday observances at All Saints Church in Pasadena, the church that defended its pulpit against the IRS in the 2004 election cycle, as parish members will gather for a traditional Shrove Tuesday pancake supper and watch primary results on monitors in the fellowship hall.

“Pancakes on Fat Tuesday is one of our Anglican traditions and putting our faith into action is one of our All Saints traditions,” said the Reverend Susan Russell, All Saints Church associate for Parish Life. “So having our politics and eating our pancakes, too is just who we are at All Saints, Pasadena!”

“Faith in action is called politics,” said All Saints rector Ed Bacon explaining All Saints’ perspective. “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.”

All Saints Church is located at 132 North Euclid Avenue in Pasadena and pancakes are being served from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 5th.
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