NO ANGLICAN COVENANT launches communion wide campaign

Happy Richard Hooker Day!

It is no coincidence that today -- November 3rd AKA the Feast of Richard Hooker -- was chosen to launch an international campagin to oppose the proposed Anglican Covenant.

The new website -- No Anglican Covenant: Anglicans for Comprehensive Unity -- offers an impressive wealth of resources, background information and context to inform, empower and engage in the process of pushing back on this ill conceived proposal. And I am honored to listed among a truly amazing cloud of witnesses calling our communion to reclaim its foundational value of Anglican comprehensiveness.

Like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, the current proposal is coercion in covenant clothing. Scripture and tradition tell us to value the ideal of Covenant. Reason tells us to reject this proposal lest we throw out the baby of historic Anglican comprehensiveness with the bathwater of hysteric Anglican politics.

Here's today's press release.

INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN SEEKS TO STOP ANGLICAN COVENANT

LONDON - An international coalition of Anglicans has been created to campaign against the proposed Anglican Covenant. Campaigners believe the proposed Covenant constitutes unwarranted interference in the internal life of the member churches of the Anglican Communion, would narrow the acceptable range of belief and practice within Anglicanism, and would prevent further development of Anglican thought.

The Coalition's website will provide resources for Anglicans around the world to learn about the potential risks of the proposed Anglican Covenant.

"We believe that the majority of the clergy and laity in the Anglican Communion would not wish to endorse this document," according to the Coalition's Moderator, the Revd. Dr. Lesley Fellows, who is also the Coalition's Convenor for the Church of England. "Apart from church insiders, very few people are aware of the Covenant. We want to encourage a wider discussion and to highlight the problems the Covenant will cause."

The idea of an Anglican Covenant was first proposed in 2004 as a means to address divisions among the member churches of the Anglican Communion on matters ranging from human sexuality to the role of women. The current draft of the Covenant, which has been unilaterally designated as the "final" draft, has been referred to the member churches of the Communion.

The proposed Covenant establishes mechanisms which would have the effect of forcing member churches to conform to the demands and expectations of other churches or risk exclusion from the Communion.

Critics of the proposed Anglican Covenant, including members of the new Coalition, believe that it will fundamentally alter the nature of historic Anglicanism in several ways, including the narrowing of theological views deemed acceptable, the erosion of the freedom of the member churches to govern themselves, and the concentration of authority in the hands of a small number of bishops.

Two English groups, Inclusive Church and Modern Church, ran anti-Covenant advertisements in last week's Church Times and the Church of England Newspaper aiming to make more members of the Church of England aware of the dangers of the proposed Anglican Covenant.

"If the Anglican Communion has a problem, this is not the solution," according to former Bishop of Worcester Peter Selby. "Whether those who originated the Covenant intended it or not, it is already, and will become even more, a basis for a litigious Communion from which some will seek to exclude others."

The launch of the No Anglican Covenant Coalition website coincides with the commemoration of the sixteenth-century theologian Richard Hooker. "Hooker taught us that God's gifts of scripture, tradition, and reason will guide us to new insights in every age," according to the Canadian priest and canon law expert, the Revd. Canon Alan Perry.

"The proposed Anglican Covenant would freeze Anglican theology and Anglican polity at a particular moment. Anglican polity rejected control by foreign bishops nearly 500 years ago. The proposed Anglican Covenant reinstates it."

The No Anglican Covenant Coalition began in late October with a series of informal email conversations among several international Anglican bloggers concerned that the Covenant was being rushed through the approval process before most Anglicans had any opportunity to learn how the proposed new structures would affect them.

noanglicancovenant.org

Revd. Dr Lesley Fellows (England) +44 1844 239268
Dr. Lionel Deimel (USA) +1-412-512-9087
Revd. Malcolm French (Canada) +1-306-550-2277
Revd. Lawrence Kimberley (New Zealand) +64 3 981 7384

"Seven whole years, not one in seven"

It's the hymn tune I woke up with in my head today ... some of us know it as General Seminary ... and one line I've always liked particularly is "seven whole days, not one in seven, I will praise Thee." But today I'm singing "years" instead of "days" in my head.

Seven years ago today I was in New Hampshire ... headed to a hockey rink where the Holy Spirit and the Diocese of New Hampshire would make a bishop in the church of God out of my friend Gene Robinson.

It was an amazing day of grace and power and challenge and opportunity. We made our way into the arena past protesters, media trucks and bomb sniffing dogs, through metal detectors and security checks. And at the end of the day New Hampshire had a new bishop and the Episcopal Church had taken another step forward on that arc of history we are promised bends toward justice. And inclusion.

And this morning when I woke up with General Seminary in my head it was REALLY early. Some call it "oh-dark-thirty." Others call it "the crap of dawn." It was actually 4:15 a.m. when the alarm went off to get me up and out and on the way to the airport. And so here I am -- seven years to the day that we were in New Hampshire together -- on my way to another "New" place ... New Orleans.

I'm writing this between flights (thanks for the free wifi, McCarren Airport!) ... and I'm honored and excited to have been invited to come to New Orleans to preach a bit, speak a bit, meet-and-greet a bit ... to talk about "Common Ground & Social Justice" in the Diocese of Louisiana.

The last seven years haven't all been easy but they've been blessed. All seven of them ... not one in seven. Blessed by opportunities to continue to move the church forward toward the full inclusion of all the baptized in all the sacraments. Blessed by chances to witness to the world the Good News of God's inclusive love. Bless by the God who loves us -- as +Gene keeps reminding us -- beyond our wildest imaginings. And who calls us to go and do likewise in Her name.

And seven years ago as we worked our way through the lines outside that hockey arena in New Hampshire I could not have imagined that seven years later I'd be heading to New Orleans. Heaven only knows what God has in mind for the NEXT seven years ... but whatever it is, I know General Seminary will be the background music!

So Happy Anniversary to Bishop Robinson ... to the Diocese of New Hampshire ... to the Church of God ... to ALL of us.

And now, on to New Orleans!

Richard Hooker Day is Coming Up!

You may have not thought of Richard Hooker Day (November 3) as a day to look forward to ... but this year it looks as though it will be a day to both remember and celebrate. Stay tuned!

O God of truth and peace, you raised up your servant Richard Hooker in a day of bitter controversy to defend with sound reasoning and great charity the catholic and reformed religion: Grant that we may maintain that middle way, not as a compromise for the sake of peace, but as a comprehension for the sake of truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Celebrating All Saints Church on All Saints Day!

On this day when we celebrate ALL the saints I invite you to join me in celebrating the work and witness of All Saints Church and it's commitment to putting faith into action -- making God's love tangible 24/7 -- and working to turn the human race into the human family!

WARNING: Something else to get outraged about!

I so TOTALLY do not have time for this today. I'm at my desk trying to get some loose ends tied up after a great Sunday morning before what-I-know-will-be a great Halloween party tonight and ahead of leaving Tuesday for a four day visit to the Diocese of Louisiana. (I know ... who'd have thought it? Never say never!!)

ANYWAY ... while I'm working away on all this, in comes an "urgent" email from my congressional representative. (And aren't they ALL "urgent" the week before an election?)

Here's a copy of the urgent email: (if you can't read the jpg click here)


That's right. John Colbert ... the "Tea Party" congressional candidate here in Pasadena is using a stock photo of a woman cancer patient to baldface-lie about the record of incumbent Adam Schiff on healthcare.

Let me check ... I've pulled out my list of "Traditional Values" and I'm not finding LYING.

And I guess the only thing I'm surprised about at this point is that I can still be surprised. Shocked. Horrified. Appalled. Outraged.

But I can. And I am.

President Obama On Marriage Equality, etc.

And then there's this report from Keen News Service on a conversation this week between President Obama and five "progressive bloggers" who were -- somewhat surprisingly -- given 45 minutes with the president on October 27. Check it out:

Obama said he is a “strong supporter of civil unions” but that he has been “unwilling to sign onto same-sex marriage primarily because of my understandings of the traditional definitions of marriage.

“But I also think you’re right that attitudes evolve, including mine,” said the president. “And I think that it is an issue that I wrestle with and think about because I have a whole host of friends who are in gay partnerships. I have staff members who are in committed, monogamous relationships, who are raising children, who are wonderful parents. And I care about them deeply. And so while I’m not prepared to reverse myself here, sitting in the Roosevelt Room at 3:30 in the afternoon, I think it’s fair to say that it’s something that I think a lot about.

"That’s probably the best you’ll do out of me today.”

It may be the best we could do that day but it is not good enough.

And ... when I think that if we'd had that same conversation with the last guy in the Oval Office -- well, we likely wouldn't have. But IF we'd had the conversation, it would have been with the guy who pushed for a Federal Marriage Amendment.

And now we've got a guy who isn't where we want him to be but who is willing to say "it's something that I think a lot about."

Who recorded a video for the "It Gets Better" project sending a message of hope to LGBTQ youth.

Who supports and inclusive ENDA bill and who's got "a strategy" for ending DADT. It's not MY strategy ... but let's remember he has a strategy for ending DADT ... not a strategy for blocking its reversal.

But let's get back to marriage equality. And let's remember that "it may be the best we could do that day but it is not good enough" ... and then let's keep giving our president what he needs to "reverse himself" and get himself on the right side of history.

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UPDATE: Washingon Post agrees: Obama begins shift on marriage equality

The Something Sacred At Stake In This Moment

In the last few weeks we have seen millions of Americans rally around our LGBTQ youth-at-risk by reaching out, speaking up and standing up for equality for all. High profile voices ... from Ellen DeGeneres to the Bishop of New Hampshire to the Secretary of State to the President of the United States have recorded "It Gets Better" videos. Hundreds of clergy have signed the "Clergy Against Bullying" statement. Millions of grassroots supporters wore purple on Wednesday, October 20th as part of a "Spirit Day" witness spawned by a Facebook page.

In this national outpouring I hear the words of Rabbi Abraham reminding us that "in every moment, something sacred at stake" -- and I experience a shared recognition that the sacred at stake in this moment are the precious lives of LGBTQ youth who believe their lives are not worth living. And I rejoice in a shared commitment across theological, ideological and political lines to raise collective voices to offer hope to overcome homophobia.

And then there's this. A comment on my blog in response to the post a few days ago about our Presiding Bishop signing onto the Anti-Bullying statement:

Sadly, innocent jr. hi student, Lawrence King took his cues from the prevalent culture that encouraged him to 'be who you are, be proud of it!, there is nothing to hold you back, go for it If you want something, go after it, acting on your romantic life is accepted by all..."

The advice Lawrence was given by our Culture [you] was wrong, and put Lawrence King in grave danger. Shame on you. [LGMarshall]

And then there's this. My response to her comment:

LG ... Makes perfect sense.

A child shot in cold blood by a classmate terrified by his expressions of attraction is the responsibility of those calling for equality for all -- not those continuing to fan the flames of homophobia by naming LGBT people as disordered; less-than; abnormal; unnatural; abomination; freak.

By that reasoning the responsibility for Martin Luther King's assassination lies not with the racist segregationists but with those in the "Culture" who dared to dream beyond the racism that contaminated it -- those who believed that liberty and justice for all really means ALL and that "Jesus loves me, this I know" didn't have an * that said "unless I'm black. Or gay. Or transgender."

We're going to win this one. And someday our children and children's children will look back on an exchange like this with the same horrified amazement as we do when we read the medieval arguments about whether women had souls. And the 18th century exchanges about whether Africans were human.

And those who stand for equality for LGBT people will be on the right side of history. And you won't. Shame on you.

Yes, I'm tired of this. Yes, today is supposed to be a "day off" and I'd rather be getting my nails done and checking out the sale at Crate & Barrel and having lunch at Julienne. But I'm blogging instead.

Because letting stand unaddressed, unconfronted and unchallenged this kind of incendiary ignorance is like watching kerosene being used to put out a campfire and then wondering where the wildfire came from.

Because the something sacred at stake in this moment is too important to do anything other than continue to speak up.

Because for too long religion has been responsible for planting seeds of self-loathing that can grow into self-destruction when fed & watered by the bullying, badgering and abuse of our LGBT youth – and it’s time for that to stop. When Jesus said “let the children come to me” he meant all the children – not just the straight ones. Jesus said, “Love your neighbor” – not “love your neighbor unless your neighbor is gay.”

And because the something sacred at stake in this moment is too sacred to do anything other than all we can.