Lambeth Bishop March to End Poverty

Here is a picture of Larry and myself taken with Bishop Frade in Miami last November.

Although marching to end poverty, sexuality issues were addrssed through sings of some of the marchers. I am so proud of my Bishop, Bishop Leo Frade. Here is the last sentence of this report:

The sexuality controversy roiling the Anglican world was not absent, with one protestor, the Rev. David Braid, holding a sign "Jesus never ordained sodomites. Neither should the church. Hitler was a sodomite."

Bishop Leo Frade of Southeast Florida had wrapped a rainbow flag around his sign because, he said, "when we talk about justice and mercy, we need to remember that gay and lesbian persons are discriminated against by the church and the government."

[Episcopal News Service, London] Anglican bishops and their spouses demonstrated on July 24 in support of poverty reduction worldwide, walking in purple cassocks and native dress past symbols of British power such as the Houses of Parliament and the prime minister's residence at Downing Street.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and other Christian and interfaith leaders were at the head of the march, walking behind a banner reading "Keep the Promise/ Halve Poverty by 2015," references to one of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals for global progress.

The one-hour march, which created a river of violet down Whitehall Road, ended at Williams' residence, Lambeth Palace, across the River Thames from the seat of Great Britain's government.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, speaking to the bishops at Lambeth, called the march "one of the greatest demonstrations of faith this great city has ever seen."

Brown said wealthier nations are not moving fast enough to meet the development goals. "At our current rates of progress," they will not be met by 2015 deadline set in the MDGs. Some, he said, will not be met for 100 years if the rate of progress is not increased.

"I say to you that the poor of the world have been patient but 100 years is too long for people to wait for justice and that is why we must act now. We know that with the technology we have, the medicine we have, the science we have, it is the will to act that must be found," he said.

Williams noted that "unless we address this great gulf between human beings, we cannot expect a future of stability or welfare. As the world grows smaller, the truth is that the suffering and the needs of anyone in our global community is going to be the suffering and needs of everyone in our global community. This is not and should not be a surprise to those of us who hold the Christian faith and who have believed for 2,000 years that when one part of the body suffers, all suffer."

Flanked by Christian and other faith leaders including Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks and Sir Iqbal Sacranie, representing Islam, Williams said that the goal must be "to give to each person what they deserve in the eyes of God, not what they deserve because of their prosperity but what they deserve because they are made in God's image and demand our respect, our love and our service without qualification -- that is justice."

Referring to an emergency session of the UN General Assembly on the global food and fuel crises, set for Sept. 25 in New York, Brown told the rally "we need a march not just to Lambeth, we need a march also to New York."

"I ask you to go back to your countries and I ask you to ask your governments and I ask you to ask all of civil society to tell people that on September 25 we have got to make good the promises that have been made, redeem the pledges that have been promised, make good the Millennium Development Goals that are not being met," he said.

Brown asked the crowd to join him in asking their governments to commit to three goals. The first is that by 2010, 40 million more children would be in school "on the road to every child being in schooling by 2015."

The second pledge would be to train medical workers and provide them with the equipment "to eradicate polio, tuberculosis, malaria and diphtheria, then go on to eliminate HIV/AIDS in our generation."

The third is to allocate $20 billion in food aid "and not for only food aid but to give people the means -- free of the old agricultural protectionism -- to grow food themselves with help from our countries to develop a green revolution in Africa."

Speaking after Brown, Hellen Wangusa, the Anglican Observer at the UN, said that she would bring word of the Walk of Witness to the UN meeting.

The march was organized in partnership with Christian social justice advocacy group Micah Challenge UK. Board member Paul Cook said the organization hopes to see "a roadmap" and a "global action plan" for getting back on track with the development goals' timeline.

With a slight breeze blowing off the Thames, the demonstrators enjoyed a perfect sunny summer day. Many of the bishops’ wives wore dresses and hats or such native costumes as saris, ready for a garden party scheduled to take place in the afternoon at Buckingham Palace. Occasionally, there was a burst of hymn singing, with "We are marching in the light of God" being one selection.

Some bishops had customized the backs of their signs: one read "Derby 4 justice" and another, "British Columbia 4 justice and peace." The march passed statues of British military leaders: Field Marshal Earl Haig, Field Marshal the Viscount Slim and one monument simply for "The Women of World War II." As they passed the statue of Oliver Cromwell outside Parliament, the deep tones of Big Ben began to toll the hour at eleven o'clock.

The one-hour march stopped traffic on one of London's busiest streets, with tourists gazing from the top of double-decker sightseeing buses and passersby snapping photos.

As the 600 bishops and their spouses assembled before the walk on a side street of government offices, workers hung out of the windows, taking pictures.

Bishop Henry Parsley of Alabama, who took advantage of several pedicabs hired for the marchers who found walking difficult, noted that his diocese contributes to Millennium Development Goal work. The march, he said, "is an opportunity to make a visual statement of support for the goals." Although the United States is generous in the area of foreign aid, its environmental record is poor, he said, adding that he hoped the march "gets translated back to (President) George Bush's office so he sees the bishops of the world care a great deal (about such issues)."

Bishop John Gladstone, Moderator of the Church of South India in S. Kerala, an ecumenical partner, said that in his area, "there are four million people who are very economically disadvantaged. The local church and diocese generate employment, attempt to attend to health care and to alleviate poverty through different ways."

Kallistos of Diokleia from the Orthodox Church  Patriarchate in Constantinople, dressed in black robes and headdress and wearing gold icons around his neck, stressed the universality of poverty. "Anglican problems are our problems," he said. "We are here today to bear witness against worldwide poverty so many people who are pleading for a fair distribution of wealth between the rich and poor can be heard."

The Rev. Dr. Michael Battle from Los Angeles, a chaplain at the Lambeth Conference, referred to Queen Elizabeth’s garden party later in the day and said the march “will show bishops can be relevant for the whole world. This is the first time they (the Lambeth Conference bishops) have done this. Usually it’s [just] high tea with the Queen.”

Bishop George Councell of New Jersey noted the so-called "Walk of Witness" was especially important since "later in the afternoon we have this privileged access to Buckingham Palace. I pray that we'll carry the hunger of the world and our own hunger for justice with us."

Bishop Ezekiel Malaandit of the Diocese of Bor in Sudan, whose primate earlier in the conference criticized the U.S. church's inclusive stance on homosexuality, said that "We are here to help people, to be supportive, to show we are one communion. Changing minds, sharing ideas and experiences, talking and working together like this we benefit from one another."

Bishop David Beetge of the Diocese of Highveld in South Africa said the development goals have a high profile in his area. "On HIV/AIDS, we've got 73 projects going: orphans and vulnerable children, early developmental childhood centers, reflecting on gender issues. We are trying to embrace the MDGs although there are eight different ones in a very holistic way to bring about a humanity and compassionate society which reflects the very heart of Christ."

Among the passersby watching the march, Thomas Pope said he traveled from his farm in Dorset to see the parade and applauded the bishops as they passed. "They have tremendous courage to stand out and walk down Whitehall in such a dignified way. I heard the archbishop (of Canterbury) speak on the wireless (radio) this morning and thought I would come and see it."

Another spectator, Jane Nelson, said she had come "to be in solidarity with the Episcopal Church of the USA. They have set a courageous example and I think it is sad that one of their duly elected bishops was not invited to Lambeth."

The sexuality controversy roiling the Anglican world was not absent, with one protestor, the Rev. David Braid, holding a sign "Jesus never ordained sodomites. Neither should the church. Hitler was a sodomite."

Bishop Leo Frade of Southeast Florida had wrapped a rainbow flag around his sign because, he said, "when we talk about justice and mercy, we need to remember that gay and lesbian persons are discriminated against by the church and the government."

Press Release: the Rev. Susan Russell Pres. of Integrity

As the majority of bishops attending the Lambeth Conference settled into daily Bible Study, Indaba groups and conversations across differences it was made clear that at least a percentage of the purple shirts on the Canterbury campus are focused on conflict rather than collegiality. Having issued statements on the ongoing genocide in Sudan and the ongoing discussions on human sexuality in the Anglican Communion, it was not genocide but sexuality that was the focus of the Sudanese primate's briefing to the media. In the press conference on Tuesday afternoon, the Primate of the Sudan (the Most Rev. Dr. Daniel Deng Bul) called for the resignation of the Bishop of New Hampshire, declaring in the statement released ahead of the press conference that he had come to the Lambeth Conference “to take the necessary steps to safeguard the precious unity of the Church.” When asked about ministering to the gays and lesbians in his province, the archbishop declared that he did not think there were any homosexuals in the Sudan as “none had come forward.” And when queried about his position on the ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopate said he “believed in women priests and bishops because they were human” – leaving listeners to wonder if the inference was that homosexuals were not. The fact that there are those within the communion who think the Bishop of New Hampshire should resign is not news. Indeed, there have been calls for his resignation since the day he was elected. What is news is that the Archbishop of the Sudan helped make the case on Tuesday that the schism facing the Anglican Communion is the direct result of hard-line reactionaries who will stop of nothing short of compliance with their narrow, exclusionist agenda as their criterion for being in communion. What is news is that a bishop in the Church of God would deny the existence of gay and lesbian member of his province despite the call for listening to the experience of homosexual people throughout the communion. On Wednesday evening, Integrity USA will present a preview screening of the documentary “Voices of Witness: Africa” as one of the Lambeth Conference Fringe Events. Everyone is welcome – most particularly Archbishop Deng Bul. We would love to share with him the witness of gay and lesbian Africans who are not only fully human but fully loved by the God who created them in love.  -- Posted By SUSAN RUSSELL to Walking With Integrity at 7/22/2008 01:55:00 PM

Anglican Chaos at Lambeth

Ruth Gledhill, religious writer for the London Times wrote this entry in her blog today.

Ruth tends to be rather dramatic with her stories, so I am awaiting word from other press releases to determine if Ms. Gledhill's reporting is indeed accurate.

Gordon

Lambeth Diary: Into the 'Miry Pit' of Chaos.

It's about a hundred degrees and getting hotter in the Big Top at Lambeth but the £1 million black hole in the budget at the Lambeth Conference means they can't afford air conditioning. Expect fainting bishops to be ferried out by ambulances any moment now, if they don't start shooting each other first. The press conference this morning was a farce. Excommunications officers declined to comment on who is here for reasons of 'security' but declined to say what the 'security' issues were. Apparently there are some Nigerian bishops at the conference but we are not allowed to know who they are. Even the totally harmless and innocuous Church Press here are  being denied access to the evening Eucharists. As for me, I was told yesterday that it was worth applying to attend the afternoon indaba groups. Today there is one called 'Never say No to Media',  led by Rev Dr Joshva Raha, tutor at the Centre for Mission Studies at Queen's, Birmingham. I applied and they said no.

The conference is falling apart and it is only day two of official business. The Sudanese bishops, who were, astonishingly, stationed as Salisbury with the US Presiding Bishop and her team before the conference, have almost derailed the whole thing by virtually calling for Gene Robinson's resignation. One of their two statements today is here.

The funding crisis is more severe than we realised. A senior source has told me that the conference is up to £2 million in debt, and they are at a loss of how to meet this. 'We can't pay for it,' he told me, looking desperate. The prospect of the bailiffs turning up at Lambeth Palace to requisition some of those lovely old paintings of previous Archbishops is to unbearable for words. The Church Commissioners cannot help out because their trust deeds restrict financial aid to the English church only.

An emergency meeting has been called for the Commissioners and the Archbishop's Council immediately after the conference. Will TEC be handed the begging bowl? A bit embarrassing, isn't it, if on the one hand the conference organisers say, your legally elected bishop cannot come. And then on the other, they say: 'Help! Save us from our debt!'

This is why, I understand, we are all sweating like the proverbials. The big blue top where the bishops have their plenaries is, literally, hotter than hell itself. The prospect of air conditioning was explored, but when the estimate came in it was turned down. They just couldn't afford it.

And of course think of all that accommodation that has been booked. More than 230 rooms, presumably paid for, and lying empty. What a shame.

Poor Rowan Williams is trying his best, as we report. The retreat went well, the Archbishop seemed even to be beginning to enjoy himself. There are some genuinely good ideas for covenant and canon being worked out here. The trouble is, too many of the bishops don't want to know. It really is increasingly difficult to see how the Archbishop is going to resolve this mess. As he said yesterday, it will take nothing short of a miracle, and none knows how many Anglican bishops still believe in those.

Anglican Archbishop of Sudan Wants BP Gene to Resign

Archbishop of the Sudan, the Most Rev. Dr. Daniel Deng Bul wants Bishop Robinson to resign...

so what's new about that? Most of the global south wants that to happen.

My words to Bishop Robinson would be, "hang in there Bishop Robinson. A lot of us are holding you up in our prayers and think you're doing a great job."

Gordon

From anglican-mainstream.net

July 22nd, 2008 Posted in Lambeth Conference |

Lambeth Report #6 Tuesday afternoon, July 22, 2008

Cherie Wetzel reporting from Canterbury, England

We have just had a briefing with the Archbishop of the Sudan, the Most Reverend Dr. Daniel Deng Bul.  He informed the press room this morning that he would come and speak with us, since the Anglican Communion News Bureau running this conference, would not schedule a time for him to address the press. 

The archbishop is young – I would guess that he is in his 40’s.  He is very articulate and has an earned Ph.D.  By his own admission, he has been an Anglican since he was a very small child.

His words are responses to questions asked.  I think the questions are self-evident.

“Gene Robinson should resign for the sake of the Church and the entire Anglican Communion.  We are pleading with them (the others at this conference) for the Anglican World, to not throw that away.

“We do not want to throw any people away, either.  But we are here to determine how to remain united.  That begins with forgiving one another for errors made.  Gene Robinson is an error.  The American church has not admitted they are wrong and we cannot forgive them until they do.

“I do not see a way out of these problems with the Indaba groups.  The main issues have not been touched.

“300 bishops are not here because of Gene Robinson.  Can he not resign to allow them to come?  Why has he not done that? 

“He is a human being and we are not throwing him away but the norms of the Anglican Communion have been violated.  The question is not if Gene Robinson comes but what are we being challenged to do by GAFCON?”

“Let the Anglican world be united and be a normal, respected Christian body.” 

“We have not punished the American church yet.  We are asking them to repent.  I am talking about the institutional church in America, no specific bishops.  I am here to speak within the House.  I cannot be silent on this issue; I must speak to the House for the reality I know with my people.  I should not hesitate to be here since I have been an Anglican since I was a child. 

When asked what would happen to the Communion if Robinson did not resign, the archbishop continued, “I cannot predict what will happen if he will not resign.”

Ruth Gledhill of the Times of London asked the archbishop who would pay for this conference, reportedly 2.6 million pounds in debt at this minute, and not able to pay for this by the parishes in the Church of England, if the American church was not invited.  He replied very gently, “Issues of faith cannot be mixed with materialism.”

I do hope he means that, because you can bet the province of the Sudan has seen its last American dollar.  It is rumored that liberal elements in the American church paid all or a significant part of the cost for the Sudanese to attend.

The archbishop, known as an expert in the field of reconciliation said, “I am here talking to my brothers and sisters in America.  We have experienced offense by their actions.  I am not trying to offend them in return but tell them that I love them.  We have had a painful experience and they must ask for forgiveness so we can go on together.

“If there is a cultural problem in America, it should be kept in America and not allowed to come into the Anglican world.  I am not saying the Americans should all be excluded, but keep Gene Robinson away and we will find a way to help them.  (Imagine the  American Episcopal Church actually acknowledging that they need the help of the Sudan!)

“This issue of homosexuality in the Anglican Communion has a very serious effect in my country.  We are called ‘infidels’ by the Moslems.  That means that they will do whatever they can against us to keep us from damaging the people of our country.  They challenge our people to convert to Islam and leave the infidel Anglican Church.  When our people refuse, sometimes they are killed.  These people are very evil and mutilate and harm our people.  I am begging the Communion on this issue so no more of my people will be killed.

“My people have been suffering for 21 years of war.  Their only hope is in the Church.  It is the center of life of my people.  No matter what problem we have, no material goods, no health supplies or medicine; no jobs or income; no availability of food.  The inflation rate makes our money almost worthless and we have done this for 21 years.  The Church is the center of our life together. 

“The culture does not change the Bible; the Bible changes the culture. Cultures that do not approve of the Bible are left out of the Church’s life; people who do not believe in the Bible are left out of our churches.  The American church is saying that God made a mistake.  He made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Adam. 

“We will not talk to Gene Robinson or listen to him or his testimony.  He has to confess, receive forgiveness and leave.  Then we will talk.  You cannot bring the listening to gay people to our Communion.  People who do not believe in the Bible are left out of our churches, not invited in to tell us why they don’t believe.

“I have just come from a meeting of the African and Global South bishops who are here.  There were almost 200 bishops there.  They support the statement my Church made yesterday.  That’s 17 provinces. 

“The Authority of the Bible is always the same.  You cannot pull a line out or add a line to it.  That brings you a curse.  We are saying no.  You are wrong.

Archbishop Deng Bul then talked about the humiliation his country faces with the indictment of their president by the International Court.  He feels it reflects badly on the whole country and will make more people in Darfur die.  He spoke of a recent attack in Sudan by the Lord’s Resistance Army from the Congo and Uganda.  They came across the border and slaughtered a whole town of people.

When asked if he knows any gay people in the Sudan he replied, “They have not come to the surface.  We do not have them.”  The press from TEC that were in the room did not laugh out loud at this statement, but nearly.

He concluded by saying that he felt the purpose of the Lambeth Conference is for the bishops to act as counselors to Rowan and the Primates.  They will take these matters under discussion and decide on a way forward.  The Archbishop of Canterbury will then act on the counsel he receives from the bishops.  We will help him determine what is good for the Communion. 

The final question was about the women and ordination, an issue that is still a smoking topic in the Church of England.  “Yes,” he said.  “Women are human beings that have ministered with the Lord Jesus Christ and to the Lord Jesus Christ.”  He does believe in the ordination of women.

Archbishop Deng Bul was accompanied by his Canon, the Rev. Francis Loyo. 

As they left the pressroom, the Rev. Dr. Charles Robertson, Canon to the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, said he had a short statement.  He clarified that the Episcopal Church has had a positive relationship with the Sudan for many years and has been there with the intention of making a difference.  They have succeeded in doing that.  The Episcopal Church expects to continue that relationship and continue to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to the people of the Sudan, finding a way to move forward from yesterday’s statement.  Canon Robertson declined to answer questions.

People ran to their laptops to get the message out on the Web.  I had a chance to personally thank Canon Loyo for their statement and told him that it would cheer and encourage many faithful Episcopalians in the United States.  I hope YOU have been encouraged by this.  No matter how it might feel.  We are not alone!

Cherie Wetzel

Anglican Communion Bigotry Continues

Katie Sherrod wrote the following on the Walking With Integrity blog today. It's a great post. But it's upsetting that many of the Bishops in the Anglican Communion believe it is entirely appropriate to practice bigotry. They've banned Bishop Robinson from next Tuesday evening's purple hat meeting.

Gordon

MIND THE GAP 

by Katie Sherrod

For one brief tiny second, I think there was a rainbow over the green field where the Integrity/Changing Attitude Eucharist took place this afternoon before a crowd of 160 people, including 33 bishops, mostly from the US. The Canterbury Cathedral loomed dramatically over the trees beyond the altar.

It was a cool blustery mostly sunny afternoon interrupted occasionally by brief light showers of rain. As the second shower was passing, the sun came out, creating a rainbow just as I glanced up. I grabbed my photographer’s arm, but it was gone before I could get words out.

Did I imagine it? Was it wishful thinking?

It seemed much too apt to be true, that tiny glimpse of color, so I’m assuming I imagined it. One often feels that way in the Anglican Communion – thinking one has glimpsed some hope only to find it was an illusion.

But this afternoon, there was one genuine icon of hope for LGBT folks, and that was Bishop Gene Robinson, striding across the road from St. Stephens encircled by a small group of American bishops come to stand in solidarity with him at the service.

The irony is that at the very moment Bishop Robinson wasn’t feeling very hopeful himself. He had just learned that the house of bishops of the 38 “national” provinces are supposed to meet Tuesday evening and that “they” – the Lambeth Conference organizers – had decreed that Bp. Robinson was not to be allowed to attend the meeting of the US House of Bishops. It might make it appear that he is a participant in the conference, something “they” apparently want to avoid at all costs, lest it offend – who? The people who are boycotting Lambeth?

It was the very thing he had pleaded with his brothers and sisters not to allow to happen – that they not allow the “powers that be” to separate them.

So Bp. Robinson was grateful for the Eucharist, because, as he said, “Eucharist always helps.”

Integrity and Changing Attitude had joined forces to put on the service for the purpose of praying for the bishops at the Lambeth Conference. It was a startling sight – the groups that had been the most wounded by the actions of Lambeth 1998 were here praying for the success of the Lambeth Conference, while those who had most celebrated the outcome of the 1998 conference were boycotting it.

The service, presided over by Colin Coward of Changing Attitude, seemed to lighten the spirits of those present. While a Eucharist like this is fairly common at, say, a General Convention or even a diocesan convention in the U.S., it’s almost unheard of in England, where the leadership of the Church of England tries to pretend there are no such folk in their pews, and certainly not in their pulpits, behind their altars, or under their miters. The mind boggles, doesn’t it?

So the LGBT folk from England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland who were present were mildly amazed to see an openly gay priest at the altar and hear a lesbian preach.

Susan Russell was at her best, preaching a sermon of God’s inclusive love that clearly touched the hearts of many of those sitting or standing on the grass in front of her.

She started out by talking about that ubiquitous warning of the British rail system, “Mind the Gap,’ the warning to passengers to be aware of the distance between the train and the platform.

“I can’t help but wonder if minding the gap isn’t one of the ways an island people cope with the challenges of gaps that don’t have anything to do with trains! It is a mindset that says `gaps happen and we mind them and keep moving along’ that is part of the DNA of not only the English people but of the English Church.

“It is the essence of an Anglican comprehensiveness that has – up until now – been able to hold together a world-wide communion in spite of the gaps between theologies and polities and languages and liturgies.

“As this Lambeth Conference begins, I’m wondering if `minding the gap’ might not be one of the most important things those of us who love, care about and pray for this Anglican Communion can do,” she said.

She reminded the listeners that Jesus promised that “the truth will set you free.”

“To mind the gap is to commit ourselves to tell the truth about the very real gaps that exist between the experiences, worldviews, and theologies of many members of the Anglican Communion. It is equally to speak the truth that the Gospel we share is stronger than the differences we acknowledge,” she said.

“Gaps do not have to become chasms and differences do not have to become divisions – in spite of what you might have read in the Sunday papers this morning from the Gospel According to Durham,” she said, a reference to N.T. Wright, the bishop of Durham, who compared the ordination of a gay bishop to the invasion of Iraq in the Sunday Times today.

She said the church at its best has “not only the potential but the vocation to bridge not only the gaps that separate us from each other within the communion but the gaps that separate the church from the world it has been created to serve as the Body of Christ … as Jesus’ hands and feet at work in the world.

“The truth that will set us free is that Jesus spent a WHOLE lot less time talking about who was going to get to heaven than he did talking about bringing heaven to earth. `Thy kingdom come, thy will be done ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN’ are arguably among the most familiar words in all of Christian faith – the words our Lord Jesus `taught us to pray.’

“So my wondering today – and we’ve happily got a great lot of bishops here who should be theologically trained enough to give us an answer -- is this: When did the litmus test for going to heaven become correctly guessing who else God has on the invitation list? “

“Jesus didn’t have a single word to say about guessing the guest list … or about doctrines or dogmas or creeds -- or even about Lambeth Conferences! In the gospel from Matthew we heard this morning he quite clearly tells us that it is not our job to fuss about the weeds – or what even to decide which ones are the weeds! Jesus will deal with that at harvest time, he assures us. And it is high time the church took him at his word and -- leaving what he’s asked us to leave to him to him – to get on with the work he has given US to do.

She pointed out that Jesus was VERY clear about what that work looks like -- “inasmuch as you did it unto the least of these.”

“The question Jesus asked was, `did you bring water to the thirsty, food to the hungry, clothing to the naked?’ … not `did you agree on liturgical practice, come to consensus on a biblical hermeneutic, unravel the mystery of human sexuality?’

“Paul’s letter to the Romans tells us that the creation waits with eager longing “In hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage …” and that is as true in 21st century Canterbury as it was in 1st century Corinth. The whole creation. Not just one part or parcel – one race or gender or orientation or identity. The WHOLE creation-- free of poverty, free of violence, free of exploitation, free of oppression, free of sexism, free of racism, free of homophobia. And what will set the creation free is the truth.

She told her listeners that “our job is to tell the truth about the God who loved us enough to become one of us and then called us walk in love with God and with our neighbors. It is THAT truth that is core of the Gospel message of love and hope and inclusion and it is THAT truth that has the power to set the creation free. If we will claim it. If we will proclaim it. If we will get on with the work WE have been given to do.”

She then told Robert Fulgham’s story of the time he had to mind the children while the other grownups were off doing something else. He set the children to sorting themselves into giants, wizards and dwarfs, a game the purpose of which was mostly to run around and make noise.

Then, While the groups huddled in frenzied, whispered consultation, a tug came at my pants leg. A small child stands there looking up, and asks in a small, concerned voice, "Where do the Mermaids stand?"

Where do the Mermaids stand?

A long pause. A very long pause. "Where do the Mermaids stand?" says I.

"Yes. You see, I am a Mermaid."

"There are no such thing as Mermaids."

"Oh, yes, I am one!"

She did not relate to being a Giant, a Wizard, or a Dwarf. She knew her category. Mermaid. And was not about to leave the game and go over and stand against the wall where a loser would stand. She intended to participate, wherever Mermaids fit into the scheme of things. Without giving up dignity or identity. She took it for granted that there was a place for Mermaids and that I would know just where.

Well, where DO the Mermaids stand? All the "Mermaids"--all those who are different, who do not fit the norm and who do not accept the available boxes and pigeonholes?

Answer that question and you can build a school, a nation, or a world on it.

What was my answer at the moment? Every once in a while I say the right thing. "The Mermaid stands right here by the King of the Sea!" says I.

So we stood there hand in hand, reviewing the troops of Wizards and Giants and Dwarfs as they roiled by in wild disarray.

It is not true, by the way, that Mermaids do not exist. I know at least one personally. I have held her hand. 

Russell went on to say, “A question I have answered a hundred times is `why are you going to Lambeth Conference?’

“My answer this afternoon IS this afternoon. It is this extraordinary gathering of wizards and dwarfs and giants and mermaids – standing together as the Body of Christ – receiving together the bread and wine made holy – going out together to proclaim the Good News of God in Christ Jesus to the world.

“It is the church telling the truth that will set it free – the truth that it is not true that faithful gay and lesbian Anglicans do not exist … for we know some personally. We have held their hand.

“And it is the opportunity to witness to that truth that will set this church – this communion – indeed this creation – free of the fear of inclusion and open to the Holy Spirit of God calling it to move forward in faith into God’s future. And may the God who has given us the will to do these things give us the grace and power to accomplish them. Amen.”

The passing of the peace took a long time as the gathered crowd shook hands, hugged, laughed, and wiped tears away. Then they moved into the Great Thanksgiving with a gusto not often seen in an English service, ending with a hymn beginning “We sing a love that sets all people free.”

The sound of the singing blew across the field, over the boys playing soccer, the child toddling carefully over the grass, the woman throwing a ball for her happy dogs, the couple walking hand in hand, drifting past the cathedral and off into a waiting world. 

--

Posted By Katie Sherrod to Walking With Integrity at 7/20/2008 11:58:00 AM 

Bishop Robinson Hails Inclusive Eucharist

Press Release from Integrity (integrityusa.org)

BISHOP OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, GENE ROBINSON, HAILS INCLUSIVE EUCHARIST SPONSORED BY GAY & LESBIAN ADVOCATES AS A "HEAVENLY BANQUET" AND "BEACON OF HOPE"

 

CANTERBURY, UK—Bishop Gene Robinson confirmed today that he will attend the Eucharist at Beverly Meadow [also known as St. Stephen's field] on Sunday, July 20^th, at 2:30 pm BST, in Canterbury. Organizers of the unofficial event have issued an open invitation for all to join them at the festive, outdoor celebration to pray for the bishops and the Anglican Communion as the Lambeth Conference begins.

 

Bishop Robinson, the duly elected bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire, has been excluded from the Lambeth Conference because of his sexual orientation. Robinson labeled the inclusive service a "heavenly banquet" to which Scripture teaches that all are invited.

 

"The invitation is too often limited to 'people like us' in that way that is so human. This inclusive opening of the Lambeth Conference—later in the afternoon after the official opening [at Canterbury Cathedral]—stands as a beacon of hope to all those excluded from God's table by human fear and prejudice. It promises to be heavenly!"

 

"We are thrilled that Bishop Robinson will be joining us on Sunday," said Integrity President Susan Russell, who was "banned" from the recent Global Anglican Futures Conference [GAFCON] in Jerusalem. "The message we have to proclaim is that we serve a God who welcomes all and bans nobody from God's loving embrace."

 

Susan Russell will preach at the service and Colin Coward, Director of Changing Attitude UK, will preside.

Bishop Robinson Heckled in England

I've had the privilege to hear Bishop Robinson three times. The first time was in February of 2004 when he was installed as Bishop of New Hampshire.  He's an awesome speaker and a deeply spiritual leader in The Episcopal Church. I love him dearly as do many of us.

Gordon

Bishop Robinson was heckled while preaching in England.  See the two minute clip here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7504484.stm

A Sermon for Our Times: Bishop Gene Robinson in the Face of Fear

Rev. Debra Haffner

July 18, 2008

Huffingon Post www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-debra-haffner/a-sermon-for-our-times-bi_b_112879.html?view=screen 

Watch this clip from the BBC.

Really. Stop now and watch it. It's less than two minutes. And it brought me to tears.

If you don't recognize the clergyman who is speaking, you have surely heard of him. He's the Right Rev. Gene Robinson, the ninth bishop of the diocese of New Hampshire and the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church. This is the man who stands, as his recent memoir puts it, "in the eye of the storm" that has engulfed the global Anglican Communion since his consecration as bishop five years ago.

In the video clip, taken last Sunday, Bishop Robinson is preaching at St. Mary's Church, Putney, in south London. He was on his way to the Lambeth Conference, the once-a-decade meeting of Anglican bishops convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. The conference opens on Wednesday (July 16).

Not that he will be allowed inside. To appease those who oppose the ordination of gay clergy and leaders, the Archbishop has excluded Bishop Robinson from attending. Bishop Robinson instead will stand on the margins, in an adjacent space called "the Marketplace," where products are sold and new ideas get a hearing. He intends to put a face on the controversy, a face of love in a climate of fear.

Fear was the subject of Bishop Robinson's sermon on Sunday in London. As the clip shows, he had hardly begun speaking when a protestor rose from the congregation, shouting "Repent!" Yes, lamentation is called for, but not from Bishop Robinson. Rather, it is the church itself -- not just the Anglican Church, but many faith traditions, both Christian and non-Christian -- that should lament, to consider with regret, how it has marginalized gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people. Sexual and gender oppression can no longer be portrayed as virtuous and morally defensible. That is a worthy sermon for our times.

But the incident in south London calls another sermon to mind. In Matthew's telling of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches, "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." (Matt 5: 43-44).

In St. Mary's Church on Sunday, the Sermon on the Mount came to life. Parishioners responded to the heckler first with clapping hands, then with voices joined in a hymn of praise. There was no shouting back, no shoving, just an outpouring of love that overwhelmed the voice of fear. When the incident was over, Bishop Robinson continued. "Pray for that man," he said.

Pray for him. Love him. Pray for the Bishops gathered in England. Pray for Bishop Robinson, excluded from the table.

We are all challenged to create loving, respectful relationships, and to honor the many ways that people live and love. An inclusive, embracing love leads us to affirm sexual and gender diversity as a blessing in our lives. 

Bishop Robinson at London Premier: For the Bible Tells Me So

With the every ten years Lambeth Conference within days of beginning, pre-events are taking place in London and Canterbury. Katie Sherrod reports the following from the Walking with Integrity blog.

__________________

Tonight the London Literature Festival at the Southbank Centre featured the UK premier of For The Bible Tells Me So, “a provocative documentary about the chasm that separates gay life and Christianity today,” produced by Dan Karslake. It was followed by a conversation and Q&A with the Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson and Sir Ian McKellen, Shakespearean actor and star of The Lord of the Rings. The evening started with a beautiful bass voice giving the standard instructions for everyone to turn off their cell phones and pagers. Turns out it was Sir Ian, who arrived on stage a few minutes later.  He introduced the movie, saying he had seen it in Minneapolis when he was touring with Lear. He then retired to the audience to watch it. The full house was clearly engrossed in the film, laughing, applauding, sighing, and wiping away tears as it progressed. When it was finished, they applauded enthusiastically for well over a minute.  Sir Ian returned to the stage to introduce Bishop Robinson, comparing him to the “heroes” who helped overturn the ban on gays in the military in the UK. Then he introduced Bp. Robinson as “a man of hope, but so much more than, all the way from New Hampshire, all the way from Sodom and Gomorrah, but not all the way from the Lambeth Conference.”  Bp. Robinson entered to laughter and wild applause. He began by introducing producer Karslake and then introducing the audience “to the person who makes my life possible and the love of my life, my partner, Mark Andrew.”  Sir Ian began by asking why the bishop agreed to participate in this film – wasn’t taking care of his diocese enough without getting involved in something larger?  Bp. Robinson told how after all the death threats that followed his consecration, Karslake managed to get past all his security and appear in his office to tell him about his idea for the film. Karslake impressed him with his passion. But more than that, the bishop felt he could trust Karslake with his parents.  “As for the diocese, they are so wonderful – I love these people and they love me back. It’s been hard for people in my diocese to share me with the world. . . They hear about me sharing the stage with Sir Ian McKellan but the press is never there in the church basement with potluck with macaroni and cheese and the Jello molded salads, doing the things a bishop does on a day in, day out basis,” he said.  “I turn down a lot of offers. I tell them I have this day job. You know, my call was to ministry and my personal call has been to the marginalized, to those told for so long by the church, by the culture, by parents, by who knows that they are less worthy of God’s love. And my own life and experience, by God working in my life, I know what resurrection is about because not only have I seen it, I’ve lived it.”  He went on to talk lovingly about the people in his diocese, praising their Christian outreach to the world.  “You know, I say to people if you want to see what the church is going to be like after we stop obsessing about sex, come to New Hampshire. Oddly enough, ours may be the diocese out of the entire worldwide communion dealing the least with this. Everybody else seems to be having to work on this all the time and we’re just getting on with the Gospel,” he said.  Bp. Robinson said he thought one of the reasons the discussion in the Episcopal Church was getting so much attention was that all the mainline Protestant denominations in America are having to deal with the issue of full inclusion of GLBT people. They are watching very closely to see if the Episcopal Church splits apart, or starts hating each other, or pulls this off. They are waiting to see if “we are going to make a statement about the expansiveness of God’s love in a way that will bring people in,” he said.  “My sense is that we have a lot of people who have stopped hating us and they are happy to join us to work against hate crimes and so on, but they’re not ready to celebrate us either. These people in the vast movable middle are the people we can reach, the people that Dan made this film for, who want to be in the right place. . . but this Bible thing keeps hanging over them and the minute someone pulls scripture on them, they crumble. What I love about this film is I think it gives people a firm piece of ground to stand on to say, ‘No, actually I don’t think that’s what the Bible says.’  “It’s time for us to take back the Bible from people who have been using it as a bludgeon against some of the most vulnerable people in society.”  The audience responded with loud applause. Then Sir Ian called for questions from the audience.  The first question was from a man who said he understood that after excluding him from the Lambeth Conference, the archbishop of Canterbury sent a letter to the Diocese of New Hampshire asking him to donate $4000 to help support the Lambeth Conference. Bishop Robinson replied that that was not true – the request was for $7000.  The next question was asked by a transgender person who wanted to know what he thought was the origin of the neglect of the transgender community not only by society and the church, but also by the gay and lesbian community, some members of which “can hardly bear to use the T in LGBT.” The questioner related the story of a trans woman who was forced by security guards to use the men’s room where she was sexually abused.  Bp. Robinson said he could not speak to the situation in England, but he could talk about what he thought the situation is in America. He said, “This is big concern in the LGBT community in the United States and I think in some ways the gay and lesbian community has been insensitive and non-inclusive and needs to be called to account for that. I think there is work that needs to be done in the bisexual community and in the transgender community that for whatever reason we’ve done more work on in the gay and lesbian community, and that is for people to come out and really to tell their stories.  "Oddly enough, I would put bisexual people at the bottom of that list in America. We get more information and get exposed to more stories of real people in the transgender community than we do from bisexuals and I would say that most people in the church are more undone by bisexuality because they assume that means a person is by definition being promiscuous, having sexual relationships with people of both sexes at the same time. I guess what I would hope for both the bisexual and the transgender communities is that you continue telling your stories, because like this movie – it’s knowing people, having faces to put with the issues that has brought about this change. If people get to know us as people, then when we talk about the issue, a face comes up with the issue, and that irrevocably changes people.  “You’re absolutely right, we’ve got a long way to go -- even with the gay and lesbian community -- we have been careless with bisexual and transgender people and with their inclusion and with showing them the respect that should be there. We are on this remarkable journey and we’re living in this difficult transition time. It’s not up to me to ask, but I would both ask for your patience in teaching us and leading us and calling us to account, just the way you have done now. And you and others are in my prayers,” he said.  The next questioner asked about same sex couples adopting children. Bp. Robinson said that research – which is usually ignored – shows that there is only one difference in children raised by parents of opposite sexes and parents of the same sex, and that is that children of same sex partners are invariably more tolerant. He said his kids had four parents, three men and one woman. Both his daughters, unbeknownst to him, wrote their college entrance essays on what they had learned by having two gay dads.  An older gentleman then related his experience of sitting with his partner of many years behind the man who had heckled Bp. Robinson the previous night at St. Mary’s Putney. Prior to verbally attacking the bishop, the man said, he had vented his venom on this man’s partner. He said he and his partner had given up on the Anglican community for many years because they had been effectively ostracized and persecuted and excluded by the Anglican community in this country.  Bp. Robinson replied, “First of all, thank you for coming last night. Given your experience, that’s an act of faith in and of itself. What I say to people whose experience has been like yours is remember that God and the church are not the same thing. The church is our feeble attempt to discern God’s will and to live it out in our lives individually and in community. We get it wrong and history is full of times despicable times when the church has gotten it wrong. But God doesn’t ever get it wrong.  “Second of all, the church that many gay and lesbian people, bisexual and transgender people have left is not the church that’s there now. So I say to people go back and give it another try. Maybe the church you rightfully left because of abuse at the hands of religious people -- maybe that community isn’t what it used to be.”  He said that just because laws changed about racial discrimination doesn’t mean racism has gone away, nor have laws against discrimination against women ended sexism. He said there are two parts to the work. The first is getting the laws changed so that the system of heterosexism is not enforced by power. The other half is “changing people’s hearts, and like racism and sexism, homophobia will take a long time to disappear.”  He told of a sculpture at the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis at the Lorraine Hotel where Martin Luther King was shot. It is a relief showing a spiral of African Americans moving upward, and every one of them is standing on someone else’s shoulders. He said he is only where he is because he is standing on the shoulders of the gay men at the Stonewall Bar in New York who stood up against police harassment thirty or forty years ago, and of other gays and lesbians who stood up against injustice.  “There are people who will need or want to stand on yours and my shoulders, and there are things you can do to change your world and the world, and I think that’s exactly what we’re doing,” he said.  When asked by another man how he, Bp.Robinson, and the people of New Hampshire and people of good will could support the Archbishop of Canterbury as he tries to mend the communion in the face of those bent on splitting it, Bp. Robinson said that as a bishop, he benefits from the critiques of the people he serves, and that people can best help Archbishop Rowan Williams by offering loving critiques.  “I am coming to Lambeth Conference not to storm into the pulpit and rip the microphone from his hands or to protest in any way. I’m simply wanting to be there both to tell the story of God’s astounding work in my own life that enables me to be who I am, and to tell people that God is available and wants a relationship.  “I’m not willing to have them leave and not be reminded on a daily basis not just by my presence but by many people from around the Communion who are both faithfully and unabashedly Christian and unashamedly gay, and we’re going to be there to remind them that we are here too and we’re not going anywhere. They took vows to serve all their flock, not just some of their flock, so I made that witness in respectful critique in hopes that in their conversations they will remember that all of them, no matter what country they come from, no matter what the legal or religious stance about homosexuality is, we are members of their churches and they have vowed to serve us all. I pray for the archbishop of Canterbury every day,” he said.  He said it’s very odd for Americans to think about an established church, because we are so intent on separation of church and state. How can a state church go against laws that affect every other part of the state? He said it’s hard to get his head around that.  He said he is for separating the civil rights of LGBT people from the religious rites, that he believes a lot of religious people would support civil rights for them if they were separated from religion. He suggested that people might get married in a civil ceremony and then the religious people would go to church to have the union blessed, as people in France already do.  A man said that given that Archbishop Akinola was not going to change his views, and Archbishop Jensen was not, why would the Anglican Communion not benefit by splitting into different churches.  “The strongest argument that can be made for the Anglican Communion, and I make it all the time, is that we actually need each other. We need it for our own salvation, because if our brothers and sisters in Africa and Asia and other parts of the world aren’t there to tell us what we need to hear, those of us in the West and especially in America, we need to hear the ramifications of America’s waltzing around the world acting like a drunken cowboy, having our way, what we’ve done through colonialism, in terms of racism. We need to have a Communion so we can have those conversations."  He said American, British and Canadian bishops at Lambeth are going to hear what life is like in Mozambique, in Kenya and in other places.  “I long for those kinds of discussions. And you know, the world needs a model like that. Right? If we don’t figure out how to live together as the world gets smaller and smaller, even though we disagree about things, it’s not going to be pretty. And wouldn’t it be nice if the Anglican Communion could offer a model that the world might learn from?"  He went on to say, “You see in the movie deeply religious people who have a world view, don’t they? And that world view seems to explain pretty much everything that’s happening. And then they have an experience for which that world view is insufficient to explain. And in the film the families are caught between what they’ve been taught and love for their child. And then inevitably that throws one into chaos and confusion and anger and denial and all kinds of things. And at the end of that process comes hopefully a new worldview that takes into account that new experience.  “I think those of us in the Anglican Communion need one another to have that kind of transformational experience on a variety of topics, including this one. So let’s put it this way. I am not optimistic, but I am hopeful. Optimism seems to me to depend only upon what I’m able to do, and that’s not very trustworthy. Hope depends on what God is able to do.”  The last question was from a young woman who said there was a Christianity before there was a Bible. Could he imagine a Christianity without a Bible or is it integral to the faith as we perceive it now? He said he did not think he could imagine such a thing.  “The central tenet of Christian belief is that for a reason we can only imagine is self-giving love, God makes this astounding decision to reveal God’s self to us. For Christians, that happened in the person of Jesus Christ. And the most we know about that is in those sacred texts. Now what we do with those sacred texts is very important here. You know the four Gospels are not unlike four people who witnessed an accident and each noticed different things, remembered different things that the others didn’t. So we have to use our brains here. God doesn’t ask us to check our brains at the door. We are to use the intellect we have been given to make sensible and reasonable and right choices about those interpretations. So I can’t imagine out doing that without the Bible.  “Let me say this about the Bible, and this is something I’m ashamed to say I only grasped in the last year or so even though I must have read it a thousand times. In John’s Gospel, on the night before Jesus dies, he says this remarkable thing to his disciples. He says, there is much more that I will teach you that you cannot bear right now, so I will send the Holy Spirit who will lead you into all truth.  “I take from that that Jesus is saying I’ve done just about all I can do with you bunch of fishermen and workman but you know what, God isn’t finished with you and God’s self. That’s why I say I don’t worship a God that’s locked up in the scripture two thousand years ago. The God I know in my life is alive and well and interacting with us all the time. And I believe that Holy Spirit – God -- is leading us closer and closer to a better and better understanding of God’s truth. It’s not that God’s changing, but our ability to apprehend and comprehend God is changing. Thank goodness for that. Look how we used scripture to justify slavery or the subjugation of women and now LGBT people.  “I am hopeful that Spirit will lead us forward into an ever better picture of God’s truth.”  Posted By Katie Sherrod to Walking With Integrity at 7/14/2008 09:40:00 PM _________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, turn on digest mode, change your address, or otherwise modify your subscription options, please visit: http://lists.integrityusa.org/mailman/options/walkingwithintegrity/flagordon%40aol.com