Episcopal Diocese of SE Florida Spring Conference

Top: The Rt. Rev. Michael Curry,  Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina

Bottom:  Bill Wrenn, Missioner for Stewardship & Evangelism, Diocese of NC

Our diocesean spring conference was held at Duncan Center Feb 29th & March 1, 2008.

The topic for this year's conference was "Creating a Spirit of Generosity."

It was great seeing old friends again and learning new ways at looking at the way churches 

do things. We were challenged to think outside of the box and become open to new ideas; 

ideas that seem strange to us who are set in our ways "because we've always done it that way."

Bill Wren talked some about the importance of a congregation being aware of their local social responsibilities.  He said, "We are a mission with the church. 

What is the reality ourside our church doors?  What are the changes taking place in our community?  What is my church going to do about it?"

Bishop Curry preached Friday afternoon and again on Saturday morning.  What a preacher!

And what a kind, good hearted bishop he is! 

Here are a few of the things Bishop Curry said that I jotted down:

"The best evangelism done is the witness of our love.:

"Read Hebrew 10.  Fear is dealt with by faith."

"The thing to remember is to keep the main thing the main thing."

And last, but not least, "Shepards don't make sheep.  Sheep make sheep."

Bishop Curry was well, to put it mildly, enthusiastic.  Many in attendance had never seen clergy

get so excited about the gospel that he shouts and runs the aisle. Bishop Curry did. He was wonderful and touched all of us.

It was a great conference and I'm glad I went. 

Absalom Jones Celebration, Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida

Above at top: Judy Fentress-Williams, Ph.D  

Above center:Absalom Jones Window at St. George's Episcopal Church, Dayton, OH Above bottom:Painting of the Rev. Absalom Jones, first African-American Priest of the Episcopal Church

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Today, Larry and me went to Delray Beach to attend the Episcopal Diocese of SE Florida South Deanery Absalom Jones celebration.

What a day it was! We were deeply moved by the morning service with guest speaker, Dr. Judy Fentress-Williams. Dr. Fentress-Williamsis Associate Orofessor of Old Testament Studies at Virginia Theological Seminary. Dr. Judy received her Ph.D in Religious Studies from Yale University in 1999. Prior to that, she received her M.Div. from Yale Divinity School. She is a researcher, publisher and writer and all around warm and wonderful person.

We also had quite a south Florida history lesson. Mrs. Ineria Hadley Hudnell has been a collector of African American historical events and the fellowship hall was turned into a remarkable history museum.

Throughout the day's events, Absalom Jones was mentioned a lot. In the Episcopal Church we have a feast day in his honor, Feb. 13th.

After lunch, (catered by Too-Jays), we went back to the sanctuary at St. Pauls Episcopal Church) where Dr. Judy gave a wonderful talk on the lamentations of slaves in America and the role of the Psalms and the early African American spirituals. We did a lot of singing during the discussion.

I was totally blown away when Dr. Judy presented me with a Barack Obama sticker written in Hebrew and I learned that the Hebrew translation of Barack is "Blessed." In turn, I gave her one of my "Time for Change" Obama buttons.

ABSALOM JONES

The years between 1740 and 1764 in America are known as the Great Awakening, a period of sweeping revival, with an emphasis on personal aspects of Christianity, “new birth” and corresponding sanctity of life.  

The effects were far reaching, and included a significant increase in the status of, and educational opportunities for black Americans, especially in the parishes most receptive to the movement.  

Missionaries came from England to work with blacks, and by 1765, Anglican schools for blacks were open in four colonies.  These changes laid the groundwork for black advances after the Revolutionary War, when many began to act on the ideals that it represented, including finding their voice in the Church.  A total of 16 blacks were ordained in the Episcopal Church prior to the Civil War, and many Episcopalians, including blacks became missionaries to Liberia. 

Absalom Jones was born a house slave in Delaware, in 1746.  He taught himself to read using a New Testament, and later attended night school.  At 20, he married and bought his wife’s freedom; at 38, he was able to purchase his own.  While living in Philadelphia, he became a lay minister for black members of St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church.  

When black membership soared, the vestry was taken by surprise and attempted to segregate the congregation.  The blacks refused and walked out, forming the Free African Society, with Jones as an overseer.  The Society collected money from members in order to help the needy, and was the first organized African American society.  In 1794, the Society built a church that was admitted into the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania as St. Thomas African Episcopal Church.  

Within the year, membership grew to more than 500.  Soon Jones was ordained as a deacon, and finally a priest (1804), becoming the first African American to be ordained by a hierarchical denomination.  Jones was a gifted evangelist and earnest preacher.  These traits, along with his constant visiting and mild manner, endeared him to the community.  

Though he was never consecrated, he became known as “the Black Bishop of the Episcopal Church.” 

Jones’ history or, and denunciation of, slavery are remembered in this window by the chains and the cameo of a house slave learning gracefulness with a book on her head.  The American flag symbolizes Jones’ eventual freedom, and his remarkable string of American firsts:  his black society, parish, and ordination

A Franciscan Christmas Blessing for Justice & Peace

I've mentioned this blessing of St. Francis before.  Episcopal Suffragan Bishop of Diocese of SE Florida, retired, often uses a part of it in his closing blessing.  I've been fond of Bishop Said for many years. He's such a wonderful preacher and has had a big influence on my life.  St. Mark's was so blessed when we got down to the last 6 weeks before our new rector arrived last Spring and Bishop Frade asked Bishop Said if he would fill in.  Of course, that got me all excited because I'm such a big fan. 

Somebody posted it to an email group in it's entirely. May it bless you as much as it has me.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

A Franciscan Christmas Blessing for Justice and Peace

May God bless you with discomfort...  at easy answers, hard hearts,  half-truths ,and superficial relationships.  May God bless you so that you may live  from deep within your heart  where God’s Spirit dwells.  May God bless you with anger...  at injustice, oppression,  and exploitation of people.  May God bless you so that you may  work for justice, freedom, and peace.  May God bless you with tears...  to shed for those who suffer from pain,  rejection, starvation and war.  May God bless you so that you  may reach out your hand  to comfort them and turn their pain into joy.  And may God bless you with  enough foolishness  to believe that you can make a difference  in this world, in your neighborhood,  so that you will courageously try  what you don't think you can do, but,  in Jesus Christ you'll have all the strength necessary.  May God bless you to fearlessly  speak out about injustice,  unjust laws, corrupt politicians,  unjust and cruel treatment of prisoners,  and senseless wars,  genocides, starvations, and poverty that is so pervasive.  May God bless you that you remember  we are all called  to continue God’s redemptive work  of love and healing  in God’s place, in and through God’s name,  in God’s Spirit, continually creating  and breathing new life and grace  into everything and everyone we touch.  Source: "Troubadour: A Missionary Magazine," published by the Franciscan Missionary Society, Liverpool, UK: Spring 2005.

It Was Raining Babies at St. Mark's

(left) Father Cook telling a children's story at 10AM service.

We had 7 babies baptized that Sunday!  St. Mark's is having more and more babies baptized every month.

Speaking of babies, the Rev. Spencer Potter and wife Erin had a baby boy a couple of weeks ago and I will post a picture as soon as I can get one. 

I, with many others are so happy Father Cook, Pastor Lisa and Father Potter are at St. Mark's.

Rev. Mimi Howard speaks at St. Mark's Episcopal Church

Left, the Rev. Mimi Howard, Deacon, Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, Tequesta, FL.

Right, the Rev. Lisa Barrowclough, Chaplain, St. Mark's School introduces Rev. Howard.

Rev. Howard gave an inspiring presentation on the unique environment and ecosystem of Southeast Florida.  Rev. Howard serves as our diocesan Environmental Education co-coordinator or some such title.  She showed the DVD,  Florida: Our Island Home which featured Bishop Frade proving the scriptural, moral foundation and personal responsibilities of Floridians caring for our very fragile ecosystem. 

Rev. Howard provided concrete suggestions for things we can do in our homes as well as at St. Mark's to ease and slow the destruction of our wetlands and leave enough fresh water and Florida beauty for years to come.

November Integrity Meeting: Caring for the Earth

Integrity of the Palm Beaches had a great gathering Saturday night. Father Rasmus preached a great sermon.  The Thanksgiving potluck was great as was the opportunity to experience the fellowship with friends from our various congregations. 

After dinner,  Father Rasmus introduced the delegates from St. Andrew's and provided a report on the diocesan convention in Miami.

Deacon Pat gave a profoundly esoteric, but yet down to earth, dramatic presentation on caring for our environment through the lens of the Native American tradition.  Part Cherokee, Deacon Pat has studied Native American spirituality extensively for many years.

Regards,

Gordon

www.cafepress.com/fartotheleft 

St. Mark's at Annual Convention

Top:  St. Mark's Episcopal Church delegates, Mandy Frantz and Father Potter.

Second Picture:  Larry and me on Balcony of the banquet hall, Jungle Island.

Third Picture, Erin Potter (baby due early December), Keith and Jill Duke, Larry.

Fourth Picture: Father Potter and Father Cook sharing a moment at the banquet.

Father Cook's Florida shirt is really cool!

More Pictures of Annual Convention

At the top, is your's truly taken from our hotel patio on the 25th floor looking over Biscayne Bay and the Miami Yacht Club.

The middle picture are Larry and me at the Banquet held at Jungle Island.

Bishop Frade posed for a picture with us during a break from the business sessions.

Episcopal Diocese of SE Florida Diocese of SE Florida

The Diocese of Southeast Florida met at Trinity Cathedral, Maimi, for our annual convention. I was honored to be elected as a delegate to convention which was held on November 2nd and 3rd.

Top Picture: Bishop Leo Frade

Middle Picture:  St. Mark's Clergy:  Father Spencer Potter, Ass't Rector, Father Jim Cook, Rector,Pastor Lisa Barrowclough, St. Mark's School Chaplain, Deacon Bob Perrino.

The picture  at the bottom are Father Spencer, Ass't Rector, Father Jim Cook, Delegate Mandy Frantz and Jill Duke.

Congratulations to Rev. Jeannie Martz

St. Mark's Episcopal's former priest-in-charge, Rev. Jeannie Martz is moving to California. She will be the rector at Trinity Episcopal Church in Orange, CA in the diocese of Los Angeles.

Here is a picture of me and Pastor Martz at her farewell party a few months ago.

Best wishes to pastor Martz on her new ministerial journey. http://www.trinityorange.org/ http://www.stmarkspbg.org/

Summer Breakfast at St. Mark's Episcopal

       

Pictures from St. Mark's Summer Sunday Breakfast

Keith, Jill, Jennifer and Rita

Bishop Frade:That's How The Light Gets In

After reading Bishop Frade sermon, I thought about the conversation we had during a down time between services at St. Mark's. He told me about his experiences at Asbury, the discrimination and outright prejudice toward the young, black students when Asbury was forced to integrate. I don't think Bishop Frade consciously set out to be an activist. He saw the injustice occuring and decided to do something about it rather than other Christians who turned a blind eye to it and pretended to not see it. Some saw it and made excuses such as, "well black people don't worship like us." That was code for, "we don't want them in our churches and we don't do outreach due to the cultural differences." Baloney! Bishop Frade was a faithful Methodist who became an activist Episcopalian. Praise God!

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Bishop Leo Frade

Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Southeast Florida

That’s How the Light Gets In A sermon preached by The Right Reverend Leopold Frade, Bishop of Southeast Florida, at his Annual Visitation for Confirmation on Trinity Sunday, June 3, 2007, at Trinity Cathedral, Miami “Ring the bells that still can ring.Forget your perfect offering.There is a crack in everything.That’s how the light gets in.” Those words come from a poem by the Canadian poet and composer Leonard Cohen. I thought that they were an appropriate way for your Bishop to be able to make you aware of the different cracks that exist at present in your church.

I don’t know if you know that one of the hurricanes the year before last caused considerable damage to the roof of our Cathedral. Unfortunately, now we have a major crack in our roof where we can see not only the light, but even the stars and the moon. But also you need to be aware of other cracks that at present exist in this Cathedral. That’s why it is important for you to be reminded of this poem: “Ring the bells that still can ring.Forget your perfect offering.There is a crack in everything.That’s how the light gets in.”

I am sure you know how imperative it is to take care of this unfortunate crack in the roof of our Cathedral. It must be fixed soon, and I know that your dean is working very hard to accomplish it, but he needs your help and your money to achieve it.

I know that we have an excellent dean--we chose right--but even if some of you tend to believe it, you have to be aware that he doesn’t walk on water. Yes, trust me on this--he really doesn’t walk on the water of Biscayne Bay to get to work and back home. The dean actually drives back and forth in his car across the bridge like the rest of us mortals. He needs your help and your money to fix that hole in the roof. Now the crack in the roof we need to fix--patch it, cover it and block the light. But there are other cracks that exist in our church of which we must be aware. We must fix the crack in our roof, but let’s be careful to leave those other necessary cracks alone, so that through them light may get in and shine to banish the darkness of our world.

I am not only talking about this Cathedral, but also about the many cracks that the Episcopal Church seems to have--or as some may perceive it, the imperfections of our Episcopal Church. Yes, we are a Church that has many cracks. We are an imperfect church, and there are many things that someone from the outside looking in may perceive to be flaws that need to be fixed. I am sure that some may even think that we must be the craziest bunch of believers in all of Christendom.

But that is precisely why I became an Episcopalian. That is why I left a calm, cozy, culturally friendly Protestant denomination to belong to a church where priests were being put in jail, and where bishops dared to question many things that were considered as untouchable and not for discussion. I must have been crazy, but I have no regrets. Many people can’t understand us. I just heard a comedian saying that Episcopalians are a kind of Cliff Notes of religion, or for the youngsters here the sparknotes.com of religion.

Some people, when they look at us from the outside, think that we are just “Catholic Light” and that instead of asking our penitents to say a couple of “Hail Marys,” we suggest that they should have a couple of Bloody Marys. I wish it were that easy to be an Episcopalian! So if you think that by being confirmed or received in our church this morning you have it made, I’ve got news for you. It is not that easy to be one of us.

So I say to all of the candidates for confirmation and reception and to all of you that will witness the vows that are going to be made: “Ring the bells that still can ring.Forget your perfect offering.There is a crack in everything.That’s how the light gets in.” The current struggles that we are going through in our Anglican Communion are just an example of what I mean. We are being asked by our brothers and sisters of our Communion to patch the cracks that we have made. I won’t pretend that our actions have not affected the Communion as the British accented prelates stated: “The recent actions of the Episcopal Church of the United States of America have damaged the bonds of affection of the Anglican Communion.” There is no question about it, and for that we can be sorry and apologize. But the fact that we apologize doesn’t mean that we are about to fix that crack. You see, that’s how the light gets in. Some may say that this newest crack is much worse than those that occurred in the past, but I am convinced that they are just trying to justify their prejudice. At the same time there are others that while they vilified this new group demanding their rights, they are jealous to protect their own rights and will scream holy hell if someone would treat them the same way that they treat others.

Let me give you a little background of why I say this: I became an Episcopalian almost 40 years ago because I saw in this church a group of Christians that were willing to defend justice and the rights of those being abused. For me it truly reflected what I was reading that Jesus Christ was saying in the Gospels.

I had just been asked to leave a Methodist-affiliated college in the south because of my big mouth. After the forced integration of my college, I just couldn’t understand how people who seemed to be truly devoted and committed Christians were able to insult, discriminate and even persecute Americans who happened to be black. There were black persons from other countries in that college and I never heard a complaint about them, but when the first African-American student showed up all hell broke loose.

As a foreign student, I had been raised in a different culture and I lacked those chips of selective racial prejudice in my brain. So I decided that it was OK to challenge Southern white persons from Kentucky on issues of race. Big mistake!! That’s how I ended up in New York, and it was there at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine that I became enamored by the beautiful liturgy of our church.

It was love at first sight and there I discovered a church that didn’t ask you to leave your brain at the door, but allowed you to come in with your brain in order for you to think and reason with it; a church that besides having a firm belief in the Scriptures and a willingness to be guided by tradition, also believed that reason is a gift of God for us to use.

You see, reason is what would not allow us over 400 years ago to accept the theory of “Limbo” that Rome so assiduously taught up to a few weeks ago. Also it didn’t allow us to insist that the sun rotated around planet earth and that our planet was the center of the universe. Now, reason was also a factor that prevented us from saying dumb things like that the Teletubbie Tinky Winky was gay because of his triangular antenna, his color purple and his handbag. Reason has helped us to recognize that Blacks and Hispanics are not inferior, that men are not superior to women and that women can and are called by God--and ordained by the church--to be deacons, priests and bishops.

What is exciting is that the Spirit of God has been active during these days and is helping us to comprehend that human beings don’t end up being gay or lesbian because they are possessed by demons or have simply chosen an “unnatural” way of life. It was that 3-legged stool of Anglican thought, Scriptures, Tradition and Reason, that moves the members of our church to be involved in bringing justice and peace and “to respect the dignity of every human being.”

Today as we look at the photographs of marches and demonstrations during the days of the Civil Rights movement in our country, you are bound to recognize in the crowd an Episcopal priest dressed in black with a round collar around his neck. When you go through the list of people jailed, attacked and even martyred, you will find many Episcopalians, including a seminarian named Jonathan Myrick Daniels who was killed in Alabama while saving the life of a young African-American woman.

It was through the cracks that were made with blood and sweat during those days that the light of justice and racial equality got through in America. Now we are not totally perfect ourselves, and we need to sadly accept our own sins and remember with shame that even in this Cathedral black persons were not fully welcomed until a few decades ago. But there were those among us who were willing to create cracks and made it possible for the light to get in, and the changes began to happen--and they will continue to happen.

Some talk about the decrease in membership in our church as a symptom of our discussion on sexuality. But they forget to mention that the main exodus from our denomination was not because of Prayer Book changes or the ordination of women or the acceptance of gays and lesbians, but it was mainly due to the departure of white persons who refused to worship next to a black person who had dared to enter into their beloved homogeneous, culturally friendly environment through cracks that were being made by our clergy and laity to end segregation and discrimination.

There were other cracks in our church that were made, and through them other groups of persons that were being kept away were able to get in. It took a long time but I was there to witness it: It was in 1976--a year when I was so handsome and slim and with lots of hair--at General Convention in Minneapolis when we voted to allow the ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopate. Another crack was made, but you see that’s how the light gets in. Then 27 years later I came back to Minneapolis, and by 2003 I was overweight and with very little hair. But at that General Convention another crack was made. That year the bishops and deputies consented to the election of 10 bishops, something that is a routine for us. However, one of those bishops was the Bishop of New Hampshire, who happens to be a gay man in a committed relationship. And that’s how the light of justice got in.

And now this American church is being told by a number of persons from other cultures and nations, as well as from a small group of our own members, that we must patch the crack that occurred due to our actions. That is very easy for them to say, but if we do that, how will the light of justice get in? I know that by refusing to patch that crack our “bonds of affection” with some of our brothers and sisters are being strained or even broken. I know that there may even be other drastic consequences. But every time I falter and begin to think that maybe we should compromise, I remember Jonathan Myrick Daniels. He could have compromised and not bothered to try to register African-American voters in Alabama. He could have stayed home up north, but instead he chose to make a crack in the name of Christ at the boulders of injustice that blatantly existed in the South at that time. Every time I falter I think of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who could have minded his own business and not bothered to challenge the boulder of apartheid in South Africa. I am convinced that we must be willing to permit these cracks that have occurred in our church so that the light of justice can continue dwelling among us.

If we are not hypocrites and hold double standards, we must say that injustice is injustice in any way, shape or form that it may appear. As a Hispanic I say that if I want justice and equality for those like me, then I have no business whatsoever being part of anything that seeks to deny justice and equality for others, even if those others are gays and lesbians. You should not talk about equality on issues of race and culture if you at the same time--using selected verses from the Bible--refuse justice and the full participation in the life of our church to others with a lifestyle different from yours.

You see my dear candidates, it is not that easy to be an Episcopalian. My God, even our first American bishop was refused ordination by the British because he was not going to pledge allegiance to crazy king George that Americans had just defeated in our Independence War! God bless those Scottish Jacobites who in Aberdeen, Scotland, dared to make a crack in the Anglican Communion and consecrated our first bishop, Samuel Seabury, against the will of the powers to be at the time. That’s how the light got in and we were able to have our first American bishop.

It didn’t take long for the Brits to realize that we were here to stay, and that we were not anymore the Church of England but the Episcopal Church of these United States of America. Now, I know that you want to be confirmed and received by me this morning, but I want to make sure you know that we really mean for you to keep the promises that you are about to make.

We really mean it when we ask you to reaffirm your renunciation of evil and to commit to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Yes, my beloved candidates and all of you present this morning in this Cathedral, you need to be aware that we really mean it when we ask all of you if you are willing to persevere in resisting evil and also if you are willing to love your neighbor as yourself. Not some neighbors but all neighbors. Not just those who talk like you, or cook like you, or vote like you, or pray like you, or those whose affections God has wired different from yours. We really mean all.

I also want to be sure that you know the consequences of responding to the last question of the Baptismal Covenant with, “I will, with God’s help.” It’s important, because with the condition of the world we live in today, it could really make a difference for good. That final question is going to be this: Will you strive for justice and peace among all people? Will you? Will you respect the dignity of every human being? Will you really do that?Do you realize how many cracks we will have to make to be able to achieve this?

I have to admit that if I say that I believe that we must strive for peace, then I must chisel hard and make a crack at that boulder of war brought to our nation through lies and deceit. A boulder of war that brushes aside the death of over 3,000 American youngsters and now insists on a surge that will only increase the number of those killed. If I am to declare that I must strive for justice, then I must be willing to say stop the embargo against the people of Cuba. It has failed and it only punishes the poor and the weak and not those in power in that island. If I believe in resisting evil, then I must do something to stop the exploitation of farmworkers taking place today in Immokalee, Florida. I must also be willing to look at immigration issues with the eyes of the one who insisted in proclaiming that we must love our neighbors as ourselves.

There are other churches in our country where blacks and Hispanics are kept away.

There are quite a few other churches out there where gays and lesbians are bashed and considered evil, where war is praised and encouraged, where women are kept in their place, churches where cracks are not allowed to happen. This Cathedral is not one of them. Now if you really insist on becoming an Episcopalian, then welcome to this church and help us to make sure that we keep some of our cracks. It’s important--you see, that’s how the light gets in. AMEN.

A WORD FROM THE RIGHT REV. LEO FRADE, EPISCOPAL BISHOP; DIOCESE OF SOUTHEAST FLORIDA

I'm not really sure why Bishop Frade gets the idea that General Convention said no blessings of gay unions. GC never said that. It's true that It didn't say "yes". And it still has not initiated the process for formal rites. But that is not saying "no". It acknowledged that it happens in some dioceses and our GC never has taken any steps to stop it or say that it is not allowed. After reading the sermon, I wonder what motives Bishop Frade has for keeping his Southeast Florida ladder in place. I think he doesn't want to get beat up by the right wing anymore than he already has. But it's time to move that ladder. I'm one of many in this diocese who loves Bishop Frade and will support him. He would not be going it alone, He will in fact, have much support. It's time to respect and practice our congregational vow in our prayer book:

"Will you strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being?"

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Bishop Frade's Sermon given to

the Consortium of Endowed

Episcopal Parishes at

All Saints Episcopal Church

Fort Lauderdale, FL

March 1, 200

Welcome to this wonderful place that we call Southeast Florida. We hope that you will enjoy all of the wonderful things that you can do here in winter. None of them will require heaters, thermal underwear, or snow blowers.

I am indeed very fortunate to be the bishop of this tropical diocese that covers Southeast Florida from Key West in the south all the way to Hutchinson Island in the north. Sandwiched in-between we have glamorous places like Isla Morada, Ocean Reef, South Beach, Miami and Ft. Lauderdale Beach, Boca Raton, Palm Beach and Hobe Sound. It is a rough job but somebody has to do it.

But of course we are not perfect. This is the area, if you recall, that brought you all the excitement of the hanging chads, the little Cuban boy Elian Gonzalez that Janet Reno sent back to Castro at gun point; you are now in the place that OJ chose to live with all of his unused cutlery; and of course just a few days before you arrived we were able to come up with a crazy taxi driver crying judge and also plethora of paternity suits and DNA testing. Actually I am one of the few men at this time that doesn’t claim to be the biological father of Anna Nicole’s baby daughter.

But I must warn you that before you quit your jobs and decide to rush down here to enjoy all the excitement of Southeast Florida you have to be aware that this is also the area that hurricanes love to visit.

But enough talk of Southeast Florida. I want to talk to you about a ladder.A particular ladder. This ladder is found in the Holy Land. If you look at any photograph or drawing of the front of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher dating back to 1840 you will notice a ladder placed there in the window ledge a little bit to the right of the church.

My wife Diana and I just returned from our 8th pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how wonderful this experience is. But in all of my previous visits I never noticed the ladder. I asked a Christian Palestinian friend why the ladder was there. He smiled and began to tell me the story.

He claimed that there were several versions of why it was there. The ladder was part of the ‘Status Quo” and it had to remain there, even when it rots it has to be replaced with another wooden ladder. Nothing can be changed even if there is no need for a ladder anymore.

His version had it that the ladder was first introduced during the Turkish Ottoman Empire. The Muslim Turks taxed Christian clergy every time they left and entered the Holy Sepulcher church. The clergy who served the church avoided going out as rarely as possible so they set up living quarters in the Holy Sepulcher church.

The window, ladder and ledge all belong to the Armenian Orthodox Church. The ledge served as a balcony for the Armenian clergy. It was their only opportunity to get fresh air and sunshine without paying the Turkish Muslim tax. Some said that they even grew fresh vegetables on the ledge.

In 1937 after an earthquake that happened in Jerusalem an Armenian monk came down the ladder and began to clean the debris that had fallen on the ledge. In order to move the rubble he had to move the ladder and by doing so he violated the Status Quo that came from a ‘firman’ or edict issued by the Ottoman Sultan in 1757 and reaffirmed in 1852. That edict defined the rights of the different Christian denominations that share that church.

The consequences of moving the ladder is that a major turmoil took place when the Greek Orthodox could not fathom anyone making any changes for whatever reason even if it made sense. The end result was that the Armenian monk was attacked and since then no one has dared to move the ladder.

Actually that has not been the only major fight that has taken place in that holy temple. More recently in the summer of 2002 a Coptic Monk who is stationed on the roof of the church to guard the Coptic claims to the Ethiopian part of the roof dared to move his chair from its agreed spot from the sun into the shade. This of course was seen by the Ethiopian Orthodox as an invasion of property.

The end result, the Jerusalem police tells us that eleven monks both Coptic Orthodox and Ethiopian Orthodox ended up in the hospital after the resulting fracas.

In September of 2004 another major fight occurred when a Franciscan Roman Catholic monk refused to close the door of the Roman chapel at the request of the Greek Patriarch Irenaus that was leading at the time a procession to commemorate the Blessed Cross of Christ. As he passed by in front of the Roman Catholic area he asked a Franciscan monk to close the door of the Roman chapel. I imagine that he preferred not to see any of the Latin decorations of the Chapel.

The results of this ecumenical encounter according to the Jerusalem police is that 4 Greek monks were arrested, and a Franciscan monk required medical attention because he was bodily attacked by the Orthodox.

Probably you know other shameful stories of how bad Christians get along with each other not only in the Holy Land but also around the world. Luckily for us as Anglicans we don’t have to worry about that. Or do we?

Well yes we do and that is why I want to talk about that ladder, or should I say the need to move our ladder.

It seems that we Episcopalians have been moving the Anglican ladder too much.It probably started when we elected our first bishop in America. We sent him to the Mother Church and he was refused to be consecrated by Canterbury because he was unable to pledge allegiance to the British King that we had just managed to defeat. Actually it was our first bishop that in rebellion moved the ladder when he went with the Jacobites in Scotland for consecration.

Our Episcopal Church and our particular polity were not established during a colonial time instead when we were founded we also came up with a peculiar and different polity in a free America over 200 years ago. We moved the ladder when we made the changes. We eliminated anything that smelled like an Archbishop and managed to remove part of the imperial power of the bishops.We even decided to share that power with the presbyters and the laity and came up with something that we called today the House of Deputies.No official decision can be made in this Church without them.

I began to think of how many other times we moved the ladder. Was it when we allowed birth control or decided not let the mother die during childbirth in order to save the baby? Or was it when we allowed divorced Episcopalians to remarry in the church.

Let me see what else? Oh yes, women’s ordination. I was there in 1976 when we moved the ladder again and voted in Minneapolis to approve the ordination of women to the presbyterate and the episcopacy.

Of course at the same time we up the ante a little more by also changing our Prayer Book to reflect modern English as it was spoken in America during the 20th Century.

It looks like we have been moving the ladder for a long time. It just happens that we are what we are. It’s not easy for others from far away to understand who we are. We are what we are. We were not formed because we were a colony of England that handed over sovereignty. We came to be Episcopalians precisely because we spent years and shed lots of blood fighting the British.

Everything has a consequence and moving the ladder makes people crazy. I know that very well because when I voted with the majority of our church to consent to the consecration of the bishop of New Hampshire I was the recipient of considerable irrational behavior. I was aware that there were going to be some in my diocese that were not going to agree with me but I never realized the angry and almost irrational and bitter reaction of some people that love to call themselves Orthodox.

Let me tell you what happened. When I was the Bishop of Honduras, where I served as Bishop for 17 years my wife Diana responding to the need that little girls had for shelter and in order to prevent their abuse she started a home for abandoned, abused and orphaned girls that today houses and educate over 75 girls, it includes also a school with over 200 students and a clinic to help the indigent of Honduras. Today we have graduated 2 of those girls from the university; we have 14 girls presently studying in the university and over 20 in High School.

But to my amazement after the General Convention of 2003 we began to receive angry letters and cancellation of sponsorships from different parts of this country explaining their cancellation of the sponsorship was because Diana as the Director of the home was also married to this horrible bishop that had voted to give his consent in Minneapolis.

Our Little Roses, a home for abandoned, orphaned and abused girls, a home that is not even in my diocese but in Central America was deprived of over $60,000 dollars of annual sponsorship by angry and irrational people that were willing to hurt and starve the girls in order to somehow hurt me.I find this amazing because those beautiful Honduran girls may know who George Clooney or Brad Pitt are but I am sure that they don’t have the foggiest of who Gene Robinson is.

The girls suffered because of this irrational and inhuman reaction. Since then we have recover some because other people gave us a hand, coming from places like All Saints, Ft. Lauderdale, including their Integrity Chapter.

We still need help so if you happen to have some money around to support the abused, abandoned and orphaned girls of Our Little Roses in Honduras please give us a hand.If you need more information talk to me or to Diana. The girls need your help. We will be around today and tomorrow or search the Web: www.ourlittleroses.org has all the information. I partially apologize for begging for the orphans but those girls need our help and I couldn’t resist the opportunity for a commercial. Now let me get back to the ladder.

We have been told not to move the ladder. I think the message has arrived to us loud and clear.

We are all aware that we have recently received directives from a communiqué that the way it is written requests from us to be a different Episcopal Church. The problem I see as an Episcopalian in America is that they are asking us to look to Leviticus 20 that inform us who to stone and not to Leviticus 19 that inform us who to love.

Now, I do not want for you to get the wrong impression. You are not in a liberal diocese. I am not a liberal bishop.Ethnically and by birth I am a III World Bishop. It has been six and a half years since I arrived to Southeast Florida from an III World diocese in Central America where I served for almost two decades. I was also born in the III World in a country that the United States has tried to defeat for years but because of the bad aim of the CIA has been unable to. But this American church decided to move the ladder one more time and now this Cuban refugee boy also happens to be the bishop of Southeast Florida. As Ricky Ricardo used to say to Lucy:“Honey I’m home.”

This is now my home and you are in a diocese that has been in complete compliance with the directives of the Windsor Report even before it occurred to the Primates to prepare it.Now this is also a diocese that recognizes that because of our policies we are discriminating and forbidding the participation of all the baptized into the ordained ministry. We recognize that we can bless dogs and cats, cars and all kinds of boats, homes and businesses but we have to refrain from blessing our faithful, believers in Christ that have lived a monogamous respectable life for decades but happen to be of a different sexual orientation.

We do this not because of the demands of foreign prelates but because we believe that it is not allowed by our American General Convention.

In past years we continued our conversation and many in our midst have worked hard in order that our General Convention eventually will allow the full inclusion of all the baptized members into its leadership and give its blessing to all of its members. And now it seems to me that they want us to stop discussing and to stop thinking.

We are supposed to find ways to ignore all the new evidence of science and also we have to show partiality with our sisters and brothers of different sexual orientations with whom we share this church and inform them that they have to continue being second class Episcopalians.

I fervently pray that we may continue in the Anglican Communion but I want to continue in it as an Episcopalian.

I am committed to continue being part of the Anglican Communion but I also want you to know that I am faithful to this Church that was God’s instrument to bring me to Christ and whose form of government was established more than two centuries ago.

I want to continue being a faithful member of this church that for centuries has been sending and keeps sending prayers, financial resources and missionaries to all parts of the world in order to proclaim the Gospel of Christ. We are part of a church that has brought Christ to the world including some of the areas that today point an accusing finger at us.

I firmly believe that if our founders wanted to have the same church polity of other parts of the Communion where presbyters and laity don’t have an equal voice as bishops then they would have chosen to move to Canada or the UK and join those who opposed our justice and independence.

I don’t know how the House of Bishops will respond this coming March when we meet in Texas. I for one will support my Presiding Bishop; Gosh I forgot that!A woman Primate, that’s another time when we moved the ladder.Roman Bishops say that they back the Holy Father; well as an Episcopal Bishop I say that I back the Holy Mother.

It is my fervent prayer that we can find the way towards reconciliation. I am willing to make the necessary sacrifices in all humility but I hope that the rest of the Communion will respect who we are as Episcopalians.

I pray that whatever we do will be seen with pleasure in the eyes of Jesus Christ. A Christ that loves and cares for all and that also calls us to love our neighbor as ourselves.

We are Christians, yes we are.

We are Anglicans, yes we are.

But we are also Episcopalians,

and yes we are what we are.

I want to end with the words of the German singer Paul Van Dyk when he expresses his sentiments in his song: Wir Sind Wir = We are what we are:

“We’re what we are

We’re standing here

We’re not going down

No time to be angry

We’re what we are

We’re standing here

We’re what we are

Divided, defeated and else

But finally, we still exist!

We’re what we are

We will get over it

Because life has to go on

We’re what we are.

This is just a bad phase

We will never give up!

Amen.

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