To quote one well-known television theologian, "Well isn't that special...."

MLW+


----- Original Message -----
From: "Charles Scott" <crscott@...>
To: <faithandlife@...>
Sent: Wednesday, November 20, 2002 7:36 AM
Subject: [FaithandLife] Claiming the Blessing


>
> From the Episcopalian.com NEWS
>
> Date:    Tue, 19 Nov 2002 05:08:45 -0600
> From:    "Douglas L. LeBlanc" <dlleblanc@...>
> Subject: Coverage of Claiming the Blessing
>
> Gay Episcopalians revive blessings rite
>
> By Douglas LeBlanc
>
> ST. LOUIS -- Gay Episcopalians will ask the 2003 General Convention for
the
> same thing they sought in 2000: to develop a Book of Occasional Services
> rite for blessing monogamous gay couples. This year, however, they
describe
> the renewed request as a principled compromise and an act of humility.
>
> Nearly 200 gay Episcopalians gathered at a conference, "Claiming the
> Blessing," at Christ Cathedral on Nov. 8 and 9. "We are quite deliberately
> advocating for a rite whose use would be optional, for the sake of the
unity
> of the Church we love," said the Rev. Michael Hopkins, president of
> Integrity, in his opening remarks at the conference. "We are compromising,
> moderating our position, for the sake of the Church."
>
> Hopkins cited a phrase from Resolution 9 of the 1920 Lambeth Conference
(on
> "Christian Reunion"): "We believe that for all, the truly equitable
approach
> to union is by way of mutual deference to one another's consciences."
>
> "Liberals and conservatives, progressives and traditionalists, must learn
to
> live together in this Church or there will be no church in which for us to
> live," Hopkins said. "But learning to live together must mean 'mutual
> deference,' not moratoriums or some insistence that we all convert to
being
> 'moderates.'"
>
> Hopkins sought to assure conservatives that "we do not desire for you to
go
> away" and "we do not desire to force same-sex blessings on you or anyone."
> And he challenged conservatives to "stop scapegoating lesbian and gay
> Christians for every contemporary ill in the Church."
>
> "You know as well as we do that the issues are far deeper than human
> sexuality," Hopkins said. "They are issues of scriptural interpretation
and
> authority, including the very different polities that exist in different
> provinces of the Communion and whether or not local autonomy is a defining
> characteristic of Anglicanism. Issues of human sexuality are just one tip
of
> that very large iceberg, and if sexuality went completely away tomorrow,
the
> iceberg would still be there."
>
>
>
> A united effort
>
> As a movement, Claiming the Blessing unites the efforts of Integrity (at
28,
> the oldest gay-rights organization in the Episcopal Church), Beyond
> Inclusion (which held its first conference in 1997), and Oasis (which
began
> in the Diocese of Newark and assists gay-friendly dioceses and parishes).
>
> The Witness magazine also supported the conference with extensive
materials
> in its November issue.
>
> The Rev. Elizabeth Kaeton, former director of Oasis in the Diocese of
> Newark, described how this united effort had it roots in the Lambeth
> Conference of 1998, when gay activists from around the world found
> themselves divided and turning on each other.
>
> "They were well-funded, well-organized, and focused -- and we were not,"
> Kaeton said of conservative bishops and activists at Lambeth. "We came
away
> from Lambeth wounded and limping, but still walking."
>
> Despite Hopkins' emphasis on compromise and unity, his bishop spoke more
> confrontational words. Gay Episcopalians deserve the blessings of their
> churches, and "we are not going to sell that birthright down the Jordan
> River because we fear disunity in the Episcopal Church or the larger
> Anglican Communion," said Bishop John Chane of the Diocese of Washington.
>
> "Pastoral considerations should take precedence over canonical form as we
> move toward General Convention in 2003."
>
> "We are getting there very soon," Chane said about winning blessings
> involving gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Episcopalians
(conference
> participants spoke of all four categories usually, though often using the
> abbreviation GLBT). "We will get there in Minneapolis." During earlier
> remarks about Convention, Chane promised that "we will get it on" -- i.e.,
> engage in a vigorous debate about sexuality -- in Minneapolis.
>
> Former Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning observed during a workshop about
> General Convention strategy that the 2003 Convention may be asked to
confirm
> an openly gay bishop, and "that issue could take over Convention."
>
> The Rev. Gene Robinson, canon to the ordinary for Bishop Douglas Theuner
of
> the Diocese of New Hampshire, is an openly gay priest and has placed well
> during bishops' elections in Newark, N.J., and Rochester, N.Y. Robinson
has
> declined comment on whether he will be a candidate in his own diocese.
>
> New Hampshire will elect its new bishop on June 7. General Convention,
which
> meets on July 30 to August 8, will vote on any bishops elected within 120
> days of the Convention. Bishops and standing committees confirm bishops
who
> are elected between General Conventions.
>
> During the workshop on General Convention strategy, Peggy Adams
recommended
> meeting with deputies three times and bringing along family pictures. "I
> talk about how important it is that my children be brought up in a church
> that accepts all people," she said. "It's not an issue of sex. It's an
issue
> of accepting people."
>
> At an evening banquet, the Rev. Carter Heyward bemoaned that "gay,
lesbian,
> bisexual and transgender Christians can be ordained or blessed if, and
only
> if, they agree not to rock the boat of marriage."
>
> "We have to struggle for greater sexual diversity among ourselves," she
> said, adding that she has more bisexual students than ever before at
> Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass. (Heyward also mentioned that
> some of her lesbian friends have fallen in love with men and become
married,
> which Heyward said proves that human sexuality is a shifting and widely
> varied phenomenon.)
>
> Heyward encouraged participants to acknowledge that some GLBT
Episcopalians
> are ambivalent about marriage -- which she called a patriarchal
institution
> -- and that some would not avail themselves of blessing rites even if they
> were available.
>
> "More important than winning at General Convention is our integrity. . .
> .Let us not ask for too little -- and I don't know what too little or too
> much is at this point."
>
> A financial altar call
>
> In a final session, the Rev. Ed Bacon of All Saints Episcopal Church,
> Pasadena, spoke of two people who visited him recently from New York and
> bore a message from an unspecified Episcopal leader that Bacon should
> forsake his involvement with Claiming the Blessing. Bacon added that the
few
> bishops who attended Claiming the Blessing were warned not to participate.
>
> "I'm here to tell you that life is going to become very shaky for us --
both
> before General Convention and during it," Bacon said.
>
> Bacon quoted pilot Chuck Yeager, best known for breaking the sound
barrier,
> as saying that his jet's cockpit became shakiest just before his
> breakthrough. "The good news is that Jesus is alive, and that Jesus is
about
> breakthroughs, and that Jesus' power is not finite," Bacon said.
>
> Bacon asked participants to join him in clicking their fingers in united
> rhythm, then clapping, then singing "He's Got the Whole World in His
Hands."
> (In deference to God not being male or female, Bacon encouraged people to
> change personal pronouns throughout the song, which led to such lines as
> "He's got the whole world in her hands / She's got the whole wide world in
> his hands.")
>
> Bacon encouraged everyone at the meeting to make a financial pledge to
> Claiming the Blessing -- whether the equivalent of a cup of Starbucks
coffee
> each week or $10,000.
>
> Bacon drew on his roots as a Southern Baptist when he asked participants
to
> join him in singing "Just As I Am." They sang as they walked the center
> aisle of Christ Cathedral, laying their pledge cards atop the altar. The
> last person to make his way down the aisle was William Richardson Jr.
> Integrity founder Louie Crew had introduced Richardson at the conference
> banquet as an openly gay priest from the Diocese of Louisiana and one of
> Crew's heroes. Richardson is 92.
>
>
> From the Episcopalian.org News
> ------------------------------
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE*
> http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus
>
>
> --
> To unsubscribe, send ANY message to
<faithandlife-unsubscribe@...>
>