God calls Gays, too

The arrogance and meanness of Christianity is rearing its head again.

Last month, the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire elected Gene Robinson, an openly gay priest, to be the next Bishop of New Hampshire. In the Episcopal Church, the election of a bishop requires a couple of steps. There is, first, the election, done at a regular annual diocesan convention or, more usually, at a special convention called for the express purpose of bringing elected delegates together to elect the new bishop. After this is done and the bishop-elect accepts, the next step is for the standing committees of all of the dioceses in the Episcopal Church in the U.S. to approve the election. This is because a bishop is not only the bishop of the particular diocese in which he or she is elected, but is also considered to be in the Apostolic Succession and therefore a teacher of the whole church and protector of doctrine. Thus, the whole church must approve. This is the process two out of every three years. The rub comes that third year. Any bishop elected within three months of General Convention-a triennial gathering of bishops and elected deputies from all dioceses of the Episcopal church and a always hotbed of political intrigue-must be approved, not by the standing committees of the individual dioceses, but by the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops at General Convention. General Convention begins July 30^th in Minneapolis, Gene Robinson was elected last month, therefore, the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops, not the standing committees, will have to approve his election at convention next week.

This is a train wreck looking for a place to happen.

For thirty years, the Episcopal Church has wrestled with the question of ordaining openly gay persons, as well as blessing same-sex unions, with little if any resolution of the issues other than to put off making any substantive decision until further study was made. Recent decisions in the Anglican Church of Canada to bless same-sex unions and the appointment of a gay man to be bishop in the Church of England have brought the issue to the boiling point. Twenty-four conservative bishops of the Episcopal Church have threatened to join conservative bishops in Africa, Asia, and South America and break ties with the Episcopal Church USA if Robinson is confirmed or if there is any "yes" vote on same-sex blessings.

Call me uncompromising - call me radical - call me anything you want. We’ve been trying to resolve this issue and have only succeeded in polarizing the church further. It is time to draw the line and let these conservatives put their threats into action. Let ‘em go! I am fed up with how so-called Christians try to keep the church "pure" by demonizing and excluding whole groups of people because they don’t quite fit in with how the institution defines acceptable behavior and doctrine. Christians can be the meanest bunch of people on earth and I am continually at odds with myself over why I continue to remain a priest in this church. I look at the vitriolic arguments against gays and how scripture is used (wrongly) to show how evil they are and how we have to protect the church from sin, and I have to ask, "What are we so afraid of? Not getting it right?" Jesus defined acceptable behavior by the first two commandments: Love God, love your neighbor as yourself. I don’t see any other explanation that works. We are just plain scared. We’re scared that if we don’t follow the rules (as defined by the institution) somehow God’s going to be so pissed off at us that She won’t let us into heaven. As usual, theology is broken down into its simplest parts: What do I get for being good (on my terms)?

It makes no sense to get into biblical arguments. For every point you make against something, I can show you just as many reasons why that particular passage can’t be used to make your argument. I have to go back to basics. What does God expect of me? As best as I can tell, God wants me to work for justice and peace, to love unconditionally (as best I can in this human form), to give, expecting nothing in return, to seek Christ in all persons, and to be open to learning new stuff. How is it possible for us to condemn a another person for their lifestyle even when we see how committed they are to the tenets of personal conduct I have just enumerated? I see a gay couple more committed to each other and God than some priests in the church (including me at times) and I wonder who’s got the lock on "proper" Christian behavior?

Jesus put his disciples into a boat after he fed the five thousand and sent them off to Bethsaida while he blessed and dismissed the people then went up to pray by himself for awhile. The disciples rowed out into the water and after a time them were beset by a storm and a strong contrary wind. They rowed and rowed into the wind and found themselves going nowhere. No matter how hard they pulled on those oars, they went nowhere. Jesus saw this and decided to cross over to meet them on the other side. He set out upon the water and intended to pass them by while they were rowing but they saw him walking on the water. The disciples thought they’d seen a ghost and were very afraid. Jesus went over to the boat and got into it telling them to fear not. When he got in, the wind abated and the storm ended. Still the disciples were astonished because they didn’t understand what they had just seen with the feeding of the five thousand because their hearts were hardened. How easy it is for us to see the hand of God in something and then, five minutes later be back to our old ways, rowing for all we’re worth against the wind. When Jesus shows up to quell the storm, we are always amazed and the outcome is always unexpected. The church has yet to come to understand that it only has it partially right when it proclaims that God never changes. The church is right - God never changes. But where it gets screwed up is in thinking that because God never changes, the goings on in the church will always stay the same. The church misses the point when it refuses to see that all through scripture are stories about how the human experience of God changes constantly. That is how we grow in God. We change our understanding of God through experiences that open us to new thought. The church doesn’t get this part, for some reason. And so we row and row and row against the winds of controversies set up by Christians who don’t want to deal with change because it makes them uncomfortable. But to say that a priest who has lovingly and spiritually served his diocese and his church for 28 years can’t be a bishop because he’s gay is unconscionable. Conservative factions of the church have threatened to break communion in the past over issues that today aren’t issues: Women’s ordination, the Prayer Book, people of color and their place in the church - hell, a hundred years ago they were screaming about putting water into the wine at the Eucharist! Enough is enough. I have been willing to listen to their side for a long time, but, it seems, they are not willing to listen to mine. Unity at all costs is not healthy for the church if it means that ALL of God’s people cannot serve equally at the table of the Lord, loved and called. There are too many people who are hurting because "church doctrine" can’t let them in. It is time to heal the pain and proclaim the reign of God for ALL people of ALL orientations.

Jesus is trying to get into our little boat and still the storm.

We're still trying to toss him overboard.

11:19:15 PM
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