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Letters
received during the week
of 6 July
Keep
breathing, keep trusting, keep listening
THANK
YOU FOR YOUR MINISTRY of
reflection and communication. This is certainly not an easy time
in the Communion, particularly here
in the US with General Convention starting at the end of this
month. Even though I am in agreement (basically) with the blessing
of same-sex unions and hve benefitted greatly from the friendship
and ministry of my gay and lesbian clergy collegues I wish, in
some sense, that the whole discussion would just go away. It
does matter to me whether or not the ECUSA is in communion with
Nigeria or any of the other provinces that have claimed and declared
a breach of communion with New Westminster and New Hampshire.
And yet the pastoral and justice issues surrounding sexuality
are so real... All we can do is keep breathing, keep trusting
the wisdom of the Holy Spirit and keep listening with hearts
of love. Thank you for your efforts to do this and to encourage
others to be faithful in the same way.
Blessings,
Victoria
Geer McGrath+
All Saints', Millington
Millington, New Jersey, USA
allstsmill@hotmail.com
7 July 2003
The
problem with change
THE
FUROR OVER GAY 'RIGHTS' in
the church, both for members and celebrants, perhaps ignores
the fact that many members don't believe that
the position of the church should be changed. Not out of hate
for gay persons, but because they (or we, I hesitate to speak
for everyone), believe it's wrong. Our priest spoke of a new
movement in the US church to change the liturgy and the prayer
book—again. I'm still not used to the new one. Change for the
sake of change is not only bad, it's wrong. If the Anglican/Episcopalian
church has stood for this many years, I think it will stand for
more. We must show those we wish to join us that we have something
to offer them. Changing to make us more 'attactive' will diminish
our faith, and make us perhaps more 'unattractive' to those
whom we are now.
Eric
Freischlag
St John's Episcopal Church
Wilson, New York USA
ericpaul@juno.com
7 July 2003
We're
waiting for that Pyrrhic haze
WHEN
I FIRST HEARD THAT Canon John had removed himself from consideration
as suffragan bishop following extreme pressure from a variety
of sources, I was at first disheartened. But, a moment later,
I saw that there is also some cause for hope that true and lasting
good may come from the seeming defeat of love, tolerance and
mutual compassion.
I
considered two thoughts. The first is that Canon John did not
fight or call names or threaten or fly into a petulant rage screaming
'I want what I want, and if I don't get it I'm going to take
my Bible and go home!' It appears, on the contrary, that his
actions were founded at least in substantive part on what he
perceived as the feelings of those who had 'despitefully used'
him. The other thought was directed toward those who used every
device possible — short of assassination threats, it would
seem — to ensure that Canon John was not accepted as a
bishop. Certain parties threatened to remove entire provinces
from affiliation with the worldwide Communion if his appointment
was finalised. More recently, I read that an unmarried priest — not
specifically 'gay' mind you, but simply "unmarried" — received
a package containing excrement together with a note explaining
(in effect) that 'This is what we think of people who support
Canon John'.
Christians
(and others) who have been neutral and/or confused in this and
related matters will, I think, pause to consider these two very
different reactions. They may ask themselves which of the parties
seems to be more an example of a Christian spirit of conciliation
and concern? And which party seems to be secure in its own righteousness
within 'the Law' while Christ remains outside its door patiently
knocking to be allowed to join those inside who so proudly call
themselves by His name? Which lives more according to the Law
of Love taught by our Saviour? And which lives defiantly according
the 'The Law' so dear to those who are sure that God's Word is
graven on paper but far less pleased with the less comfortable
reality that God's Word became Flesh and has graven Itself on
the human heart as well?
When
everyday Christians consider and answer for themselves these
questions and others like them, I believe that the 'victory'
of would-be secessionists, threat-mongers, excrement-peddlars
and their ilk will vanish in a Pyrrhic haze. It will not be the
first time that hate has worked unwittingly and against its own
will to achieve the ends decreed by Love. The Gospel was not
given by Christ in vain, whether in the days of the Scribes and
Pharisees, or today when some modern men, cut from a similar
cloth, still seek to restrain and codify the boundless Love of
Him Who sustains and enlivens the universe. That Gospel lives
now as vibrantly as it did then; and, in the end, it will never
fail and it will never be restrained.
Jérôme
Considering the Anglican/Episcopal Communion
San Francisco, California, USA
acadienerrant@mindspring.com
11 July 2003
When
sadness turns to prayer
I
WRITE THIS LETTER AFTER HAVING finished
two rounds of correspondence with my rector, who serves as a
delegate to the General Convention
of the ECUSA, over the issues of Gene Robinson's consecration
and the blessing of same sex unions. I am fascinated at how these
two issues have become intertwined with one another, and how
the failure of the tradition and canons of the Church to develop
a rite have made it difficult for even some reasonable clergy
to accept the election of an openly gay bishop in such a committed
relationship.
I
adore the Episcopal Church and the communion it enjoys with Anglicans
worldwide, and am saddened by the jeopardy in which that unity
has been placed by these issues. But I am convinced that the
Church in most places is not losing members because it is insufficiently
fundamentalist or conservative. On the contrary! It is the stubborn
clinging to outmoded doctrine at the expense of caring for God's
people — all of them — that is the sin of the Church now. Therefore
I wrote a prayer (a first for me) that I hope provides some with
a source of strength through the coming struggles:
Merciful
God, Mother and Father of all, you are the source of all that
is, and nothing that is exists without you. Open the hearts of
your servants, especially ________, ________, and all
who humbly seek your will in doing justice to your gay and lesbian
children. Call those of us who are your gay and lesbian children
to communion with your people the Church, and where the doors
to that Church are shut, open them wide to receive us. Ignite
within all of us the fire of your Holy Spirit, to teach us to
love and respect one another even amid our differences, to heal
our wounds, and to remind us always of the example of forgiveness,
acceptance and lovingkindness made flesh in the person of Jesus. Amen.
Terry
Milner
Church of the Holy Family and the Orange County Mission
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
terrym@mindspring.com
8 July 2003
Whose
morality is being gored?
I
AM GLAD TO SEE THE ISSUE OF EPISCOPAL MORALITY is
being taken seriously, and look forward to the reaction should
future candidates turn out to be gossips, over-indulgent in food
or drink, or not to have clothed the naked and fed the hungry.
Robert
Greaves
All Saints Anglican Church
Jakarta, INDONESIA
robertg@rad.net.id
8 July 2003
You're
very welcome
I
APPRECIATE YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF MY LETTER (see
Letters
of 29 June) regarding V. Gene Robinson becoming a bishop.
You were understanding enough to print it in among your other
letters. Even though I am not an Anglican, what you are allowing
does affect all major denominations and therefore it is right
to consider a strong declining voice. My own denomination is
struggling with this question and we are watching what other
groups are doing.
Sincerely,
Dick Barker
Richard
Barker
Other than an Anglican
Wilmore, Kentucky, USA
10 July 2003
Failure
of love is the worst thing
CONGRATULATIONS
ON YOUR NEW LETTERS FORUM. I am impressed by the thoughtful nature of the letters you have
printed.
Like
others, I am very unhappy about the current row (there seems
to be no milder word that would be adequate) about homosexuality,
both in the USA, the UK and in Australia. It hurts such a lot
of people and I can't see that it benefits anyone. I don't
think God needs us to protect him from gays.
I
suppose I must have led a sheltered life in some respects,
as I am always staggered by the number of Christians who seem
convinced that what people do in their bedrooms is a really
important issue, and who also see it as part of a Christian's
work, to tell other people what they must do to get God's approval. The
whole issue seems to me irrelevant to the world's real problems
(war, poverty etc) and irrelevant to the Church's real mission
of spreading the good news about Christ.
The
position that some adhere to, that homosexual practices
must be abandoned by those who want to be right with God, strikes
me as very problematic. It seems a lot like a theology
of faith
through works, and also seems to suggest that we can '"save'
ourselves by living a good life. It also ignores the fact
that we
are all sinners, every one, and in need of Christ — so
why pick
on one category?
The
worst thing is that it is such a failure of love, which is
the greatest commandment.
Caroline
Miley
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
c.miley@vca.unimelb.edu.au
9 July 2003
About longevity
and Anglican firsts
I
REMEMBER READING AN ARTICLE in
the Orange County (California) Register a few years ago about
a 26-year old Roman Catholic woman being
the youngest woman to take final vows as a nun. Why
that makes front-page news in California has become more apparent
as time goes by. It
is something women of my generation (the
20-30s age group) and even more especially non-white women,
are not supposed to want to do with our lives, especially
when you're Anglican and not Roman Catholic.
The
worldwide Anglican Communion had a woman who took her final vows
at the age of 25: Sister Barbara of the Order of the
Holy Paraclete. She died at age 82 and was professed for
57 years. If we have to be at odds with the Roman Catholics,
I would have
to say that we have them beat. We're number 1 for having
the youngest nun — if that indeed were a competition!
Pamela
Kennedy
Trinity Church
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
12 July 2003
Thank
you!
THANK
YOU FOR YOUR THOUGHTFUL AND TEMPERATE OFFERING of
information on news in the Anglican Communion. Thank you for
your thought-provoking
questions and continual focus on Christ rather than conflict.
And thank you most of all for embodying the (I like to think,
anyway) Anglican tradition of balance among scripture, reason
and tradition. It has seemed to me these last several years that
our Communion is battered by folks who take up either scripture
or tradition (their interpretation of same) and use them as weapons,
meanwhile heaving reason completely out the window. Alas. God
bless your work.
The
Reverend Peggy Blanchard
Diocese of East Tennessee
Kingston, Tennessee, USA
11 July 2003
Earlier
letters
We
launched our 'Letters to AO' section on 11 May
2003. All of our letters are in our
archives.
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