In honor of National Coming Out Day...................

Integrity celebrates  National Coming Out Day by publishing two fabulous blogs from two fabulous Episcopal priests. The first is from Integrity President, the Rev. Dr. Caroline Hall. The second comes from one of our most  valiant straight allies, the Rev. Ed Bacon of All Saints Church, Pasadena, CA.  Enjoy and share.

“Lazarus, come out!”

by

The. Rev. Dr. Caroline Hall

St Benedict's, Los Osos

President, Integrity USA

Today we celebrate National Coming Out Day and I find myself wondering to whom I can come out. I am fortunate to live in a relatively liberal part of California, in a diocese which has been welcoming and affirmative for longer than I’ve been an Episcopalian. The people I know (and a lot who I don’t know) know I’m lesbian. I’ve been on TV and I’ve been on radio etc. etc. – what else is there to do?

There’s actually a lot still to do. There are still many LGBTQ people in this community who think all churches are judgmental and unsafe. It’s harder to come out as Christian than to come out as gay. Even though my congregation is clearly welcoming (we have two openly partnered gay clergy) LGBTQ people are not flocking to the door. Many of my congregation are parents, friends and allies of ours, but there are few LGBTQ people who visit more than once.

Why?

I’m not sure. I can make some guesses, but I don’t want to take up your time with navel gazing. What’s important is for me to realize that coming out goes two ways.

For some of us coming out means taking another step in sharing our identity with friends and co-workers. For others it means sharing our faith with those same people. For some parishes it means having important conversations within the church, for others like mine, it means finding a way to come out and be more visible and more present in the LGBTQ community.

This evening I will be challenging a small group of parishioners who gather on Tuesdays for a non-traditional service of Vespers to think about Coming Out and what it means. Fo Lazarus it meant life, light and hope.

What does it means for you and your parish?

The. Rev. Dr. Caroline Hall
St Benedict's, Los Osos
President, Integrity USA
 

"Being Gay Is A Gift From God!"

by

The Rev. J. Edwin Bacon

Rector, All Saints Church

Pasadena, CA

As a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show in January 2009, I said, "Being gay is a gift from God." Those seven words -- spoken to a call-in viewer from Atlanta -- set off a ripple of response that lit up Oprah's switchboard, almost crashed our parish email server and continues to bring people toward us here at All Saints Church in Pasadena. And that moment continues to be for me an iconic example of how important it is for people of faith to confront discrimination against our LGBT brothers and sisters by standing up and by speaking out.


It is why on this National Coming Out Day 2011, I believe it is no longer enough for LGBT people to come out and let the world know who they were created to be, although that continues to be a courageous and transformational act. It is time for Christians to come out and let the world see the Church as it was created to be: a vehicle of love and justice, not a bastion of bigotry and homophobia.

It is time for people of faith to speak out against the religion-based bigotry that has for too long fueled the fires of homophobia that perpetuate violence against LGBT people and plant the seeds of self-loathing in LGBT youth.

And it is time to take to heart the words of Rabbi Abraham Heschel, who famously said, "Few are guilty, but all are responsible." I may not be guilty of the religion-based bigotry that has wounded countless members of God's beloved LGBT children, but I am responsible for offering a counter-narrative to the lies that have been told about the God I serve -- the God of love, justice and compassion.

My faith tradition teaches that the truth will set you free -- and the truth is: God loves.

The truth is: love trumps.

And the truth is: Being gay is a gift from God.


The Rev. J. Edwin Bacon
Rector, All Saints Church

Pasadena, CA