Meeting +Gene Robinson

by Jonathan York

Integrity USA Volunteer at General Convention

I have to be honest – I had an agenda when I met +Gene Robinson. As a young LGBT person of faith, he has been a personal inspiration to me for some time, and I was determined to meet him during my stay at General Convention through the Young Adult Festival I was attending. I had planned how I would introduce myself should I run into him, and I planned to invite him to the "Celebrating Young Adult Ministries" reception the following evening, as many of the young adults attending General Convention had expressed a desire to meet him.

Jonathan York

As fortune would have it, after a day of searching, I finally ran into him on the Exhibit Hall floor. I introduced myself (as I had carefully rehearsed), and began telling him how popular he was with the young adults and how eager many of us had been to meet with him. His reaction was immediate – "Can I? I would love to meet them!" I was blown away by how warm and eager he was to meet me and the rest of the young adults. Finally having the opportunity to meet someone who has been such an inspiration to me, and feeling the incredible welcome which radiated from him, left me reeling for most of the day.

I understand why I have been eager to meet Bishop Robinson, but I have been quite curious as to why so many of the other young adults (LGBT or not) have been as well. For many of the actions we are taking at this Convention, the messages they send are almost as important as the actions themselves. Each Resolution and budget line we pass (or reject) is a declaration of who we are as a Church. +Gene Robinson is such a declaration, and I believe that is why the young adults here at Convention are so eager to meet him.

Robinson is a declaration of the Episcopal Church's insistence that the Spirit of God does not discriminate. He is living proof that Episcopalians throughout the world are beginning to accept their duty to seek and serve the image of Christ in all people – and that is something young people (Episcopalian or not, LGBT or not, American or not) are very excited about; it is something we should all be excited about, and it is something we would do well to remember throughout this Convention.