Requiescat in Pace: The Rt. Rev. Marvil Thomas Shaw III, SSJE

Integrity joins the church in mourning the death of the Right Rev. Marvil Thomas "Tom" Shaw III SSJE, recently retired bishop of Massachusetts.

Born in Battle Creek, Michigan in 1945, he was ordained to the priesthood in 1971 and joined the Society of St. John the Evangelist, an Anglican religious order for clergy and laity, in 1975. He served a term as its leader beginning in 1983.  He was consecrated a bishop in 1994 and assumed the diocesan seat the following year.

Bishop Shaw Visiting St. Paul's: Newburyport in January
PHOTO CREDIT: Ollie Jones (flickr.com/joebackward)
Used by Creative Commons License.  Some rights reserved

Bishop Shaw's advocacy for the LGBT community is significant.  He came out in 2012 and described his experience as a gay, celibate monk at the 2008 Lambeth Conference (a worldwide gathering of Anglican bishops that was fraught with controversy over the consecration of the Right Rev. Gene Robinson) in the documentary Love Free or Die.

The Rt. Rev. Mary Douglas Glasspool, Bishop Suffragan in the Diocese of Los Angeles, met Shaw over thirty years ago while a student at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge. "He committed himself when he became bishop, that he would make it a priority for LGBT families to feel safe, loved and included before his retirement."

"When I first came into the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts right out of college in 1995, Bishop Shaw was near the beginning of his episcopate. As I got to know this diocese, I was struck by the tone he set-- one of prayer, commitment, public advocacy and proclamation, innovation, discipline. LGBTQ people should remember his early, strong support for HIV/AIDS ministries, of openly gay and lesbian ecclesial leadership, and of marriage equality here in Massachusetts over two decades ago," said the Rev. Cameron Partridge, Co-Convener of TransEpiscopal and Chaplain at Boston University. "His support of transgender equality and leadership is particularly noteworthy, from his quiet support of my ordination process after I came out in 2001, to his public advocacy for trans non-discrimination legislation in MA and at the 2009 and 2012 General Conventions, to his memorable words of welcome at Boston's Trans Day of Remembrance observances from 2010-2013. All of this was so clearly the fruit of his ongoing conversion, of growth into the heart of God to which he always issued an open invitation. For me, that prayerful engagement of transformation -- including the opening of his own heart-- is +Tom's lasting legacy."

"In 2008 Bishop Shaw confirmed me into the Episcopal Church," said Vivian Taylor, executive director of Integrity USA. "His strong, wise leadership created an environment in the Diocese of Massachusetts where I could come out, where I could transition. He is a great leader and his work will live on both here in Massachusetts and throughout the Episcopal Church."

"Tom was a kind, contemplative man, and willing to learn and grow," added Marie Alford-Harkey, Integrity's Province I (New England) Coordinator, a graduate of Episcopal Divinity School and Deputy Director of the Religious Institute.

Bishop Shaw's advocacy did not start or end on human sexuality.  Bishop Glasspool cited his dedication to reforming the structures that lead to poverty, as well as immigration policy and gun laws. He also campaigned for peace in the Middle East and led numerous pilgrimages to the Holy Land, Africa, and South America, to bring about better understanding of global social issues.  Locally, he founded a middle school and other programs for disadvantaged Boston youth, and -- in 2003 -- helped launch the Barbara C. Harris Camp and Conference Center, a facility in Greenfield, N.H. that is operated by the Diocese of Massachusetts.

Christian Paolino is the Chair of the Integrity Stakeholders' Council.  This is a revision of the original breaking story.

My First Year in Thanksgiving and Gratitude

With The Very Rev Gary Hall

As of today, I have served as Integrity's Executive Director for one full year. It has been a wondrous journey. It is an incredible blessing to be called to serve lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, the Episcopal Church, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

This year we have seen enormous progress-we have new members and new parishes, more volunteers at large and in the office, so many victories, along with a great sense of purpose. This year our victories have included marriage equality in Oregon, progress towards passing the Equal Housing and Employment Act in Ohio, the beginnings of a renewed push for inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people in the American South, and the overturning of too many anti-LGBT ordinances to list.


Today I get to thank more people than I can count, for participating in this extraordinary work and helping me bring my best to Integrity.

To each of you whom I have met over the past year, thank you for your generosity, your kindness, and your energy. It is a phenomenal joy to be a part of your life, to get to know you, and to have the chance to earn your friendship. Thank you to all the people who invited me, a young transgender woman, to speak. Thank you to all the folks who listened. Your ideas, questions and interest are a light in my life, are a thrill and an education.

Thank you to all of our leaders from the Provincial Coordinators to the Diocesan Organizers to the local Chapter Leaders for their ongoing push for freedom and recognition. Thank you for working to put on Believe Out Loud trainings, for calling attention to important LGBT work in your own communities: thank you for being an LGBT-loving presence throughout our Church.

Thank you Charlene McCreight, David Soland, Andy McQuery and everyone else who has been the driving force behind all of Integrity's successes in our Oregon freedom to work and our Ohio Equal Housing and Employment Act work. Without folks like you, we simply would not have seen the successes and progress that have made this year such a joy.

To folks like the Rev. Valori Sherer and the Rev. Vic Mansfield who have welcomed Integrity's work in North Carolina, thank you for your energy, optimism, and faith for the future of the South.

To the Rev. Dr. Patrick Cheng and all those who attended Integrity's Campus Ministry retreat, thank you.

To the Rev. David Norgard, the Rev. Cameron Partridge, Mara Keisling, Alison Amyx and everyone else who had shared their wisdom with me over the past year, thank you.

To the Integrity staff, thank you for your dedication, creativity, and excellent work. I couldn't have done any of this without you.

To Integrity's Board of Directors, thank you for your guidance, your direction, and your engagement.

To all of the people who have generously supported Integrity financially, thank you for making it possible for us to do this work. Everything that Integrity does costs money. Thank you for not only recognizing the importance of Integrity's work, but also giving to ensure that our work can continue, that we can keep moving forward, ensuring that our beloved Church is open to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people everywhere.

Thank you God for the blessing of this work. Thank you God for these people and this Church and this world. Please lift us up to follow Your way for us.

The first year was incredible, but we are not done yet. We are not done when the Episcopal Church's inclusive policies are not yet fully instituted in all places and communities. We are not done yet when so many are still excluded from the sacrament of Holy Matrimony. We are not done yet when an entire generation of young LGBTQ have not yet found reconciliation with the Church. We are not yet done when many LGBTQ people in the American South do not even feel safe to be out in their own parishes. We are not done when gay and transgender people still do not have basic legal protections in many states. We are not done yet so long as the constant drum beat of violence and murder again transgender and gay people continues.

As Christ said in the Gospel of Luke, The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." Together let us move forward and bring in the great harvest of Love and Justice!

Let's keep going!

Vivian

Sarah Vivian Gathright Taylor is the Executive Director of Integrity USA

The Parable of Hope - Reflections on the Philadelphia 11

The Rev. Dr. Cameron Partridge has written a beautiful sermon celebrating both the anniversary of the ordinations of the Philadelphia 11 and the forward looking spirit of the Episcopal Church. One of the first openly transgender priests in the Church, Partridge describes how the history of the Philadelphia 11 allowed him to come to a fuller understanding our radical radical faith and ability to find the Kingdom of God in this world.

"...after years of effort – organizing, education, conversation – there came a time when a number of those working on this impasse decided that these ordinations simply needed to move forward.  And so in Philadelphia on July 29, 1974 – forty years ago – a group of women that came to be called the “Philadelphia Eleven” was ordained to the priesthood by three retired bishops.  In many ways this event changed everything for our church.  And in many ways this story (now told afresh in a new book by Darlene O’Dell) changed everything for me.  It spoke to me so deeply that I began to experience The Episcopal Church in which I had grown up in a completely new way. This Church revealed itself as willing to struggle, to move forward, to stake its life on being and becoming a new creation.  This story became for me a source of profound hope."

We encourage you to read the entire blog article on Partridge's blog, Peculiar Honors. You can find it at "Parable of Hope".

PRESS RELEASE: Integrity Executive Director to Attend Signing of President's Anti-Discrimination Executive Order

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY!

Integrity is pleased to announce that Executive Director, Vivian Taylor, will be among those present when President Barack Obama signs an Executive Order on Monday banning employment discrimination by Federal contractors on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

The directive will not include an exemption for faith-based groups beyond that already afforded by a previous Order, signed by President George W. Bush, which grants exceptions for those directly involved in ministry.  On July 8, Taylor joined prominent Episcopalians and progressive faith leaders in signing an open letter to the President which asked that a broader exemption, allowing further discrimination by faith-based employers on the basis of "religious freedom," not be included.

Other Episcopalians who signed the letter include:

• The Very Rev. Gary Hall - Dean of the Cathedral Church of St. Peter & St. Paul (“the National Cathedral”) in Washington, D.C.
• The Right Rev. Gene Robinson, Bishop of New Hampshire (retired) and Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress
• The Rev. Canon Susan Russell - Associate Pastor, All Saints: Pasadena, past president of Integrity
• The Very Rev. Katherine Hancock Ragsdale - President and Dean, Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, Mass.
• The Rev. Ed Bacon - Rector, All Saints: Pasadena
• The Rev. Dr. Cameron Partridge - Chaplain at Boston University, Lecturer at Harvard University, Co-Convener of TransEpiscopal

The National Equality March passing the White House
in March of 2009
PHOTO CREDIT: Kyle Rush  (flickr.com/kylerush)
Used by Creative Commons License Some rights reserved

"I am deeply honored to represent Integrity at this historic event. Employment discrimination against our people is still a near-constant threat and burden," Taylor said.  

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force reported in May that 18 states and the District of Columbia afford employment protections to LGBT people.  Three additional states offer protection on the basis of sexual orientation only.  The President’s order will affect nearly one-fifth of the nation’s workforce.

Integrity has been working with the Task Force and other faith-based advocates to combat discrimination in several states.  Integrity is working in Ohio to build support for the Equal Housing and Employment Act, an LGBT-inclusive piece of non-discrimination legislation. In May, an attempt to pass a "religious freedom" law intended to give businesses in Oregon the right to discriminate was defeated due in part to Integrity's efforts.

Taylor, who served in the United States Army in the Iraq war from 2009 to 2010, recently wrote about her personal experience with employment discrimination for the progressive faith blog Believe Out Loud.

Integrity is a member-supported nonprofit organization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender [LGBT] Episcopalians and our straight friends. Since its founding by Dr. Louie Crew in 1974, Integrity has been the leading grassroots voice for the full inclusion of LGBT persons in the
Episcopal Church and our equal access to its rites. Integrity activities include advocacy, worship, fellowship, education, communication, outreach, and service to the church. Through Integrity's evangelism, thousands of LGBT people, estranged from the Episcopal Church and other denominations, have returned to parish life.

Contact:

Melvin Soriano, Secretary & Director of Communications

mel@integrityusa.org

770 Mass Ave #390170

Cambridge MA 02139

United States of America

Ph: +1-626-600-2030

###

Church Task Force on Marriage Issues Progress Report

The Church Task Force on the Study of Marriage, created by Resolution A050 at the 2012 General Convention of the Episcopal Church in Indianapolis, today issued a report on the progress it has made since convening last year.

A video presentation was sent to both the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies (clergy and laity elected to represent their dioceses), with written reflection questions. The Chair and Vice-Chair of the Task Force gave a presentation at the meeting of the House of Bishops at Camp Allen in Texas last month, at which the responses were presented.

"It became clear from the input we received that there is a profound level of support and concern for the work we have been asked to do," said the Rev. Brian C. Taylor, Chair of the Task Force. "Episcopalians care deeply about marriage and its potential for bringing joy and grace and for helping people become more fully alive and faithful as God’s agents of love and reconciliation in this world."

One of the key charges of the task force is to address the pastoral involvement of clergy in places where civil same-gender marriage is permitted. The response thus far has been piecemeal as dioceses choose to (or choose not to) craft their own policies, some using the provisional rite created to bless such relationships and also adopted by the Convention. The Task force "“feels that it is part of our responsibility to propose something for the church’s consideration that could offer consistency to what is currently taking place," Taylor explained.

In June, the Task Force will release a portfolio of resources for individuals and groups to use to discuss the issue.

The group also created its own Facebook page and Youtube channel encourages Episcopalians to interact with them via social media.  One-minute videos reflecting on "how you see God in relationships" may be emailed to taskforceonmarriage@gmail.com.


  Integrity's Communications Director, Mel Soriano, Created this video for the Task Force on Marriage  

The Task Force was created as a directive of Resolution A050 at the 2012 Convention of the Episcopal Church in Indianapolis.   The Rev. Canon Susan Russell, former President of Integrity, and the Rev. Cameron Partridge, Co-Convener of TransEpiscopal, are among the members.

To learn more about the report, visit Episcopal News Service.

Transfaith and Trusting in God

Professor H. Ackley served for 15 years as Professor of Theology and Chair of the Diversity Council, a council of the Faculty Senate, at Azusa Pacific University (APU). He inspired students in a faith that wasn't just esoteric and distant, but tangible, with real world actions and practices. At this evangelical Christian university located in the suburbs of Los Angeles, he recently helped clarify and affirm the inclusion of LGBTQ students in the school's anti-hate policies.

Prof H Adam Ackley during at All Saints Pasadena (Nov 24, 2013)
The video of this talk can be found on YouTube

Unfortunately, in October, Dr. Ackley informed the administration that he was going to formally change his name to H. Adam Ackley, revealing a long-due transition that the university was not expecting. The students and colleagues were incensed when they discovered that Dr. Ackley was being asked to resign. Social media lit up and soon traditional media was camped out in front of Dr. Ackley's home, a concern given his two minor children living at home.

I spoke with Dr. Ackley about the events and found much that informs our own journeys in the Episcopal Church. Rather than stoke the flames of outrage and possible violence, Dr. Ackley - an ordained minister and serving on the Spiritual Life and Nurture Commission at the La Verne Church of the Brethren - tempered student and faculty anger and focused it into channels of reconciliation, mediation, and peace. Coming from an Anabaptist/Mennonite tradition of peace, his desire for mutual respect and dialogue seems a far cry from the media storm raging around the campus.

Although Dr. Ackley is no longer at APU, his impact, driven by deeply rooted spiritual practices and faith-guided words, continues to resonate on campus. Several students and allies, including a star athlete LGBTQ ally, quit school because they found the school's actions inconsistent with truth and the fair treatment of all. Lessons of tolerance gained in the Diversity Council are questioned in their authenticity and use. And yet, every Friday night, Dr. Ackley leads a peaceful, candle-lit dinner and prayer at his home; this "shabbat" is open to all, and many former students come to heal.

I asked Dr. Ackley if his story would be of interest to the Episcopal Church. As it turns out, the Rev. Cameron Partridge, Episcopal Chaplain at Boston University, was one of the first to reach out to Dr. Ackley when the news broke. Rev Partridge, along with Soulforce and GLAAD, stepped in to advise Dr. Ackley on how to take self-care and protect his family from the media intrusion. According to Rev. Partridge, "My heart just immediately went out to him. I reached out to him in solidarity-- so that he might know he's not alone-- and have really appreciated not only his witness but also his friendship. My students also heard about him (separately from me) and wanted him to know they stood with him too. We happened to do a unit on the Genesis creation stories, and looked at just the passages and interpretations that helped give Adam his name. It was moving to come across that aspect of his story after having explored similar connections around our table here in Massachusetts."

I compared the almost forty years of Integrity work with the Episcopal Church to the developments at places like APU and other evangelical universities. Dr. Ackley pointed out how the groundwork for change and acceptance may take some time, but truth, honesty, and the overpowering love of Christ bends and turns the body, mind, and heart. "Think of it like yoga. Yoga doesn't suddenly allow the human body to magically bend in ways it never has before. With practice and patience, though, you surprise yourself with what you one day are able to achieve

As I drove away from my coffee with Dr. Ackley, I was struck by the similarity of Dr. Ackley's yoga metaphor and the journey of the Episcopal Church in issues of LGBTQ inclusion, marriage equality, and respect for our Trans* brothers and sisters. It has taken some time, but change eventually comes and can catch many off guard. In this Advent season of watching and waiting, we all must be ready for the Joy that is to be. Dr Ackley may face the challenges of job hunting, relocation, and sudden fame all at once, but with a profound faith and trust in God's plans, he seems ready for the journey before him.

Mel Soriano

Integrity Board of Directors (Director of Communications, Secretary)

Vestry/Coventry Choir/Taizé/Labyrinth All Saints Pasadena

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