Done. Check the Box. Well, Not Really

Last week I wrote about The Episcopal Church’s short term memory once we have enacted legislation, especially when it pertains to issues of justice, inclusion and prejudice. There is another aspect of that concept that plays out in how well others really understand us as queer folk. Some folks “get” us and some do not… I’m inclined toward the numbers of those who do not being at least a plurality, if not a majority.

This mentality goes back to what I call the “check box” mentality of our church. That is the mentality that lets us get away with thinking such thoughts as: “We have women’s ordination, so we have addressed and resolved that “issue.” Notions about the deployment of women clergy are no where on the radar screen. The “glass ceiling” related to compensation and benefits didn’t get in the conversation either. How many women fill the positions of cardinal rectors? We changed the canons. Done. Check the box. Well... not really.

We do the same thing about issues of race. We tout our canons that prohibit discrimination in every aspect of the life of our church. But again, where are we on deployment? Having people of color in visible roles of leadership does not mean that we find the same allegedly welcoming attitude at the diocesan and parish level. Because we have passed our canons, we have resolved the “race issue.” So why do I still see the need for training and education on what it means to be the beloved community? Why do we still need to have anti-racism workshops and training? Why are the percentages of people of color, not to mention those in ordained positions way below the percentages of the general population? We passed the canons. Done. Check the box. Well… not really.

Now we come to issues about sexual orientation/gender identity/gender expression. Again, we passed those canons prohibiting discrimination in all aspects of the life of the church including ordination and now even marriage. So….where does that put us? Yes we have some LGBTQ+ folks in leadership in the church at all levels. What does that mean? Did some of them “pass” to get where they are? Are some of them simply tokens to appease general opinion? Back to deployment: How many visible calls are made to LGBTQ+ clergy outside very large metropolitan areas? Two queer bishops is an indicator of the presence of LGBTQ+ people in our church. We passed our canons. Done. Check the box. Well… not really as is evidenced by the situation in the Diocese of Tennessee and seven others.

So why would I ever think that so many just do not “get” us queer folk (anymore than they “get” women clergy and people of color)? It isn’t a long journey to take to answer that question. Aside from the less than tolerant current political climate, having a cisgender white male wonder (sometimes aloud even) why the gays and lesbians and trans folks cannot and do not grow into a perspective other than that of who they are, namely gay, lesbian or transgender? Seriously?

You are going to ask me why I am not willing or not capable of viewing things beyond what you think is my limited perspective as a gay man? Would you ask a black person why they cannot view a perspective other than being black? (In reality many probably would, but let’s not go there for now). Would you ask a woman to view things from a male (invariably white) perspective? (I can pretty much guarantee that many would ask that question based solely on what has been going on for months now about sexual harassment.)

Kindred in Christ, we really do have some serious work to do! And it is not just for us queer folk that we need to do this work. It is for all who would claim to follow Christ and meet with an attitude that finds only one perspective, one race, one cisgender, one sexual orientation to be “the norm.” Our work is for everyone who encounters an attitude that they need to change their outlook and perspective to more closely align with those of the perceived majority. The work is not done. There is no box to check.

What will it take for us to rise up and say that it’s time that we as a church start learning more about what it is like to be the other instead of asking the other why their perspective is so limited? Again, I see this as the ministry of lay people. We have nothing to lose by asking pointed questions. Our ministries, our vocations, our salaries are not on the line. We CAN ask the difficult questions and continue to ask until we get real answers. I would hope that those answers would be based on the ministry given us in the Gospel and in the vows of our Baptismal Covenant.

Do you think we're done? Should we check the box?

So I will close with yet another (probably maddening) question: When will you start asking why the way things continue to remain the way they are for so much of our church? When?

Bruce Garner, President

Integrity USA ... The Episcopal Rainbow

Short Prophetic Memory

The Episcopal Church has been known for taking prophetic positions when it comes to issues of justice and inclusion. We did so about race, even though rather half-heartedly in many places. The same was true for the ordination of women, despite resistance from some of “the boys” who just couldn’t perceive of women clergy. We responded to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender expression/identity, or I thought we responded. Soon to be three years ago we changed our canons to allow for the marriage of same sex couples. Again, at least we purported to do so.

We seem to “get” the issues at the church-wide level and act accordingly to address issues of injustice and discrimination. Then, at least it seems so, our prophetic memory gets very short as we don’t seem to have the ability to address the problem of those dioceses and bishops that choose to ignore or refuse to enforce the canons of the church. We let things “slide” under some notion of “keeping peace and unity” even at the expense of justice.

The bishops of dioceses of Albany, Central Florida, Dallas, Florida, North Dakota, Springfield, Tennessee, and the Virgin Islands have not authorized use of the liturgies for the marriage of same sex couples. How they have addressed the need to provide for the pastoral needs of those couples is not clear.

The bishops of the dioceses of Albany, Central Florida, Dallas, Florida, Springfield, and Tennessee prohibit their use by clergy canonically resident in those dioceses, whether within or even outside of the diocese. That posture takes on a degree of arrogance that further promotes injustice and inequality and seems to be nothing less than some power play over the clergy allegedly in their care as chief pastors.

Some claim we did not do enough study or establish a sufficient theological basis for our position. I think 40-plus years represents a reasonable investment in prayer and study. After all, Israel only had to wander in the desert for 40 years to get to the promised land.

We take a prophetic position and then develop memory loss over helping insure that those intended to benefit from our prophetic position actually achieve those benefits. Reasons vary. Some seem reasonable. I am inclined to see our memory loss as hypocritical.

Unfortunately, clergy are trapped between the exercise of pastoral ministry and obeying unjust restrictions from their bishop. Their livelihood and exercise of their ministry must be weighed against disobeying for the sake of conscience. I doubt any of us want to find ourselves in such a place.

Those of us who are not ordained can generally afford to be prophetic in action and in challenging unjust authority. Short of ex-communicating us, there isn’t much that could happen. (And I haven’t heard of any excommunications in many years!) Accordingly, we CAN speak out. We CAN raise questions. We CAN be a prophetic witness in the face of injustice and discrimination. We CAN show the face of Christ to those who may not yet understand the unconditional love of all God’s children, who may not grasp the concept that all of God’s children belong in the Beloved Community.

There is a group of lay folks in the Diocese of Tennessee -- that is the middle one of the three dioceses in the state -- who are challenging the stance of their bishop over same sex marriage. They share their own very personal stories. Their experiences will tear your heart out. I cannot comprehend how their bishop or any other bishop could justify inflicting such pain on those under their care. It flies in the face of the vows bishops take at their consecrations.

The extremely compelling story of those brave folks in Tennessee is told in a video. I urge you to watch.

You have endured me asking you for many weeks who you contacted about what matters to you, how you feel about injustice and oppression. Let me bring those questions closer to home. Have you contacted your own bishop about addressing his refusal to allow same sex marriage in your diocese? Have you witnessed to the power of Christ in your relationships and those you have witnessed that the church has said should be honored but he refuses to acknowledge? As a lay person, as one who experiences his prejudice or witnesses it in others, you have no reason for not sharing how you feel. Have those of us who live in the dioceses that do permit same sex marriages asked our bishops what they are doing to help insure that all have access to what the church has said they should?

How about we all do what we can to lengthen the memory of our church in its prophetic witness? I will ask again…

Bruce Garner, President

Integrity USA ... The Episcopal Rainbow

Paying Attention

I wonder how many of us are indeed paying attention. It seems that this administration continues to quietly (sneakily??) try and make changes to important regulations while most people’s attention is focused on what appears to be a larger and more newsworthy event.

If you do a little research, you can learn that the Census Bureau was directed to change questions that might identify LGBTQ people. Another change was to do away with specific questions in a Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) program about LGBTQ seniors. The list is longer than I can or want to cover here.

It now seems that, at least according to sources identified by several newspapers, that the newest attempt to undermine progress made by us queer folks, is to create an entire division within DHHS to support the right of health care providers to refuse to treat LGBTQ folks based on the religious beliefs of the provider. Also included in that “cover” is the right to refuse to provide abortion services.

Where is this coming from? It is more of the ultra-conservative religious right’s attempt to impose their particular brand of Christianity on the entire nation. Aside from potential constitutional issues that involve the government dictating religious issues, why should one part of Christendom be allowed to overrule the beliefs and practices of any other part in this multicultural nation of ours?

Have the rest of us who profess to follow Jesus Christ lost our voices? Have we already succumbed to attempts to disenfranchise us? I have to wonder, I really do. Are those of us who take a different view of these issues, of all religious issues, afraid to make our voices heard? Are we afraid to let those in this administration hear us and know that there is no single voice of Christians in this nation and all of us must be heard?

There was a saying, from the sixties if I recall correctly: If you are not pissed off, you are not paying attention. Seems applicable to the current situation. Perhaps our various bubbles just keep us insulated from the attacks on us as full fledged members of our society.

Integrity began its life in response to injustice against one gay male, interracial couple. Have we lost that edge? Our church has come a long way. Society has lagged behind. Our roots should give us a voice. Are we paying attention?

I keep asking the following questions thinking it might shake some out of their complacency: Whom have you contacted among those who represent your interests to express your concerns and disagreement with current administration policies? Have you emailed, tweeted, texted, called, used carrier pigeon or any other means of communication? Look in the mirror and ask yourself why not? Look in the mirror and ask yourself why you, deep down, still consider yourself a second class citizen?

Bruce Garner, President

Integrity USA ... The Episcopal Rainbow

Friends

The Integrity Window, or St. Aelred Window,
was dedicated April 2 at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church,
Fargo, North Dakota.

Today is the second Friday of a new year, the 12th day of January. By happenstance (or divine intervention?), January 12 is also a very important day for Integrity. It is the feast day of our patron saint, St Aelred, Abbot of Rievaulx. I don’t know how much most who will read this know about Aelred, other than being our patron saint. The background information in the Episcopal Church's "Holy Women, Holy Men" (formerly known as "Lesser Feasts and Fasts") is very clear that Aelred placed great value on friendship. It also notes that the monks in his monastery were allowed to hold hands.


Some information can be found at Forward Movement and a reading for services honoring Aelred in his “Treatise on Spiritual Friendship.” Some additional resources are listed on Integrity's web site at http://www.integrityusa.org/aelred. In the figure shown above, the Integrity Window, or St. Aelred Window, was dedicated April 2 at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Fargo, North Dakota.


Obviously I would view the information about Aelred from a different mindset than someone who is not queer. Regardless of that, it is very difficult not to find at a very minimum a “gay friendly” aspect of Aelred’s teachings. Yet our society, and the church of course, has not really owned that possibility. How many do we know who just cannot find a thing supportive of anything “gay” in Scripture or the teachings of the church over the centuries? It’s not surprising. The queer folks had to hide in order to survive. And a straight guy is rarely going to see anything other than “straightness” when he looks at something.


So as this new year begins, I urge us all to look for, nurture, and support the type of friendship Aelred describes and taught in his monastery. Who knows? That might be a way forward in a society that seems to keep us stuck in one way of viewing things.

Bruce Garner, President
Integrity USA ... The Episcopal Rainbow





P. S. Thoughts for the upcoming week: think about how our lives as queer folks has changed in the last year. What gains have been pushed back, altered, or stalled? What have we done to make our feelings about that known to those whose job description is to serve the people.

Smiling Faces

There is a pop song from the early ‘70’s called “Smiling Faces.”  The lyrics include: Smiling faces….pretend to be your friend.  Smiling faces...don’t tell the truth!  (Google it for the full effect of the lyrics.)

How much more apropos could those lyrics be after Tuesday’s elections?  I saw a lot of smiling faces….that weren’t telling the truth…..that I don’t trust…..that I can’t imagine being my/our friend.  I’m still reeling from the shock of how so many embraced misogyny, racism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia….and pretty much any other way one could think of to denigrate the children of God.  And apparently being crude and vulgar is no longer inappropriate for elected officials either.  To top that off, there seems to be a new definition of what is acceptable to some Christians as well…..at least to those who cling to right end of the spectrum. So much hatred and hypocrisy hiding behind smiling faces.  

Sadly, “smiling faces” are not limited to politicians.  I know a number of folks who sport clerical collars, purple shirts and miters who have plastic smiles pasted on their faces as they smugly hide behind "scripture, tradition and reason” to support their own prejudices, particularly against LGBTQ folks.  And as much as they might want us to think otherwise, a significant number still have "issues” with women clergy too.  We all know how much work remains for us in addressing the sin of  racism, in church and in society.  All of our "isms” bubbled up and boiled over on Tuesday and we all got soiled by them.

There were some bright spots.  We have an openly LGBT state governor now…..one out of 50...guess that isn’t too bad??   In my home state of Georgia we actually have an openly gay man who was elected to our legislature.  (We had been able to elect lesbians for several years, but never a gay man.) The bright spots are difficult to see through the dense fog of prejudice and bigotry, but we should give thanks to God for them anyway.

After Tuesday, can there possibly be anyone who doesn’t see how much work we have left to accomplish in our church and in our society?   Equality is not yet there for us and it is still a nationwide, churchwide issue.  How much larger a rock has to fall on us for us to grasp the fact that we still have work to do?   How many more hate crimes have to be committed because of sexual orientation, race, gender expression/identity before we wake up and smell the proverbial coffee? How many more LGBTQ teens and young people have to get kicked out of their homes by their "good Christian parents” (sarcasm intended!) because they have come out of the closet to them?  How many more Matthew Shepherds do we have to witness?  How many more Travon’s have to die?  How many more Charleston’s must we see?   How many more times must we witness another Pulse Nightclub?   How many more of our parishes must be the victims of vicious attacks and notes like the one left on a priest's car windshield?  Are we really that dense?  Are we that unaware?  Are we, God help us, that uncaring?  Are we still that afraid?

It is indeed time, my kindred in Christ, to speak out, to step up, to be seen, to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to drown out the gospel of hate!  Yes it is time…..it is long past time for us to do all of these things.  Could there be any doubt now of the continued need for Integrity?  Could there be any doubt now of the continued need for GLAAD or HRC or Lambda Legal or any and every organization that is working toward securing an equal place for us in both the American Dream and the Household of God?

It has been said that "all that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.”  While that is indeed true, I would add that evil will also triumph if we stick our heads in the sand and/or hide in our closets.   Jesus told Lazarus to "come out” of the tomb and he told the community to "unbind him and let him go.”  It’s time we also heeded the call to "come out.”  But….our community needs to bind ourselves to each other and strive toward reaching the beloved community where all of God’s children are free to be who God created them to be.  We can achieve that in our church if we bind ourselves together in Integrity.  We can achieve that in society by witnessing to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and binding ourselves to those groups who will help insure that we are as equal in the site of all the citizens of this nation as we are in the eyes of the One who created us.

I challenge each of you to insure that your membership is up to date.  I further challenge each of you to bring at least one new member into Integrity during the next few weeks.  I challenge each of you to donate your money as well as your time and talent to Integrity and secular organizations working for equality and justice.   This ain’t going away folks unless we make it go away.   

I also challenge us to remember the One we follow.  We must not return the hatred and venom we receive with the same.  We must deflect nastiness with love, no matter how difficult that may be.  We must be examples of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  May we always remember to ask God, the living and loving God, to make us instruments of God’s own peace:

Where there is hatred, let us sow love.



Bruce Garner, President
Integrity USA

Scripture, Tradition, and Reason

One of the hallmarks of Anglican theology is the concept of “scripture, tradition, and reason.”  Over the centuries, we have looked at various issues through this three part lens.  Such a view has given us different understanding of issues that have affected us in our common life as part of the Body of Christ.

Scripture influenced the tradition of keeping other human beings in slavery until reason - usually through experience - began to turn our hearts and our minds away from that heinous and dehumanizing practice.  In retrospect, it seems almost impossible to think that God ever had any intentions of any part of humanity owning any other part.

Scripture influenced the tradition of keeping women “in their place” of being subservient to men and without authority in faith communities as well as in secular society.  Again, reason through experience turned hearts and minds away from a system that rendered women as less than men, despite the fact that in creation God created both male and female in God’s image.  

Scripture influenced by tradition was also the basis for denying lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people of faith a place at God’s table that was equal to all others.  Yet again, at least for a growing segment of Christ’s Body, reason influenced by experience taught us that there is no sound theological basis for creating outcasts of any of God’s children.

It was the misuse of Scripture in this case, as before, that allowed some to perpetuate the concept that there have been different classes of sinful behavior that could be used to create divisions among God’s children.  Removing passages of Scripture from the context of the culture in which they were written and from the context of the entire narrative of which they are an integral part, continues to provide ways for us to divide ourselves from one another and from God through the mistaken notion that God created some of us more acceptable than others of us.  Do we truly believe that God created some of us “more equal” than others?

I am always amazed at how those “learned in Scripture” can continue to perpetuate a system that discriminates in the name of God.  Duly ordained clergy have told me with certainty that they and their congregations welcome “all” fully, even LGBT folks.  Yet when they then tell me with their next breath that they will neither perform nor permit the marriage of a same gender couple AND base that decision on “Scripture, tradition, and reason,” I am forced to both scratch my head and shake my head in disbelief.  Yet…..such continues to happen….and it happens in too many dioceses of our church and even in congregations in dioceses where full inclusion is the norm.  Apparently the “glass wall” they place between the altar and the pastoral needs of their LGBT members is too clear for even them to see.

My “broken record” continues to play:  Is there still a need for the ministry of Integrity?  Read the above again and I think your answer will be a resounding “Yes!!!”


Bruce Garner, President
Integrity USA