General Convention 2018 - The Episcopal Rainbow Rises!

The 79th General Convention is drawing to a close today.  By and large it has been a good convention. Legislation favorable to us in areas of importance to LGBTQ+ folks is making its way through the process. Yes we have once again endured the demeaning language some continue to use.  I have heard language that I have heard in one form or another since my first General Convention in 1991. But the arc of history is still bending toward justice. There are still some who just cannot grasp the concept of the inclusivity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We must continue to pray for them.

The Integrity General Convention Eucharist was a success. I hope you watched it from wherever you are through our live streaming of the service. Great local volunteers working with the board resulted in a great service with great music and great preaching.

One of the highlights of the service was the presentation of the Louie Crew Clay award, named in honor of our beloved founder. The award was given to The Reverend Gay Clark Jennings, President of the House of Deputies, and The Most Reverend Michael Bruce Curry, Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church.

Integrity began as a truly grass roots organization some 43 years ago with a mission: seeking the full inclusion of LGBTQ persons in the life and ministry of The Episcopal Church. In 1975 there were essentially no queer clergy in our church. That would have been the name used as well... so I have reclaimed it from our detractors to celebrate who we are as LGBTQ folks.

Work began on that mission at the local level and then moved to the level of the General Convention where we sought to insure equality and inclusion through canon law and resolutions and any way we could achieve it “officially” at the church wide level.

I would say that you probably know the success of that work, but it is obvious - even at the 79th General Convention - that work remains when queerfolk in 8 dioceses still could not get married in their own parish churches. Three of those are in my own Province IV.

Like other organizations in our church, the Board of Integrity has struggled with the question of what needed to be next. While we must never stop being vigilant about maintaining justice and equality, there is still much more to do.

We came to the conclusion that we needed to return to our roots, literally, to go back to being a grassroots organization focused on helping folks at the diocesan and parish levels to be fully included in our church. While we will always be watching what happens at the church-wide level, energy and time needs to go local.

We are also aware that we are just part of the wonderful and colorful rainbow of God’s created humanity. That rainbow involves infinite colors.

We reached a conclusion as well that the name Integrity did not have a readily discernible connection with The Episcopal Church. So after many discussions and a conversation with our founder:

Beginning with the close of the 79th General Convention of the Episcopal Church Integrity USA will begin doing business as The Episcopal Rainbow! 

So bring your particular color and flavor and join us in our work. Regardless of how “good” some of us have it, we have kindred who still live in a form of hell right in this country.

And regardless of what we have accomplished, without constant vigilance, we can even lose that. The work continues!

Continue to follow the activities of General Convention by going to www.generalconvention.org.  There you will find all you ever wanted to know and maybe more than you wanted to know!

Please continue to pray daily for the General Convention of our church and all who make
decisions that will be made, especially those with a direct affect on us as queerfolk. Pray that all return to their homes safely. And pray as we, Integrity, return to our homes, to our grassroots, to our Episcopal Rainbow.

Bruce Garner
President, The Episcopal Rainbow

Louie Crew Clay Award

Integrity USA, the Episcopal Rainbow, is honored to award the Louie Crew Clay Award to The Reverend Gay Clark Jennings, President of the House of Deputies, and to The Most Reverend Michael Bruce Curry, Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church.

Photo: Episcopal Church Photo: Episcopal Church

These honors are given in gratitude to those who have demonstrated an ongoing dedication to insuring that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) persons are fully included in the life and work of The Episcopal Church and in wider society. The Louie Crew Clay Award represents the commitment we make in the vows of our baptismal covenant to respect the dignity of every human being, to seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as ourselves.

Both will receive their awards at the Integrity Eucharist during General Convention in Austin, Texas on July 8, 2018 at 8pm in the JW Marriott. All are welcome to join in the worship and celebration.

Louie Crew Clay founded Integrity USA in 1974. He may be a retired professor emeritus of English at Rutgers University, but to Integrity he has been the tireless voice for the inclusion of LGBTQ people in the Episcopal Church.

An Open Letter

An open letter to those concerned about the impact of the decisions reached at the recent meeting of the Primates of the Anglican Communion at Canterbury England.

So, let’s talk amongst ourselves.  What does the statement of the Primates call on us to do?  Aside from our response to their statement, there is more for us to do as members of Integrity, as members of The Episcopal Church, and as followers of Jesus Christ.

The Primates issued their statement with its “consequences” outlined therein.  As you are aware, we, Integrity USA, responded with what was, for all practical purposes, a somewhat “political” response/portion of the discussion.  Yet we have a more important discussion:  the pastoral implications and needs for ourselves and others.

What will we do to provide pastoral support to each other and to our sisters and brothers in less hospitable provinces of the Anglican Communion?

We will continue to "Love one another as I have loved you."

We will continue to "Forgive your enemies and those who hate you."

We will continue to "Forgive 70 times 7."

Why will we do these things?  These are the words Jesus spoke to His followers.  Jesus calls us over this tumult.

Jesus calls us to forgive those who hurt us, those who hate us and seek to injure us whether in body or mind or soul.  If we claim any authenticity as followers of Jesus we must confess that forgiveness is central to our identity as Christians.  These are some of the things we must do if we are to be Jesus people in a Jesus movement.

This calling is now even more important to us as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people as the result of the release of the statement by the Primates. Their words are painful to all LGBTQ people everywhere who know ourselves as beloved children of God. Their words are also painful to The Episcopal Church which has taken the risk of the Gospel in the full inclusion of all God’s children in the sacramental life of the church.

This is not the first time the Primates have inflicted pain on LGBTQ people and The Episcopal Church. I doubt it will be their last attempt. And yet, we will persevere.  We have been to the foot of the cross before and we will be there again.  That is where we find the strength to endure being there. It is where we find redemption, release and healing and the ability to forgive.

We will find forgiveness – 70 times 7. Such is the cost of discipleship.

We will find healing for our broken hearts, for there is a balm in Gilead.

We will find hope for our weary spirits. Such is the promise of the resurrection.  And, like the first disciples, we will find the courage to open the eyes of our hearts to see the fullness of love in the empty tomb.

More importantly, we will share that hope and continue to be a beacon of the unconditional love of God in Christ to our LGBTQ sisters and brothers in the very provinces where these Primates continue to oppress and persecute them.

The decades of discussion, debate, and attempts to exclude, have given both The Episcopal Church and its LGBTQ members a level of spiritual maturity that allows us to be clear about where we are, who we are, and whose we are.

Our own Primate, the Most Reverend Michael B. Curry has and I suspect will continue to remind us that we are Jesus people and part of a Jesus movement.  The President of our House of Deputies, the Reverend Gay Clark Jennings, has been clear that we will continue to be part of the Anglican Communion and will fulfill our responsibilities on the Anglican Consultative Council, the more legislative of the instruments of communion.  Integrity USA is in full support of the work and the statements of the two individuals who are the presiding officers and the chief pastors of The Episcopal Church.

So, we have and will continue to endure the cost of discipleship that comes with following what the Holy Spirit is calling us to do.  We can take no other stance if we claim to follow Jesus.  It is a price we have paid and are willing to continue to pay.

The struggle continues. We do not struggle alone.

Bruce Garner
President
Integrity USA

Presiding Bishop Issues Statement on Criminalization of Homosexuality

The leadership of Integrity read with gratitude the statement issued January 30th by the Most. Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, regarding the recent efforts to criminalize homosexuality by several countries in recent months.
The statement reads:

"The Episcopal Church has been clear about our expectation that every member of the LGBT community is entitled to the same respect and dignity as any other member of the human family. Our advocacy for oppressed minorities has been vocal and sustained.

The current attempts to criminalize LBGT persons and their supporters are the latest in a series, each stage of which has been condemned by this Church, as well as many other religious communities and nations. Our advocacy work continues to build support for the full human rights and dignity of all persons, irrespective of gender, race, national origin, creed, sexual orientation, physical and mental ability or inability. To do less is effectively to repudiate our membership in the human community.

No one of God’s children is worth less or more than another; none is to be discriminated against because of the way in which she or he has been created. Our common task is to build a society of justice for all, without which there will never be peace on earth. Episcopalians claim that our part in God’s mission is to love God fully, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. That means all our neighbors."

The Most Rev.
Katharine Jefferts Schori

Photo Credit:
Flickr user kirkamunga

Used under Creative Commons

"I am deeply grateful to the Presiding Bishop for adding her voice to the others around the church who are beginning to speak out against the inhumanities being endured by LGBT people around the world," said the Rev. Jon M. Richardson, Integrity's Vice President for National Affairs, who -- as our liaison to the Chicago Consultation -- traveled to Africa several times to meet and pray with LGBT Anglicans there. "It is especially heartening that she has set her words in the context of the larger vision that has been emerging in the Episcopal Church over the past few decades - we are not a church that will tolerate oppression against anyone. God has given us a higher calling: to respect the dignity of every human being."

Reports of violence against LGBT people in Russia, Uganda and Nigeria have been publicized since their governments enacted or considered laws intended to punish either those who are LGBT, provide assistance or support to LGBT people, distribute pro-LGBT "propaganda"  participate in a same-gender wedding, or even express same-gender affection.

Integrity president, the Rev. Dr. Caroline Hall commented that "these new laws and the consequent violence are in part due to a sustained campaign by Americans acting in the name of Christ. I am grateful that the Presiding Bishop has made it clear that The Episcopal Church has no truck with such homophobic activities."
The Presiding Bishop's statement follows commentary from the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, President of the House of Deputies, published widely earlier the same week. She acknowledged the western church's role in creating the intolerant climate many African LGBT people now face.

A petition by Davis Mac-Iyalla of the UK-based Changing Attitude calls for the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Justin Welby, to speak to his Ugandan and Nigerian peers about their enthusiastic endorsement of the laws.  Archbishop Welby and the Archbishop of York, the Most Rev. John Sentamu, published a joint letter to the primates reminding of the commitment made in the Dromantine Communiqué of 2005 to "the pastoral support and care of homosexual people" but referring only vaguely to the situations currently unfolding.

Integrity urges all our members and partners to speak to your congregations and loved ones about the persecution of LGBT persons abroad and the plight of those who seek asylum in the United States.  Please contact us if you would like more information.

Christian Paolino is the Chair of the Stakeholders' Council of IntegrityUSA

House of Deputies President Speaks Out on Nigeria & Uganda

On Monday, January 27th, the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, President of the House of Deputies of the Episcopal Church, issued a strong statement in Religion News about the deteriorating plight of LGBT people in Uganda and Nigeria, where the countries' parliaments approved new laws that essentially make it illegal to be gay.

The Rev. Gay Clark Jennings at a bible study during the
first Chicago Consultation event in Durban, South Africa,
in October of 2011

Photo Credit: The Rev. Jon M. Richardson

As Paul Lane reported last week, a weakened version of Uganda's "Kill the Gays Bill" voted into law in December was tabled by President Yoweri Museveni on a technicality, but it is not likely to be forgotten.

In Nigeria, President Goodluck Jonathan approved a new law which is nominally intended to prevent same-gender marriage (with a 14-year prison term) but which in fact essentially states that it is a crime to either express same-sex attraction or support anyone who does.  Reports that gay men are being rounded up have been condemned by the United Nations and others.  In the Muslim-controlled north where sharia law is applied, those arrested are at risk of death by stoning.

The new laws have been lauded by the Anglican leadership in both countries. In her commentary, Jennings acknowledged the role the church has played in the situation:

"I am troubled and saddened that fellow Anglicans could support legislation that fails to recognize that every human being is created in the image of God. Western Christians cannot ignore the homophobia of these church officials or the peril in which they place Ugandan and Nigerian LGBT people. The legacy of colonial-era Christian missionaries and infusions of cash from modern-day American conservatives have helped to create it."

 Jennings, who is also a founding member of the Chicago Consultation, has spent time in Africa meeting with those who seek a more compassionate stance towards LGBT people, but find the literal understanding of the Bible encouraged by Western missionaries difficult to overcome:

"These brave leaders have taught me that there is no getting around the Bible when searching for the origins of the homophobia that is rampant in many African cultures. What’s more, Europeans and North Americans bear much of the historical responsibility for this sad state of affairs. As Zimbabwean biblical scholar Masiiwa Ragies Gunda has written, it is 'far-fetched to look beyond the activities of Western missionaries' when considering the role of the Bible in Africa."

The anti-LGBT fervor within African churches has been encouraged by American evangelical ministers like Scott Lively.  Lively is currently the target of a lawsuit for crimes against humanity in the U.S.  by Ugandan LGBT leaders for his role in the increasingly anti-LGBT culture there, under the Alien Tort Statute, a 1789 law which has been expanded in recent years to include human rights abuses. Undeterred, Lively told a radio host in October that he considers the new anti-gay laws in Russia, where he has also spent time, "one of my proudest achievements."

Jennings sees all of this as a call to action for the church:

"Western Christians cannot fix the homophobia that is currently gripping Nigeria, Uganda, or other African countries. We can, however, stand in solidarity with progressive Africans and support their efforts to teach new ways of interpreting the Bible and understanding sexuality. When we see human rights abuses, we can speak out. And most of all, we can acknowledge with humility that we bear our share of the responsibility for this tragic legacy of empire and insist on repudiating contemporary efforts to expand its reach."

Integrity's Vice-President for National Affairs, the Rev. Jon M. Richardson, is a fellow Chicago Consultation steering committee member who also took part in the Africa meetings:

"Reading this op-ed from the President of the House of Deputies makes me proud, once again, to be an Episcopalian. By virtue of our baptism we have a responsibility to 'seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves.'

One of the gifts of the Anglican Communion is that it helps us all to see just how wide a net that covenant casts - our neighbors are not just the people closest to us, but our brothers and sisters all over the world in their times of celebration and in their times of suffering.

I had the honor of participating in the consultations on Bible and sexuality that the Rev. Jennings mentioned, and I have heard first hand of the suffering - and the celebrations and hopes - of our LGBT sisters and brothers from around Africa. We cannot stand quietly by as so many of their governments - too often with the blessing of their churches - seek to further oppression.

I am deeply grateful to our President of the House of Deputies for speaking with such wisdom here. I can only pray that other church leaders both here and around the world will speak as fearlessly and strongly as she has. It's a message the that needs to be heard by the whole church and the world it inhabits."

Integrity encourages all Episcopalians concerned about the plight of Nigeria and Uganda's LGBT people to educate your congregations, your bishops and your deputies to General Convention.  Please contact us for more information.

Christian Paolino is the Chair of the Integrity Stakeholders' Council