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

Diocese of Texas Opens the Door to Equality for All

This past weekend marked a monumental shift in the Diocese of Texas in terms of equality for ALL. It also opened the doors for unlimited opportunities to advance the mission of the Church. With a vote of 499 in favor and 144 against the reordering and restructuring of the Diocesan Canons, a 19 year battle for the soul of the diocese has drawn to a close.

While there have been many on both sides of this battle, two progressives who deserve to be singled out are Muffie Moroney and The Rev. Jim Stockton. Both Moroney and Rev. Stockton can be described as tenaciously loyal to the ideal of justice and to the church that they love and serve. In the end it was current Bishop C Andrew Doyle who forged a new unity - a unity that will allow the diocese to finally put divisions on marriage and LGBTQ rights behind us as we are given the opportunity to move into mission without bringing along nearly two decades of harmful political baggage. Ultimately, this vote was more about mission and less about marriage.

There are several key points that highlight the effect of this council action.

1. This restructuring and reordering of the canons, treats all marriages equally. No longer will married LGBTQ clergy be automatically disqualified from serving in this diocese.

2. Parishes will be able to call the priests of their own choosing. Hiring can now be based on a person's abilities, skill and job performance.

3. The responsibility for moral discipline as it pertains to the breaking of the marriage vows within the ranks of the clergy is returned to the office of the bishop.

Even more wide sweeping than these direct effects, this council action changes the political tone for councils yet to convene. No more will there be a need to strategize, plot, and plan how one side will win against the other. Months of gathering support on either side will cease. No more political posturing over the sexual mores of an entire diocese.

This action also signals to every LGBTQ Christian that they indeed have a home in the Episcopal Church. The opportunities to serve Christ are open to all without limitations.

The road forward may be rocky but Episcopalians throughout the Diocese can hold fast to the idea of being unified in mission as they seek to engage the communities in which they serve.


S Wayne Mathis
VP of Local Affairs Integrity USA
Co Convener Integrity Houston

What’s Next Integrity-- Are We Done? Are You Kidding?

What’s Next Integrity-- Are We Done?  Are You Kidding?

By:  Matt Haines, President

“When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.”  Jesus of Nazareth  (LK 12:48)

We celebrate great gains these past several weeks!  We had many great successes at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in Salt Lake City.  The Sacrament of Marriage is now a reality for same-sex couples in our Church and will be available in most of our dioceses!  Our Church has condemned the evil torture of so called “Reparative (Conversion) Therapy”.  Transgender Episcopalians have asserted that their names are sacred and are to be recognized as holy within liturgy and church records; the Church concurred overwhelmingly.  The Episcopal Church has also voted to show solidarity with LGBTQ people in Africa and will lobby on their behalf.  Some might wonder—is Integrity is now finished with its mission.  Are we done?  Are you kidding me? 

·         Transgender people are being slaughtered on our streets weekly; suicide kills even more.

·         Gender-queer and Trans Christians often find our churches less than welcoming.  We must change this together.

·         Over 40% of all homeless youth are LGBTQ; most of them rejected by “Christian Homes”.

·         Over 70% of lesbians and gays tell the people they love about their orientation; bisexuals 28%.  This must improve if we are ever going to live in Integrity.  As a church and a movement we can no longer ignore the “B” in LGBTQ.  

·         All Dioceses must be held to the Gospel of Inclusion proclaimed by this Church.  We can no longer allow LGBTQ people, or children raised by LGBTQ couples, to be excluded from Holy Baptism!  Access to Holy Eucharist, Confirmation, Unction, Penance, must be available to all the baptized.  All who feel called to vocations in Holy Orders and/or Marriage must be taken seriously and be given the opportunity to live those vocations out.

·         We must still lead the Anglican Communion and offer special help to LGBTQ people in the many provinces where our people face prison or execution!

·         Racism and sexism still plague our nation, church, and our movement.  Together we need to engage in understanding how male privilege and institutional racism work against true equality.

We are now ready to begin to work even harder, with God’s help and yours!  The Supreme Court has recognized our right to marry and the Episcopal Church recognizes our marriages as sacramental.  Rights are nothing if not exercised and sacraments are meant to empower us to serve this broken world in Christ’s name. 

Are we in the Promised Land after 40 years in the desert?  Maybe—some of us are.  If you find yourself there, rejoice and start building up Zion for those still on the way.  If you are still in the desert, look for one another and keep an eye out for Jesus.  Jesus knows the way!  We have been given so much, thus we are required to give even more back in return.  Please join in our efforts to live into this gospel call.

Integrity Celebrates Marriage Equality in The Episcopal Church

Press Release: Salt Lake City, UT - July 2, 2015

Integrity USA celebrated the passing of two significant pieces of legislation at the General Convention of The Episcopal Church on June 30, 2015. The House of Deputies voted to concur with the House of Bishops to pass Resolution A054 (87% yes, 11% no, 2% divided), a measure to offer gender neutral marriage rites and urge bishops to provide ways for couples to get married when in dioceses or churches with marriage equality restrictions. Later, the House voted to concur to pass Resolution A036 (82% yes, 13% no, 5% divided), a measure to alter the church canon.

Both these measures passed within days of the Supreme Court decision to recognize marriage equality throughout the USA.

Integrity President Matt Haines said, "I am overjoyed that our relationships and marriages as same-sex couples are finally recognized by both church and state.  The Episcopal Church spoke to this justice overwhelmingly, beyond our expectations, affirming the equality of our love.  Integrity has joined with allies for 40 years, proclaiming the blessing and holiness of our lives, which we offer to the church. We celebrate God's grace!"

Haines, recognizing that there are still faithful Episcopalians who live and engage in ministry in dioceses where their bishops will not permit full marriage equality, said that the Board of Directors will continue to work on making the rites available to everyone. Rev. Jon M. Richardson, Integrity Vice-President of National Affairs, pointed out, "While we are overjoyed at the strides we've made toward having all of our marriages recognized and blessed in the Episcopal Church, we are also acutely aware of the reality that this does not mean that the work of striving for equality is now finished in the Episcopal Church or in our society at large. LGBTQ people remain particularly vulnerable to discrimination in employment and in housing in many places in the country. LGBTQ teens remain significantly more likely than their heterosexual peers to be homeless, to commit suicide, or to endure the humiliations associated with bullying. Transgender people continue to face threats to their very survival each time they go out in public. The church continues to have a responsibility to speak to these injustices and to be agents of change, not just within our own halls, but in the hearts and minds of all people whom we encounter. We have taken great strides, but there remain many miles to go."

"In this spirit," Haines added, "we must continue to seek out those on the margins and join them as they too seek the love and support of the Episcopal Church.  We are obligated to work hard until all in this church and the world it serves are open to the grace and beauty of God's creation of humanity.  We are all one body in Christ Jesus, we must never forget our interdependence."

Legislative Update: Day 6

On Monday June 29, the fifth legislative day of the 78th General Convention, the House of Bishops adopted (by an overwhelming majority) two resolutions moving us closer to ending discrimination against same-sex couples desiring to be married in the Episcopal Church.

The first (A054) adopted two new marriage liturgies for trial use and the second (A036) included a canonical change to remove references to marriage as being between a man and a woman. The resolutions now move to the House of Deputies for approval. They will be heard as part of a special order of business on Wednesday, July 1st at 11:30 a.m.

These resolutions have been carefully and prayerfully crafted to provide as wide a tent as possible for the broad diversity of perspectives that is the hallmark of our heritage as Anglicans whilst making what the Supreme Court ruled last week as a “fundamental right” for all Americans equally available for all Episcopalians.

While the resolution stipulates: “Trial use is only to be available under the discretion and with the permission of the diocesan bishop” it also stipulates “Bishops exercising ecclesiastical authority or, where appropriate, ecclesiastical supervision, will make provision for all couples asking to be married in this church to have access to these liturgies.” This compromise creates a “bridge too far” for some and a “bridge not far enough” for others.

We are hopeful that both A054 and A036 will be quickly concurred – without amendment -- by the House of Deputies so that we can then shift into implementation throughout the Church.

Integrity will partner with members, allies and bishops to make sure that “will make provision for all couples asking to be married” is a reality – not just a resolution. And we look forward to celebrating with great joy the marriages throughout the church that will be outward and visible signs of the inward and spiritual grace of present in the lives of same-sex couples called to the vocation of marriage.

Marriage equality is not the only issue on the floor at this 78th General Convention. Resolution D028 -- "Oppose Conversion Therapy" -- was today concurred by the House of Bishops ... putting the Episcopal Church on record supporting legislation banning conversion therapy that tries "to change a person's sexual orientation or force them to deny their gender identity."

A051 -- Supporting LGBT African Advocacy -- has made it through Deputies and is headed to Bishops along with D036 -- Adding Name Change Services to the Book of Occasional Services.

More to come. (Watch this space!)

Open Letter to the House of Bishops

Dear Bishops,

Today is the day. On your legislative calendar for this, the fifth day of the 78th General Convention, are the resolutions from Committee 20 (the Special Legislative Committee on Marriage) authorizing canonical changes and liturgical resources to make marriage equally available to all couples desiring marriage in the Episcopal Church.

These resolutions have been carefully and prayerfully crafted to provide as wide a tent as possible for the broad diversity of perspectives that is the hallmark of our heritage as Anglicans whilst making what the Supreme Court ruled last week as a “fundamental right” for all Americans equally available for all Episcopalians.

The journey to this day has been long and the challenges have been great. We have worked, prayed, argued, debated and compromised to this moment. And it is the moment to “let our yes be yes.” (Matthew 5:37) It is time to let our yes be yes – and not only to the LGBT members of this church who have been waiting since 1976 for the promise of “full and equal claim” to become a reality and not just a resolution.

It is time to let our yes be yes for the whole church. It is time to put behind us our forty years of wrangling in the wilderness over the full inclusion of all the baptized in all the sacraments. And it is time to journey together into God’s future – a diverse people united in our commitment to the Jesus Movement our Presiding Bishop-elect has called us to claim and to proclaim a world hungry for love, justice and compassion.

Today is the day. Let your yes be yes.

Susan Russell is an Integrity past-president, the convener of Claiming the Blessing and on staff at All Saints Church in Pasadena CA.

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Live from Salt Lake City: An Anniversary Agenda

by Susan Russell

A year ago today I married my wife Lori at All Saints Church in Pasadena. Surrounded by friends and family and using the iconic liturgical language of our faith tradition we pledged to love, honor and cherish each other until death do we part. Then Ed Bacon pronounced that we were spouses for life.

We went to the parish hall for a party, sent off the marriage license to the county registrar and launched into the first year of our "happily ever after" marriage. Not our happily ever after "gay marriage" -- our happily ever after marriage. As I've noted before, we don't pay gay taxes or fold gay laundry or take out gay trash to the curb -- so we're not gay married.

And oh, how my heart soared to hear these words from Presiding Bishop-elect Michael Curry at his first press conference: "It's marriage. It's not gay marriage. It's not straight marriage. It's marriage." 

This morning we woke up together in a Salt Lake City hotel room. Our anniversary present came two days early when the Supreme Court ruled that every other American couple was as entitled to the fundamental right of marriage as we were. Our anniversary agenda includes a very early wake up call to participate in a march with the Bishops For the Elimination of Gun Violence, corporate worship with 5000 or so members of our Big Fat Episcopalian Family in the massive convention hall worship space and then an afternoon of legislative process which -- we hope -- will include the House of Bishops debating ... and adopting ... Resolution A036 from Committee #20 -- amending the canons of the Episcopal Church to make the sacrament of marriage equally available to same and opposite couples.

 It will not be without debate. It will not be without compromise. It will not be without some folks feeling we've taken the bridge too far and others that we've fallen short. But it will move us closer to the long dreamed of, worked for, aspired to dream of a church where all the baptized are fully included in all the sacraments.

And let me be clear -- this struggle has never been about inclusion for inclusion's sake. It has been about inclusion for the Gospel's sake -- so that we might become more fully the Body of Christ God created and calls us to be. And that means marching to end gun violence, working to challenge marginalization and dismantle oppression in all its forms, recognizing that because all lives matter it matters that we say #blacklivesmatter until we make that resolve a reality.

But hey -- if I can wake up in a Salt Lake City hotel room with my wife on the first anniversary of our marriage in a country with full stop marriage equality, in a church with Michael Curry as the Presiding Bishop-elect then anything is possible.

As Rachel Maddow would say: Watch this space.

A Day to Remember

The members and leaders of Integrity - both LGBT and not - can hardly contain our emotion on this day of jubilee throughout the nation.  We are thrilled that LGBT Episcopalians can know full civil marriage equality everywhere and we continue in our fervent hope that the church will answer the call to equality with the same prophetic witness as the U.S. Supreme Court has.  Even in the midst of our joy, however, we remember the mourning of our brothers and sisters in South Carolina right now, and moreover we remember the pain and violence experienced by our transgender members and friends every day throughout the nation.  It remains true that #BlackLivesMatter and #TransLivesMatter, and Integrity remains equally committed to seeking the justice to which Christ has been calling the church.  Though we celebrate, we remember that there is much work left to do.


The Rev. Jon M. Richardson
Vice President of National Affairs - Integrity USA

Complimentarity and Covenantal Relationships: An Argument for Marriage Equality

Marriage is an icon of Christ's covenantal love for us, the Body of Christ.

We believe that a married couple -- living out the sacrificial love that this covenant demands can be a witness to the world of Christ's love for us. In reality, this is the covenantal, sacrificial love that we are called to live out with one another, like David and Jonathan, giving our soul to one another.

Let us define marriage by its nature, by its grace -- not by an unrealistic binary gender identification that is no longer a reality. 

Adam said: You are flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone. You are like me -- meaning a human made in God's image.

Complementarity comes in many forms. For the sake of the people in my pews -- and for the people who are too afraid to come in because that have been so often denied -- let us not narrow the complementarity of humanity down to a binary world.

Let us not make a second class of covenantal relationships, a second class of citizens in the Church.

Let us be fruitful and multiply. Multiply covenantal relationships. Multiply disciples. In Christ there is no us or them, there is only us.

Jane Johnson
Deputy in the Dioceses of Fond du Lac
Rector at Intercession, Stevens Point, WI

Testimony given to Committee #20 -- the Special Legislative Committee on Marriage -- at their first Open Hearing on the marriage resolutions on June 24, 2015 at the 78th General Convention of the Episcopal Church

BREAKING NEWS: HOD Review Committee on Changes to Marriage Canons

The House of Deputies Review Committee has included the following important clarification in its report on the work of the Special Legislative Committee on Marriage.

In clear concise language it clarifies that the canonical resolutions being considered by Committee 20 are firmly within the bounds of the authority of this 78^th General Convention.

Good people of deep faith can and will come to different conclusions on what – if any -- steps the Episcopal Church should take toward ending discrimination against sacramental marriage for same-sex couples. But the following excerpt from the HOD Review Committee makes it abundantly clear that taking the position that the proposals before Committee 20 are unconstitutional is utterly without merit:

The General Convention has the constitutional power to amend Canon I.18 and, by separate action, authorize liturgies to meet the needs of the Church as required. Objections have been raised to the constitutionality of this resolution based on arguments “that the Episcopal Church will continue to have contrary laws governing Holy Matrimony in the Book of Common Prayer, a constitutional document.”2 Such objections rest on two flawed premises.

First, the civil status of marriage, which is available to persons of all faiths and none, and in most U.S. jurisdictions to two persons of the same sex or different sexes, is distinct from any particular liturgy. It is appropriate for the canons to recognize this real-world reality.

Second, the Constitution is the only constitutional document of The Episcopal Church. The Book of Common Prayer, despite its centrality in defining the doctrine and worship of The Episcopal Church, and despite the fact that its rubrics form part of the discipline of the Church (Canon IV.2) is not a “constitutional” document merely because most amendments require action by two succeeding meetings of the General Convention. The Book of Common Prayer does not grant authority to the General Convention; on the contrary, it is the product of the General Convention’s constitutional authority to adopt liturgies for the Church.

Third, Even assuming that the rubrics of the Prayer Book limit the liturgy for Holy Matrimony to persons of different sexes, they do not limit the power of the General Convention to adopt regulations for solemnization of marriage that may use another liturgical forms—which, as explained elsewhere in this report, may be authorized without amending the Book of Common Prayer. The longstanding authorization and acceptance of additional materials such as Enriching Our Worship and materials for ecumenical worship demonstrate this.

------------

2 Benhase and McConnell, A More Excellent Way: Good Order in Salt Lake City (June 28, 2015) The Living Church, at p. 21.

A rebuttal to the "you can't change the marriage canons" argument

The energy is rising here in Salt Lake City. Deputies and Bishops are arriving by the airport shuttle-full and the Exhibit Hall opened just a few minutes ago. Soon we will turn our attention to the actual business of convention -- the work and worship that calls us together as the council of church. And some of that work will be continuing the journey toward the full inclusion of all the baptized in all the sacraments. And some of that work will center on the sacrament of marriage.

The legislative process has yet to formally begin, but there are, of course, lots of opinions on the proposals from lots of sources. In the last few days, this letter from the Bishops of Virginia has garnered a lot of attention -- in part because it stated the bishops' intention to vote against proposed canonical changes on marriage and in part because it questioned the legality of the proposed changes.

Making up their mind how to vote before actually getting to Convention and allowing the collaborative process to inform and the Holy Spirit to inspire is one issue. Here is a response to the other issue -- in direct response to a question received via email by a #gc78 watcher who read the letter and asked Integrity this:

Q. I've heard concern raised over the proposals for marriage equality because it would be a *canonical* change and not a *constitutional* change. The canons and the constitution would then be out of compliance. I understand that a change to the constitution (aka the prayer book) would require a resolution be adopted at this convention, and then the exact same language would have to pass at GC 79 in 2018. Is that accurate?

A. This comes from a misunderstading of the place of the BCP. It is not "constitutional." Only the Constitution is constitutional. The BCP is sometimes mistakenly called constitutional because its amendment process takes two conventions -- but unlike the Constitution itself, amendments to the BCP can be "tried out" -- real amendments to the Constitution are null until approved by two conventions, then they are the law.

The problem arises when people treat the BCP as a lawbook instead of a liturgical book. Beyond that, the BCP itself provides (on page 13) for other liturgies to be authorized. These liturgies would not be needed if they were not in some way different to the BCP, so to argue that such liturgies have to be congruent to the BCP doesn't stand.

Besides that, the SSM liturgies do not "contradict" the BCP; they simply offer a liturgy for something the BCP did not conceive of. The BCP is descriptive, not proscriptive, when it comes to marriage -- otherwise all those second marriages would be ruled out because the BCP says marriages are "life-long."

Next question?

We have made space for God's grace

One parish priest’s response to those who say "more study" is needed before the adoption of sacramental marriage equality in the Episcopal Church:

I’m convinced we do not need more time to study before we amend the canons on marriage. In fact, from my pastoral chair as a busy New England rector, the time has long since come to bring all fully into the sacraments of the church. Those of us leading parishes see families every day praying to make their lives in Christ personally relevant to the context of the speeding, swirling world in which they live. None are asking for another Task Force to study anything.

They look to us and the sacraments, precisely for the selflessness and endurance of God’s love, unambiguously alive with generosity and coherence right at the heart of their lives. Today. This is particularly true of the many young people and young families I am so heartened to see in the church. The change in the canons is an overdue pastoral need for them and the global church as well. And it is emblematic of so much more than the marriage question. It is about our capacity to be truly alive in Christ. And the change is also much needed by those of us ordained to share our small, equitably offered part in a sacramental life we are not guardians of, but ministers to as we share in the renewal of the world.

A gracious conversation on this has been held and continues. We have made great space for God’s grace. Decades of good space. I don’t see any accusations of “uncritical” readers of the scripture or shouts about homophobic postures. (Perhaps I’ve missed a blog or two.) In fact, the conversations in the church I hear are increasingly sweet. Paying attention, we see that this is mirrored in the civic dialog in the recent and amazing Irish experience, a catholic nation coming together with joy and dignity. And forgiveness. And now in 37 states day by day married gay folks and their children are taking their places of dignity in communities and schools and scout troops. The Court may very well make this goodness the law in all fifty states, possibly acting during our Convention. This is the context in which we seek the Way and build the church. Today.

Another Task Force is not needed because we’ve already had a very fine one, working with great care within a budget and calendar given them. It was graced by wise lay leaders and those ordained as well. Their work is a gift to us and most importantly to those we serve in our parishes. In fact, I think it would be great to applaud the hard work of our thoughtful working teams.

All change has cost. And each of us will have friends who are saddened by whatever action Convention takes. There is no need to worry that sadness will be irreparable. With grace all healing is possible. No growth need be forgone. The status quo, a deadly creature the church knows so well, also has enormous costs. Not the least of these is the continued and sometimes deadly harm the church does to those it shuts out or puts on the lower shelf. They have been paying costs for generations. All those on the upper shelf are also paying a cost in the denying of the sacrament to the other, the lesser. All marriage is tarnished by permitting only some to enjoy it.

The time has come to say yes, to truly witness to Christ’s embrace.

Timothy Boggs is the rector of St. Alban's Episcopal Church, Cape Elizabeth, Maine

Oh Lord, Make Me New: Reflections on Creating Change

When I first became employed by Integrity, I made a series of phone calls to our members to situate myself in the work and introduce myself. As a long-time gay rights>LGB>LGBTQIA equality activist (since the 70’s, where I lived in Dupont Circle in D.C. and worked at Lambda Rising) I have witnessed decades of contention over where our work should focus, and I wanted to feel out where folks saw us now. Unsurprisingly, I kept hearing, “what will we do, now that marriage is finished?” and “we’re exhausted; our members have all retired to rest and recover.”

Burnout is a very real phenomenon. Exhaustion is a by-product of having too-few resources and fighting not just singular “bad” politicians, but entire institutions built to bolster this very inequity.  It relies on our exhaustion, and it depends on some of us being very comfortable, too comfortable in fact to always see how others suffer.

This is the downside of so-called marriage equality. We have exhausted ourselves doing laudable, important work—absolutely—but we find ourselves in some ways no closer to equality than we were before the “true blessing.”  Hate crimes are still happening; women still earn less; people of color experience these disparities of violence and economy in ways that cannot fail to shock those of us paying attention.

Thank God we have a relationship with Christ! We need him now more than ever!

During the beginning of this month I traveled to Creating Change in Denver to participate in the Transgender Leadership Exchange under the aegis of the LGBTQ Task Force. I spent a day in a Faith workshop, with other activists, church leaders, rabbis, shaman, druids, and priests. We are nothing if not spiritually eclectic! The focus of the workshop was “how do we care for ourselves so we can care for our community?”  Fatigue was a spectral participant. But we were present enough to critique the rhetoric of “anti-oppression.” I think we all intuitively understood it was the “anti” that was sapping our ranks.

Surrendering to God’s mercy means giving up the fight. What I resist persists. In earth-bound strategies for policy change both in our Church and without it can feel like only some of us “do the work” while others appear complacent. The wounds we've borne and the trauma we've experienced—living as lesser citizens, and under the constant thrum of violence—carries into our work and we feel attacked, beaten up. Often by our own. Surrendering seems counter-intuitive; haven’t we gotten this far by forceful demands to be recognized as equals?

In this regard, fighting for equality in our church has been devastating. It took a lot of human will and energy against a deep-seated culture of “we've always done it this way.” We come to the work already tired, we come to our church to be revitalized but we find no peace there either.  And the work is not done.

At the leadership summit I experienced a lot of hostility towards marriage equality. “It’s not equality when only some of us can afford to do it!” a young white transwoman said. “It’s not equality when Latina transwomen have a one-in-eight chance of being murdered,” snapped another.  I was in a room with twenty, mostly youthful (to me, under 35!) activists. They were bitterly angry and hurt by a movement they saw as working only for white equality, only for rights for the wealthy. They were there to hold our movement accountable, to say “we who are dying no longer accept your taking money and energy from us to do work that is not for us.”

I could hear that. As a white, 54 year old transmasculine person, I can finally relax. I mostly pass nowadays, and it’s extraordinarily liberating to not feel the heat of stares and stings of remarks, not to mention violence. But as a woman, I experienced the abuse, the ridiculous salaries, the generous hostility; I have been violently harassed, assaulted, and raped. As a lesbian, I've been chased by cars, followed by strangers, denied jobs, and even housing. In this I feel a kinship with my trans*sisters. But what about my own exhaustion? I’m weary! Some days I just don’t have anything to give. I’m hurt, I’m angry, I’m sick, and I’m tired. I have fibromyalgia, arthritis, headaches, depression. How can I show up for justice when even in our own community there seems to be none?

This is where my practice must begin. On my knees. I cannot, we cannot, fight oppression without exhausting ourselves. In my earnest desire for freedom, I forget sometimes that I am already free. I am a being without limit, without end, because I am a child of God. I have a relationship with the only One, the only thing with meaning, the only place of real love. If I am to attend to the earthly work I am so compelled by, this work of LGBTQ justice, I must gently remind myself where true power lies. There, there is nothing to fight. I can stand my ground, rally my congregation, lobby my bishop, but when I forget what’s real and what’s meaningful, this work will become very tiring indeed. I begin to resent others who “work less.” I begin to believe that the work depends on me to get done. I forget there is a deeper agenda, an inspirited agenda, working through me and for me. And I forget that you are my ally, that we’re in this together, and I begin to recreate you as my enemy.

So as I learned at Creating Change, if you are tired, rest Sister. Rest Brother. Some of us will carry others now. Our weariness needs attention and our spirits need loving kindness. And still, I cannot mistake the freedom of some as the freedom of all, nor mistake my exhaustion for mine alone. Let us rejoice that we know the truth, and that we are on a mission to carry this truth everywhere: that God loves us all, that we are all equally endowed with grace and love! I am learning, a day at a time, not only to give my hurt and my weariness over to Christ, but to offer yours too. Only then can I be open to hear that there is more work, and that I can participate in ways that stretch but don’t break me, because I have found the source of illimitable strength.

“Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.”

Oh Lord, make me new. Amen.


Sam Peterson is the Development Director at Integrity USA

The Time is Now

This week’s action by the U.S. Supreme Court rejecting Alabama’s same-sex marriage stay request is widely understood as a hint of things to come. Jurisprudence throughout the nation has overturned marriage inequality. Interestingly, the two dissenting justices cited the protection of the status quo as the reason they would have maintained the stay. Yet, the highest court of the land rejected such weak reasoning. Protecting the status quo at the cost of perpetuating injustice is anathema to Americans; it is anathema to Christ as well.

Jesus came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. Our savior summarized the law as loving God and loving our neighbors as ourselves. God’s law is love. This movement toward civil marriage equality suggests a nation ready to recognize love as it really is. As a nation, we are on the way to fulfilling the law for all people seeking marriage in this land. And, our church is on that same journey.

This summer we will take a significant step on that road. The General Convention of the Episcopal Church will have before it a similar question as it considers marriage equality in a church where at least 75% of Episcopalians now live in states with legal marriage equality.

Will they be able to marry in their own churches? Without prophetic action in the church, the status quo suggests no. If the House of Bishops and House of Deputies vote to change church law, we can lead the Supreme Court and the faithful in recognizing that marriage is between two people, regardless of gender.

Please read the Taskforce on the Study of Marriage’s Report and the recommendations it offers. This report is a continuation of decades of study, reflection and faithful practice. Please reach out and encourage your bishop and deputies to do the same. They need to know that our marriages are real and holy. Together we can make the case to the leaders of our church – as it is being made to the leaders of our nation – that the time is now for marriage equality. The time is now for it is time for the General Convention of the Episcopal Church to change its laws and amend our canons. The time is now to re-imagine the Episcopal Church -- with Marriage Equality -- to help faithful gay and lesbian Christians to fulfill God’s call of love lived out in their own relationships.

Matt Haines, President of Integrity USA.

A Rose By Any Other Name

Vicky Mitchell

This past weekend I was a parish delegate to the Diocese of Los Angeles annual convention where one of the matters taken up was a Resolution on the subject of Same Sex Marriage. The resolution which was passed by an overwhelming majority of the convention voters, instructs our Diocesan delegates to the Episcopal Church’s national General Convention next summer to take a "hard line" and putting into immediate action the National Church’s long-talked about and debated programs to enable full inclusion of same sex partners in the Sacramental Rites of the National Church and all of its provinces and dioceses. For LGBT folks this is a huge issue of validation, and one I supported with my vote, and which I truly believe is the Will of God as I have prayerfully discerned it to be.

While happy for my LGB friends, I did not meet any other Trans* people there at the Convention, and I am pretty sure that I was the only Trans* delegate / attendee there. I was openly and happily wearing a Trans* Pride button, which was acknowledged by some folks I knew in the LGBT ministry program whom I had met the year before, and whom I had been with in the West Hollywood "TGLB" Pride Parade and Festival last June. I saw no other person there with any symbol of Trans* alliance.

The night before the vote on the resolution took place, I had gone to a reception for the LGBT ministry people off the convention site, and felt right at home with a wonderful group of people, of which, perhaps half were wearing clerical collars. With the exception of one single person there, me, it was about 25% each, Lesbian clergy couples, Lesbian lay couples, Gay clergy couples, and lay Gay couples, there were a few there whose partners were not at the party, but partnered they were. Strong loving relations were obviously a quality that was valued as part of their Christian lives in private and public.

Marriage is and will continue to be a strong symbol of validation for the LGB members of the Church, and will equip them in ministries that will benefit the whole of Christianity be the couple clergy or laity.
Marriage has been the key point in full acceptance of the GLB members and its time is coming close if other Diocese’s follow the lead of Los Angeles. Transgender people though have another item that will stand for full inclusion in its own way, and that is the recognition of our names.

It is hard for non-Trans* people to understand the full significance of a name as Transgender people feel it. As a Trans* activist, I am part of several groups dealing with Transgender issues, and can point to one single event in a Transgender person’s life that is more significant than surgeries or even Hormone Therapy, and that is changing our “trial names” which are of the gender we do not feel part of to our more True names. On the internet forums I am part of as a contributor, anyone who posts a notice that they have legally changed their names are met with an outpouring of posts of congratulation and well wishing. On a website where I am a moderator and senior member, the most persistent question in one form or another is how to pick a name, and then approach local authorities to make that the person’s new legal name. Changes to Birth Certificates that also reflect the preferred gender and name are also a major issue for a Gender Dysphoria subject.
The why of this phenomena is pretty easy for a Trans* person to understand, but is a problem for the non-Trans* folk. Gender Dysphoria was previously known as Gender Identity Dysphoria and even before that as Gender Identity Disorder. The outdated term does give the clue to the name issue. A name is an integral part of a person’s identity and thus a name that reflects the person’s inner identity is the beginning of a transformed life with an identity that feels TRUE to the person.

My legal name change took place in July 2012 and while the court appearance was anticlimactic, it was nice to let my priest know that it had happened, and since I held a parish office that needed to be on a diocesan record officially, I know it was changed that way. It was not a big deal supposedly, especially since the General Convention had voted full acceptance of Gender Variant people in all offices of the church a few weeks before, I am OK with that, but there is something missing from the matter of fact flow of paperwork. This name change thing is huge for Trans* people, and there needs to be a way to celebrate it as fully as our initial Baptism is celebrated, and as our Confirmation is celebrated.

I am looking at two documents from 41 years ago, one is my Baptismal Certificate attested by my now deceased rector in another parish than the one I am now at, and a certificate of Confirmation, signed by a bishop now also dead. Both took place when I was 25 years old, a few months apart, and both have what I call my “Trial Name” on them. I have given away that name to become the person who now lives and serves in the church I attend, and in the wider Church as well.

There seems to be a solution to that wish to celebrate my name change and I am now working with my priest on requesting a renewal of my Confirmation and Baptismal Covenants and vows when my Bishop comes for a parish visit in January 2015. I am going to be asking for a tiny change in reciting that I was first Baptized and Confirmed as but renew and continue in my current lay ministry and membership in my True name and identity before the Bishop who represents the Whole Church and not just my tiny part of a parish. This will truly be a sign of acceptance of me as a Trans*woman.

My desire to be part of the Church is not limited to my being a Trans* person, and my future involvement will be the normal cares and joys of our experience in following the steps of Jesus, and seeking to be “Instruments Of His Peace”. I know I was not allowed to end my own life 7 years ago, and have felt the presence and caring of God and Christ at all parts of my acceptance and transition. A friend has suggested that we Trans*people have been placed in our congregations as a challenge for others to explore the diversity of God’s Creation, and to give others a taste of what it means to “do it to the least (in numbers) of My children”.


Vicky Mitchell, a member of the Church of the Transfiguration, in Arcadia, California
Reprinted with permission from Facebook

Marriage Equality Takes A Giant Leap Forward

Integrity USA is thrilled to see marriage equality make significant strides these past two days.  Five state petitioned the Supreme Court to review the cases that overturned their bans but were denied: Wisconsin, Indiana, Utah, Oklahoma, and Virginia . Other states in the circuits affected by Monday's denial should be seeing marriage equality soon as well because they are in the same court circuit: Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Colorado, West Virginia, and Wyoming.  And on Tuesday, the 9th Circuit confirmed that the bans in Nevada and Idaho were unconstitutional, and given Monday's news, may choose to not appeal. This court decision implies that Alaska, Montana, and Arizona may soon see marriage equality.

Within months or even weeks then, 64% of the US population will live in states with marriage equality in 35 states. The eleven states directly affected by the Monday's Supreme Court action involve several southern states, including Virginia, South Carolina, and my own ancestral home of North Carolina. This is an incredible an time for LGBTQ people across the nation. 

64%! It seemed incredible to think that there was going to be legal same gender marriage anywhere in the United States as recently as 12 years ago, and now a clear majority of our population will have access to the right. 

It is easy for us to celebrate, and we should celebrate vigorously. But let us not allow our excitement to become complacency, not allow our joy to lead to apathy for the needs of that other 36% of the population that still faces homophobic, flagrantly unconstitutional laws that limit their basic human rights. 

We must continue forward until gay and lesbian people everywhere have full protection and just treatment under law. 

For today, we thank you God for Your mercy and love, and for Your guidance of our nation as we continue towards freedom for all people.

Sarah Vivian Gathright Taylor is the Executive Director of Integrity USA

Student's Marriage Equality Presentation Opens Eyes, Hearts

This spring St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church in Virginia Beach, VA hosted a special event for its parishioners, community and the Integrity Virginia Beach Chapter. Peter Dempsey, a senior at First Colonial High School in Virginia Beach, presented his senior project, "Gay Marriage – Laws, Rights and Facts."

Integrity Province III Coordinator Susan Pederson, Chapter
member Peter Dempsey, the Rev. Mark Wilkinson, Rector of
 St. Aiden's: Virginia Beach

Dempsey is Integrity Virginia Beach’s youngest member. As he worked on the project, he was mentored by Susan Pederson, a chapter member and Integrity's Province III Coordinator.

Peter is an active member of St. Aidan's. His parents, Sue and Bill Dempsey, are EYC leaders at the church. St. Aidan’s has welcomed Integrity Virginia Beach Chapter on several occasions,
hosting an Integrity Eucharist and a screening of  the Gene Robinson biopic Love Free or Die in 2013. The Rev. Mark Wilkinson, rector, and many parishioners were in attendance at Peter’s presentation.

Peter began his presentation by sharing that he was inspired to make same-gender marriage the topic of his senior project because some of his friends at school are gay. "I was teary at the start," said Peter’s mom Sue, "when he said, 'I want to be loved and accepted, everyone deserves it.'"

Peter did a terrific job of engaging the audience in his presentation, including some interactive exercises that really got people talking. Conversation continued long after Peter concluded his talk. "Peter did an excellent presentation with very sound arguments to support his position," said Sharon Metz, a member of St. Aidan’s. According to Peter’s teacher, he "blew it out of the water!"

The members and leadership of Integrity Virginia Beach are very proud of Peter and his work. We realize how vital it is to support and encourage our young adult members as they prepare to become our future advocates and leaders.

Ann Turner is Integrity's Diocesan Organizer for Southern Virginia and a member of the Virginia Beach chapter.  Her "day job" is Director of Communications for the Diocese.

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

Marriage Equality in Pennsylvania. What's not to "Like"?

I first got the news from Facebook.  One of my parishioners who is a partnered lesbian had posted that she was going to miss the State Supreme Court announcement scheduled for 2 pm due to a work meeting.  I did a little digging and to my amazement found that it was true.  Then NPR broke into the broadcast to share the news that the Judge had ruled that PA's "Defense of Marriage" Act was indeed UN-constitutional.

After letting the news sink in I shared my joy on my personal Facebook page.  It was amazing to watch the reaction, both to my post and to the ruling, spread rapidly across my feed.  Here and there another clergy person would react praising the decision.  But then I saw the post from my friends at Congregation Rodeph Shalom.  They did more than express their joy, they called on their congregants to join them at a celebratory rally at City Hall.

I was not surprised (they are a very progressive and activist congregation) but was still impressed.  They didn't just announce it, they embraced it.  This left me pondering, should I take this news and make it a parish issue?

I knew most would "like" it.  Yet not all would welcome it.  My parish of St Timothy's is a very welcoming place.  We have several same gender couples and a few other LGBTQ individuals.  For a smaller parish (an average of 80 people on a Sunday) this is not a bad representation. Although not all parishioners are supportive, they do not make a public issue of it.  Instead, despite the diversity of opinions, we manage to create a genuinely caring community built upon the bonds of faith and fellowship.

So what would happen if I posted something stating that the parish rejoiced in the decision and looked forward to an increase in weddings?

Possibly it would go largely unnoticed by those who disagree.  But then again it might not.  My fear was that by publically drawing attention to a potentially divisive issue I might take embers of division and fan them into flames.  More importantly, a Facebook post would not change the more important reality that St. Tim's is a place where people of diverse race, education, wealth, theology and sexuality all come together to sit together in worship, share coffee and fellowship and kneel at the same rail as sisters and brothers in the Body of Christ.   Was I willing to jeopardize that community just so I could follow my heart?

I realize some of you may be tempted to remind me of Dr. King's, Letter From a Birmingham Jail, in which he proclaims, "Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with G-D, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right."

There is no doubt that as clergy we are called to be prophetic...  to push forward and proclaim liberty and justice regardless of resistance or cost.  Yet it is also our duty to be pastoral and to care for every member of our flock.  This can be a tenuous balance.  At times it seems downright impossible.  How does one manage to keep everyone at the table when the divisions are so profound as to deal with the "rightness" of who a person loves and is at the core of their very being?

I don't know the answer.  What is right for one congregation is not always right for another.  There is a diversity of perspective and practice.  Just as parishes range from spiky high to snake belly low in their worship style, it is the same when it comes to social action.  Some choose to make that commitment to justice and action the center of their common identity.  Others never get involved in politics yet still manage to live out their Baptismal Covenant to "seek and serve Christ in all persons" and to "respect the dignity of every human being" just as fully as the most progressive parish.

So what does this really mean for Episcopalians in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania?  Like the rest of the TEC my Diocese of Pennsylvania is no stranger to the kind of bitter division that can arise as we try to come to grips with what it means to hold unity and diversity in tension particularly over matters of sexuality.  In recent decades some parishes withdrew from our common life or left the TEC altogether.  But over time most have gradually re-engaged and to date only one is now left on the fringes.

Of course that does not mean that everyone in our diocese will agree.  Indeed, I believe this court ruling will have a far greater impact on our parishes than the results of our 2012 General Convention decision to allow for same gender blessing ceremonies.  As parishes across PA start to celebrate the weddings  of same gender couples it will inevitably reopen some old divisions.  St.Tim's will be no exception.

When the first wedding between two women or two men takes place here many will rejoice, not just because they feel it reflects the inclusive values of the Kingdom, but because the people getting married are their friends.  But despite our close ties some will not be able be so happy. The bottom line is that we will not wait until everyone is on board, but at the same time we will not abandon those who disagree just because they are not.  And if we can manage to do that, then perhaps we will manage to keep more people at the table, even as we move forward.



The Rev. Kirk Berlenbach is the Rector of Saint Timothy's Episcopal Church in Philadelphia.  He is very active in diocesan governance and is a deputy to General Convention.  He is also active in Interfaith and Emerging Church movements.  His blog, So this Priest Walks into a Bar... is about craft beer, rock and roll and finding God out in the world.