Only to a certain point…..

When we baptize someone, whether infant, teenager or adult, we do not baptize them “only to a certain point.”  When we receive them into the household of God, we do not receive them “only to a certain point.” Baptism brings full membership in the Body of Christ.  It is complete and total and certainly not “only to a certain point.”

Yet we continue to see glass walls, ceilings and barriers placed before those of us who are LGBTQ+  We continue to see evidence of us being accepted only up to a certain point.

We have spent decades, yes decades, striving for full inclusion and equality for LGBTQ+ persons in The Episcopal Church.  We got where we are now incrementally and General Convention by General Convention. Our processes often seem cumbersome and overly complicated, yet we utilized those processes to show our commitment to our church and our willingness to follow the processes that are part of the polity of The Episcopal Church.

It has always been intriguing that we as queer folk have been included only to a certain point at the various milestones of our journey toward inclusion and equality.  The first accomplishment was the simple acknowledgement that LGBTQ+ were children of God. That may sound odd now but at the time it represented significant progress in our collective journeys within the life of our church. Over the decades, canon law was changed to embrace LGBTQ+ folks at increasingly more levels of the church.  The General Convention of 2018 tried to make it clear that we were full members of the portion of the Body of Christ that is The Episcopal Church, even including allowing us to be married in our church…..just like everyone else.

After General Convention 2015 eight bishops of The Episcopal Church refused to allow same sex marriages to take place in their dioceses.  The 2018 convention sought to address that issue when it gave rectors the authority to decide who to marry rather than bishops (except where there was a prior marriage).  

There is still resistance.  Some of the “resistant eight” have managed to find a way to address the pastoral needs of the LGBTQ+ members of their flocks.  One steadfastly refuses and is having to face the consequences of that position. Those who would include queer folks “only to a certain point” still exist.  I would offer to them now what I said years ago: If you do not intend to allow LGBTQ+ persons full membership in the church, then do not baptize us!

Now it also appears that our baptisms are acceptable only to a certain point with the Archbishop of Canterbury as well.  The spouses of duly and legally married same sex couples will not be invited to the Lambeth Conference next year. LGBTQ+ bishops are invited…...but not their husbands or wives.  This is progress over the last Lambeth when even LGBTQ+ bishops were excluded. Another glass barrier has been put in place. If the Archbishop of Canterbury wishes to be completely fair then NO spouses should be invited….none, period, end of sentence.  Would the pain of such exclusion register with the non-LGBTQ+ bishops and primates? To be honest, I have to wonder.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of “sins” identified in Scripture.  We seem to fixate only on those that might be related to sex or sexual orientation.   The others are explained or “forgiven” away usually by some convoluted mechanism that doesn’t have much connection to theology or salvation.  The concept of a loving, consensual, monogamous same sex relationship did not even exist when the books that became the Bible were finally put into writing.  

Same sex relationships between women were not discussed.  Same sex relationships between men were almost exclusively based on conquest, humiliation and degradation and centered upon the imbalance of power between the persons involved.  Is that model really how we want to judge those we know personally whose relationships embody the concept of love? If that is truly the case, we have a serious need for self-examination as to why we are so self-loathsome about the gift of sexuality God has given us.  Why should that be the “certain point” up to which we will go?

The Executive Council of our church passed a resolution at its last meeting that was described as providing the Archbishop of Canterbury with “wiggle room” that might enable him to change his mind and invite all spouses of bishops.  I feel obligated to pose one of those “hard questions:” Would we have provided “wiggle room” if the exclusion had been based on race or ethnicity or gender or differing ability or any other criteria than sexual orientation (or gender identity/expression)?  It is a valid question. I leave that question for others to answer.


Bruce Garner, Past President (And sometime contributor to the Friday Flash.)
Integrity USA:  The Episcopal Rainbow  

Fear of Defilement??

The reading from the Gospels for today’s Daily Office is the passage from Mark where Jesus calls out the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and scribes over how they practice some of the rituals of their faith.  The Pharisees have asked Jesus why his disciples don’t always wash their hands in the ritual fashion before meals. He uses their misinterpretation of the law to catch them in their hypocrisy. First it is their way of getting around the commandment to honor father and mother by giving money to the temple.  They can then claim they don’t have the resources needed to honor their father and their mother. Jesus then goes on to note that it is not what goes into a person that defiles that person. Instead it is what comes out of that person...whether from the mouth or their heart. What goes into a person enters the mouth, goes through the digestive system and out into the sewer.  Defilement is not from what you eat or touch. Defilement comes from the heart.

My thoughts turned to the eight bishops who have tried to refuse to allow same sex couples to be married in their dioceses.  The question came to mind wondering what the source of their fear might be. I think they are afraid of being “defiled” by allowing same sex marriages!  How on earth allowing a marriage can defile someone falls into the category of what Jesus said to the Pharisees and scribes. How could ANY marriage defile the officiant or her/his bishop?  It can’t.

Those who have made arrangements for another bishop to oversee parishes that wish to allow same sex marriages are not off the hook with that maneuver either.  They have just found another route to avoid being “defiled” themselves.

Regardless of the arrangements or lack thereof, all eight of these bishops are playing the same game.  In that process, they are failing to meet the pastoral needs of people for whom they have vowed to provide pastoral care.  

Look at the ministry of Jesus.  He dismissed defilement as ludicrous in the sense that was being played out in His day.  He touched those deemed ritually unclean such as dead bodies and lepers. He upended the “rules” used to avoid caring for those who needed care.  It did not matter to Jesus.

It seems to me that the attitude of these eight bishops is as ludicrous as the issues of ritual purity were in Jesus’ day.  Do they honestly think that allowing same sex marriages in their dioceses can defile them in any way? If that is how they think, I question both their theology and the seminaries that taught them to believe such nonsense.  

Gentle bishops:  Your vocation is to be a pastor to ALL within your diocesan flock.  You do not get to “hand off” those with whom you do not want to engage, however much you disagree with them.  Our canon law provides for certain rites to be available to all. It is not your discretion to create exceptions.  Open your hearts. Defilement comes FROM the heart not from touching another either figuratively or literally. What, gentlemen, do you fear?  Could your fear be of yourselves? Only you can answer that.

Bruce Garner, Past President
Integrity USA:  The Episcopal Rainbow  

Presiding Bishop Seeks To Enforce Resolution B012

The Most Reverend Michael B. Curry, Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church has issued a Partial Restriction on the ministry of The Right Reverend William Love, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany (New York).

This is the link to the entire document containing the restrictions:    https://tinyurl.com/Bishop-Love-Restriction

Here is the gist of the restrictions placed by Presiding Bishop Curry:

“Accordingly, in order to protect the integrity of the Church’s polity and disciplinary process and, thereby, the good order and welfare of the Church, and pursuant to Canons IV.7(3), (4), and IV.17(2), I hereby place the following partial restriction on the exercise of Bishop Love’s ministry:

         During the period of this restriction, Bishop Love, acting individually, or as
         Bishop Diocesan, or in any other capacity, is forbidden from participating in any
         manner in the Church’s disciplinary process in the Diocese of Albany in any
         matter regarding any member of the clergy that involves the issue of same-sex
         marriage.

         Nor shall he participate in any other matter that has or may have the effect of
         penalizing in any way any member of the clergy or laity or worshipping
         congregation of his Diocese for their participation in the arrangements for or
         participation in a same-sex marriage in his Diocese or elsewhere.”

The Diocese of Albany is one of eight dioceses that initially refused to abide by Resolution B012 regarding same sex marriages.  Said resolution was passed at the General Convention of The Episcopal Church during the summer of 2018.

The responses to B012 by the bishops of those dioceses have ranged from the outright refusal to comply in Albany to the US Virgin Islands now allowing same sex marriages.  Most of the other bishops have responded with a variety of ways to discourage same sex marriages in their dioceses. Some are considering ways to permit such marriages in accord with the spirit of the resolution.

The refusal of bishops to allow same sex marriages has been based on the same worn out justifications that have impeded the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons in The Episcopal Church.  Scripture is cited as a justification but without the recognition that the alleged proscriptions in Scripture are taken out of the context of the time and culture of their writing and out of the context of the full narratives of which they are a part.  Tradition is also cited, yet fails to consider how much the institution of marriage has changed over the centuries. It remains a puzzle as to how these bishops can reach such conclusions even if they have had a minimal seminary education. It would seem reasonable that those who studied or should have studied ancient texts should understand the contextual nature of Scripture as well as the issues related to authorship.

The situation created by these bishops has resulted in the failure of LGBTQ+ members of our church to be treated as full members of the church and due the same level of pastoral care so easily offered to non-LGBTQ+ members.  Our canon law explicitly prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity/expression (along with a number of other criteria). It is sad that it seems to take filing legal actions to get bishops to simply comply with those canon laws.  Yet, if that is what it takes for our kindred in Christ to access all of the rites of our church, then that is what needs to be done. Perhaps this action by the Presiding Bishop will at least nudge the other non-compliant bishops to rethink their positions. All are due proper pastoral care from their bishops in all areas of their lives.  There are no exceptions that I have found.

Let us continue to pray for a change of heart for the non-compliant bishops and let us hold our kindred who suffer discrimination in our thoughts and prayers.  Justice will eventually roll down like water…...

Bruce Garner, Past President
Integrity USA:  The Episcopal Rainbow  

What Are You Planning To Do This Year?

A few days ago, the year 2019 arrived. Despite this being a brand new year, there is still work to be accomplished that is left over from 2018.  I’m wondering what you and I planning to do this year in light of the circumstances in which we find ourselves as queerfolk?

There are still eight dioceses in The Episcopal Church where same sex couples cannot get married by a priest of or in property belonging to those dioceses.  Some of the eight bishops involved have moved about a quarter inch on the issue….others will still cite Scripture out of context to support their entrenched attitudes.  I wonder at times where these guys went to seminary. Did they not learn the origin of Scripture? Did they not learn the ancient languages of Scripture and see how some concepts do not translate into modern English and other concepts didn’t even exist?  At what points will these men start being pastors and stop being Pharisees? (Read the Gospels and see how Jesus regarded Pharisees.)

The General Convention of 2018 made it abundantly clear by huge margins that this church, The Episcopal Church, allowed same sex couples to be married in and by the church.  There was some weak spined way for some to wiggle out of it…..bishops have problems holding each other accountable. That’s old news….same stunt they tried with the ordination of women.  

Turning to the secular for a moment, we are living under a Presidential administration where one hardly knows which end is up at any given moment in time.  There are so many distractions and scandals that one wonders if some are not deliberate attempts to focus attention away from real problems and on to an issue or something just for the sake of diversion.  How many more days will a substantial part of the Federal Government remain shut down because of a temper tantrum about a wall…..of all things?

Some will immediately say I have gotten political.  The reality is that I have not gotten political. I have gotten personal.  When the present administration literally tries to erase transgender folks, that isn’t political, it is personal.  We all have siblings who will/would be impacted by such a discriminatory action. Trying to ban HIV+ people from the military is equally personal.  Wanting to allow discrimination due to sexual orientation because of someone’s “religious beliefs” is equally personal. No, these are not political issues. They are personal issues that impact us directly or impact and harm people we know and love.  The majority population, i.e., straight folks, see issues such as these as merely political. They fail to see that the impact is personal and always has been.
So I ask you what you are going to do this year?  Will you make your voice heard by the bishops who continue to discriminate against us?  Will you point out to them that they are both violating canon law AND violating the baptismal covenant vows they have taken to respect the dignity of every human being?  Will you stand with your siblings in Christ as they continue to strive for full inclusion in our church or will you just stand there?

Will you write to those in Congress and/or your state legislatures expressing your thoughts about discrimination and how wrong it is?  Will you call or email or go meet with those who would treat us as less than full members of society, paying the same types of taxes as everyone else?  Will you remind them that all are to enjoy the full benefit of being a resident of this nation regardless of whether we agree with each other or not? Will you remind them that the rights spelled out in the Bill of Rights apply to us all?  Will you remind them that “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”should be enjoyed by all and not just those who fit a predefined mold or expression?

What will you do?  As Weeza noted to one of her colleagues in “Steel Magnolias” these are NOT difficult questions!

Bruce Garner, Past President
Integrity USA: The Episcopal Rainbow

Transitioning never is easy

Dear Integrity members and friends:

In October 2018 Integrity started with a new Board, a group of people who decided to collaborate with our group. Any beginning could be hard and sometimes, the most experienced people need to give a hand. For this reason, we are delighted to welcome our former President Bruce Garner to help us writing for our Friday Flash. Thank you, Bruce, for this awesome contribution.

Seasons of Love

Our lives are full of seasons. I'm surprised that I've lived through a couple hundred of them. Like all seasons, one eventually gives way to the next one. Whether that next one is early or late, hot or cold, we usually know when it's time to yield to a new phase of life.

Things look different. They smell different. They touch you differently. It's just as beautiful as before, but in an entirely new way. We sometimes welcome; we sometimes resist these changes. But the changes come any way. So what was it like for five rounds of 525,600 minutes as a board member of Integrity USA: The Episcopal Rainbow?

I'm glad I could contribute, in my own way, in my own time, to the body of work that bends the arc of history towards justice. I sometimes forget that I've done this sort of thing most of my life. It's just me being me, doing what I can, if I can, if I'm able. What matters to me is that I at least pitch in, lend my voice, offer my prayers, and most importantly help others to find their voice.

It's obvious that there's still so much to be done. And there always will be. The OT prophets lived a pretty long time ago, and somehow their calls for justice still ring true today. There's no magic pill that society can swallow to make it all better. We've got to be in it for the long haul. We've got to help our youth, our transgender siblings, our friends and family in LGBTQ-resistant churches and dioceses. And, yes, we've got to address the racism and misogyny within our own family.

And there's also a time for rest. For restoration. We need a Sabbath whether it's full retirement or simply finding space to breathe. And while doing so, we give other voices a chance to be heard, to inspire, to bring new ideas.

So as my second term ends as the Director of Communications at Integrity, I look forward towards attending to some of the other ministries that also feed me. My heart is swayed by the Holy Spirit to spend even more time with lay pastoral visits and participation in diocesan Asian ministries. And I'm looking forward to doing more Camino de Santiago pilgrimages in Spain and Portugal, and blogging about my spiritual journeys on my Let All Who Are Thirsty Come site. And... I'm eager and curious to see where God leads me tomorrow.

But most of all I'm grateful. Grateful that, even though so much needs to be done, I've been exposed to some amazing people who share some of my passions, who speak out as modern prophets, who feel the pain of those who struggle every day. I've grown much working with three Integrity Presidents: Caro Hall, Matt Haines, and Bruce Garner. I am thankful that my journey has allowed me to walk alongside these amazing people and to meet so many living saints. They've helped me measure my life in love, my seasons of love.

I pray that Integrity USA, the Episcopal Rainbow, will continue to be the shelter as well as the light for LGBTQIA+ in the church. I'm excited by the vision that the Rev. Gwen Fry will bring to the organization as the incoming president; I have great trust in the new incoming Director of Communications, Letty Guevara-Cuence; and I'm confident that the new Board will speak for all of us. May God lift up our leaders - past, present, and future - giving them strength, granting us all wisdom, and blessing us with a place at the table.

Mel Soriano
Directory of Communications/Secretary
Integrity USA: The Episcopal Rainbow

Resisting Full Inclusion... Still An Issue

Integrity USA: The Episcopal Rainbow has begun to return its focus to the local level, and for good reason: There is still strong resistance to the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ folks in a number of parishes and dioceses. Two clear examples came to my attention over the last couple of weeks and a third is most likely the result of non-inclusive attitudes.

The first very obvious example of resistance to inclusion involves St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC. Remember that this parish is located in one of the dioceses that thought they could leave The Episcopal Church and take church property with them. The court cases involved in this are still in progress to some degree.

A long time friend, Wayne Helmly, wrote a letter to Ms. Penn Hagood, Senior Warden of St. Philip’s in response to a very unwelcoming letter she wrote to the parish and posted on its website. (It was soon taken down, but about 99% of it is in the two links below.) Wayne shared his letter and also some other resources. He has yet to get a response. I also wrote to Ms. Hagood in my capacity as Integrity’s President. I haven’t received a response either. My letter is below.

It continues to be a source of sadness that so many in this part of the State of South Carolina remain so unwelcoming of queerfolk... which I suspect might just be the tip of the real issues that could take days to discuss.

The second example has been the Bishop of Florida’s “response” to Resolution B012 passed at General Convention 2018, which p ut the decision about performing same sex marriages in the hands of the local rector rather than the diocesan bishop. This followed three years of eight bishops refusing to allow same sex marriages in their dioceses.

The Right Rev. Samuel Howard has created a number of hoops for any same sex couple to jump through to be married...in direct contradiction to the intent of B012. He harps on the “Biblical standard of marriage being between one man and one woman” when he knows it is between one man and as many women as the man could afford. He further plans to have his clergy acknowledge that they will violate their ordination vows by performing a same sex marriage… because he is against such marriages. I’m sorry folks, but holding an opinion that is different from your bishop’s opinion is not violating ordination vows! The doctrine and discipline of the church now includes same sex marriage. So how could it be a violation if a priest marries a same sex couple? Bishop Howard is certainly not a standard for hospitality to the marginalized and outcast. Sadly, my own Godson lives in his diocese and I don’t want him attending an Episcopal Church at the moment. Blessedly his parents are handling his upbringing in the church themselves and have access to loving and caring clergy who don’t hold to the bishop’s biases.

Another most likely example of not being inclusive is the closing of St. David’s parish in Lakeland, Florida. The story was included in the daily email of press items of interest from the Episcopal Church Center.

The name rang a bell in the back of my mind when I read the story. My aunt and uncle and their children lived in Lakeland and I recalled them attending that parish. (This is the same aunt and uncle who introduced me to The Episcopal Church in the early 1960’s.) I checked with my cousins and indeed that had been their church and one of them had been confirmed there.

Lakeland is in the Diocese of Central Florida, another of the eight dioceses where the bishop has not allowed same sex marriage. The diocese has a long history of not being welcoming to LGBTQ+ folks that goes back a couple of decades, including a literal purge of LGBTQ+ folks from serving in leadership roles at its cathedral at one point.

Inhospitality does not bring people into our churches. Why we don’t seem to grasp that concept continues to baffle me. The state of Florida’s population continues to increase. Part of that increase is young people, many unchurched, often the result of them not finding churches to be welcoming places in general and more so for anyone who is queer. I can only imagine the growth we could achieve if there was a change of heart that overtook the dioceses of Florida and Central Florida that began to welcome the outcast… you know… the way Jesus did with the movement He began.

It isn’t my intention to “pick on” on Florida, but two of the five dioceses in that state have a history of being unwelcoming to LGBTQ+ folks. That is an observation more than a condemnation.

How much longer will we wring our hands over declining membership when part of the solution to reversing that trend stares us squarely in the face: welcome the outcast.

---

September 13, 2018

Dear Ms. Hagood,

I have read your letter and related materials and I am trying to determine if you have been misled or given incorrect information or exactly what might lead you to the position you have taken with The Episcopal Church.

By way of some background, I’ve been active for many years at the parish, diocesan, provincial and church-wide levels of The Episcopal Church.  I’ve served on vestries, on staff, chaired committees and commissions and served a term on the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church and attended ten General Conventions.  It is my service on Executive Council that causes me to question the basis for your position.

During my tenure on Executive Council, we were dealing with the situations created when several bishops decided that they had the right to take Episcopal Church property and congregations out of The Episcopal Church.  Among those were the bishops of San Joaquin, Ft. Worth, Pittsburg and Quincy.

There was a common theme among the things that those who remained part of The Episcopal Church told us:  They had been isolated by the bishop from the wider church. They had been provided inaccurate information by him.  A “silo effect” had been created where there was little communication between congregations and people.  One bishop even insisted on “silent retreats” with the clergy.  How can there be any communication in such situations?  Obviously there cannot be.  In other words, the bishop controlled as much as he could of information flowing into and within the diocese.

Contrary to what you state, these actions were not really about issues of human sexuality, the consecration of Gene Robinson as a bishop, prayer book and Bible interpretation or even the ordination of women.  All of those issues were either diversions, smoke screens, scape goats, or secondary issues. The primary issue at work in all of these situations, later including the one in your diocese, was very simple:  power and control.  These male bishops all had serious problems with the idea that someone other than straight, white men were in control of anything including the church.  If they were honest, most also had issues with those of other races….at least if there were other races in their dioceses.  They could not be as blatant about that.  It would be unacceptable.  Sadly, all of their other biases didn’t bother them about being blatant.

Has it not occurred to you that with the attitudes of these men, including Mark Lawrence, you would never have been Senior Warden, much less a vestry member of your parish?  It has not been all that long that women were not allowed to hold such positions.  It was only in the early 1970’s that women were allowed to be Deputies to General Conventions. 

At one point in the not too distant past, you would not even been allowed to serve communion because of your gender.  My late mother was the first woman in our parish to be licensed as what was then called a Chalice Bearer.  There was an uproar over that…mostly by men of course.  There were threats to boycott the rail and not take communion from a woman.  In the end, that did not happen.  My mother had become a respected leader in the parish and her character and commitment to the church overcame the petty biases behind the uproar.  She would later become Senior Warden.  At the time of her death she was truly the matriarch of the parish.

I have to wonder why you would support a stance that would denigrate you because of your gender.  That is the offshoot of all of this strutting and posturing by bishops and other male clergy.  They just cannot deal with the fact that they no longer “run the show” and that women (not to mention LGBTQ folks) are equal to them in their vocations.  If these folks are honest, they would also admit that they have a problem with you being in such a primary leadership role as Senior Warden.

I served on a commission of the church with the Rt. Rev. Edward Salmon, your former bishop. We had an excellent relationship.  I would even say we had become friends.  We discussed such issues as a bishop trying to take a diocese out of the church.  Sadly, he could have put an end to such talk in South Carolina but he did not.  Had he exercised what I truly believe he thought was right, things would have turned out differently.

It’s interesting that you support Mark Lawrence’s positions.  There was no concurrence with his election as bishop the first time.  He subsequently made promises that he would NOT try and take the Diocese of South Carolina out of The Episcopal Church. He then received concurrence on the second election. Obviously, he lied.  Can you in good conscience support someone who does not tell the truth and lies to the entire church?

You may wonder why I would bother to write to you.  I have a number of friends in South Carolina who have experienced great pain at the hands of those you support.  As a gay man, I am angry that you choose to dump all of the problem on my tribe when we were never the problem at all.  I also serve as the national President of Integrity USA: The Episcopal Rainbow.  There are members of Integrity and parishes that have publicly stated their support and affirmation of LGBTQ+ folks in South Carolina and all over the country.  I have an obligation to defend them against what are false accusations used to further ongoing biases and discrimination.

In all of the myriad of discussions about these issues, which boil down to who is “in” and who is “out” there is little discussion about a very important conversation that conveyed Jesus’ position.  When asked what the greatest commandment was, he responded thusly:  You shall love the Lord your God with all you heart and soul and mind and strength.  This is the first and great commandment.  The second is like it:  You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

There has never been as asterisk anywhere that listed exclusions of who we are to love as our neighbor.  That is because there are no such exclusions.    One need only turn to the story of the Good Samaritan to see how broadly Jesus intended love to be between and among us. There were no limits or exclusions.

I sincerely hope that you might reconsider what you told your congregation and perhaps even apologize to them.  Consider this:  There was at least one or two young people who were coming to terms with the fact that they were LGBTQ when you trashed them as a group.  Consider the damage you inflicted upon them.  Could you truly be proud of doing that?  Are you aware that the attempted suicide and suicides among LGBTQ+ young people are considerably higher than their straight counterparts and that much of it is attributable to oppression by religious organizations?  Do you support that oppression?  If you do not, then an apology is certainly in order.

Regardless of our differences, I do wish you the Peace of Christ.

---

Bruce Garner, President
Integrity USA: The Episcopal Rainbow

Looking Back - Moving Forward

I recently learned about a church that had connections to Integrity and the LGBTQ+ community.

The church is the old Grace Church on Canal Street in New Orleans.  Grace had weathered changing demographics and times over the years since its founding in the late 1800’s,  but was ultimately one of the victims of Hurricane Katrina. It was closed a number of years ago and the property returned to secular use, i.e. deconsecrated.  (As somewhat of an aside, when churches are no longer going to be used as churches, they are deconsecrated.  So if you ever danced at the Limelight Nightclub in New York City, you were not dancing in a church!  You were dancing in a building that had been a church during its lifetime.)

The link to a story about old Grace Church is: https://realestate.nola.com/realestate-news/2018/08/grace_church_sale_canal_street.html

While the real estate story is interesting the picture gallery that you will see if you click on the “14” in the center of the page is fascinating.  This was a parish very involved in social justice issues over its lifetime.  You will see pictures of and read about well known names such as Joe Doss, Leo Frade, and Gene Robinson, all bishops in our church.  As I recall, our Founder, Dr. Louie Crew Clay also visited this parish. The parish even bought a salvage boat from the military to help get refugees into this country! Their ministries were quite remarkable. Clergy got arrested for their work.  Read the story to find out who they were.

How many of the churches we attend maintain any form of archives?  Have any of us looked to see if our history as LGBTQ+ folks, our history as Integrity, are included?  If we are included, I would think it to be very interesting reading and quite an education for the younger queerfolk among us (and a reminder for the older).  If our story is not there, perhaps we can contribute stories, memorabilia and items from our personal collections, writings and recollections to fill in the blanks in some places and to create the awareness in others.

The Archives of The Episcopal Church contains a wealth of information about both the church and our story in it.  We almost got “wiped out” during my first tenure as your President in the early 1990’s.  The archivist at the time had, shall we say an “issue” with who we are, and was about to destroy the materials that had been sent for safekeeping.  Luckily we were able to have someone intervene and preserve our legacy.

If any of us have items about Integrity, especially from the early years I think the Archives might like to have them.  Our story needs to be maintained and told over and over again, no matter how fully included we find ourselves.  As generations come and go, the story must be shared for others to appreciate the struggles and to help prevent us from losing what we have gained.

As we move forward both as the church and as LGBTQ+ people of faith we must always keep glancing backwards as well.  What we have accomplished, the gains for inclusion we have made, have not been ours alone.  They have been the work of many people over the years who often suffered for their beliefs and the actions they took.

We do not stand on our own. We do stand on the shoulders of every person, every child of God, who has come before us in the quest for full inclusion and participation in The Episcopal Church.  If we ever forget that, we are doomed.  Someone has paid a price for where we are.  Let us always be grateful for the people and the places that have been our mainstay.

---

Bruce Garner, President
Integrity USA: The Episcopal Rainbow

Duped? Misled? Lied to?

I have been in the process of reading a book entitled "No One Is Illegal." It was written by Justin Akers Chacón and Mike Davis about twelve years ago.  It remains relevant and much more so than I expected.

The book simply tells part of the story of systemic racism in our nation. "Part" is also an understatement.  While the book focuses mostly on the issue in the western/southwestern part of our country, it also connects with the same issue throughout our nation, an issue that has been a national sin for more than a couple of hundred years.

What ignites my anger and sends my blood pressure up is the fact that essentially all of the data in the book was somehow omitted from American History classes in high school and college.  What was included was glossed over very well.  Since it began in the 1800’s, it isn’t like it had not taken place by the time I was in school!

The early sections deal with discrimination against Asians, especially in California, referred to as the "yellow peril."  It moves on from there.  I wonder how many of us are aware that the treaty that ended the Mexican American War, ceded over half of Mexico’s land to the United States which included three fourths of her natural resources?  The land included California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Colorado and parts of Wyoming and Oklahoma. It also ended any further claim Mexico might have on Texas.  That treaty was signed in 1848.

After the signing of the treaty, upwards of 125,000 Mexican people found themselves on the other side of a new border that made them foreigners in their ancestral homeland.  In 1848 that represented a very large number of people.  Their new nation continued to discriminate against them and mistreat them. State and Federal legislation at various time decreed that they were inferior as a race of people and deprived them of their rights. They were considered almost exclusively in the terms of their value as cheap labor.  Sound familiar?  Where would construction and the harvesting of crops be even now were it not for that distinction?  The role played by management to subjugate them was deplorable. Parts of the labor movement were complicit as well. The bottom line was keeping cheap labor as cheap as possible. Ironic for this Labor Day week, isn’t it?

All of this specter of racism fed into that already in existence with other people whose skin color was not white.  The systemic, deliberate and planned discrimination is frightening.  Even more frightening is the role state and federal laws played into the entire process. According to the "nativist" movement, there was a need to keep the nation’s make up in line with the founders of our country: white and Anglo.

This book is an eye opener for anyone who cannot conceive of racism as an ongoing systemic problem that goes way beyond individuals and their respective biases.  Unearned privilege also makes itself known.  We have been taught racism and discrimination, period.

Think about how us queer folks fit into this and similar scenarios.  We are just another category that so many deem to be less than the "ideal" of being white and straight.  The difference?  Our sexual orientation is not always known and certainly not always visible.  Skin color is generally obvious.  Those who would treat others less than worthy of their full dignity as children of God can’t always "see" us, particularly when we hide in plain sight.

I urge you to read this book as we continue to struggle through some very difficult days in our nation.  We need to know ALL of our history as a country, not just the "pretty and patriotic" parts. Who might we have devalued lately just because they don’t look quite enough like us?

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Bruce Garner, President
Integrity USA: The Episcopal Rainbow

The Bible Says...

"The Bible Says..."
Oh, Really?  What else does it say?

Growing up in and continuing to live in "Southern Baptist-Land" the phrase "the Bible says" is one I have endured my entire life.  The vast majority of the times I heard those words spoken, they were followed with some justification for denigrating, disenfranchising or just denouncing another child of God invariably because of race, gender, gender identity/expression or sexual orientation. (There were also more subtle denunciations due to class, economic standing and the like but it was not considered polite to note such.) Rarely did I hear anything loving and caring after I heard "the Bible says."

One of my heros, John Pavlovitz, has penned one of the best articles about the misuse of what the Bible says that I have ever read.  I urge you to go to Christian, Stop Blaming God for Your LGBTQ-Hatred and read it.

The Bible was used to justify racial segregation... still is, I suspect, if we are honest about it. The proponents of such a position often noted that the Bible did not forbid slavery, for example and was filled with stories about people who were enslaved.  Little if anything negative was associated with being enslaved.  There was little noted in modern usage of the cultural context of slavery in ancient days. The few times I ventured into the alleged Biblical justifications, I could only shake my head and note: “That’s not what that says!”

We finally came to our senses, at least in appearances, when we ended the practice of slavery in the United States.  Yet reality has shown that overt slavery was replaced with a more covert version of the entity in the form of Jim Crow Laws, voter suppression, disenfranchisement and discrimination whether de facto or de jure.  We have not yet redeemed our collective soul over how we continue to treat all racial minorities  in this country.  (If you want your eyes pried wide open, read the book “No One Is Illegal.”  Some salient points seemed to have been left out of the history books when I was taught American History a few decades ago.)

The Bible was also used to justify the subjugation, disenfranchisement and denigration of women.  Vestiges of that remain in some faith communities, namely those that do not allow women to teach males older than a certain age or participate in ordained ministry. I can’t find anything Jesus said or taught that would justify a woman being treated any less in the eyes of God (or humankind) than a man would be treated.  It is clear that Jesus did involve women in His ministry and that much of his financial support came from women.

The closest I could find to Biblical references about the place of women were in writings attributed to Paul.  Yet again, we might want to consider the cultural context of when those "references" were written.  Women were property... the property of men.  Ponder that for a moment.  Ponder the notion that a woman was property not much differently than a slave was property.  It is helpful to also note that these narratives were initially from men who most likely treated women as property.

It has been a very long time since I heard anything in a marriage ceremony about a father "giving" his daughter to her future husband.  I hope we have finally understood that a man's daughter (or son) is not his property to give to anyone, including a future spouse.

Now comes the most recent group to continue to be subjected by some to "what the Bible says" thinking.  It is, sadly, not unusual to hear “the Bible says” to justify discrimination, disenfranchisement, and degradation of LGBTQ+ folks, both in the church and in secular society.  (Ironic that secular society might embrace a bad idea in support of discrimination based on the writings of a particular religious faith.)

I would certainly hope by now that those reading this would know that the "clobber" passages from the Bible are meaningless from having been separated from the culture in which they were written and the full narrative in which they are found.  Knowing intellectually and embracing that within are two different concepts.  Many of us have been so abused by the incorrect use of Scripture that we still, deep, deep down inside still believe some of the garbage to which we have been subjected. I pray for the day when we all truly understand that the God who created us loves us exactly the way we were created.

Isn’t it time that we recaptured the concept of what the Bible says?  The next time someone tries to subject us to "the Bible says..." how about we smile and inquire:  Have you forgotten that Jesus reminded us that the first and great commandment was to love God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength?  Have you forgotten that Jesus then reminded us that the second commandment was like it, that we were to love our neighbor as we love ourselves?  He followed that with a statement that on these two commandments hung all the law and the prophets.  The Bible really says to us to love... not to hate.  So you were about to tell me what the Bible says?

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Bruce Garner, President
Integrity USA: The Episcopal Rainbow

The Virus of Privilege

The initial audience for this posting will be pretty close to “all white” in composition, obviously including me. We share what can be termed a virus. It’s called privilege, white privilege. The majority are probably male. We share a variant of that virus. It’s called white male privilege. Most of the initial readers are also queer. That diminishes the aspects of privilege to some degree, but only when someone knows our sexual orientation. Those among us who are female, whether cisgender or transgender, enjoy a degree of privilege ... if white, of course. More on that later.

As a nation and perhaps somewhat less as a church, we are suffering from the infection by this virus of privilege. The symptoms include the great divisions we are experiencing. Other symptoms include the use of language and terminology that demeans and denigrates those who do not happen to be white. Our immigration policies reflect this virus. We would not have nearly the hand wringing and angst (or nasty language) if those seeking refuge among us had lighter skin tones. We, of course, do not talk much about these issues, but it doesn’t take much to discern that from the words that get used.

Privilege makes us think we are entitled to more than we are based on our skin color and our gender. We have been conditioned (brainwashed?) into thinking that there is some inherent superiority in being white and male. It makes me wonder how much of that type of thinking went into the pictorial depictions of Jesus as having blond hair and blue eyes. Did some folks have a problem relating to a Savior who had the olive skin, brown eyes and black hair of an ethnic Jew from the Middle East? I suspect so. Why else would be create such fantasies?

Is our notion of white privilege what prompts so many to say with some bitterness “ALL lives matter” when brought face to face with the necessity of someone else simply stating that “Black Lives Matter?” Why would we jump to such an impulsive and poorly thought out response if we didn’t somehow believe in such privilege? When a Black woman comes to tears when considering bringing a child into this world, we should open our eyes and take notice. I do not think I have ever heard a white parent speak about having to warn a son about what to wear, how to drive, how to speak, how to carry themselves for fear of being arrested, shot at or even killed because they came across as some racist stereotype of people of color. Dirt poor white parents do not feel a need to have those conversations. Very wealthy Black parents know how necessary such conversations are to survival.

I am painfully aware of how the color of my skin has benefited me in my life. I know that God has indeed blessed my life. At the same time I am keenly aware that some of what I might mistakenly call a blessing are more evidence of the ingrained nature of white (male) privilege.

I am trying to learn how to respond in a Christ like manner when a straight white male tells me how I should or should not feel or react or handle something. The stark reality is that however well intentioned such “advice” might be, it comes from those who have absolutely no clue what being queer is all about AND who have absolutely no authority to tell a queer person anything at all about responding to prejudice, bias, homophobia or the like. At times the best response is to just walk away. Then I have to remind myself that walking away does nothing to correct the ignorance that warranted such “advice” in the first place.

Even though most of my comments have been about males, females are not immune to the virus of white privilege or straight white privilege. My suspicion is that the observations I have made about women is that they are more prone to think before creating a situation where they might find their foot in their mouth up to the knee. However, I’ve also had more than ample evidence to the contrary as well. I have been sorely disappointed when straight white women exhibit the same or similar infection with the virus of white privilege.

We are called to responsibilities in helping insure the creation of the beloved community. We are also called to try and bring some bridges to place across the divides among us. That is the Gospel message. The unfortunate, dare I say tragic, circumstances in our nation make this a more difficult task than it has been in many decades in our nation. Bubbling below the surface has always been the spectre of slavery, Jim Crow, the KKK and all sorts of incarnations of hatred and racism. We find ourselves facing a daunting task, a task for which we are equipped by our faith if we will only speak out. In my part of the country the standard response to these issues has often been: “We don’t talk about such things.” Well it is now time to talk about “such things.” How much further must our moral compass drift before we do engage in such discussions?

What has our privilege done for us today? Hopefully we used it to benefit someone else.

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Bruce Garner, President
Integrity USA: The Episcopal Rainbow

A Voice That Gave Hope - Now a Heavenly Voice

Amazing Grace; Chain, Chain, Chain; Natural Woman; R.E.S.P.E.C.T. - songs associated with one voice: That of Aretha Franklin, The Queen of Soul. Her death this week brought an end to several eras. Her voice uplifted the downtrodden during the civil rights era. Her voice helped us understand the dignity and worth of women. Her voice was part of my years of coming of age in the sixties and early seventies. Her voice was that of the very first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Her voice now enhances the heavenly chorus... and everyone is trying hard to just keep up!

Like so many, especially in the south, her voice came out of singing in a church choir. Her father recognized talent and cultivated it. News stories spoke of the insistent but apparently gentle power she wielded over other musicians and artists during recording sessions and concerts. Invariably, they admitted that whatever she suggested was better than what they had planned. Her musical talents were extraordinary.

Some didn’t actually “get” the significance of what was lost when she died. Some had long ago missed the messages in her songs about freedom, respect and dignity. Some couldn’t grasp her healing voice and the work it had played during the years to revive those who had been knocked down and who some hoped would not stand back up.

The last 22 or so months have been so difficult for so many of us. We struggle to find ways to express ourselves and interact with others who have not felt any negative impact on who they are, their source of income, how they express their gender/identity, the color of their skin or their nation of origin. People have apparently been given some "permission" to say things they would not have said two years ago.

The Attorney General of the United States remarks that the number of foreign born in this country is getting to be too high. It doesn’t take much thought and little imagination to interpret that to mean that there are too many people here with black or brown skin, i.e., not white... like him (and me). Add that to the string of statements made about ridding the military of trans folks, homosexuals, and those living with HIV. Even while a diversion is created in one area, underhanded actions against so many take place in relative secrecy.

Yet... so many still do nothing. It is only necessary for good people to do nothing for evil to triumph. We live in times of evil actions. Dare I say we live in evil times?

I wonder how much money do some folks feel they absolutely have to have? 40 million dollars? A billion dollars? Do I hear a trillion? Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell all he had and join Jesus’ ministry. The young man walked away. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t sell all he had.

How "white" do we need to remain as a nation to satisfy some folks concerns? Jesus was an ethnic Jew from the Middle East most likely with dark brown eyes and black hair. It just isn’t accurate to depict Jesus as a blue-eyed blond haired dude to meet the comfort level of some who still have issues with skin that isn’t white.

What level of abuse of women is considered "acceptable"? Are suggestive jokes to be tolerated? Is unequal pay for the same work simply the way it has to be? Must a woman be expected to just "deal" with gropes and leers in order to keep her job? The list is much longer of what some expect others to tolerate regardless of the consequences.

What limits do some want to place on the human and civil rights of queer folk? Where can we live? Where can we serve our nation? To what professions are we restricted? What are grounds for putting us in detention camps?

Where are those who truly follow Jesus Christ? Sure, we can hold rallies and marches that attract hundreds of thousands all across the country. Where are the others, the other millions who either do not care or do not have the guts to speak out.

I’ve grown weary of others telling me that I have to suck it up if they want to allow their religious beliefs and practices to discriminate against me due to my sexual orientation. It’s not religion. It’s bigotry and prejudice.

We still have a voice my kindred in Christ. We STILL have a voice. Elections are going on right now, leading up to November. So tell me, when did you last challenge the bigoted stance of a candidate running in your area? When did you stand up at a town hall meeting and ask a direct and pointed question? When did you last pick up the telephone, type a text or email or write a plain ordinary letter expressing your views?

If we do nothing we deserve what happens to us. We follow one who sought justice for all. It cost him his life. Is the cost of a call, a text, an email or a postage stamp too great for our freedom? Time will tell. Time will indeed tell.

The Queen sang “Amazing Grace.” What will our song be? One of triumph or a pitiful whine?

Please continue to offer prayers for healing and recovery for our Presiding Bishop as he rests and recuperates from prostate cancer surgery.

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Bruce Garner, President
Integrity USA: The Episcopal Rainbow

Language Matters

Words Have Power

I am beginning to hear discussions about the use of  "expansive language" authorized by our General Convention. Some conversations are "heated" and others more calm.  Some want to retain traditional language, others want to seek words that reflect a different understanding of how we relate to each other and to God.

Those who use Morning Prayer as the source of  their daily prayers know The Jubilate or the 100th Psalm very well. A couple of days ago I felt moved to experiment with language of The Jubilate just to see how a few changes might sound. So in every place where the word “Lord” appeared, I replaced that with God. Every time God was referred to as “he” or “him” or “his” I replaced that with “God” as well.

Then I prayed the psalm. I was not prepared for something I immediately felt:  The intense power those changes created: God was God! The divine power of God came through the psalm in an unexpected way. I realized why. This simple change had removed all characteristics attributed to God that were human in nature. God’s divine nature was not encumbered by the limitations of human language. God was free to be God however I perceived God.

Here is the psalm using more expansive language:

Jubilate (Psalm 100)

Be joyful in God, all you lands; *
serve God with gladness and come before God’s presence with a song.
Know this: God is God; * God has made us, and we are God’s;
we are God’s people and the sheep of God’s pasture.
Enter God’s gates with thanksgiving; go into God’s courts with praise; *
give thanks to God and call upon God’s Name.
For God is good; God’s mercy is everlasting; *
and God’s faithfulness endures from age to age.
Glory to the Holy and undivided Trinity, One God, as it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen

(I looked in the Enriching Our Worship (EOW) series of services to see if this was something I might have seen there. It was not, in so far as I could determine.)

Then I wondered what impact such simple changes might have on others. How often do any of us consider the impact of God always being portrayed as male (and often as a white male) on our kindred? Is the language of a “male God” a source of comfort to a woman who was abused by her father or husband or brother or some other male in her life? I’m not sure how it could be a comforting image in such situations. Similarly, how well could a man who had been beaten, belittled and abused by his father find comfort in God always being referred to as "he?" If there has never been a positive male role model in your life, how can you see God in a positive light if God is always a male?

We are products of the words and language we use. We are shaped by the images conveyed by those words, even if we do not always realize that. Do our words bring comfort or pain? I really don’t think most of us pay much attention to the power of language. When there is a proposal to change language, especially language in our Book of Common Prayer, we often see much resistance. Are we worshiping God or are we worshiping words?

Even Jesus used the symbolism of a mother hen gathering her brood under her wings. Jesus did not use "rooster". He used "hen". He used a feminine image. Surely if Jesus could look beyond the limitations of language, we can do the same. We might even be able to move beyond what we have inherited from our ancestors whose reference points were invariably male for more reasons than can be covered here.

Our language and imagery cannot contain God, no matter how hard we try. Let God be God, however each of us perceives God.

Holy Spirit, expand our hearts, expand our minds, expand our words. Let us see God simply as God. May we experience the divine power that comes when we cast off that with which we have tried to bind God.

Please continue to offer prayers for  healing and recovery for our Presiding Bishop as he rests and recuperates from prostate cancer surgery.

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Bruce Garner, President
Integrity USA: The Episcopal Rainbow

Expansive Language, Expansive Love

I urge you to access the activities of General Convention by going to www.generalconvention.org. Click on “virtual binder” you can view the resolutions on which actions were taken. I think it will be worth your while to explore the resolutions that were passed and see how they might impact your life and that of our church.

An area that is likely to pique interest is that of “expansive language.” Resolution D078 provides for the trial usage in Eucharistic Prayers A, B and D of language that is more expansive in our relationship and references to God and each other. It pulls in some of the language used in the Enriching Our Worship (EOW) series of services. It includes other changes that many congregations have essentially automatically been making in an effort to refer to God in more expansive language.

How many of us have begun prayers with “God be with you” rather than “The Lord be with you?” This resolution authorizes that language. In the opening acclamation for the Eucharist you will now be able to hear: “Blessed be God: most holy, glorious, and undivided Trinity.” To which the people may respond: “And blessed be God’s reign, now and for ever. Amen.”

One of the provisions of this trial usage is that it is authorized for use until the next revision of The Book of Common Prayer. This means we can use it beginning the First Sunday of Advent, 2018 and continue from there. 

Resolution B012 is the one that should allow same sex couples to be married in their own parishes whether the bishop of the diocese approves or not. How that will really play out is still to be resolved.

Resolution D067 calls upon us to use “bias free” language in referring to God and humankind. Most might immediately think that is more gender neutral language but it goes beyond that. The language of some Scripture is almost accusatory in tone. John’s version of the Gospel is sometimes anti-semitic in places. This resolution allows for the use of language that doesn’t automatically convey cultural biases. Hopefully that will allow us to see Scripture with more clarity.

Resolution C054 calls upon the church to be more inclusive of transgender persons and seeks avenues to achieve that.

Resolution D088 calls for the creation of policies for amending church records particularly for transgender people. This should make it easier once someone makes their transition to have some very important records reflect their expressed gender identity. 

I find it ironic that we have to pass resolutions to provide for more “expansive” language. God’s love is beyond expansive and always has been. It is our limited view of both love and God that needs expanding in both language and concept. God is beyond our humanly concocted notions of who God is or how God acts or in truth, anything about God. The Divine is always going to be beyond the ability of our limited minds to conceive.

May we learn to be more expansive about how we relate to each other as children of the Living God. Boundaries are of our creation, not God’s. Love knows no boundaries, despite our attempts otherwise.

Holy Spirit, sustainer of who we are as God’s children, expand our minds to engage with our fears and ignorance to see each other as God sees us. Holy Spirit, expand our hearts to match the boundless heart of God in pure and holy and unconditional love for each other and for the God to whom we turn in faith and trust for all that we are.

Please continue to offer prayers for healing and recovery for our Presiding Bishop as he rests and recuperates from prostate cancer surgery.

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Bruce Garner, President
Integrity USA: The Episcopal Rainbow