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

+Gene at Greenbelt

Reports of Gene Robinson at the Greenbelt Festival:

Solo Bass Steve liveblogged his sermon:

Gene is Bishop of New Hampshire, and I’ve really enjoyed all the writing of his that I’ve read. I’m really pleased he’s here at the festival.

Intro by Martin Wroe: there’ll be loads of time for questions at the end. “Rumour has it that bits of the church are upset that a Bishop can be called Gene – some people don’t think Bishops should have girl’s names” (laughter, followed by massive applause for Gene.)

Gene starts by praying – standard form for a Bishop

“I’d rather you thought of this as a conversation, what I’m going to say is my own experience. Your’s will be different, and your own. All we have is our own story. We get in trouble when we tell people what their story should be.”

Gene’s Story – how to stay calm in the eye of the storm. The storm in question is when Gene was put forward for ordination, and a load of lies were written about him being involved in porn etc.

....
“my spiritual director told me I talk to much in my prayers. Also made me aware of the possibility of impersonating God’s voice, to get the answers I want. I was encouraged to do nothing, but just imagine being a child of God, being loved, and feeling that love as warmth. Just allow yourself to be loved, let God do what God does best”.

God want to love. all of us. And wants us to love the rest of us. We live our lives with a line drawn around us, separating us from them. What God wants for us is to draw the line ever-further away, until there is no ‘them’ only us. The christian life calls us to treat our enemies like that. to never allow ourselves to treat them as a child of God, no matter how much I disagree with them.

“Our job is to be continually be reaching out to those who’ve been marginalised, disrespected, abused, disregarded, vilified. God is not there to make it easy, but will be with you. There’s no greater reward than that” (massive applause).

-oOo-

[Steve's note] – Gene talks the language of a bishop, but he brings a message that has its roots as much in the experience and history of Ghandi, MLK, Wilberforce etc… The call within the God-stuff for respect to be extended to those we hate, for dialogue to continue, for acceptance, respect, grace, is SO vital, so important, for all of us, believers, or not, sceptics, doubters, atheists… He’s a pretty radical voice, but one with a soft tone, and an amazing gentle soul. It’s been a privilege to listen to him.

More here and here with photos of the line waiting to hear Gene.

We Could Have Danced All Night, Marching in the Light

It was an evening not to be missed, and very few people here in Anaheim missed it. No-one can throw a party like gay men and no one can plan a Eucharist like a bunch of LGBT Episcopalians. There was standing room only as over 1200 people packed into the Pacific Ballroom to celebrate the all-inclusive love of God. The choir of All Saints, Pasadena provided inspiring music from a variety of musical cultures including a South African chant led by a cantor/drummer.

Rt. Rev. Barbara Harris (the first woman bishop in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion) preached a stirring sermon in which she excoriated those, both conservative and progressive, who think that somehow they are more acceptable to God than others. God has no favorites and we could all use a ‘do-over’ in our lives, she said. The true division is between the sacred and the profane: the sacred is that which is centered on God and the profane is that which is not.

Turning to B033, Bishop Harris says it needs to be superseded by something positive that recognizes the dignity of all human beings. If the Church honestly believes that LGBT people should not be bishops, she said, then don’t ordain them deacons. ‘Better still be honest… don’t bestow on them the blessing of baptism…. How can you initiate someone and then treat them like some half-assed baptized?’

After touching on civil marriage and the need to counter hate crimes, Bishop Harris concluded by reminding us once again that God has no favorites – whoever fears God and does what is right is acceptable.

During the Prayers of the People three groups were invited to come to the center of the circular worship space to receive a blessing; lay leaders of the LGBT community, members of LGBT families and couples, married and covenanted and finally all those clergy who are currently barred from becoming bishops because of their sexual orientation.

Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson (the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion) was at his best as he led us in a deep expression of worship in an inclusive liturgy which emphasized baptism and included a gospel procession with asperges which weaved around the ballroom accompanied by banners and torches.

Both Bishop Robinson and Susan Russell welcomed Bishop Browning who when elected Presiding Bishop in 1985 in Anaheim promised ‘there will be no outcasts in this church’.

Watch the sermon livestreamed at the General Convention Media Hub at http://gchub.episcopalchurch.org/

The faith of a gay bishop

The Boston Globe's Michael Paulson reports on The Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson's lecture at Trinity Church in Boston.

New Hampshire Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson, famous (or infamous, depending on your perspective) as the first openly gay bishop, visited Boston on Sunday to preach and lecture at Trinity Church in Copley Square. The afternoon lecture was provocatively titled "The faith of a gay bishop,'' and Robinson said a last-minute look at the title caused him to throw away his prepared text and speak relatively extemporaneously about his Christian faith.

Paulson talks about what stood out and caught his attention: praying with gay christians in Hong Kong, +Gene's conversation with the Archbishop of Canterbury, the importance of following Jesus not just admiring Him, on finding gay stories in the Bible, and on persevering.

The audio of Robinson's remarks is here.

(Photo, by Mark Wilson of the Globe staff, shows Bishop V. Gene Robinson at Trinity Church in Boston on 3/22/09.)

Gene interviewed by Washington Post

Bishop Gene Robinson interviewed in video by Washington Post:

NYT: +Gene's civil union!

Bishop Gene Robinson, the openly gay Episcopal prelate whose consecration led conservatives to split from the church, said in an interview on Thursday that he and his partner of 20 years were planning a civil union ceremony to be held in his home church in the diocese of New Hampshire in June.

The New York Times, 4/25/2008:
Gay Bishop Plans His Civil Union Rite
http://qurl.com/n47sh

Gene says no thanks to being an exhibit at Lambeth

The Rt Rev. Gene Robinson, although an elected diocesan bishop in the Episcopal Church has not been invited to attend the Lambeth Conference of bishops of the Anglican Communion. Lambeth Palace offered him a place in the Marketplace - the exhibit hall for the conference. Here is his letter in response:

I first want to thank Ed and Bruce and Tom. (ed.note - the bishops who tried to negotiate with Lambeth for Gene and the House of Bishops) They have been so true to what they were asked to do by the Presiding Bishop. They have been in close communication with me. I have felt very supported by them. They have represented me extremely well.

I want to be clear than I am not here to whine. I learned of the result of this negotiation on Friday evening. I have been in considerable pain ever since.

But I want to acknowledge that I am not the first or last person to be in pain at a House of Bishops meeting.

My own pain was sufficient enough that for 36 hours I felt the compelling urge to run, to flee. My inspiration for staying came from my conservative brothers in this house. I have seen John Howe and Ed Salmon and others show up for years when there was a lot of pain for them. I see Bill Love and Mark Lawrence, and I know it is a very difficult thing for them to be here right now. For me, the worst sin is leaving the table. And that is what I was on the verge of doing. But, largely because of you, I stayed. Thank you for that.

I want to tell you why I declined the invitation as it was proposed. I really had high hopes that something might work out. I have been talking with the Anglican Communion Office for almost a year now. I got my first phone call four days before the invitations to Lambeth went out. I thought something would work out.

The offer to be hosted at the Marketplace is a non-offer. That is already available to me. One workshop on one afternoon and being interviewed by the secular press was not anything I was seeking. I wasn't going to Lambeth to have another interview with the secular press. If interviewed at all, I want to talk with a theologian. I want to talk about the love of Christ. I want to talk about the God who saved me and redeemed me and continues to live in my life. I want to talk about the Jesus I know in my life.

But my mind boggles at the misperception that this is just about gay rights. It might be in another context, but in this context it is about God's love of all of God's children. It's a theological discussion, it's not a media show. I have been most disappointed in that my desire was to participate in Bible study and small groups, and that is not being offered. It makes me wonder: if we can't sit around a table and study the Bible together, what kind of communion do we have and what are we trying to save?

I am dismayed and sickhearted that we can't sit around a table, as brothers and sisters in Christ, and study scripture together.

It has been a very difficult 48 hours sitting here and hearing your plans for Lambeth.

In my most difficult moments, it feels as if, instead of leaving the 99 sheep in search of the one, my chief pastor and shepherd, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has cut me out of the herd.

I ask two things of you. Some of you have indicated that if I am not invited, you won't go either. I want to say loud and clear - you must go. You must find your voice. And somehow you have to find my voice and the voices of all the gay and lesbian people in your diocese who, for now, don't have a voice in this setting. I'd much rather be talked to than talked about. But you must go and tell the stories of your people, faithful members of your flock who happen to be lesbian and gay.

For God's sake, don't stay away.

And second, please don't let them separate me from you. Please don't let that happen. It will be difficult, and we will have to be intentional. I know that the last thing you will need at the end of the day is another meeting just so I can catch up with you. But I hope you will be willing to stay in touch with me.

From the day I have walked into this House I have been treated with respect and welcome, even, and perhaps especially, by those of you who voted no on my consent.

I can never thank you enough for that. I will always and every moment treasure your welcome and your hospitality.

Don't let them cut me off from you.

All this is really sad for me and for my diocese. I won't have the experiences you will have, to share with them. But I will be there in the marketplace, willing to talk with anyone who wants to talk, especially with those who disagree with me. If you know me at all, you know that that's true.

Now, my focus has to change. Maybe this is what God has in mind. I had hoped to focus on the community of bishops at Lambeth, making my own contribution to its deliberations. But now, I think I will go to Lambeth thinking about gay and lesbian people around the world who will be watching what happens there. I will go to Lambeth remembering the 100 or so twenty-something's I met in Hong Kong this fall, who meet every Sunday afternoon to worship and sing God's praise in a secret catacomb of safety - because they can't be gay AND Christian in their own churches. I will be taking them to Lambeth with me. They told me that the Episcopal Church was their hope for a different, welcoming church. They told me they were counting on us. Yes, the things we do in the Episcopal Church have ramifications far, far away - and sometimes those ramifications are good.

I hope we can talk about the ways we can stay in touch in Lambeth. I will be praying for you, all the time. I know it will seem very strange, being separated from you. But we can do it if we want to. I have nothing but respect and sympathy for the Archbishop of Canterbury and the difficult place he is in. I was trying to help him, and it just didn't work.

Pray for me. I will need that. A lot.

Read the negotiations and news here.

Robinson redux

By Bruce C. Steele
From The Advocate
July 17, 2007

"I thought three months after my election and consecration I would be old news," says the Reverend V. Gene Robinson, the Episcopal Church’s New Hampshire bishop—and the first openly gay person to hold such a post in the worldwide Anglican Communion.

But four years after his election, Robinson—and the issue of homosexuality in the Anglican world—is more in the news than ever. The new convocation headed by Peter Akinola is just one development. By September 30, Episcopal leaders have been asked by their colleagues around the world to repudiate the blessing of same-sex unions and to promise not to ordain more openly gay bishops.

Click here to read the interview.

UGANDA: Archbishop Orombi questions Lambeth Conference participation

By Matthew Davies, May 30, 2007

[Episcopal News Service] Anglican Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi issued a statement May 30 indicating that the House of Bishops of the Church of Uganda will not attend the 2008 Lambeth Conference of Bishops, according to reports.

Orombi's statement comes in response to the recent announcement that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, had invited all but a "small number of bishops" to the 2008 Lambeth Conference, due to be held July 16-August 4, 2008 at the University of Kent in Canterbury, England.

Among those Williams did not invite were Bishops V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire; Nolbert Kunonga of Harare, Zimbabwe; and Martyn Minns of the Church of Nigeria-founded Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA).

In his statement, Orombi said that "all the American Bishops who consented to, participated in, and have continued to support the consecration as bishop of a man living in a homosexual relationship have been invited to the Lambeth Conference."

He recalled a December 9, 2006 meeting of Uganda's House of Bishops, which resolved "unanimously to support the CAPA Road to Lambeth statement," commissioned in 2006 by the Primates of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA), which states, in part, "We will definitely not attend any Lambeth Conference to which the violators of the Lambeth Resolution are also invited as participants or observers.'"

"These are Bishops who have violated the Lambeth Resolution 1.10, which rejects 'homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture' and 'cannot advise the legitimising or blessing of same sex unions nor ordaining those involved in same gender unions,'" Orombi's statement continued. "Accordingly, the House of Bishops of the Church of Uganda stands by its resolve to uphold the Road to Lambeth."

Orombi is the second Anglican Primate who has indicated in recent days that their province's bishops may not attend the Lambeth Conference.

Click here to read the rest.

Church Times Poll--Vote Now!

Should Dr Williams invite all canonically consecrated bishops — including Bishop Robinson — to the Lambeth Conference? Vote here.

Susan Russell On Air America's State Of Belief

This Week’s Show: Weekend of May 26-27

The strife within the U.S. Episcopal Church only got worse this week after a divisive decision by the Archbishop of Canterbury. We’ll hear from one coalition of Episcopalians who are worried about the precedent being set.

The Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy talks to the Rev. Susan Russell, President of Integrity, about Bishop Gene Robinson's exclusion from Lambeth. Click here for MP3 streaming audio. Susan's portion is just after the introduction.

Lambeth

Saturday May 26, 2007

By Tom Ehrich On a Journey

When the Archbishop of Canterbury pointedly excludes the gay Bishop of New Hampshire from the 2008 Lambeth Conference of all active Anglican bishops, he is saying two things, both of them unfortunate.

He is saying, first, that the long-standing Anglican tradition of finding the middle ground and humble submission to reality is being sacrificed to the surging ambitions of Global South prelates. The so-called doctrine of "adiaphora"--that some things matter more than others--is gone.

Second, Rowan Williams is saying that the escalating and not insignificant conflict between Third World and First World Christians, or between Global South and Global North, or between white-skinned former imperialists and their dark-skinned former subjects, is really all about sex and the need of African Christians to combat Islam, not on the basis of ideas, values or beliefs, but by matching extreme Islam's medieval attitudes toward sexuality.

Click here to read the rest. You must be an On a Journey subscriber to access the article. However, you can sign up for a free, 14-day trial.

Anglican Leader To Be Pressed On Gay Bishop

by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: May 24, 2007 - 7:00 pm ET

Marc Andrus, the bishop of California has been vocal in his support for Bishop Robinson and his opposition to Peter Akinola, Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Nigeria and the leader of a conservative faction opposing gays. Akinola also has been a leader in promoting legislation in Nigeria limiting the civil rights of gays.

"I will be seeking to learn how I can best be in solidarity with Bishop Robinson, through prayerful action," said Bishop Andrus this week.

"The tactic of isolation and exile being employed against Bishop Robinson is retrogressive behavior that moves us towards a past from which Christ is always seeking to redeem us. I ask the people of the Diocese of California to pray with me about our common life with all of God's people and the earth."

Next month Andrus will welcome openly gay Nigerian human rights activist Davis Mac-Illya to San Francisco, and they will march together with the church's contingent in the Lesbian and Gay Pride Parade.

"This is a defining moment for The Episcopal Church," says the Rev. John Kirkley, president of the California dioceses' gay and lesbian ministry.

"Our bishops must refuse to capitulate to those for whom the exclusion of gay and lesbian people is the criteria for membership in the Anglican Communion. My hope is that they will find a creative way to respond to Archbishop Williams that actually honors our Church's commitment to listen to the voices of lesbian and gay people around the world."

Click here to read the entire article.

Soulforce Launches Petition To ABC

According to the May 23, 2007, New York Times, Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, has decided to exclude Gene Robinson, the openly gay Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire, from the Lambeth Conference, an important 2008 gathering of Anglican Bishops in London.

The archbishop of Canterbury is normally supportive of LGBT people, but appears willing to withhold Bishop Robinson's invitation in order to avoid schism within the communion.

The Lambeth Conference only happens once every ten years. In 1998, the bishops passed a resolution "rejecting homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture" and opposed the blessing of same-sex unions.

One Soulforce member had this to say in the forums:

"If the Archbishop will not reflect together with gay people on the faith they share with him, what hope is there of reaching any positive resolution? If he will not see us, how will he ever understand our heart and our humanity? If the Archbishop will not gather to pray with gay people, what hope do we have of finding welcome in that Church?

We have already met with Anglicans and given them our love, our talents, and our treasure. We are their organists, their singers, their readers, their faithful parishioners, and, yes, their rectors and their Bishops. We serve alongside everyone else, and in doing so we are doubly faithful; for knowing we are only half welcome, still we return. We kneel at the same altar, speak the same creed, make the same confession, pray to the same Father, and partake of the same bread and wine."

Help Soulforce take a stand for Gene Robinson by signing the following petition. A hard copy of the signed petition will be mailed to the archbishop's office:

Petition Text:

"I ____________ cannot accept that the way for faith leaders to deal with the tension resulting from an oppressed group of people's struggle for justice is to exclude both the oppressed and the oppressor from historic church gatherings--especially meetings of prayer and reflection.

I call upon the archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, to do the right thing and invite V. Gene Robinson, Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire, to the 2008 meeting in London."

Click here to sign the petition.

A reminder that Integrity has already launched its own letter-writing campaign. Click here for more info.

Anger as gay bishop snubbed for Anglican summit

Thursday, 24th May 2007. 3:01pm
By: Ed Beavan
Religious Intelligence

CAMPAIGN groups have criticised the Archbishop of Canterbury’s decision not to invite an openly homosexual Bishop to the Lambeth Conference next year as 'intolerable' sending a 'damaging signal to faithful and honest lesbian and gay Christians worldwide'.

Responding to Dr Rowan Williams' exclusion of the Bishop of New Hampshire Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Bishop in the Anglican Communion, the Affirming Catholicism Group said this undermines the integrity of the whole conference.

Meanwhile Changing Attitude England, a group which campaigns for the rights of gay and lesbian Christians, described the move as a 'cruel exclusion'.

snip

The Rev Canon Nerissa Jones, Chair of Trustees for Affirming Catholicism, said the Lambeth Conference should reflect the diversity and range of theological opinions contained in the Anglican Communion, and called for Bishop Robinson to be included.

She said: "Although Bishop Robinson is only one bishop, his being excluded because of his openness about his sexuality sends a damaging signal to faithful and honest lesbian and gay Christians world-wide, and undermines the integrity of the conference."

Meanwhile the Rev Colin Coward, Director of Changing Attitude England, said he regretted the decision as Bishop Robinson 'represents tens of thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered Anglicans. We have longed to see ourselves visibly represented at the next Lambeth Conference by a bishop who is an openly gay, faithfully partnered man'.

Click here to read the entire article.

Individual bishops respond to Lambeth Conference invitations announcement

By Mary Frances Schjonberg, May 24, 2007

[Episcopal News Service] Some Episcopal Church bishops have responded to the May 22 announcement that a small number of bishops have not been invited to the 2008 Lambeth Conference.

snip

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori issued a brief statement that same day calling for "a calm approach" to the announcement and noting that aspects of the matter could change in the 14 months leading up to the July 16-August 4, 2008 gathering at the University of Kent in Canterbury, England. She said that "the House of Bishops' September meeting offers us a forum for further discussion." Williams and members of the Joint Standing Committee of the Primates and the Anglican Consultative Council will attend that meeting.

snip

Ohio Bishop Mark Hollingsworth wrote in a letter to the diocese on May 22 that Minns and the Bishop of Bolivia were in the Diocese of Ohio the previous week to participate in an ordination in Akron. Neither bishop had "sought or received my permission to perform episcopal acts within the ecclesiastical jurisdiction for which I am responsible," Hollingsworth added.

Robinson's presence at the Lambeth Conference "might be awkward or difficult for some of the other participants, but that is hardly uncommon in Christian community," he said. "There are plenty of bishops whose presence in the councils of the Church I find difficult, and doubtless plenty who find mine the same. However, Bishop Robinson, throughout his ministry, has been unfailingly honest and open, consistently establishing and maintaining trust within the diocese he has faithfully served and throughout the Church. Time and time again he has been an instrument of reconciliation and resolution."

Hollingsworth wrote that he concurred with both Jefferts Schori's "sense of patience and her hope for productive conversations with the Archbishop of Canterbury in New Orleans this autumn."

Hollingsworth, who became a bishop the same year as Robinson, is meeting with him and the other members of that class this week in a previously scheduled gathering.

"Of course we will consider this recent news thoughtfully and prayerfully...seeking not to be reactive, but faithfully responsive," he wrote.

The complete text of Hollingsworth's letter is available here.

Washington Bishop John Chane wrote in a May 23 letter to his diocese that he was "saddened" by the news that Robinson would not be invited to the Lambeth Conference in his status as
Bishop of New Hampshire.

Chane wrote that Williams' failure to invite Robinson "will be a high priority in our time together" when the House of Bishops meets with Williams in New Orleans in September.

Chane wrote that the "real issue" facing the Communion is leadership.

"Until we are able to separate ourselves from our fixation on human sexuality as the root of our divisions and address the dynamics of power and leadership in the Communion, we are doomed to fail in Christ's call to engage the world in the act of inclusive love and a mission-driven theology that claims justice, the rule of law and the respect for human rights as the core of our work as a Communion," Chane wrote.

The complete text of Chane's letter is available here.

Click here to read the entire article.

Write to the Archbishop of Canterbury!

On May 22, the Archbishop of Canterbury announced (through a spokesperson) that the Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson, the openly gay Bishop of New Hampshire, would not be invited to attend the Lambeth Conference in the summer of 2008. Integrity responded with a strongly worded press release.

The Lambeth Conference is still over a year away. It may yet be possible to persuade Rowan Williams to change his mind about inviting Bishop Robinson to Lambeth. Integrity encourages all of its members and friends to write the Archbishop of Canterbury about this issue...

Letters By Post

• First-class postage to England is currently $.90 for a 1-ounce letter.
• More expensive (but faster) postal options are available at your local post office.

Letters By Fax

• The fax number for Lambeth Palace is 011-44-20-7261-9836.

Sample Letter

[INSERT YOUR MAILING ADDRESS]
[INSERT YOUR CITY, STATE, AND ZIP CODE]
UNITED STATES

[INSERT DATE]

The Most Rev'd Rowan Williams
Archbishop of Canterbury
Lambeth Palace
London SE1 7JU
ENGLAND

Your Grace:

I am writing to express my profound disappointment at your decision to withhold an invitation to participate in the 2008 Lambeth Conference from the Rt. Rev'd Gene Robinson. Bishop Robinson is a duly elected and consecrated bishop of The Episcopal Church. As the only openly gay bishop in the Anglican Communion, it is imperative that Bishop Robinson be present at the Lambeth Conference so that real listening and learning can occur.

[INSERT YOUR ADDITIONAL ARGUMENTS HERE. BE POLITE!]

I strongly urge you to reconsider your decision and invite Bishop Robinson to the Lambeth Conference as a full participant.

Sincerely yours,

[INSERT YOUR NAME]

Communion by Invitation Only

May 23, 2007 6:12 AM

The announcement this week that New Hampshire Bishop Gene Robinson will not be receiving an invitation to the 2008 Lambeth Conference of Anglican Bishops was a sad day for the Anglican Communion and a new low for the beleaguered Archbishop of Canterbury.

It is sad that the once proud-of-its-diversity Anglican Communion has allowed itself to be blackmailed into bigotry by those unwilling to accept into their midst a duly elected brother bishop solely because of his sexual orientation. And it is clear that Rowan Williams' failure to exercise differentiated leadership has enabled the Communion he leads to continue to spin out of control.

The Archbishop had an explanation for his decision not to include Bishop Robinson: "I have to reserve the right to withhold or withdraw invitations from bishops whose appointment, actions or manner of life have caused exceptionally serious division or scandal within the Communion."

What he doesn’t have is an explanation for the stunning hypocrisy of excluding the Bishop of New Hampshire because he is gay while including the Archbishop of Nigeria who supports legislation criminalizing gay and lesbian people so draconian that it has been condemned by the international Human Rights Watch.

What he doesn’t have is a response to those who increasingly use the word "irrelevant" to describe a church more interested in how many bishops will attend the elite gathering at Lambeth Palace in 2008 than it is in how we can help end the AIDS pandemic by 2008. Or stop the spread of malaria. Or find a way to end the genocide in Darfur.

"Inasmuch as you have done it unto the least of these," is the only criterion Jesus gave for being on his invitation list. Both the Communion and the Gospel would be better served if the Archbishop of Canterbury would go and do likewise.

Rev. Susan Russell, an Episcopal priest, is president of Integrity USA

On Faith is an interactive conversation on religion moderated by Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham and Sally Quinn of The Washington Post. It is produced jointly by Newsweek and washingtonpost.com,

Click here to view or comment upon the orginal article.

Gay bishop is left off Canterbury guest list

From The Times
May 23, 2007
Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent

The openly gay Bishop of New Hampshire, whose consecration in 2003 has taken the Anglican Church to the brink of schism, is to be excluded from the Lambeth Conference next year.

snip

The gay community in the Church of England said that the decision demonstrated "institutional homophobia".

snip

The Rev Martin Reynolds, of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, said: "This is flagrant victimisation." Bishop Robinson said that Dr Williams’s decision was a "great disappointment" and "an affront to the entire Episcopal Church".

Click here to read the entire article.

Gay Episcopal bishop not invited to world Anglican meeting

By Rachel Zoll
ASSOCIATED PRESS
1:57 p.m. May 22, 2007

NEW YORK – The first openly gay Episcopal bishop will not be invited to a once-a-decade meeting of world Anglican leaders next year, as the fellowship tries to avert a schism over homosexuality. A breakaway conservative U.S. bishop also was snubbed.

snip

"This decision places the vast majority of American bishops along with others throughout the world in an embarrassing position," said the Rev. Martin Reynolds of Britain's Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement. "If they accept their Lambeth invitations this might appear to support bishop Robinson's victimization, while if they reject the invitation they will abandon our communion to the homophobes."

Click here to read the entire article.