On the Outside Looking In

Alleluia, Christ is Risen!

The Lord is Risen indeed, Alleluia! (Yet some remain outside looking in.)

Last weekend I attended a gathering of The Consultation, a group of organizations in The Episcopal Church whose ministries are focused on social justice issues and aspects related to that topic. We were gathered to discuss the upcoming General Convention of our church in July, in Austin, Texas. The website for The Consultation is: http://www.theconsultation.org/home.html

Like Integrity, most of the work of these organizations at the church-wide level has been accomplished. The canonical changes are in place, the policies exist, and the General Convention has been clear that ALL are to be included in the life and work and ministries of our church, both lay folks and ordained folks. Yet all of us also recognize that at the local level, the grassroots of our church, reality and the position of The Episcopal Church are still at odds with each other in a number of dioceses and for many of our kindred. Far too many of our kindred still stand on the outside looking in.

Eight of our diocesan bishops still refuse to allow same-sex marriages to take place in their dioceses. The reality in those dioceses is that same-sex couples are not getting the level of pastoral care they should be getting. And, no, sending them to a neighboring diocese to be married is NOT pastoral care. It’s nothing more than seating them in the back of the bus, only the bus is not even in the same physical location as where they worship and serve in our church!

I’ve been told that (at least) one bishop of our church is rather proud of the fact that he has not changed his thinking on a particular subject for eighteen (18) years. I could not be proud of myself if I had said that. What it means to me is that for 18 years I would not have left room in my heart for the voice of God, for the work of the Holy Spirit in my life. That would say about me that I am not open to anything new and different in either my relationship with God or my relationship with any of God’s children. It would say that my faith is static, my faith is lifeless, my faith is dead, or at least frozen in time.

The redemptive work of helping others be fully a part of our church is not done. The restorative work of making “The Episcopal Church Welcomes You” true for everyone and not just a catch slogan on a sign is not done. Even though we may have convinced ourselves that most of that work has been accomplished at the church-wide level, until EVERYONE benefits from God’s grace at every level, NO ONE does. I see nothing in the Gospel of Jesus Christ that lets us leave anyone on the outside looking in.

If you still are not convinced of the need of our ministry, I invite you to go to two places. One is the website of All the Sacraments for All People (ASAP-TN). It tells the story of those disenfranchised in the Diocese of Tennessee. ( www.asaptn.org ). The other is the website of the Diocese of Dallas (http://edod.org/bishop-george-sumner-eastertide-2018/ ). The bishop states his case for continuing to refuse to allow same sex marriages. I’m still reading it and to be frank about it, I have read nothing new, including the claim that we have not devoted enough study to the subject. I personally think some 30 years of my life is more than enough study, but hey, that’s just me!.

So, as I have urged before: write, call, email, text those who will be making decisions. Let your Deputies and your Bishop(s) know your opinion. If you have a personal story of the impact of this or other proposed legislation, share that with them. Put a face on what some might be able to more easily dismiss as an issue. A face is more difficult to dismiss.

As Integrity moves into a new dynamic of working to insure that all God’s children receive the respect for their dignity required by our Baptismal Covenant, we need leaders who will continue to move us forward. If you feel called to leadership on the board of directors or as a Provincial Coordinator, please put your name forward to the nominating committee at this email address: nominations@integrityusa.org

Yes, Christ is risen. The Lord is risen, indeed, alleluia! Risen for all...regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, gender expression/identity, or any other characteristic of the children of God. And let us be faithful to the work before us to insure that all may know the love of Jesus! Let us work to insure that no one stands on the outside looking in.

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

Done. Check the Box. Well, Not Really

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bruce Garner, President

Integrity USA ... The Episcopal Rainbow

Short Prophetic Memory

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bruce Garner, President

Integrity USA ... The Episcopal Rainbow