Louie Crew to speak in Fort Worth

FORT WORTH - Some people are threatening to split from The Episcopal Church because of its full inclusion of gay and lesbian Episcopalians in the life and ministry of the church. But many Episcopalians agree with the move toward full inclusion of all the Baptized, or want to learn more about it.

One of the most articulate voices on this subject is Dr. Louie Crew, founder of Integrity. Integrity is a nonprofit organization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender [LGBT] Episcopalians and straight friends. Since its founding by Dr. Crew in rural Georgia in 1974, Integrity has been the leading grassroots voice for the full inclusion of LGBT persons in The Episcopal Church and equal access to its rites.

On Saturday, March 1, 2008, Integrity Fort Worth will host Dr. Crew, whose topic will be "Exceedingly Glad in Times Like These," at Celebration Community Church, 908 Pennsylvania Avenue, Fort Worth, TX. Dr. Crew will speak at 3:30 PM after the Holy Eucharist at 2:00 PM, led by the Rt. Rev. Sam Hulsey, retired bishop of Northwest Texas. Registration will begin at 1:30 p.m. There will be a reception in the parish hall following Dr. Crew's address.

A native of Anniston, Alabama, Crew holds earned degrees from Baylor University (BA, 1958), Auburn (MA, 1959) and the University of Alabama (PhD, 1971) and honorary doctorates from three Episcopal seminaries: EDS (Cambridge, 1999), General (NYC, 2003), and EDS Pacific (Berkeley, 2004). He has held fellowships at UCal Berkeley, the University of Texas (Austin), and the University of Chicago. He is the author of more than 1620 publications.

An emeritus professor of English at Rutgers University, Crew taught there from 1989 to 2001 and served two terms as Chair of its Senate and a member of its Board of Governors. At other times during his 44-year career, he was a prep school master and a professor of black higher education in the rural south. He also taught for five years in rural Wisconsin and four years in Beijing and Hong Kong.

Dr. Crew's contributions to the Church have been many. A five-time deputy to General Convention from the Diocese of Newark, he chaired Newark's deputation in 2006. He has served two terms on the Standing Committee of his Diocese, twice as its President, and is now clerk of the vestry at Grace Church, Newark. He is also the secretary of Province Two of the Episcopal Church as well as a member of the Joint Standing Committee on Nominations. He recently finished his term on the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church, the body that governs the church between General Conventions.

Louie Crew and Ernest Clay entered a life partnership in February 1974.

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This event is free if attendees pre-register online at www.integrityfortworth.org otherwise there is a
$5.00 Registration Fee at the door.

For information, call 817-784-5132 or send e-mail to info@integrityfortworth.org

Boy’s Killing, Labeled a Hate Crime, Stuns a Town

Our good Integrity friend down Tennessee way, Nancy Mott, points us to this tragic tale in today's New York Times about the hate crime murder of Lawrence King, a gay teenager in California. Nancy writes to say she wonders whether our church will speak up. Well, will they? Sure they will. Sure they will.

The New York Times
February 23, 2008

by Rebecca Cathcart

OXNARD, Calif. — Hundreds of mourners gathered at a church here on Friday to remember an eighth-grade boy who was shot to death inside a junior high school computer lab by a fellow student in what prosecutors are calling a hate crime.

In recent weeks, the victim, Lawrence King, 15, had said publicly that he was gay, classmates said, enduring harassment from a group of schoolmates, including the 14-year-old boy charged in his death.

“God knit Larry together and made him wonderfully complex,” the Rev. Dan Birchfield of Westminster Presbyterian Church told the crowd as he stood in front of a large photograph of the victim. “Larry was a masterpiece.”

Read the whole sad thing here.

Let California Ring

On this Valentines Day as we celebrate the gift of love let's also celebrate the Equality California folks for pointng us to this great website featuring the stories of those whose love falls short of the civil protections of and are denied equal access to both the rights and responsibilities of marriage.

I was moved by the stories I read and encourage you to read them ... but the one I want to share here is Liam's ... who writes:

This movement has never been about the freedom to marry for myself; I can marry the woman I love someday. I am, however, part of the queer community—my Mom and her partner Nellie have been my model for a healthy, committed relationship for 25 of my 26 years on this planet.

My Mom is from Oakland originally, but I grew up in British Columbia, and got involved with the movement for the freedom to marry in Seattle in 2004. I couldn’t stand the way the conversation was being played out in the media and by people around me, particularly in the way it related to families like mine. I heard people who were reluctant to support marriage for my parents, allude to me as damaged goods. Everywhere, I saw families like mine discussed as a hypothetical moral issue, not as real people who deserve respect and support.

Read the rest of Liam's story here, and:

• give thanks for the witness of kids who "get it" ...
• give thanks for mothers like his who are raising children with the family values of love and tolerance ...
• and consider "bookmarking" Liam's story -- and the next time someone asks you, in regard to marriage equality, "But what about the children?"

Answer, "Good question! What about them? Let me introduce you to Liam ..."

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY, EVERYONE!

Speaking of the Anglican Covenant ...

... thanks to Episcopal Cafe for this reflection by Immanuel Kant on the efficacy of Religious Covenents:

Immanuel Kant (1704-1824) on Religious Covenants.
From "What is Enlightenment?" (1784)

"But should not a society of clergymen, for example an ecclesiastical synod or a venerable presbytery (as the Dutch call it), be entitled to commit itself by oath to a certain unalterable set of doctrines, in order to secure for a time a constant guardianship over each of its members, and through them over the people?

I reply that this is quite impossible. A contract of this kind, concluded with a view to preventing all further enlightenment of mankind for ever, is absolutely null and void, even it is is ratified by the supreme power, by Imperial Diets and the most solemn peace treaties.

One age cannot enter into an alliance on oath to put the next age in a position where it would be impossible for it to extend and correct its knowledge, particularly on such important matters, or to make any progress whatsoever in enlightenment. This would be a crime against human nature, whose original destiny lies precisely in such progress. Later generations are thus perfectly entitled to dismiss these agreements as unauthorized and criminal."

Hat tip Fred Quinn and Prof. Frank M. Turner, John Hay Whitney Professor of History Director, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

Letter from "Lost and Confused"

"Annie's Mailbox" is a syndicated advice column written by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar, longtime editors of the Ann Landers column most of us grew up on. This letter, published yesterday, resulted in the "Integrity Central" phone ringing off the hook with folks calling "mostly just to hear someone say God loves them," reported Integrity Administrator John Clinton Bradley.

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Annie's Mailbox®, February 6

Dear Annie: I am a male in my early 40s. My mother died a few years ago, and my grandmother shortly after, so life has been difficult lately.

Here is my problem: I'm gay and still in the closet to friends and family. At my age, single and never having dated, people have pretty much put two and two together, but I was raised to think this is not an acceptable lifestyle. If I were to come out publicly, I believe I would be made an outcast by my family and church.

The church I attend (which I love attending) does not accept gays. The official outlook is "hate the sin but love the sinner," which means I'd have to stop being gay to be accepted. It makes me feel I'm losing my connection to God and that breaks my heart. Annie, I didn't wake up one morning, decide I was tired of being heterosexual and switch over. This is all I've ever known. To make matters worse, I was recently diagnosed as HIV-positive. I have found a man I would like to spend my life with and he has been extremely accepting of my positive diagnosis. His family has accepted his sexual orientation, but he doesn't attend church.

I know counseling would help, but I can't afford it. Who can I talk to confidentially about being a closeted, HIV-positive gay man who doesn't want to lose his faith or family? — Lost and Confused

Dear Lost: You didn't specify your church's denomination, so we recommend Dignity (dignityusa.org) at 1-800-877-8797 for Catholics; the Gay Christian Network (gaychristian.net), P.O. Box 17504, Raleigh, NC 27619; Integrity (integrityusa.org) at 1-800-462-9498 for Episcopalians; Seventh Day Adventist Kinship (sdakinship.org), P.O. Box 69, Tillamook, OR 97141-0069; Metropolitan Community Churches (mccchurch.org), P.O. Box 1374, Abilene, TX 79604; and of course, PFLAG (pflag.org), 1726 M Street, NW, Suite 400, Washington, D.C. 20036.

Good luck.

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Good luck and God bless ... and may God give each and every ONE of us the grace we need to respond to those asking the questions "Lost and confused" is asking AND the resolve to keep making the Episcopal Church a place where those who are "lost and confused" will not have to wonder if "The Episcopal Church Welcomes You" sign applies to them!

Ash Wednesday

An Ash Wednesday message from Integrity President Susan Russell

Now IS The Acceptable Time

It is Ash Wednesday once more – the entry point for yet another 40-day Lenten journey toward Easter. We hear again the words as familiar as their outward-and-visible signs etched on our foreheads: “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.”

On this Ash Wednesday, as the liturgical season shifts from Epiphany to Lent, we are called to make a shift, too. During these weeks since Christmas our lessons have focused on the “epiphanies” of those who encountered Jesus along the way and knew somehow, at some point, in some perhaps indescribable way, that they had experienced the holy: experienced what have been called one of the “Ahas!” of God.

And now our focus shifts, as it does every year at this time, from stories about those outward manifestations of God's presence among us to a more interior place as we journey with Jesus on the road we know leads to Golgotha – to the cross – and ultimately, to the resurrection. And so, on this Ash Wednesday, here is my annual advice for the journey ahead: Do not give up epiphanies for Lent!

Let us not become so inwardly focused that we forget to notice – to give thanks for – to respond to – those encounters we can and will have with the holy in the next 40 days. Let us not become so focused on our own “journey with Jesus” that we forget that as long as there are still strangers at the gate, walking humbly with our God is not enough: let us not forget that we are also called to do justice.

Let us do an even bolder and more prophetic job of claiming “justice doing” as essential to our identity as Christian people – as Lenten pilgrims. Let us, by all means, pray silently to our God who is in secret, but let us at the same time proclaim loudly to those who would dismiss our activism as “agenda driven” that our agenda is a GOSPEL agenda: that our call to do justice is rooted deep in the roots of our history as a people of God – in these words of the prophet Isaiah:

Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up quickly.

“Here I am,” our God promises – ready to lead us through whatever wilderness we face: to accompany us wherever the journey goes. On this Ash Wednesday 2008, I wonder if a wilderness we are being called into is named “Presidential Election Year,” as I count the cost of the challenge to those of us who are called to be peacemakers – justice seekers – reconcilers – as the divisive and polarizing rhetoric of the political machine continues to ramp up.

And I wonder if a wilderness we are being called into is labeled “Anglican Politics” as those bent on dividing the Episcopal Church continue to work toward the schism they are determined to pull off here in the American Church, as bigotry continues to triumph over baptism with the exclusion of the Bishop of New Hampshire from the Anglican Communion’s Lambeth Conference and as the 30-year old commitment to listen to the experience of the gay and lesbian faithful goes unfulfilled.

And I wonder if a wilderness we are being called into is named “Interfaith Dialogue” as we continue to live into the challenges of being peacemakers and bridge-builders with our Jewish and Muslim allies committed to a just peace in the Middle East.

Yet these are just some of the “wildernesses” into which we are called this Lent.

If we are to be a people who have bread to share with the hungry we must challenge those who would spend all our resources on arms for an immoral war that continues to kill Iraqi citizens and take American lives.

If we are to serve the God whose fast is “to let the oppressed go free” we must speak out when gay and lesbian families are threatened once again with becoming sacrificial lambs on the altar of presidential politics.

If we are to choose the fast Isaiah offers us this Lent, we must continue to undo the thongs of the yokes of racism AND sexism that continue to hold this country and this church in their grasp.

And if we are to live up to our baptismal covenant we must advocate for just immigration policies that will truly respect the dignity of every human being.

It is Ash Wednesday once more – the entry point for yet another 40-day Lenten journey toward Easter. And now IS the acceptable time. May we be given the grace to choose the fast our God calls us to choose … trusting that the One who calls us into this wilderness be with us and bless us on the journey.
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Good News from Chicago

Good news for the Diocese of Chicago AND for the Episcopal Church in this Chicago Tribune feature on the February 2nd consecration of Jeffrey Lee as the new Bishop of Chicago:

Chicago's new Episcopal bishop,
national leader speak up for gay clergy
By Manya A. Brachear
Tribune reporter
February 4, 2008

Chicago's new Episcopal bishop and the church's national leader sent a clear message Sunday about where they stand on gay clergy, a smoldering issue that threatens to tear apart the denomination.

Wrapping up a five-day tour in honor of Jeffrey Lee, the new Chicago bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori declared that the American church will not stand alone in its support of gay clergy during an international meeting in July in Lambeth, England.

"Many more [bishops] than you might expect are sympathetic," Jefferts Schori, the presiding Episcopal bishop, told parishioners at St. Nicholas Church in Elk Grove Village. "They are not, however, the loudest voices."

Later in Chicago, Lee was seated at St. James Cathedral and reminded audience members of their call to ministry by virtue of their baptism, not their liberal or conservative interpretations of Scripture.

"That's one of the tragedies afflicting the church right now," he said. "So many of us seem to think that salvation depends on our theological correctness."

Read the rest here.

Lesbian and gay relationships healthy

The Dallas Morning News reports on a new study in the journal Developmental Psychology of a study of committed gay, lesbian and heterosexual relationships. A key paragraph from the conclusions:

The current study adds to this literature by demonstrating that, controlling for demographic differences, gay males and lesbians in our studies were generally not distinguishable from their committed heterosexual counterparts on measures of self- and partner reported relationship quality, as well as in how they interacted with one another—and responded physiologically—while attempting to resolve conflict in their relationships.

Translation: Far as these researchers can tell, gay and lesbian committed relationships look to be as psychologically healthy as committed heterosexual relationships.

A link to the pdf of the paper is here

HT to Episcopal Cafe.

San Joaquin "Saturday Morning Massacre"

Episcopal Cafe broke the story this morning that Dan Martins+ (formerly of the Diocese of San Joaquin) is reporting on his blog that 6 of the 8 Standing Committee members were "fired" by Bishop Schofield for refusing to join the Province of the Southern Cone.

Some gory details from Martins+ blog post:

First, a message from Bishop Schofield:

On December 8th at our Diocesan Convention the overwhelming vote to transfer from the Episcopal Church to the Province of the Southern Cone was passed. At that time I became a member of the House of Bishops of that Province. Therefore, the Standing Committee, which is my council of advice, must be composed of clergy members who are Anglican priests of the Southern Cone. This is required by Diocesan Canons and the Archbishop of the Southern Cone of South America, who writes:“In welcoming you to the Province of the Southern Cone on December 8th it is my clear understanding that even though you are allowing a period of discernment for those clergy who are still undecided, it would be highly inappropriate for any officer or leader within the Diocese of San Joaquin to be currently undecided or clearly within the Episcopal Church and continue as an officer or leader. The requirement governing each diocese of the Southern Cone is that all members of Diocesan Council, Standing Committee, and those selected as representatives at Synod be recognized Members of this Province.”

Therefore, this morning I received the resignation of those members of the Standing Committee who do not meet the above qualifications. Communication and correspondence related to the Standing Committee should now be directed to the new President of the Standing Committee, ---------, at the Diocesan Offices.

Then we have this, from the duly-elected president of the Standing Committee:

During the Standing Committee meeting of January 19th, the Bishop determined that the elected members of the Standing Committee who had not publicly affirmed their standing in the Southern Cone [whose congregations are in discernment, some over the legality of convention's actions] were unqualified to hold any position of leadership in the Diocese, including any elected office. He pronounced us as unqualified. No resignations were given. The question of resignations was raised and rejected. The members of the committee at this morning's meeting were quite clear on this point, we did not resign, we were declared unqualified to hold office. The Bishop's decision affects up to 6 of the 8 elected members of the Committee including all of the clergy members.

At this point, I only have two things to say:

1 - My, My, My!
2 - Pray for the Church!

Good News from the Diocese of North Carolina

This "just in" from an Integrity member in the Diocese of North Carolina: "I'm delighted to report that the annual convention of the Diocese of North Carolina passed the following resolution today":

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ON THE INCLUSION OF ALL PERSONS REGARDLESS OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION AS FULL AND EQUAL PARTICIPANTS IN THE LIFE OF CHRIST'S CHURCH.

Resolved by the 192nd Annual Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, that the Diocese continue to demonstrate its commitment to radical hospitality and, that in accordance with the House of Bishops' Statement, Fall 2007, we "proclaim the Gospel that in Christ all God's children, including gay and lesbian persons, are full and equal participants in the life of Christ's Church" by:

1) Urging the Archbishop of Canterbury to extend to the duly elected and consecrated Bishop of New Hampshire an invitation to full participation in the Lambeth Conference of 2008;

2) Encouraging our Deputies to the 2009 General Convention to ensure compliance with Title III. Canon I. Section 2, which supports the full and equal participation of all persons regardless of sexual orientation in all aspects of the Church's ministries, lay and ordained;

3) Encouraging the General Convention to call for the development of public liturgies for the blessing of same sex unions.

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The debate on the resolution by convention, which was abbreviated because of the threat of winter weather, was civil and respectful, in the Spirit of Jesus, as Bishop Curry observed after the vote.

Archbishop Hiltz clarifies Canadian situation for fellow primates

SOLANGE DE SANTIS AND MARITES N. SISON
ANGLICAN JOURNAL
Jan 9, 2008

Saying that he hoped to "dispel rumour or misunderstanding,"
Archbishop Fred Hiltz, the primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, has written to his fellow leaders of the worldwide Anglican Communion explaining the developments around the blessing of same-sex unions, which has embroiled Canadian Anglicans in conflict.

In his four-page letter, which was sent to the other 34 Anglican primates and four moderators of the Anglican Communion's United Churches on Jan. 9, Archbishop Hiltz, who is the national archbishop, underscored that the Anglican Church of Canada has not yet agreed upon a definitive position on the issue. "It is important to note that the Anglican Church of Canada has not altered its doctrine of marriage as outlined in our prayer books and canons (church laws)."

Read the full story online at http://www.anglicanjournal.com

St. Thomas' Parish, Dupont Circle, Evangelizes On YouTube

An inclusive Episcopal church serving metropolitan Washington, D.C. in the Dupont Circle neighborhood at 18th and Church Streets, N.W.

Ho-hum civil union rights

January 3, 2008
The Boston Globe
Editorial

WHEN VERMONT legislators legalized civil unions for gay couples in 2000, there was a bitter backlash against the reform. But on New Year's Day, New Hampshire joined Vermont, Connecticut, and New Jersey in extending civil union rights to gay and lesbian couples, and the event was met with a collective yawn. There are several reasons for this change, but the most important is that residents of New Hampshire have had a chance to observe Vermont and Connecticut's civil unions and Massachusetts' same-sex marriage, and realized that extending rights to a minority is no threat to the majority - or to the institution of marriage.

Not too many years ago, the fiery conservatism of the Manchester Union-Leader newspaper and the state's former governor, Meldrim Thomson, made New Hampshire an unlikely candidate for quiet acceptance of expanded rights for gays. But as resistant as its citizens have been to broad-based taxes or expanded government, there has always been a live-and-let-live streak in the state that has made it infertile ground for politicians telling other people how to live. Recently, the state's high-tech industries have brought in highly trained newcomers with broad views on social issues. Polling for the presidential primary shows that gay marriage is of minor concern to the state's voters.

This page finds civil unions to be an inadequate substitute for true marriage equality. Still, there likely would have been more opposition had New Hampshire legalized gay marriage and not just civil unions, which are seen as a compromise measure. Also, the fact that New Hampshire's elected legislators initiated the change, as opposed to an "unelected" court, as was the case in both Vermont and Massachusetts, may have made the reform more acceptable to voters.

Click here to read the rest.

Gay N.H. couples celebrate, gain status in civil unions

By Noah Bierman
Boston Globe
January 2, 2008

PORTSMOUTH - Clad in jeans and loose-fitting sweaters, Rachel Gogan and Katie Raynes walked into the side room of a church basement yesterday and joined in a precedent-setting civil union ceremony.

And then they drove home to Dover for a quiet lunch.

The women, both in their mid-20s, were casual history-makers, among the first of about 100 couples in New Hampshire to unite under the state's civil union law that took effect yesterday. Their more formal and emotional, though unofficial, union took place in October, when friends and family gathered for a ceremony and party in Maine.

"We already had our wedding. This was the signing of our paperwork. The state's finally catching up with us," Gogan said.

New Hampshire became the fourth state to allow civil unions of same-sex couples. Just after midnight, the first 40 or so couples held ceremonies at the State House. Smaller ceremonies took place in other parts of the state throughout the day. By the afternoon, 11 couples, including Gogan and Raynes, were committed at South Church Unitarian Universalist Church in Portsmouth.

Click here to read the rest.

Why we need marriage equality

Charlene Strong's experience led her to fight hard to bring the State of Washington into the growing family of marriage equality states.



Newsweek has released a retrospective story about Strong's tragedy and struggle this past year.

Please share this story around. It may really help people see why it is important to us that LGBT relationships be accepted both within the Church and in the public square.