Song: Personal Jesus | Article: 50 Years since Episcopal Statement that Queer people deserve equal treatment |
Friends,
I just spent the afternoon reading the response to Sue Hyatt and Carter Heyward being hired at Episcopal Divinity School after their "irregular" ordinations. The majority of the complaints say "I favor women's ordination, but they should have followed the rules." Bishops had oddly formal letters that started with welcome and appreciation and ended with wishing the school a lovely Lent. In between, a tirade on how the church will be destroyed if we don't follow the rules.
The minority view (but a huge number of letters) was congratulations to the school for staying strong in their values, and thanks for standing up for women in the church.
I wonder if they all know that their letters are there in the archives?
-Liz
Created as God's Children
Fifty years ago (1976) The General Convention of the Episcopal Church approved these words: This is the text of Resolution A069 in full: “Resolved, That it is the sense of this General Convention that homosexual persons are children of God who have a full and equal claim with all other persons upon the love, acceptance, and pastoral concern and care of the Church.”
I didn't notice the vote at the time, I was Methodist, not Episcopal, and I hadn't figured out the queer thing in my own life. I did know enough of my own theology that it would have seemed odd that the resolution was needed; I can't wrap my head around the possibility that there are any people who are not children of God. And I didn't understand systemic oppression.
In 2009 I went with to General Convention in Anaheim, CA as part of my work at Episcopal Divinity School (Cambridge). It is impossible to describe the electric joy that emanated from the Integrity Eucharist with The Rt. Rev Barbara C. Harris presiding. The service wasn't secret, wasn't hidden, and the space set-aside for this was overflowing. The joy in the room could not be contained. The Holy Spirit pulled us together with the overwhelming sense that we are ... well just that we are people! That's it. That's all we asked for, and all we achieved--to be treated just the same as every one of God's children.
In 1978 my college offered a support group for queer students (we didn't use that word then, it was still a slur). We met in secret and pledged never to tell who else was there. The next year the school ended the support group due to "lack of funding." I graduated in 1979, my girlfriend Linda a year later. We had a private "wedding" and exchanged rings, followed by dinner out.
I wanted to go to church and a friend introduced us to Integrity, an advocacy organization for queer Episcopalians. We met Sundays for Evening Prayer and socializing at St. Paul's in Burlington, VT. I felt immediate welcome there, and made connections to the small local community.
The worship felt open and unafraid, but one Sunday we moved up in to the sanctuary for our service and the organizer (I don't believe it was a priest) was firmly corrected during the week. When we returned to the social hall the next week it fell like we were being carefully hidden, even though no one else was ever in the building.
Linda and I moved to Maryland for work and I became a Presbyterian because it was the only affirming church I could find in the area. I didn't know that parents pulled their kids out of the Sunday School classes I taught until much later. I did know it was a topic that could not be discussed. The vote had been pushed through by the pastor, the follow-through was nonexistent.
When, ten years later, I responded to my call to ministry, the Methodist Church where I grew up, and the Presbyterian Church, where I was a member, were not options. A colleague invited me to her church, which gladly supported me for ordination, although it turns out they thought I intended to go through the process in the closet. The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Mid-Atlantic Region approved me to start the discernment process, but suggested that a Disciples Seminary would not be welcoming.
A pastor friend suggested Episcopal Divinity School (Cambridge). In 1998 few seminaries would accept me, some would accept me but not allow Linda and I to live together. Linda found a job in Southern, NH, my sister gave birth to twins in Arlington, MA, and off we went to start a new life. I graduated, was ordained, Linda and I got divorced, and I ended up working at Episcopal Divinity School helping small churches doing baptismal ministry. (That of course is the short version of those five years.)
After twenty years pastoring, I am once again an employee of the Episcopal Divinity School. We are looking forward to celebrating 50 years since the vote to say that we are all children of God.
In some ways the journey toward justice has been horribly slow. In other ways it seems remarkably fast. The journey is not completed; we have more to do at the edge of every boundary that we draw. Queer clergy are not uniformly accepted in our churches, and we frequently look away to avoid seeing the abuse of people who are trans. The queer community needs to continue their work toward racial reconciliation. We have more work to do.
And it all starts with the obvious statement that all people are children of God who have a full and equal claim with all other persons upon the love, acceptance, and pastoral concern and care of the Church.
What is your church doing, or thinking about doing these days? How are you being here in your particular place? Just reply to this email to let me know what's happening.
I was just introduced to DePeche Mode. Here is their song Personal Jesus.
The Episcopal Church is celebrating 50 years of recognizing that all people are ... people. Okay I'm having trouble not being sarcastic. It actually is important that they did this.
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