<\/p>\n
For the last month, I’ve been in Australia and only I know that sounds a little crazy.\u00a0 <\/span>After all, what kind of church geek would be jonesing for a But this meeting was particularly important for And now, in 2009, six years have passed.\u00a0 <\/span>Episcopalians have done a lot of By a 2-1 margin, Episcopalians agreed “that through our own listening the General This affirmation Some may argue that Around 600, Pope The same Anglicans <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For the last month, I’ve been in Australia and only occasionally heard news from the United States.\u00a0 I haven’t minded too much missing arguments over health care and the Supreme Court confirmation hearings.\u00a0 But I have fretted about missing the General Convention of the Episcopal Church–my own denomination’s triennium meeting now happening in Anaheim. I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,20,14,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christians","category-homosexuality","category-mainline-protestants","category-religion-in-the-public-square"],"yoast_head":"\n
\noccasionally heard news from the United States.\u00a0 <\/span>I haven’t minded too much missing arguments over health care
\nand the Supreme Court confirmation hearings.\u00a0 <\/span>But I have fretted about missing the General Convention of
\nthe Episcopal Church–my own denomination’s triennium meeting now happening in
\nAnaheim.<\/p>\n
\ndenominational meeting while looking out her hotel window at the Sydney Opera
\nHouse?\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n
\nEpiscopalians.\u00a0 <\/span>Six years ago, in
\n2003, my church confirmed the election of Gene Robinson as the first openly gay
\nbishop in the worldwide Anglican Communion.\u00a0 <\/span>That meeting made international news and led to a painful
\ntheological backlash from conservative Anglicans and some churches in Africa
\nand South America.\u00a0 <\/span>Three years
\nlater, in 2006, the Episcopal Church passed a resolution of “restraint” at the
\nconvention, committing itself to conversation and no further ordinations of
\nbishops whose “manner of life” (i.e., they were gay or lesbian persons) was
\noffensive to other Anglicans.\u00a0
\n<\/span>This, too, made news as conservative Anglicans launched a political and
\nlegal assault to divide the Episcopal Church and drive a wedge between American
\nEpiscopalians and the larger body of Anglicans around the world.<\/p>\n
\ntalking, some serious crying, much worrying, and have tried to honor the wide
\ndiversity of Anglicans around the world.\u00a0
\n<\/span>We didn’t ordain any more gay or lesbian clergy as bishops.\u00a0 <\/span>We practiced restraint.\u00a0 <\/span>We listened.\u00a0 <\/span>We tried to be nice.\u00a0
\n<\/span>We prayed.\u00a0 <\/span>Yesterday, the
\nConvention meeting in Anaheim summed up what Episcopalians have learned in that
\nprocess.<\/p>\n
\nConvention has come to recognize that the baptized membership of The Episcopal
\nChurch includes same-sex couples living in lifelong committed relationships characterized
\nby fidelity, monogamy, mutual affection and respect, careful, honest
\ncommunication, and the holy love which enables those in such relationships to
\nsee in each other the image of God.”\u00a0
\n<\/span>And the Episcopal General Convention equally has come to understand
\n“that God has called and may call such individuals, to any ordained ministry in
\nThe Episcopal Church.”\u00a0 <\/span>In plain
\nEnglish, the Episcopal Church has now formally recognized the lived reality of
\nfaithful same-sex Christian couples in our community and that the Holy Spirit
\nmay call persons in such relationships to Christian ministry–even the ministry
\nof bishop.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\ndoesn’t demand that anyone do anything or anyone be forced to believe something
\nthey find offensive.\u00a0 <\/span>Indeed, in
\nthe resolution, the church stated that Christians are not of a unified mind and
\nthat Christians “of good conscience” may disagree in regards to these
\nconcerns.\u00a0 <\/span>But the resolution also
\ndoes two important things:\u00a0 <\/span>1) it
\nrecognizes that many, many Episcopalians are perfectly comfortable and open to
\nbeing part of a diverse spiritual community that includes gay and lesbian
\nbrothers and sisters; and 2) that local dioceses may chose their bishops by
\ndiscerning the best candidate for ministry without restriction placed on sexual
\nidentity.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nthe Episcopal Church has broken faith.\u00a0
\n<\/span>No, Episcopalians are struggling to be faithful and to live justly as
\nour society widens its understanding of human relationships and marriage.\u00a0 <\/span>The attempt to do so is not somehow
\n“secular” or untraditional.\u00a0
\n<\/span>Rather, adapting to local cultures is an important part of being
\nAnglican.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nGregory the Great saw a group of blond-haired children in a slave market and
\nwas told they were “Angli,” or “Angles,” from Britain.\u00a0 <\/span>Gregory replied, “Not Angles, but
\nAngels” and dispatched missionaries to the British Isles.\u00a0 <\/span>He instructed the missionaries to work
\nwithin the context of the culture they encountered in order to preach the
\ngospel and spread the church.\u00a0 <\/span>These
\nfirst missionaries accommodated their message to many of the spiritual practices
\nthey found in pagan England.\u00a0 <\/span>It is
\ndeeply Anglican to believe that God works within human cultures, in all their variety.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>As recently as 1988, when African
\nAnglican bishops asked that the church permit polygamy as a Christian practice,
\nwestern Episcopalians and Anglicans approved the tradition of multiple wives as
\nan appropriate expression of faith in some cultural contexts.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nwho have been mad about Gene Robinson for six years will continue to be
\nangry.\u00a0 <\/span>The same Anglicans who have
\nthreatened schism will continue to threaten.\u00a0 <\/span>Maybe Anglicans in the rest of the world won’t understand.\u00a0 <\/span>Some people will see this as
\nunbiblical.\u00a0 <\/span>But, trying to figure out faith in particular cultural contexts is Anglican tradition. \u00a0For 1400 years,
\nAnglicans have believed weaving together the message of Jesus with human
\nculture and experience is the best way to embody the love of God and
\nneighbor.\u00a0 <\/span>We don’t always do that
\nperfectly, but we are trying.\u00a0
\n<\/span>After all, we’re Anglicans not Angels.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n