Inclusion: It's about mission

We often hear that the effort toward full inclusion of lesbian gay bisexual transexual (LGBT) people in the church is causing some people to leave the church.

What we don't hear much about is how inclusion is attracting new people, especially those who feel on the fringes, or alienated, or who have never been a part of a faith community.

The Rev. Susan Russell, who is one of the guiding forces of Integrity, the organization that has worked for years for inclusion, wrote this the other day on her blog about a meeting in Phoenix of the Episcopal Church Standing Committee on Liturgy and Music. A friend of mine said this is item from Susan is a show stopper, and it is. And I am proud to know most of the people in the photo (SCLM Task Force Team: Patrick Malloy, Susan Russell, Thad Bennett, Ruth Meyers (chair), Jay Johnson).

Here is an excerpt from Susan's blog:

From An Inch at A Time...

A Missional Moment (AKA "Dessert with a side of Evangelism")

By Susan Russell

The conversation in the room was lively and energetic – and at the end of the session Bishop Kee Sloan (Bishop Suffragan, Alabama and a member of the SCLM) invited those who wanted to continue the conversation with us to grab some lunch after Eucharist and come back to the plenary room. About a dozen folks chose to do that and we had a great opportunity to clarify some questions, engage in some very interesting dialogue and get feedback on both process and content.

One comment that really stood out for me was a bishop’s challenge to us to add “Missional” to the list of opportunities the blessing of same sex relationships offers the church – a list that already included “Sacramental” and “Eschatological.” And of course I agree. This work isn’t just about the couples whose relationships will be blessed. It’s also about the mission of the church that will be blessed by a more expansive opportunity to incarnate God’s inclusive love.

I had no idea how soon we would get a chance to experience one of those missional opportunities in action.

So – having concluded the presentation part of the day we had a late lunch and then took some time out (AKA “naps!") and then reconvened to debrief our work over dinner in the hotel dining room. There was a lot to talk about – and we settled into a long, lively dinner that included a dessert course with a side order of evangelism as three young hotel staff members came up to the table and individually engaged with us about the work the Episcopal Church is doing.

The first one was a waiter – “Michael” – who said as a gay man it had never occurred to him that there were churches that would welcome him rather than condemn him. He thanked us for giving him hope that he hadn’t imagined he’d ever have with an earnestness that was deeply moving.

A few minutes later “Amanda” … our waitress … came up to the table to say that she’d encouraged Michael to come talk to us because she’d found him crying in the kitchen after listening to our conversations. She was raised Catholic but it “didn’t fit” anymore and she wanted to know where she should go to find an Episcopal Church. I gave her my card and told her to email me and I’d hook her up with folks in Phoenix.

The third was “Vanessa” … their supervisor … who thanked us for connecting with them and told us about her experience of finally finding a church home that helped her claim a relationship with God … and then being devastated when that church family rejected her gay friend. She’s going to email me, too.

It blew us away.

While we were obsessing about perfecting PowerPoint slides and refining our messaging about the SCLM project, these earnest young people responded to the few crumbs of conversation they overheard at our dinner table like they were starving for hope. And if those crumbs gave them that hope and energy – and gave them the courage to come up to a table full of “church people” and say, “Wow … we want to know more about what you’re talking about!” then imagine how they and countless others like them are yearning for the banquet we set every time we gather to witness to God’s inclusive love.

It is about mission.

It is about the building of the Body.

And it is about the vocation of the Episcopal Church to be the voice of love, justice and compassion to ALL those yearning for what Michael and Amanda and Vanessa came looking for at our dinner table last night.

Uganda and the Anglican Communion's moment of truth

Uganda is among the largest, if not the largest, province of the Anglican Communion. There are 8.7 million Ugandans who consider themselves Anglican, roughly four times the size of the Episcopal Church in the United States.

The government of Uganda is considering legislation that would make homosexuality punishable by death, and make it a crime to assist gay, bisexual and transgendered people in any way.

At risk are not only people in the LGBT community, but those providing care and counseling to people infected by HIV/AIDS.

So far the Anglican Communion has been strangely silent. Whatever our arguments over gay marriage and the full inclusion of all people may be, certainly we can agree that this proposed law is barbaric and as far from teachings and life of Jesus Christ as it possibly could be. Even the Lambeth Conference with its resolutions against the ordination of gays nonetheless acknowledges the human rights of gay people.

We have heard from Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams in recent days on the issue of global warming, and let's applaud him for that. But where is he on this? Where are all of our bishops? Where is the Anglican Church of Uganda? All of the arguments over the Roman Catholic Church relationship with the Anglican Communion are but a sideshow compared to this moment of truth.

A recent article from the UK religious journal Ekklesia provides a few details:

The Anglican Communion and its leaders have reached a critical moment of judgement in its attitude to homosexuality. It is now 23 days since the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009 was tabled by David Bahati, the MP for Ndorwa West in Uganda, but the leaders of the Communion have remained silent. The only Anglican groups to have responded are those working for the full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Let us speculate on two possible reasons for the silence. The Communion leaders might say we are focused on bigger issues – poverty, climate change, conflict zones, for example. They might say that homosexuality and a Bill proposed in Uganda are peripheral to the concerns of the Communion – homosexuality is not important to us.

This is clearly not true and might even be categorised as a lie. For over 11 years, homosexuality has been centre-stage for the Anglican Communion.

The proposed Bill legislates for capital punishment, will criminalise anyone who responds in any way to a homosexual person in Uganda and increases prejudiced attitudes towards homosexuals. American conservative Christian groups are complicit in encouraging the tabling of the Bill.

To read the full article, click HERE.

Lutherans vote for full inclusion

You might not have caught the news from Friday: The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA), meeting in its national convention, voted to allow non-celibate gays living in monogamous relationships, to serve as pastors. The debate reportedly went all day, with emotions high on both sides of the issue. The vote was close.

The debate echoed the debate in our own church, with those against expressing concern that Scripture is being violated. The feeling by those voting in favor of full inclusion was summed up by The Rev. Mark Lepper of Belle Plaine, Minn., who said, “Let’s stop leaving people behind and let’s be the family God is calling us to be.”

To read the New York Times story on the vote, click HERE.

Earlier this summer, our Episcopal General Convention voted to open all orders to gay people, acknowledging the fact that already exists. The ELCA vote could have an impact for the Episcopal Church because of the agreement we have with the ELCA to allow their pastors and ours to serve in each others' churches. The vote could make it easier for Episcopal clergy who are gay to serve in a Lutheran church.

The vote in the ELCA was close, and we can expect that individual congregations will leave much as many have left our church. Please keep the Lutherans in your prayers.

Photo by Dawn Villella of the Associated Press