news-list Mailing List: Open Letter to LGBT People from +Gene Robinson

[John Clinton Bradley (johnclint]

June 24, 2006
 
An Open Letter to my Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Brothers and
Sisters in Christ,
 
>From V. Gene Robinson, Bishop in the Church of God in a blessed place called
New Hampshire:
  
Many of you have been writing to me, in the aftermath of General Convention,
to ask what I am thinking, now that the Convention has called upon the
Church to deny consent to the consecration of partnered people as bishops.
Frankly, like all of you, my thinking is all over the map.  But here is
where I am, only a few days later.
 
First, let's give ourselves some time to recover.  In the first few moments
of having the breath knocked out of us, we struggle just to breathe, unable
to think about much of anything other than getting some oxygen back into our
lungs.  We have been dealt a blow that has knocked the wind out of us.
Let's be kind to ourselves, breathe a little, before we try to move on.
Nothing has to be decided or done in the next few hours or days.  Let's
catch our breath, remembering that breath is a powerful image of the Holy
Spirit in the Old and New Testaments.  Let's allow ourselves to be
re-infused with that Holy Spirit which has never abandoned us, no matter
what the Church does or doesn't do.
 
Let's remember what DID happen at the General Convention.  Faithful gay and
lesbian Episcopalians showed up and witnessed to the power of Almighty God
working in and through their lives.  You would have been SO PROUD of
Integrity, Claiming the Blessing, the Episcopal Women's Caucus, The Witness,
and countless other groups speaking on our behalf.  Susan Russell, Michael
Hopkins, Carol Cole Flanagan, Elizabeth Kaeton, Bonnie Perry and others too
numerous to mention put their hearts, souls and every waking moment into
representing ALL of us so very well and so faithfully.  We owe them such a
great debt.  Faithful gay and lesbian Episcopalians were EVERYWHERE,
witnessing to God's saving grace in their lives - being so joyful and filled
with God's Spirit, there was no denying God's love in their lives.
 
We gathered at Trinity Church to celebrate the eucharist as the people of
God.  Not only were the nave and balconies filled, but the basement and
sacristy as well, with gay and straight alike proclaiming God's love for ALL
of God's children.  It was a glimpse of heaven, and of the Church as it
ought to be.  Let's not forget that we have been given a foretaste of the
heavenly banquet where the marginalized are given an honored seat at the
table.
 
The Episcopal Church declared its opposition to any constitutional amendment
- federal or state - which would short circuit gay and lesbian couples
seeking the civil right of having their relationships legally acknowledged.
 
On Sunday, we elected a Presiding Bishop who is committed to the full
inclusion of gay and lesbian people into the life and work and leadership of
this Church.  The Spirit was palpable, once again in Trinity Church, as the
election balloting unfolded before our very eyes, pushing forward to the
election of the first woman as Primate and Presiding Bishop.  If indeed, as
I have often said, this fight is really about the end of patriarchy, then
that patriarchy was dealt an awesome blow in +Katharine's election.  When
the primates next meet, it will be a new day, and at the table will be a
representative of the world's majority - women - incarnate in our primate.
Thanks be to God for that!  You go, girl!
 
To our joy, the House of Deputies refused to give in to threats from within
and without our Church, and decisively rejected the call to withhold consent
from partnered people elected to the Episcopate.  We thought that was the
end of it.  But alas, it was not.
 
+Frank Griswold - who, let us remember, has been a sometimes reluctant, but
ever faithful champion for us, and who has paid a great price for presiding
at my consecration - brought back the "moratorium" resolution in a
heavy-handed and inappropriate way (in my humble opinion).  He seemed
absolutely intent on getting this resolution through as a way of getting us
all to the Lambeth table.  
 
I don't know whether or not our Presiding Bishop-elect was coerced or merely
persuaded to join in this appeal, but it is clear to me that her support for
such an action provided the push needed to convince the Deputies to adopt a
resolution more prohibitive than the one they had rejected the day before.
Gay and lesbian deputies, many in tears, not to mention our straight allies,
rose to the microphones to pledge their support of our new primate as she
goes off to represent us in unfriendly places, to "give her what she needs"
to continue the conversation.  The scene of gay and lesbian deputies,
willing to fall on their own swords for the presumed good of the Church,
voting for this resolution against their own self-interest was an act of
self-sacrifice that I won't soon forget.  
 
Keeping us in conversation with the Anglican Communion was the goal - for
which the price was declaring gay and lesbian people unfit material for the
episcopate.  Only time will tell whether or not even that was accomplished.
Within minutes - yes, MINUTES - the conservatives both within our Church and
in Africa declared our sacrificial action woefully inadequate.  It felt like
a kick in the teeth to the ones who had gotten down on their knees to submit
to the will of the whole, even though the price of doing so was
excruciating.  Such a quick, obviously premeditated and patently cruel
reaction from the Right can be seen only as the violent and unchristian act
it was.
 
So what now?
 
It is too soon to strategize, too soon to know what it all means.  But here
are a few things I DO know:
 
The Spirit IS working in the Church.  We cannot claim that the Spirit is
working in the Church only when we get our way.  We must continue to believe
that that Spirit is working even when the Church takes an action which hurts
us, when it seems to take us in the wrong direction.  We are in this
struggle for the long haul, and so is the Spirit.  We cannot fathom at the
moment how this turn of events serves justice.  But God will not be mocked,
and God will be our salvation.  Let's not forget that.
 
We are STILL loved beyond our wildest imagining.  That was true the day
before Convention; it is still true.  This vote does not change that.  Just
because the Church lost its courage, just because the Church was willing to
sacrifice US for access to a conversation with Anglicans around the world
(which they hardly seem ready to engage in themselves), it does NOT mean
that God has changed.  If you listen carefully, God is STILL saying to God's
lgbt children, "You are my beloved.  In you I am well pleased."  This vote
may say a lot about the Episcopal Church, but it says NOTHING about you and
me as gay and lesbian children of God.  Blessed Martin Luther King once
said, "Pontius Pilate's sin was not that he didn't KNOW what was right, but
that he lacked the courage to STAND UP for right."  Pray for the Church.
 
We are in this for the long haul.  OF COURSE there are going to be bumps
along the road, perhaps a few places where the road has washed out
completely.  The journey toward justice is neither a straight line nor easy.
Just ask our brothers and sisters who are people of color, and still
experiencing the pain of racism.  Just ask our sisters who still pay the
price of sexism and misogyny, both inside and outside the Church.  We follow
a savior who dealt with plenty of setbacks and disappointments - not to
mention being "done in" by his friends.  We are in good company here.  But
we won't last for the long haul without Jesus!  Let's keep saying our
prayers and listening to the One who knows and shares our burden.
 
We'll be watching.  Now that the Anglican Communion and the majority of
Convention have gotten what they asked for, let's see if anything changes.
Will the rest of the Communion finally be willing to engage in the listening
process promised for the last 30 years?  Will anything be done in the
domestic dioceses of this Church to move us along, or will this only be seen
as a "blessed" respite from this debate?  Will the Network dioceses and
parishes give up their blatant drive to split this church apart and join us
in our efforts to be reconciled, or will they only cry "not enough" and
demand more?  We'll be watching - and we'll want the "middle" to give us an
accounting of what this Convention vote got them.  And we'll be asking, "Was
it worth declaring us less than children of God, marked as Christ's own
forever?"
 
We are not defeated, for God is still with us.  Let's remember that at its
best, the Church has pushed the "pause" button, not the "stop" or "reverse"
buttons.  If we continue to make our witness, and if those for whom this
sacrifice was made continue to threaten and make one-sided demands, the
Episcopal Church will see its mistake and find its prophetic voice again.
Maybe it will even repent of the harm done to us in this faithless and
fearful act.  Time will tell.  In the meantime, we are not defeated, nor
will we be paralyzed by this sad and woeful action.  Dwelling on what
happened and why will not serve us or the Church well.  We need to turn away
from yesterday and focus on tomorrow.
 
We know how all this is going to end.  It is not arrogant to say that we
believe we know how all this is going to turn out.  It will end with the
full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people in the
life and ministry and leadership of the Church.  It will take a long time.
Some or all of us may not live to see it.  But happen it will!  In a strange
way, I think the conservatives know it too.  All we're arguing about now is
timing.  It will be enough for each of us to play her/his own part.  Each of
us can provide a pair of shoulders for someone else to stand on, just as
surely as we stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us.  This
is a never-ending march toward justice for ALL, and NO ONE is going to be
left behind.  In the end, the reign of God will come.  And oh what a
privilege it is for each of us to play a small part.
 
We are worthy of God's love - NOT because of anything we have done, but
because God has MADE us worthy to stand before God through the life, death
and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  As I said at Convention, the Gay Agenda
is JESUS!  If we keep that ever before us, in the end all will be well.
 
I love, respect, appreciate and honor each of you more than you could ever
know.  Please keep me in your prayers, as you will be in mine.  And to God
be the glory!
 
+Gene