Ok, so we all know that the Anglican Communion has some issues, right? Well, most of the time I can ignore it, brushing it off as religio-political crap that isn't important in the grand scheme of spirituality. However, this time they may have gone too far. How can a church founded on the principals of unity and oneness (though not of the outright "episcopalization" of the Christian faith) be so ready to split into factions?
The Lambeth Conference (a once-a-decade meeting of world-wide Anglican bishops) starts today. This is always a significant event, no doubt. This time, however, there is more at stake than just by-laws and lectionarial content. This time Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori is going to try and "sell" the idea that the Anglican Communion is far too diverse at this stage of the game to exclude people from the clergy based solely on the factor of their sexual orientation, not to mention other, less-contested issues. On the good side of all of this is the fact that about 200 conservative Anglican bishops have decided not to show up as a sign of protest. No attendance, no vote. *whew* On the flip side of that though, the Archbishop of Canterbury, spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion, has barred Bishop V. Gene Robinson from attending. This may not seem like a huge issue at first, until one realizes that Rt. Rev. Robinson is the only openly-gay consecrated bishop in the Episcopal church. It's as if the Archbishop has already made up his mind! This is absurd!
This brings me back to the aforementioned splits in the church. We now have two potential splits - those who break-off if we DO allow gay bishops, and those who break-off if we DON'T. What the heck, people?! Can't we just be the "one body" that Saint Paul talked about in Ephesians? This past Sunday, Rev. Xolani Dlwathi from St. Thomas' Parish in Kagiso, South Africa came to St. George's as a guest priest. After a couple of minutes of difficulty struggling through the rather thick accent, I was able to hone-in on the meaning of his sermon - unity is the work of Christ, while division [in the church] is the work of Satan. What an interesting message at this critical time in the life of our world-wide body...
I guess the whole point of this pseudo-rant is to say that I'm having a hard time right now with my denomination of choice. As many may know, I was confirmed in the Episcopal Church on May 11 of this year. I made the decision to join this particular church and creed because of its tendency to be accepting of all people. However, now there is a possibility that my church will officially disallow certain individuals from the preisthood, simply because they are gay. What?! Will we take women out of the pulpit next? Or blacks? It would make as much sense. I don't know. Maybe I'm overreacting here, but I just needed to vent. I'm open to all comments that people choose to place here, especially if they pertain to how someone who is new to this particular church might go about staying "ok" with his decision to join it. I'm not saying I want to leave the church - far from it. I'm just saying that I wish the Anglican Communion would wake up and realize that a person's sexuality (or anything about which they have had no choice) is of no consequence to their ability to minister God's word to his people. Ok, it's almost 2:30 in the morning, so I'm going to stop for now, haha. Maybe I'll post about something musical next time... ;-)
~AJR
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1 comment:
Well I can definatly understand your delimma, as my father and step-mother bring it up all the time, but theirs is the other end, that they want to leave the faith because there are too many gay persons in leadership, which of course enrages me beyond belief. They only thing I can say is,every faith has had a time of testing and trial, being the "Catholic Lite" faith Episcopals are faced with many people being upset with the Catholic Church and trying to find a new home, by which they are carrying over their beliefs and practices, and many Episcopals have moved into the higher church Methodist faith to seek out what they originally grew to know in the Episcopal faith. This is where I find myself. I never brought it up to you, because I was excited that you had found a passion in your faith, but I have seen much of this growing up in the Catholic and Episcopal churches, which is how I found myself in the Methodist church that I am in, where sex, or sexual orientation never seems to matter on the pulpit or in lay leadership. I know it can be difficult questioning your faith in the church you have chosen, but all things happen for a reason.....I hope that your answer is found sooner rather than later.
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