“Poor Rowan. He is in an impossible position.”

A must read article in the March issue of The Atlantic is Paul Elie’s “The Velvet Revolution.”  It’s about the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams who…

At a time when Christianity is twisted into a pretzel over the issue of homosexuality, Rowan Williams—alone among the top Christian leaders—is trying to carry on a conversation about it. His approach has been quixotic, at times baffling. But the long-term goal seems clear: to enable the church he leads to become fully open to gays and lesbians without breaking apart.

While many American Episcopalians think Williams a bit too conservative, you may think differently about him after reading the article. I love these words of Williams as a start in thinking about what Christianity should be.

Christian faith has its beginnings in an experience of profound contradictoriness. [So the church should proclaim] a hidden God, who does not uncover his will in a straight line of development, but fully enters into a world of confusion and ambiguity and works in contradictions.

Thought for the Day.

There is one God and, what seems to be, an infinite number of ways of misunderstanding that God.

Evangelism is trying to convince another of God’s children that your misunderstanding is better than their misunderstanding.

-From MadPriest

Mormon film maker and lesbian Epsicopal Priest form bond via their faith.

There’s a great article in today’s LA Times about the bond that developed between a friend, Susan Russell, a lesbian Episcopal Priest, and a Mormon documentary film maker over issues related to their faiths.  Read it all here.

As Russell told her story to Hunter, he realized that he wasn’t just filming, he was learning from her. He was especially moved by the priest’s concept of romantic love, with its emphasis on spiritual and emotional intimacy as a precursor to physical expression.

“That resonated with me and gave me a renewed appreciation of my relationship with my wife,” he said.

Hunter also felt his empathy growing for gays and lesbians, especially friends who felt compelled to hide their sexual orientation. Perhaps that was because he, too, held a secret: Hunter had been sexually abused as a child by two neighbors in his native Philadelphia.

He knew what it was like to hide a part of himself and pretend his life was in order. “I kept that locked away,” he said.

Something else was occurring: Hunter and Russell were becoming friends. As election day neared last November, Hunter began showing up at “No on 8″ rallies alongside his documentary subject.

Russell’s initial curiosity about Hunter gave way to admiration, particularly over his decision to vote against the same-sex marriage ban and to speak out against it. She realized that she was sharing in his transformation. And that filled her with a sense of wonder.

“It isn’t a risk for a priest from All Saints to go to a Prop. 8 demonstration, but it is for a devout, straight Mormon father of three,” Russell said. “It just speaks volumes about how deeply Douglas walks the talk in terms of really putting his faith into action.”

Hunter had to balance his new friendship against his obligation to his church, whose members, at the urging of church leaders, were contributing millions of dollars to help pass the ban.

Knowing he was walking the finest of lines, he told only a few close Mormon friends about his opposition to Proposition 8 and about his documentary, even as it debuted last fall at a gay and lesbian film festival in Chicago. The project also will be shown at a film festival in Pomona in April.

“As a Mormon, I have a responsibility and commitment to listen to my church leaders,” he said. “At the same time, listening to my church leaders does not absolve me of the ethical responsibility to listen to the voice of the other.”

“A hug is the perfect gift. One size fits all, and no one minds if you exchange it.”

Today is the second annual “Hug an Episcopalian” Day.  So I am expecting many hugs. Well maybe one or two depending on how hard it rains and if I get out of the apartment.

Rebranding Christianity.

A video by Matthew Moretz, an Episcopal priest at Christ’s Church in Rye, New York.

The Prayer HBO Didn’t Want You To See.

Captured by Christianity Today.

Bishop Robinson+ Gets His Role at the Inauguration.

Faith In Public Life offers this bit of good news from the Obama Inaugural Committee:

The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, who was elected the Episcopal Church’s first openly gay bishop in 2003, will deliver the invocation for Sunday’s kickoff inaugural event on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the Presidential Inaugural Committee said.

President-elect Obama is scheduled to attend the afternoon event, which is free and open to the public.

“The president-elect has respect for the Rt. Rev. Robinson, who offered his advice and counsel over the past couple of years,” an inaugural official said. “It also has the benefit of further reinforcing our commitment to an open and inclusive inaugural.”

For Those In LA, Something To Do Tonight.

Advent Musical Interlude.

So we are a few days into Advent and I thought I’d share one of my favorite hymns.

And,the words to this Advent hymn are:

Lo! he comes, with clouds descending,
once for our salvation slain;
thousand thousand saints attending
swell the triumph of his train:
Alleluia! alleluia! alleluia!
Christ the Lord returns to reign.

Every eye shall now behold him,
robed in dreadful majesty;
those who set at nought and sold him,
pierced, and nailed him to the tree,
deeply wailing, deeply wailing, deeply wailing,
shall the true Messiah see.

Those dear tokens of his passion
still his dazzling body bears,
cause of endless exultation
to his ransomed worshipers;
with what rapture, with what rapture, with what rapture
gaze we on those glorious scars!

Now redemption, long expected,
see in solemn pomp appear;
all his saints, by man rejected,
now shall meet him in the air:
Alleluia! alleluia! alleluia!
See the day of God appear!

Yea, amen! let all adore thee,
high on thine eternal throne;
Savior, take the power and glory;
claim the kingdom for thine own:
Alleluia! alleluia! alleluia!
Thou shalt reign, and thou alone.

Today’s Weather Forecast.

For my Episcopal friends and fans of Anglican chant.

Photo of the Day.

The photo for the day is a personal one, as it is of my good friend Mark Hallahan, an Episcopal priest (on the left) with Catholic priest Fr. Geoff Farrow. Fr. Farrow is the California Catholic priest who has spoken out against Proposition 8 at great risk to his ministry.

And, here’s the statment from Fr. Geoff on his blog.

Many priests, nuns and ordinary Catholics will vote NO on Proposition 8 because they believe that taking away civil rights from same sex couples is wrong and strips them not only of civil rights but, also of basic human dignity. I know this because they have expressed this to me directly. Many pastors simply refuse to say anything at all on the subject publicly. Most of my brother priests try to help Catholic same sex couples in the same fashion that they help Catholic heterosexual couples who use contraception or, who have divorced and remarried. We try to assist these souls in the confessional and in counseling sessions. We attempt to humanize what can otherwise be impossibly rigid doctrines that crush people or drive them away from the community of faith.

As an elderly Pastor once told me: “We are not technicians, we work with human lives”. People are not statistics, they are not a political issue, they are human beings. Initially, I too simply decided to remain silent. But then, more and more people came to me and asked for guidance on this issue. At the same time, the Diocese became more and more vocal in its support for Proposition 8 and began to organize lay people to vote yes on 8.

When I was asked to promote my congregation to vote yes on Proposition 8 I was placed in a position of having to choose between my position and the spiritual and emotional well being of those who I was called to serve. Theologians such as, St. Thomas Aquinas have taught of the primacy of one’s personal conscience because on the day that you die it will be your conscience that either acquits or condemns you before God.

In good conscience, I cannot place an impossibly heavy load on the backs of those entrusted to my pastoral care and leave them to fend for themselves as best they can. The cost of this would be abandonment of faith, possibly of God. It would probably contribute to isolation, depression and possible despair or, worse (especially for young people). I gave them the advice that most of them would receive privately from most priests, I simply did it openly at the end of Sunday Mass from the pulpit.

"Inclusion Is A Reality."

After all the Anglican BS from Lambeth, this positive word from LA Bishop, Jon Bruno.

“I can only say that inclusion is a reality in our diocese and will continue to be. For people who think that this is going to lead us to disenfranchise any gay or lesbian person, they are sadly mistaken.”

The Rt. Reverend J. Jon Bruno, Bishop of Los Angeles

(as quoted in Episcopal Cafe)

Now, if the church would just get on with the work it is supposed to do.

Anglican Bishops Attend Gay Pride Event.

My blogging friend, MadPriest, has done his thing with PhotoShop and taken a photo from today’s march in London (anti-poverty rally) and placed the Bishops in a different context. Appropriate given the ongoing debate with the Anglican Communion.

The Challenges Of Being Gay & Christian In Africa.

“Voices of Witness: Africa” from Claiming the Blessing and Integrity. Watch this video of the stories of gay, lesbian and transgender Christians in Africa.  It’s 18 minutes but worth it.