[HoB/D] Moving On (was Apology)

[Louie Crew [mailto:lcrew@andromeda.rutgers.edu]]

> I had no right to  offer up an entire group of Christians who
> are my sisters and brothers to the crumbling "unity" of the Anglican
> Communion.

General Convention did not diminish me by its approval of B033.   My worth
as a child of God is not within the purview of General Convention, and
having received the love of God directly, I would be a foolish disciple
indeed to allow others to ration that love.

Instead, B033 diminishes The Episcopal Church and severely compromises our
witness to a needy world.  It tells millions who hadn't believed us yet
anyway, that our thousands of signs are dishonest, that we fully welcome
you only if you are straight, that we will violate our very beliefs when
we think it is expedient to do so.

Was it right to vote for B033 anyway?   For example, would gays and
lesbians in Nigeria and Uganda be in even worse fix without ++Katharine at
the table?

Did not articulate lesbian and gay lay leaders urge us to tell the Holy
Spirit to call no lesbian and gay clergy to the episcopate indefinitely?

Many moral choices do not have clear-cut answers, and with many we make a
mess no matter what we choose.

Our job as Christians is to redeem our messes, not just those we intended
to make.

Gays and lesbians are canaries in this coal mine called the church, and
those of us already here will stay here regardless of how toxic the fumes
become.  We're not going anywhere.   But what witness can we make to those
outside the church that God loves them?    That is both easy and very
difficult:  we can love them. "Feed my sheep!"

Forget for a while how you voted on B033.  In what gays and lesbians can
you seek and serve Christ who have never darkened the door of a church?
How many gays and lesbians have you ever invited to your parish?  Does
your parish take out ads in the local gay newspapers?  Does your parish
offer its space for meetings of local gay and lesbian organizations?  Does
your parish visit gays and lesbians who are in the hospital or the prison
or otherwise down and out?  Have you asked gays and lesbians in your
parish to help you organize such ministries?

Most people are not prepared to believe that God cares about them until
they see us care about them.

Live into the challenge of B033. Make sure that your own manner of life is
a challenge to the wider church.   Faced with fiercesome double pluses,
dare to be double minuses for Christ's sake!

Lutibelle of the Alabama Belles/Louie
L1 Newark