RE: [HoB/D] ACI and Listening Process

[Louie Crew <lcrew@andromeda.rutgers.edu>]

XXXXX, thank you for reminding YYYYY YYYYYYY that the Windsor report commits
the Communion to listening to the very ones the Anglican Communion Institute
would exclude from the conversation.  Imagine how impoverished we would be
if the disciples had told the story of my ancestor the Samaritan woman at
the well with no specific quotations of her part of the conversation.

YYYYY wrongly interprets why lesbians and gays (ex- and active) want to
witness:  It is not ourselves we proclaim, but Jesus as Lord and ourselves
as servants for Jesus' sake.  We want to testify to God's amazing grace at
work in the lives of lbgt people.  Jesus already knows everything we ever
did.  He has been much more concerned with our thirst than with our sin.  As
far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed from us our sins,
known and unknown!

You wrote:

> At GC 00 and 03, friends of Exodus International and Living Waters were
> ignored and scoffed at.  The way we treated them made it very clear they
> were not welcome in the discussion.  If we are suppose to be listening,
> why don't we want to hear the full story???

That is awful.  I personally welcome the chance to hear their points of
view.  Nor have I ever heard Integrity, Claiming the Blessing, The Oasis, or
any of our other Episcopal lesbigay groups scoff at, or encourage scoffing
at, any whose views or experience differs from our own.  I will gladly stand
with anyone who is scoffed if my doing so may reduce that abuse.

Admittedly, it is sometimes difficult to persuade lesbians and gays to
invite testimony that trashes those of us in committed relationships.  Some
lesbigays report grave damage they have experienced as members of ex-gay
groups and as clients of ex-gay therapists.   Nevertheless, I have
repeatedly argued for giving ex-gays our respectful attention.   See, e.g.,
my appeal to an Integrity leader in this regard back in 1998, at
http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~lcrew/natter_old/msg00047.html.  See my comments
about Alan Medinger and Earle Fox at
http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~lcrew/natter_old/msg00122.html in a message
titled "Listening to those of Regeneration. Was: How to Expedite the
Process."

At times it is hard to find ex-gays ready to witness at General Convention.
While second-hand testimony spares one the stigma that all lbgts (ex- or
active) face when we speak publicly, second-hand testimony on our behalf
never carries the same cogency.  For all gays, ex- and active alike, God has
not set a time certain that it is no longer required of disciples to take up
our cross and follow Jesus.

Several times I have traveled out of state to attend ex-gay gatherings, and
I have always found them quite moving.  See, for example, my report of a
meeting of Regeneration in Maryland at
http://www.qrd.org/qrd/religion/anti/exgay/regeneration.txt.  See my
discovery of common cause with Mario Bergner+ whom I traveled to Wisconsin
to hear, as I reported when invited to participate in the Second
Consultation on Human Sexuality of the Province of Brazil,
http://www.andromeda.rutgers.edu/~lcrew/040806.html.   See my additional
reflections on Ex-Gays at
http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~lcrew/natter_02/msg00050.html.

Exodus International graciously includes in its bibliography a citation to
my own collection, A Book of Revelations: Lesbian and Gay Episcopalians Tell
Their Own Stories (See  http://www.exodus.to/content/view/136/35/)

I do not agree with ex-gays when they over-simplify any more than I expect
them to agree with me when I oversimplify.  I hope that you will find
nothing in any of my writing that mocks or disrespects them.  The rule for
all lesbians and gays regarding rival claims should be "Caveat Emptor.
Eternal life is at stake."

When will the Diocese of Fort Worth sponsor an occasion to hear voices from
both sides?  What portion of your budget are you dedicating to the ex-gay
movement?  It is important that your support be substantive, not just window
dressing to score points in a debate.

Joy to absolutely everybody!

Louie
Newark Deputy, Founder of Integrity