Date: Fri, 12 Jun 1998 18:56:26 -0400 From: Chris Ambidge Subject: *integrator* files for 1988 INTEGRATOR, the newsletter of Integrity/Toronto volume 88-1, issue date 1988 09 29 copyright 1988 Integrity/Toronto. The hard-copy version of this newsletter carries the ISSN 0843-574X Integrity/Toronto Box 873 Stn F Toronto ON Canada M4Y 2N9 == Contents == This is the first issue of the revived INTEGRATOR, which had previously ceased publication in 1985 [88-1-1] WELCOME TO OUR PHOENIX ISSUE [88-1-2] WHAT WE HAVE BEEN UP TO [88-1-3] GAY/LESBIAN ANGLICANS IN SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA [88-1-4] GCDC REPORT [88-1-5] GAYS -- SEEKING JUSTICE IN THE CHURCH / by the Rev Norm Rickaby ======= [88-1-1] WELCOME TO OUR PHOENIX ISSUE A number of years ago Integrity/Toronto published a very impressive newsletter called *The Integrator*. Unfortunately the staff eventually suffered from burnout, and since no one else felt equal to undertaking this very large task, publication stopped. In the time since then Integrity/Toronto has put its human resources to many other good uses. However, my co-convener and I feel that a newsletter is an important outreach not only to our regular members, but also to the people who for reasons of distance or other time commitments can not attend our weekly meetings and eucharists. For this reason we have decided that it is time for *The Integrator* to rise from the ashes and once more resume its task of keeping us all in touch. Time has given us the benefit of easy access to word processors (for which, could see my spelling, you would be very grateful), but this does not make the task of finding words to process any easier. As editor I would welcome all contributions to *The Integrator*. In the future months we plan to bring you on a regular basis a summary of what Integrity/Toronto has been doing, and what we plan to do in the future; a digest of relevant local, national and international events; editorials, book reviews, and other pieces of writing, be they fiction or non-fiction, that are submitted to us. The first of these is on the back page of this edition: an article by Norm Rickaby, a priest and member of our chapter. It is reprinted from *The Anglican*, the Toronto diocesan newspaper. Four of the five Canadians that Norm refers to in the article are members of Integrity/ Toronto. We wouldn't want you to think that anything you send to us for publication needs to have been previously printed, however -- all contributions are gratefully received. Your editor and co-convener BONNIE (Lizard) BEWLEY ======== [88-1-2] WHAT WE HAVE BEEN UP TO On Pride Day (don't all conversations start with Pride Day?) we shared a table with Dignity on Church Street, handing out information and generally talking to people who came by. A number of our members also took part in an interdenominational service held in the basement of the 519 Community Centre. Of course we also marched in the parade, directly behind MCC. We sang along in a number of songs including *They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love*. The day's festivities concluded with most of us present going out to dinner. All in all I would say that not only did we increase Integrity's visibility but we also had a great time. We've met every week since then, usually for the Eucharist, and we have had a number of very interesting guests. In July Sister Hilda, an AIDS expert from Australia, joined us for a pot luck supper and a discussion of the International AIDS Conference that she had just attended. Sr Hilda also gave us a run-down of the AIDS situation as she saw it in both Australia and Toronto. July found us at Hanlan's Point for a picnic. This was enjoyed by all and I for one hope it becomes an annual event. At the end of July a number of our members attended the Lutherans Concerned/ North America Conference, *Assembly 88* held at Victoria College. Everyone who was able to attend found it a very empowering event with wonderful speakers including Barbara Lundblad and Svend Robinson. Of course we also closed August with our traditional 5th Wednesday party which coincidentally became a "surprise" birthday party for John. On September 14, many groups in the gay/ lesbian community joined together in our first "Celebration of Community", at Jarvis Collegiate. In the cafeteria, groups from the Out and Out Club to the Gay Men's Chorus by way of the Woman's Common and the AIDS Committee set up information tables. We shared a couple of tables with Dignity and Lutherans Concerned. The general public came to discover what was happening in the community, and a great time was had by all. ======== [88-1-3] GAY/LESBIAN ANGLICANS IN SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA Earlier this year, we received information from Integrity in the States that the Anglican Church in the Diocese of Sydney had taken a very homophobic stand. As it was just before Lambeth, we wrote to our bishops, asking if they could speak to their brother bishops from Australia. The text of our letter follows: Dear Bishop ___: Members of the Anglican communion are at home in Anglican churches wherever they travel around the world -- that is, after all, the meaning of our communion. A crack in our family has recently appeared, and we write to you to express our concern. As gay and lesbian members of the Anglican Church of Canada, we would not be welcome in the diocese of Sydney, Australia. In 1985, Sydney Synod passed a report (copy enclosed) that states, in effect, that homosexuals who do not deny their sexuality are "notorious and evil livers", and unwelcome in the Church. Gays, lesbians AND straight people who support them can and have been excluded from ANY ministry in the Church. This exclusion covers anything from arranging flowers to directing choirs to being a warden; and the sacraments are denied to these same people. Not only is ordination refused, but also baptism and the eucharist. We are enclosing copies of actual letters of excommunication. It is difficult to express in words our horror and revulsion that our gay/lesbian brothers and sisters are treated in this way. It seems to us that this action is not consistent with our Lord's Gospel of love. It is at times like this that we thank God that we live in Canada, where the church recognises that lesbian/gay people are children of God, with full call on the pastoral resources of the church. The Lambeth conference is later this year. Please, Sir, is there any way that you could speak to the Bishops from Australia, and advocate the cause of our brothers and sisters in their dioceses? Faithfully, Chris Ambidge / Bonnie Bewley *Co-Conveners* *[ Individual copies went to all thirty diocesan bishops and the Primate ]* We received several encouraging replies. The Primate wrote that he would speak to Archbishop Reid (of Sydney): "I think that my opening question would be to find out whether any other individuals or groups within the diocese are treated in this way and if, as I suspect, this is unique, on what grounds, Biblical or otherwise, can this be justified." Bishop Baycroft (suffragan of Ottawa) spoke well of the contact that his diocese has with the Integrity chapter there. Bishop Finlay, co-adjutor of Toronto, was actually in the same small group as Archbishop Reid at Lambeth, and received a note in reply to the concerns that were raised. The Australian response does not look too hopeful, unfortunately. It basically says how the report came about, repeats the "notorious and evil livers" rubric of the Prayer Book, and implies that the church is justified in acting as they have. Since we wrote to the Canadian bishops, we have learned of lesbians excommunicated as "unrepentant sinners" and clergy forced to resign for taking a pro-gay stand. Our sisters and brothers in Australia still need our support. Please keep them in your prayers and in the prayers of your parish. Write if you can to: Secretary of the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia, Box Q190, Queen Victoria Building, NSW 2000, Australia. Send copies to ANGAYS, PO Box 98, Enmore NSW 2048 Australia ======== [88-1-4] GCDC REPORT As you probably know, GCDC (Gay Community Dance Committee) dances are Integrity/ Toronto's primary source of income. GCDC is having a very hard time finding enough people willing to hand out leaflets at the various community bars before the dance and to do the security shifts after 1am. Since the already high credits for these shifts have not proved to be enough incentive the system has now been changed so that for the first person a group provides to work in each of these areas it receives a VERY large bonus. This change makes all other shifts worth less and if we do not supply at least one person for each of these areas our profit from these dances will diminish greatly. Please bear this in mind when Bonnie asks for volunteers for future dances. ======== [88-1-5] GAYS -- SEEKING JUSTICE IN THE CHURCH by the Rev Norm Rickaby "Gay, Lesbian and Christian" is the name of a conference/ retreat which has been held annually for the past 14 years at Kirkridge, a retreat centre in the Pocono mountains of Pennsylvania. In June, I was one of five Canadians, of a total of almost 100 participants, who attended. The weekend, which is planned for "gays, lesbians, their families and friends, and others who minister in support" attracts, mainly, gay and lesbian Christians from a variety of denominations. It is welcomed by them as an opportunity to meet with others of like experience and to share with them in an atmosphere of open honesty, the implications of living out their Christian faith. Part of my motivation for going to this year's conference was to hear two speakers; Virginia Ramey Mollenkott, co-author of the book *Is the Homosexual my Neighbour?*, and John Fortunato who wrote *Embracing the Exile* and, more recently, *AIDS: The Spiritual Dilemma.* all three of these books have challenged and influenced my thinking over the past few years. They were also a help in preparing me for the issues I have faced as I involved myself in working with people touched by the AIDS epidemic. The third presenter of the weekend, unknown to me before the conference, was Mary Hunt; a Roman Catholic lay person and theologian. Ms Hunt is co-director of Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual (WATER) based in the Washington DC area. It was Mary Hunt who presented the conference with a definition of the church which became almost a theme for of the weekend: "The church is an unlikely coalition of justice- seeking friends." Many issues were raised at the conference, including some which touched on the very essence of what the church is. Whose church is it, anyway? What does Christian faith mean in the lives of people who have been marginalised and made outcast because of who or what they are? The conference participants struggled with issues of justice, compassion, inclusivity, the meaning of love. All of these have far-reaching implications for any community of faith, but especially for one who looks to Jesus for example and guidance. Religious institutions, including the church, tend to develop systems which try to define who belongs "in" and who is "out". In Jesus' day, the religious establishment had pretty clear ideas about who could be accepted as "in" and part of the people of God. Even more importantly, their rules and marks of qualification made it easy for them to identify who were excluded -- the "outcasts and sinners." The frustrating thing about Jesus for the religious leaders of his day was that he had the irritating habit (for them) of treating the "outsiders" as if they belonged and were already included! As church people today, we fall into the same trap of attempting to define people as "in" or "out". The press, in recent months, has been full of articles about churches trying to deal with issues of homosexuality -- whether homosexuals can be included, can hold positions of leadership and responsibility, can be ordained. At the Gay, Lesbian and Christian Conference, I met homosexual Christians from a wide variety of denominational backgrounds, including some clergy. The fact is that *every* denomination has gay and lesbian members. Most also have lesbian or gay clergy (closeted, but *there*). It was Mary Hunt who addressed the mental and emotional conflict of Roman Catholic gay/lesbian people who, not unlike those in other denominational groups, find themselves in the strange position of being people who the church declares to be "intrinsically morally disordered" but who still want to be a part of the church and who, by both baptism and faith, are part of the church. For long years, in fact, all churches have benefited from and depended on the service of committed gay and lesbian clergy and lay people. Leaders in the church may know who these people are and encourage their contributions to the work of the church -- as long as they keep silence about "what" they are. In other words,, it's all right for these people to serve as long as they live a lie -- that is, pretend to be heterosexual. When, from time to time, one of these lay people or clergy can no longer live with dishonesty; when he or she can no longer deal with such questions as "when are you going to settle down and get married?"; when the strain of being "in the closet" is too much, the one who has been respected and depended upon for years is suddenly rejected and treated as a stranger. Is the church to be, as Mary Hunt suggested, a "coalition of justice- seeking friends"? What does it mean to be justice-seeking? Some might say that this implies far too "political" a stance for the church. Yet anyone who read the Old and New Testaments cannot escape their constant connection between love for God and love for humanity; their stress upon care of the widow and orphan, their concern for the poor, the stranger, the oppressed and the outcast. Is it just to require that a person must pretend in order to be accepted? Is it just to run away from someone and reject that one at the very moment that person has trusted and been completely honest with us? Attending the conference at Kirkridge was helpful to me. I recognised that with lesbian and gay people, as with other minorities, I needed to get to know them as persons and focus more upon our common qualities. We found that we had much more I common than we had that was different about us. After working and worshipping with the people at the conference, I came away enriched spiritually and with a number of wonderful new friends. [Reprinted by permission from *The Anglican* (Toronto) September 1988] ======== End of volume 88-1 of Integrator, the newsletter of Integrity/Toronto copyright 1988 Integrity/Toronto Editor this issue: Bonnie Bewley comments please to Chris Ambidge, current Editor chris.ambidge@utoronto.ca OR Integrity/Toronto Box 873 Stn F Toronto ON Canada M4Y 2N9