Date: Fri, 19 Jun 1998 14:44:10 -0400 From: Chris Ambidge Subject: *Integrator* files for 1992 INTEGRATOR, the newsletter of Integrity/Toronto volume 92-9, issue date 1992 12 09 copyright 1992 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 == [92-9-1] LESGAY PRAYER BOOK PUBLISHED - after being suppressed by Archbishop of Canterbury / report by Mayne Ellis [92-9-2] ANTI-GAY MEASURES IN THE RECENT US ELECTIONS / by Norm Rickaby [92-9-3] A BISHOP SPEAKS TO GENERAL SYNOD / the words of the Rt Rev David Crawley's address at the Sexual Orientation Forum [92-9-4] INTEGRITY/KINGSTON GOES TO SYNOD / by Patti Brace, who last appeared in these pages reporting on General Synod. [92-9-5] FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE / an on-the-street report from Norm Rickaby ======== [92-9-1] LESGAY PRAYER BOOK PUBLISHED after being suppressed by Archbishop of Canterbury [Regular readers of Integrator will recall from our April 1992 issue that *Daring to Speak Love's Name: A Celebration of Friendship* was accepted for publication by the SPCK in Great Britain. It was described by the editorial director as "an intensely moral book", but publication was halted in the face of thinly-veiled threats by the Archbishop of Canterbury. It has now been published by Hamish Hamilton. MAYNE ELLIS, our London correspondent, was at the book launching, and sends this report:] *Daring to Speak Love's Name*, the lesgay prayer book compiled by Dr Elizabeth Stuart, lecturer at St Mark's and St John's Theological College, was the focus of a remarkable launch on Tuesday October 27. Over 300 people filled the main auditorium of the Methodist Central Hall in London for an evening of worship and protest. Bishop John Spong flew from Newark to deliver the keynote address. "To preserve unity," he observed, "the church plays to fear and prejudice." He noted that George Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury, in his recent address to the American House of Bishops, criticised "one-issue Christians", citing feminism, biblical fundamentalism and homosexuality as "tangential issues". Spong was surprised that any thinking Christian could consider the status of women, the (ab)use of scripture, and human sexuality to be marginal issues. They are interlocked, he said, defining basic struggles in the Christian church, and resoundingly affirmed his ongoing support on these issues. To a standing ovation, he called upon the church to open its heart and mind to lesgay people. After deliberation beforehand, the Hall's committee had kindly agreed to the liturgy which followed: readings and scripture from *Daring to Speak Love's Name*, a blessing of relationships performed by the Rev Jean Elder (MCC) and Fr Bernard Lynch, and music (some of it composed for the occasion) performed by the MCC Women's Choir and the London Gay Men's Choir. Dr Elizabeth Stuart took the podium to massive applause and told of the dramatic events surrounding publication. She had been initially commissioned by the Society to Promote Christian Knowledge (SPCK) to produce *Daring to Speak Love's Name*. Earlier this year, someone on the editorial board alerted the Archbishop of Canterbury about the book. Dr Carey is President of the SPCK, and is himself a Christian not known for his wholehearted acceptance of lesgay people. In his reply to the board, Carey admitted that he had not read the whole book, but said some prayers might "foster the myth that HIV and AIDS are confined to the homosexual community." The Rev Peter O'Driscoll, Chair of the Daring to Speak Coalition, demanded, "Where were the Archbishop and the Church when the MEDIA were fostering that myth?" Carey suggested he might resign as President of the SPCK "if a divergence ... in editorial policy were frequently repeated." The board withdrew its commission, leaving Dr Stuart and the book in the wilderness. But she did not slink away, as the resulting media coverage in March made clear. On Tuesday night, she said, "It's a sin to allow yourself to be oppressed ... What kind of church is this that says, You're not allowed to pray!" In an eloquent speech she expressed thanks to the many who had supported and defended her, including Christians who did not agree with what she said, but would defend to the death her right to say it. There is blessing here, as Bishop Spong said. Because of the attention given to the suppression of the book by SPCK, it will now be more widely known and available through Hamish Hamilton's courageous sponsorship. That publisher is planning a second book by Dr Stuart in 1993. The Daring to Speak Coalition has been formed to put an end to the suppression and silencing of lesgay issues in church publishing. It recommends that authors NOT offer manuscripts to SPCK and its imprints, Sheldon and Triangle, until SPCK demonstrates that it will treat positive lesgay material fairly and sympathetically and until it apologises to Dr Stuart and the lesgay community for the suffering it has inflicted. And Dr Stuart said she had learned a valuable lesson from the upheaval: "We will never allow ourselves to be treated like that again." -- to which a cheering audience replied, "Amen!" ======== [92-9-2] ANTI-GAY MEASURES IN THE RECENT US ELECTIONS by Norm Rickaby IT HAS BEEN A POLICY of *Integrator* generally not to comment upon issues and events which happen in the United States, although we certainly do our best to report items of interest. For one thing, the publications of local chapters of Integrity and of the national organisation do a fine job of reporting and commenting on those issues which affect them in their own country. In particular, comment upon political issues which are concerns of the people in another country and not necessarily fully understood by more distant observers could be presumptuous on our part. However, we do feel that it is necessary to spend a little space on the recent US election -- and, in particular, on the several attempts to put forward and pass anti-gay measures. We do this, not because we want to point fingers or appear to be criticising the people of our sister nation, but rather because there is a very serious lesson for us to learn right here in Canada. The lesson is this: we dare not ever become complacent or relaxed about the progress that has and is being made towards legal recognition and rights for lesbian and gays. In Canada, seven provinces and territories now have civil rights for lesgays entrenched in their human rights codes. Recent court decisions have said that our rights are implicit in the Canadian Human Rights Act, even though the present federal government has consistently dragged its heels over actually putting the words on paper. The armed forces have recently accepted a legal decision which requires that lesbians and gays be permitted to remain within their ranks. What happened in the US? On several state or local ballots, an organised effort by a variety of coalitions placed questions designed either to overturn present legislation or to prevent future legislation in support of civil rights for lesbian, bisexual or gay people. The well-publicised (and well-funded from the Evangelical Christian right) effort to pass Ballot Measure 9 in Oregon failed, as did a measure in Portland, Maine to repeal a local municipal gay rights ordinance. We applaud the two Episcopal Bishops of Oregon who made it their business to let their people know that they opposed the effort to remove civil rights from homosexuals. On the negative side, the anti-gay rights amendment to the state constitution of Colorado passed, although at this time the cities of Denver and Boulder and many prominent people in Colorado have begun a fight to overturn it. In Tampa, Florida, a local gay rights ordinance was repealed. Although we live in a country where the political and legal process is somewhat different than that if the United States, we are clearly moving in a direction of deciding questions by Referendum. The vote on the constitution this past October was a novelty, but once a question has been brought to the people in this way, it may very well be seen as a way of dealing with other questions in future. We should never be satisfied when an issue has been settled in law, thinking that it will never be raised or questioned again. It would not take much, in a local, provincial or federal election for the issue of homosexual rights to become something over which an election might be won or lost. Yes, we have made progress. Yes, things do seem to be improving on the legal scene here in Canada. But we must never forget that the roots of sexism, homophobia and hatred run deep into the fibre of our society and often will surface with only slight provocation. We must never tire of working for justice and for the preservation of justice already won. ======== [92-9-3] A BISHOP SPEAKS TO GENERAL SYNOD the words of the Rt Rev DAVID CRAWLEY's address at the Sexual Orientation Forum [BISHOP DAVID CRAWLEY was introduced to General Synod by the Primate with these words, "David is the Bishop of Kootenay. He is has served on the National Doctrine and Worship Committee, and in a number of parishes in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, and before his election as bishop he was parish priest at St Paul's Church in the west end of Vancouver with a significant gay and lesbian population."] MY NAME IS DAVID CRAWLEY, and I'm not a scientist or a biblical scholar. I was, and I still am, I guess, a working priest who was given a great gift. The blessing of working for a time amongst gay and lesbian people is a gift I would wish for all of you. From them, and with them, I learned so much, and yet I am aware that I did not really earn the right to speak about them or for them. So I offer you only my own experience. Like many people I was aware of, I knew a few gay and lesbian people. But prior to 1982 I never talked to any of them about their sexuality. That year, a pause between flights allowed me to spend several hours talking to an old friend, who told me for the first time that he was gay. He said two things that I now look back on as the beginning of a process of learning and transformation for me. He talked of the difficulty of being gay in a smallish, western city, and how he felt an alien in the gay community. He said, "My friends say, "Why don't you wear jeans?" You know me, David: I'm grey flannel. I've always been grey flannel." Stereotypes began to disappear for me. As I rushed to catch my plane, I shook his hand and started through the gate, and I looked back and knew that a handshake wasn't enough, so I hugged him. And he said to me, "David, we are more alike than we are different. All we both want is to love and be loved." I was at the time living in the wreckage of a recently broken marriage, and I knew exactly what he meant. In 1985, three years later, I was appointed to St. Paul's parish, Vancouver. Thank-you, Douglas [Hambidge, Archbishop of New Westminster], wherever you are. Within its bounds live about ten thousand gay and lesbian people: about a quarter of the residents of that area. In its profile, the parish had described itself as showing overt hostility towards the gay and lesbian community, but it also courageously said, it knew it must change. I lied through my teeth and said that I knew how to go about that process of change, and so they hired me. [Laughter.] I was, however, very apprehensive about working with and among gay and lesbian people. Frankly, I was afraid they wouldn't accept me, that I wouldn't speak their language or know their customs. I suppose, most of all, I was afraid they would laugh at me or think I was self-serving. To my great surprise as I began to know and be known by gay and lesbian people, I discovered that, as great as my fear of being reject was, theirs was far greater, for rejection was their constant experience. The simplest acts of openness or affirmation on evoked a response of gratitude and affection so out of proportion to the acts, that I felt greatly humbled. You know, sometimes when we say the blessing, we throw in an extra line -- you know -- about "...you and those whom you love, this day and always." One day without thinking, I said that in church. At the end of the service, a gay man came up to my wife and said, "Wasn't that wonderful! That's the first time I have ever heard a priest bless "those whom we love". Such a simple thing -- I didn't even intend it to be that -- he took as affirmation. I was humbled, because I began to realise how deeply hurt so many of these new friends of mine had been, and how I had unthinkingly been one of the afflicters. As my wife and I got to know more and more gay and lesbian people better and better, we came to the conclusion that to live as a gay or lesbian person demanded such sacrifice and pain that no one would freely choose to do so. We read in the scientific books the theories about the causes of homosexuality, and we read studies in scripture, but the primary basis for our belief remained our experience. I believe that this conclusion -- that homosexuality is not a matter of choice for the truly homosexual, any more than heterosexuality is a matter of choice for the majority of us who are truly heterosexual -- is the truth. I believe that to be the truth. I think our House of Bishop Guidelines of 1979 state that. Now if that is the truth -- that orientation is not a matter of choice -- then the question becomes, Do we believe that gay and lesbian people should be forced to live without human intimacy? I did not, and I do not believe that should be the case. So for me and for my work, the real question became, Should the church, or should it not, approve same-sex, monogamous unions? My answer logically had to be, Yes it should. About this time, I began to question the conclusion to which I had been led. Was I, by condoning same-sex unions, although not blessing them, helping to prevent people from moving to brokenness, from brokenness to wholeness? Or if you prefer as I do, the older language, Was I by condoning, indeed rejoicing in same-sex unions, encouraging people to remain in a state of sin, and thus place their souls in danger? It took me a long time, because I was deeply troubled, but it seemed to me in the end that it was my duty as a priest as it was with all those in my care to share that danger. That I would in faith act according to my best insights and my conscience and trust that the loving way would be the right way, leaving the final judgement up to God. My friend in the airport was right. Our similarities are greater than our differences because we all share the common human need to love and be loved. ======= [92-9-4] INTEGRITY/KINGSTON GOES TO SYNOD by PATTI BRACE, who last appeared in these pages reporting on General Synod. OCTOBER 22 AND 23 saw the Synod of the Diocese of Ontario meet at MacArthur College, Queen's University, where Integrity/Kingston made its official debut with a staffed display. The display area was along a broad hallway that led to the synod hall. Our table was near the Diocesan Archives and General Synod displays and, thanks to the synod agenda committee, adjacent to the coffee urns. How many options do people waiting in line have? In a hallway, it is difficult to make "avoidance loops." We decked the table out with a rainbow flag, our banner, the contents of our collective libraries, pamphlets, copies of *Our Stories/Your Story*, AIDS Vigil posters, rainbow ribbon and, of course, jelly beans. It was pretty sharp, if I do say so myself. The day and a half of synod was spent smiling and chatting, offering jelly beans and pinning rainbow ribbon on people, including most of the senior clergy of the diocese. While we had a few antagonistic encounters, most members seemed pleased that we were there and were friendly. Either that or they were just humouring us, afraid that we might "bean" them if crossed. The friendly response may also have something to do with the fact that Anglicans view taking someone's jelly beans and NOT talking to them as impolite. Whatever the reason, we made contact with a broad range of people, many of whom took pamphlets. During the dinner break on Friday I sat away from the table watching General Synod videos and noticed people who had avoided us during the day approaching the unattended table. At one point, two older women went up, looked carefully at everything, and picked up a complete set of pamphlets and *Our Stories*. It was heartening to see, and I don't think they would have felt comfortable doing that with us directly across the table. Since synod, feedback on our display and our presence has been largely positive. Even people who were uncomfortable with the idea of Integrity liked the booth. We hope that having been at synod will raise our profile in the diocese and open up discussion (our diocese has thus far been blanketed in silence) -- we are everywhere, not just in Toronto. By the way, 200 or so Anglicans consumed four pounds of jelly beans in a day and a half. What does this say about our denomination? ======== [92-9-5] FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE an on-the-street report from NORM RICKABY ON SUNDAY OCTOBER 18TH a record number of participants "From All Walks Of Life" each travelled 10 km to raised over half a million dollars for AIDS-related charities. Integrity/Toronto members raised just over $1000. Because the walk is held on a Sunday, in other years church people have had to make a choice between walking and worshipping on that day. This year, arrangements were made to extend the starting time for walkers. Early risers and others who wanted to start early in the morning were able to do so. On the other hand, many of us arrived from church to start our walk between 12:30 and 1:00 in the afternoon. About 30 or 40 Anglicans walked together this year. Several parishes and youth groups were involved and carried their banners to identify themselves. A small delegation of Integrity/Toronto members was also there in the Anglican contingent and we, too, brought our walking banner. Bishop Terence Finlay, our Diocesan, set the pace from Nathan Phillips Square, and the rest of us straggled behind, catching up when he stopped at a local TV station for a brief interview. The day was cloudy and cool. In fact, the last kilometre or so of our walk, we were rained on, but our spirits remained undampened! ======== End of volume 92-9 of Integrator, the newsletter of Integrity/Toronto copyright 1992 Integrity/Toronto comments please to Chris Ambidge, Editor chris.ambidge@utoronto.ca OR Integrity/Toronto Box 873 Stn F Toronto ON Canada M4Y 2N9