Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 23:43:36 -0500 From: Chris Ambidge INTEGRATOR, the newsletter of Integrity/Toronto volume 98-5, issue date 1998 11 14 copyright 1998 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 [98-5-1] HOLY CROSS / The Rev Shirley Stockdill reports on the second Integrity / Fidelity joint Eucharist, September 98 [98-5-2] PRECIOUS BLOOD / a reflection by Chris Ambidge on the murder of Matthew Shepard [98-5-3] CALLED TOGETHER BY THE CROSS / the sermon preached to Integrity and Fidelity members, 16 September 1998 by Canon Paul Feheley of Fidelity [98-5-4] GREETINGS IN THE NAME OF THE LORD / a message from Canon Fletcher Stewart, of The Pas MB. [98-5-5] ALLIANCE OF LESBIAN & GAY ANGLICANS WEBSITE LAUNCHED / announcing www.alga.org [98-5-6] A GIFT FROM GOD / Integrity/Toronto's co-convener Bonnie Crawford-Bewley interviewed on CBC Radio One's *Tapestry* [98-5-7] LAMBETH UPDATE: DIALOGUE WITH THE BISHOPS / Integrity corresponds with Canadian bishops, and more sign the *Pastoral Statement* [98-5-1] HOLY CROSS For the second year, Integrity/Toronto invited Fidelity members to join us at our September Eucharist. There were twenty people physically present; at least as many again joined the company of witnesses by joining us in prayer at that hour, and sending letters that we read at the beginning of the service. THE REV SHIRLEY STOCKDILL read the gospel at the service, and sends this report. + + + The Church of the Holy Trinity, Trinity Square is where one evening each month the Toronto chapter of Integrity meets with friends and family. They gather around the altar to worship and later around the table to eat and give support. This year at our Holy Cross Day celebration, friends who had come from the Fidelity community enhanced our numbers. Canon Paul Feheley celebrated the Eucharist and preached. In his sermon he reminded us of the elements that make us one body. They are the love of God, the body and blood of the eucharistic feast and the Cross of Christ around which we join our hands and voices in praise of the one God who loves, guides and nurtures us all. There is too much emphasis today, to my liking, on the great gap that exists between the homosexual world and the straight world. Canon Feheley pointed out to those gathered that there is one world, one baptism and one God. Our faith is seen in how we live and in our perspective of the world. It is that which is found in our baptismal vows: to seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbour as ourselves; and to strive for justice and peace among all people, respecting the dignity of every human being. The importance of a few friends gathered around a table should neither be underestimated nor dismissed. For the Christian message is not about tolerating people, it is about loving them. As violence against homosexual persons and other hate and racially motivated crimes increase we cannot afford to nurture our differences. We are compelled by the gospel message to reach out in love and join hands in loving worship. I believe that this is what Canon Feheley wished to remind us. When we have the Spirit to guide us, the numbers are irrelevant for we have nothing to fear, for however small the gathering we are great in witness. Holding hands passing the peace, taking the bread, which is his body, the wine his blood these will transform us into the people God wishes us to be. I believe that Canon Feheley, Bishop Finlay, and Chris Ambidge of Integrity should each be thanked and congratulated by Anglicans everywhere. They have shown the courage, faith and patience to work together to create a community in which friends are able to look beyond differences to those elements which hold us to the centre of our faith. Glory to God, whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. + + + [Author box: The Rev Shirley Stockdill is a priest of the diocese of New Westminster. She lives in Toronto, attends the Church of the Redeemer, and is a member of Integrity/Toronto] [98-5-2] PRECIOUS BLOOD "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints." *Psalm 116:15* A reflection by Chris Ambidge + + + Last month, ghastly news came from Wyoming. Matthew Shepard, a gay university student, had been found pistol-whipped into a coma, tied to a fence like a scarecrow, and abandoned overnight. He was not found for another eighteen hours, and although taken to hospital, never regained consciousness. He died a few days later, surrounded by his family. Two young men have been charged with his murder. Matthew apparently tried to engage them socially, and they didn't like advances being made on them by a homosexual. So they gaybashed him. During the time that Matthew was clinging to life, his story spread, and people all over North America - gay and straight -- were hoping he would pull through. When he didn't, grief and rage were released in great torrents. Vigils were held world-wide: one in Toronto drew 1000 people. While gaybashings happen *far* too often, for some reason, Matthew has come to symbolise every homosexual physically attacked for their orientation. Matthew's death has been tremendously difficult and indeed frightening for those of us who are gay or lesbian. We all realise "that could have been me". It has caused even more soul- searching among those of us who are Anglican. Matthew was an Anglican who loved his church. That doesn't make, as the Presiding Bishop of ECUSA said, our grief any sharper, but it does give Anglicans a particular responsibility to stand with gays and lesbians, and decry violence against them. Where did the young men who beat Matthew senseless learn that it was somehow OK to do that to "a faggot"? People who are labelled and put into a group of "others" are easier to pick on, whether they're Jews or Tutsis or homos. It's the thin end of the wedge that can lead to ethnic cleansing or pogroms or gaybashing. The church has an important role in arming people against dehumanising stereotypes. We, as Christ's followers, promise to respect the dignity of *every* human being. The church should be standing with the weak and individuals of unpopular groups. That will require re-thinking some of our approaches. Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 proscribe homosexual behaviour, and call for homosexuals to be killed. Bishop Swing of California has pointed out that by these Levitical pronouncements, Matthew's death was perfectly justified, and his blood is upon his own head. Swing then went on to point out that every civilised human being knows that what happened to Matthew was horribly, inexcusably, wrong. We all know that, in the depths of our being. Therefore, that reading of Leviticus *must* be wrong. The Rev Bill Bacon attended Matthew and his family the day before he died. I'll close this reflection with part of what Bacon wrote afterwards: "Pray for ourselves that we may put aside hysteria over human sexuality. Matthew Shepard is a treasure to the Church, as we each are treasures. Gay and Lesbian men and women serve at God's altars, celebrate Eucharist for us, serve on our vestries and sit in our pews. We don't have to vote on their membership; they are full members and the time has come to work together for the things that need to be done for God's Kingdom. "Matthew entered into Paradise on October 12. God did not ask him his sexual orientation. God asked him if he loved his Lord and did he love his fellow humans and seek to serve them and did he try to find a bit of Christ in those he met. Let us pray that we can answer as well as Matthew when our time comes." [98-5-3] CALLED TOGETHER BY THE CROSS *The sermon given by Canon A. Paul Feheley on the occasion of *a joint celebration of the Holy Eucharist among members of *Integrity and Fidelity, 16 September 1998 In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. My friends: Last year when I began my homily on this occasion I mentioned that I felt a little like a mosquito in a nudist colony - I didn't know quite where to begin. Now that I'm back I am reminded of the Anglican cliche that if you do something once in our church it's an experiment - if you do it twice it's a tradition. So now you know that we can't change anything about this service ever again because it's a tradition. I come this night with the support and prayers of the Advisory Board of my parish church, St. George's, Oshawa. I know how very important this service is for those who are looking to us for leadership and hope in dealing with difficult questions. None of us are fooled nor do we minimize the difficulties ahead for our Church, but the Eucharist, the celebration of the breaking of the bread and the sharing of wine, is something much larger than what I believe or you believe. In a general letter of invitation from July 16th of this year Chris Ambidge said something that is very real and very true about this night. "This Eucharist is not about converting people from one "side" to the other. It is not about saying "you are wrong and I'm right." It is about two groups of people who, whatever their differences, want to come together to worship God and to celebrate their common heritage as followers of Jesus Christ. Last year's Eucharist was very meaningful for all those who participated - both those present in body and those joining in prayer from a distance. "Integrity and Fidelity take very different approaches to the questions surrounding homosexuals in the church. But it is our church - we are baptized, and are thus members of the same family. This service is not the safest or easiest thing for either party. I am convinced, though, it's something the Holy Spirit is calling us to do. And if the Spirit is with us, we have nothing to fear. We hope and pray (and are assured) that good things - more than we can ask or imagine - will ensue for the church that we all love." It is exactly one day short of a year since I had the privilege and honour of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with you. By any measure it has been an incredible year to watch the Church pray, study, fight, grapple with, embrace and rejoice over questions about human sexuality. Among the many events of the year there are three that I want to mention. The first is General Synod held in Montreal in late May. I was elected as one of the Toronto delegates and during Synod tried to oversee the Fidelity display table set-up by design next to Integrity. I had a different appreciation of the size and complexity of the Anglican Church of Canada by attending General Synod and yet realized in some mystical way a sense of being one in Christ. Chris Ambidge and I spent time sharing the work of the Toronto Dialogue Group with a Bishop from Western Canada and a member of Integrity from his diocese. Important conversations and motions at General Synod reflected the present mind of the Church. A great moment of spiritual insight occurred when our Primate spoke the following in his closing remarks: "The secular press likes to portray us as a divided church, because that makes for good headlines. But we are a synod, a parliamentary body. Of *course* there's division - that's what we do. We discuss things, and then we decide, and that voting is called "division". That's how we come to a decision. We divide. But we are *not dividED*. We are one church ... and I can hold this synod up to any other church body in the world, and I am so proud of you." I had not heard anyone speak so eloquently and so truthfully about the way our differences exist within the community of the Anglican Church of Canada. The second event is Lambeth. After the vote on the resolution concerning human sexuality, a reporter called me to get my reaction. I almost felt she wanted me to gloat over the quote unquote *victory*. Lambeth was not about victory. I do believe what was said is important but I also think both conservatives and liberals were affected and pained by the words, activities and attitudes of people on both sides up to and including the episcopate. In both the pre-Lambeth documents and the debates there was a mindset among some that lacked Christian love, charity and understanding. At times you could almost hear the voice of Jesus asking, "I died for those attitudes and that way of thinking?" The comments of a number of our Canadian Bishops reflect where our church is and we can be proud of their words of reconciliation and hope. The third item was the publication of the document *Emerging Common Ground.* We need to thank Bishop Finlay for the foresight, wisdom and courage to bring together and sustain the Dialogue Group of Integrity and Fidelity. He has helped us to reach a commonality on some of the difficult subjects we have been considering. No one is fooled into thinking that these are the final words but they are an important beginning. What we discovered is that the 'other side' isn't the enemy. The true enemy is hatred, harshness, discrimination and bigotry. *Emerging Common Ground* is a light that shines on a dark path and keeps us on the road of listening, caring and love. It is significant that this Eucharist should be part of the celebration of Holy Cross day. It is a very ancient feast of the Church and celebrates the day that Constantine dedicated the church of the Holy Sepulchre on the site where his mother was believed to have unearthed the true cross. The Cross of Christ is an important symbol of unity. It speaks to us of Christ's priority in our lives. Is there anything that occupies the place in your heart that should be reserved for God alone? Many of us, I think, have idols or other things that may well be beautiful, useful and purposeful that need to be set aside so that there is space for Jesus Christ. This isn't new. Let me take you back to the first reading from the book of Numbers. What we find is that the Israelites have lost faith, have become centered on themselves, are disobedient and complaining. They look back nostalgically to Egypt forgetting about all of their hardships and slavery, remembering only that they didn't have to risk or worry about food. Now they know hunger and fear. They begin to doubt the joy freedom brings. Their behaviour is unfaithful and the result is death by poisonous snakes. They cried out to Moses that they had sinned, asking him to intercede with God on their behalf. God tells Moses to make a bronze serpent, place it on a pole and whoever looks upon the bronze serpent will be healed. Filled with fear and disbelief the Israelites lost their direction and sense of being able to move forward. What do they do? They blame Moses and God instead of using the suffering as a means of learning and changing. By blaming others they are unable to face what needs to be changed within themselves. Do you know what happened to the bronze serpent on the pole? Some 800 years later in 2 Kings 18:4 we read the following: King Hezekiah removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Ashram (idol altars). He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan. They made an idol of it and even gave it a name: 'Nehushtan'. That word means "a piece of bronze." They turned it into an object of worship. Something that had once been useful and effective had degenerated over the years into an idol. And what of us? All too frequently we create idols. Church buildings, a loved one, a liturgical book, work; a possession can become an idol so easily. One of the things we need to guard against is that ideology doesn't grip our hearts so that it becomes our 'Nehushtan' - that we worship the ideology more than we worship the Lord Christ. In the gospel reading from John we are told by Jesus that he must be lifted up on the cross just as the serpent was lifted up in the desert. When that happens, when the cross is lifted up, are we looking at the cross daring to approach it or are we turning our backs and moving away from it with no sense of care or belief? The triumph of the cross is that it invites the opposites. In Christ's death all is surrendered in love. For our two groups the cross stands as a symbol of our unity. The picture I have is the cross of Jesus Christ centered with Fidelity on one side and Integrity on the other. Each of us reach up to the cross and with one hand take the wounded, nailed hand of Christ - to complete the circle we hold each other's hand. Among others, John Westerhof tells the story of the boy who was born to overprotective parents. The boy was born with clubbed feet. His parents, particularly his mother, did everything in their power to protect him from any harm or hurt. He longingly wanted to join the other children in their games and constantly begged his mother to let him take part. Reluctantly, one day she agreed to let him venture out on his own to a store just over the hill. She anxiously stood on the porch as she watched him disappear into the distance. Impatiently she waited for his return and after what seemed a lifetime she saw him appear over the crest of the hill. Relieved, she approached him with exasperation. "Where have you been?" "What took you so long?" The boy explained that he had met Sally and that she had dropped her doll. The doll had broken into many pieces. Frustrated, his mother responded, "I suppose you had to stop and help Sally pick up the pieces." Without hesitation the boy answered his mother, "Oh no, I had to help her cry!" We have all prayed, read the scripture, studied, contemplated and debated about the difficult question of human sexuality and we do not agree. That we acknowledge. There are those who would like to use the things we do not agree on to drive a wedge of harshness and bitterness between us. The Holy Cross calls us to a different place. A place where we can pledge to one another our care and our love; where we commit ourselves to further dialogue and listening. A place where we can provide pastoral care and support and share the sacraments. Indeed, a place where we can help one another to rejoice in the power of the Spirit. I thank you my Pilgrim Companions for what we have accomplished so far, for the joy of being with you and for the steps that we will take, hand in hand, into God's future. Amen. + + + [Author box: Canon Paul Feheley is vice-president of Fidelity] [98-5-4] GREETINGS IN THE NAME OF THE LORD! One of the messages of support for this year's Integrity/Fidelity service came from CANON FLETCHER STEWART, Henry Budd College for Ministry, The Pas MB. Here is the text of his greeting: + + + Greetings in the Name of the Lord to the members of Integrity and Fidelity gathered for Eucharist on Sept. 16! Archbishop Desmond Tutu has said that the distinctive thing that keeps us together as Anglican Christians is simply that we meet. Genuinely and sincerely meeting with one another, sharing our life's experience and journey of faith, is the best way to ensure that we do not demonize one another, that the issues we struggle with are real, and that our outcomes, however provisional in this life, will be godly. The best advice Jesus ever gave us was "Love one another, as I have loved you." May God bless you all as you share his Body and Blood! Fletcher Stewart [98-5-5] Alliance of Lesbian & Gay Anglicans (ALGA) Launches Website ALGA, the Alliance of Lesbian and Gay Anglicans, formed at this year's Lambeth Conference, includes lesbigay-affirming groups in Canada, the US and the UK. The Alliance has just launched a website. Check it out at: http://www.alga.org [98-5-6] A GIFT FROM GOD *Tapestry* is the weekly programme on CBC Radio One which covers spiritual issues. This past spring, they did a programme on gays in the church. The host of the programme, Judy Maddren, interviewed Integrity/Toronto Co-Convener Bonnie Crawford Bewley as part of that programme. Here is the interview, with Bonnie telling part of her story as an Anglican lesbian. + + + [Judy Maddren] Gays in the church is not only a legal and narrowly doctrinal issue, it involves the most intimate part of human identity: sexuality. For many gay Christians, sexual identity and the soul are intricately interwoven. Bonnie Crawford-Bewley is a committed Christian, and a lesbian. She grew up in an Anglican family: her father and grandfather were both ministers. While she was growing up, the church was a place of love and acceptance: it was home. But as she became aware of her sexuality, the fact that she was gay, her feelings about her place in the church began to change. I recently spoke with Bonnie and her experience with the church. I began by asking her when she first realised that she was gay. [Bonnie Crawford-Bewley] To be honest, most of my youth I considered myself to be pretty much asexual. It wasn't something that I thought of in terms of myself. I probably realised that I was a lesbian when I was about twenty. When I decided to come out, what I decided was that I wanted to get involved with Integrity, which is gay and lesbian Anglicans. [JM] Was there a relationship that was pushing this for you? [BC-B] No, I found my partner about two and a half years after I came out. I think the thing that probably prompted me to come out was Joyce and Alison. They were both deacons, and the [then] bishop in Toronto put an injunction on them that said they couldn't exercise any of their duties as deacons. What he said was they had caused a scandal because they had publicly said that they were in this relationship. [JM] So hearing their story and becoming aware of it made you want to stand up for this issue? [BC-B] Yeah -- at that point I had not yet given up my hope that someday I would be ordained. And I realised that if what I thought about myself was true, this was going to prevent my being ordained. The way the church viewed this issue was going to be a bar to my ordination, because I certainly wasn't going to lie to somebody about who I was, that was not a possibility. When I got involved with Integrity, I quickly realised that (the church being as small a community as it is), I could not be involved in Integrity without my parents knowing. It seemed far more fair for me to tell my parents myself than for them to find out by accident. [JM] What was their reaction when you told them? [BC-B] They were not initially either positive or negative -- they were concerned. [JM] What about the reaction of your church? [BC-B] Its not what I would hope it to be. I don't regularly attend church now. The Anglican church is my home and it's my family and it always will be. But I don't attend on a regular basis any more because I tend to find it too much of a fight. It was always such an *issue*. I wanted church to be home like it had always been, and it couldn't be any more. [JM] Where did you get strength then? [BC-B] Integrity. I've been a member now for over ten years, and the people that I met the first day I went are still my closest friends. They are always there when I need them, always. They're what the church always was for me, except that now it's a smaller circle. [JM] This is now your church community? [BC-B] For me, yes. For me, unfortunately, yes. I want to feel that same acceptance from the church as a whole. I want to be able to walk into any Anglican church in Canada with my partner with the expectation that I'm going to be welcomed, and accepted for who we are, and treated like everyone else; and not that we're going to be An Issue, or A Cause, or A Concern. I just want to be part of the congregation. It's my family. I want to be able to go home, and basically what 's happening now is I don't feel I can, except in a limited way. [JM] And what's the major thing that stops you from feeling that you're at home? [BC-B] that the church has taken and continues to take a position on homosexuality that they will not ordain anyone who is gay or lesbian and in a relationship; that it is not acceptable for anybody who is gay or lesbian to be in a relationship. It still is saying that they will not bless our unions, and that there's still doubt about whether our relationships are a gift from God like everyone else's. [JM] Talk a bit about how important marriage is in your relationship. [BC-B] It was very important to both myself and to Michelle that we should have a wedding. To us, that's how we think about it, it was our wedding. It was called "a blessing of same-sex union", but to us it was our Wedding. It was important that we have that service with our family and our friends before God; because that was fundamental to our understanding of ourselves. That when you found the person that God intended you to be with, that you should go through that service and make a formal commitment to each other before God and your family and friends -- and give thanks for that. [JM] Now you said it was a blessing of a same-sex union, not a formal wedding. The Anglican Church at this point doesn't do that -- where did you have that ceremony? [BC-B] At Christos MCC [JM Which is...?] MCC is Metropolitan Community Church. It was formed to deal with the fact that so many mainstream churches were ostracising their gay and lesbian members and that there were still a lot of gay and lesbian people who have strong religious needs and want to be part of a religious community like that, have that feeling of family; be able to celebrate in formal ways, but who no longer feel that they can do that in their own church. There is no doubt in my mind that Michelle is a gift to me from God; there is *no* doubt. She added so much to my life. My mother had come to *accept* that I was a lesbian before I met Michelle, but I think that seeing me with Michelle was the thing that finally made Mum *happy* about it. There's a difference between accepting it, in all good grace, and being happy about it. The first time that my Mum saw me with Michelle, she said "I never heard you laugh like that before." I was not a happy person, and I was not a confident person until I met Michelle. Those are gifts that I got from her love. [JM] And did your father have the same reaction as your Mum? [BC-B] I think actually the thing that changed my father's mind was a conversation that he and I had not that long after I came out. We were talking about theology, we were talking about the church's position on homosexuality. He was stating back to me the church's position, that it was fine for me to be lesbian if that was who I was, and there was no problem with that, but I couldn't act on it. That acting would not be appropriate. My parents have a wonderful marriage, they love each other very, very much. I remember bursting into tears when he said that, and saying, "Is that what you want for me? Is that what you really think God wants for me? To be alone for the rest of my life, to never have what you have with Mum?" I think what happened was -- I'm his only child, and I think what he heard was his little girl's pain, and thought "I can't say that to you, no, I can't say that." I think when he was faced with the personal cost of what the church's rulings meant, I think that was what made him understand that they were wrong. [JM] Has there been a personal cost for you in terms of your relationship with God because of your homosexuality? [BC-B] No, there hasn't been a cost to me in my relationship with God. Not at all. There definitely has been a cost to me in my relationship with the church. That is a very high cost. I choose to not hide who I am, and I choose to try and work to change the Anglican church to a point where it will not be an issue for people who come after me. But I do not expect that in my lifetime, or certainly not at a point when I'm still young enough to study theology, that it will be an option for me to be ordained; and that makes me very, very sad. [JM] Now there are two pretty strong camps within the church, they are vastly divergent in their views about this. There are people who disagree strongly with your choice. How do you think both of those views can be accommodated in the church? [BC-B] At the moment I think that the model I would suggest is the one used for the ordination of women. They took an official position which said that the ordination of women was an acceptable thing, but that for a period of time they would not require any diocese or any congregation to accept a female minister until they were ready to do that. But they said that the church as a whole would accept the ordination of women. I think they could do the same thing now. There are congregations right now who would not have a problem having a gay or lesbian rector. There are congregations that knowingly *do* -- but not with the public sanction of the church. [JM] Thank you very much for speaking with us [BC-B] You're welcome [JM] Bonnie Crawford-Bewley is Co-Convener of Integrity, an organisation for gay and lesbian Anglicans. + + + [This interview was initially broadcast across Canada on CBC Radio One 17 May 1998] [98-5-7] LAMBETH UPDATE: DIALOGUE WITH THE BISHOPS # Integrity corresponds with the Canadian bishops # More signatories to the *Pastoral Statement to Lesbian and Gay Anglicans* The Lambeth Conference wrapped up at the beginning of August, but it will continue to have an effect on the lives of lesbigays in the church for a while yet. Integrity in Canada used the opportunity of the conference to correspond with all of the bishops in Canada, asking for their reflections on what happened at the conference; and where they thought we, as lesbigay Canadian Anglicans might focus our attentions at the present. We have received some very thoughtful and insightful letters from bishops on both sides of the Lambeth vote, and we are grateful to them. The situation continues to evolve, of course. Lambeth is one step along a lengthy journey for the church we all love. Chapters across the country will be reflecting on the responses we have received from our bishops, and will stay in dialogue with them. In the meantime, more bishops continue to add their signatures to the 5 August *Pastoral Statement to Lesbian and Gay Anglicans,* circulated by Bishop Haines of Washington [see Integrator article [98-4-3] for the full text of the Pastoral Statement]. At press time, 182 bishops from 13 provinces around the world, including 8 primates have signed. There are now 17 Canadian bishops who have added their names. They are: Michael Bedford-Jones [Toronto - York/Scarborough] David Crawley, [Kootenay (Metropolitan)] James Cruickshank, [Cariboo] Terence Finlay, Toronto] John Hannen, [Caledonia] Fred Hiltz, [Nova Scotia (Suffragan]) Andrew Hutchison, [Montreal] Michael Ingham, [New Westminster] Barry Jenks, [British Columbia] Patrick Lee, [Rupert's Land] Percy O'Driscoll, [Huron (Metropolitan)] Michael Peers, [Primate] Arthur Peters, [Nova Scotia (Metropolitan)] Ralph Spence, [Niagara] Ann Tottenham, [Toronto - Credit Valley] Robert Townshend, [Huron - Georgian Bay] Duncan Wallace, [Qu'Appelle] We would not want to present this as an us-versus-them situation. We have been very encouraged by bishops of many viewpoints in the Canadian church taking this question seriously, whether or not they agree with Integrity's point-of-view. Our house of bishops has been grappling it for a number of years. That is not something seen across the Anglican communion, and something to celebrate. End of volume 98-5 of Integrator, the newsletter of Integrity/Toronto copyright 1998 Integrity/Toronto comments please to Chris Ambidge, Editor chris.ambidge@utoronto.ca OR Integrity/Toronto Box 873 Stn F Toronto ON Canada M4Y 2N9 -- -- Chris Ambidge chris.ambidge@utoronto.ca Integrity/Toronto http://www.kapn.tap.net/integrity Integrity is a member of the Alliance of Lesbian & Gay Anglicans http://www.alga.org