Date: Sun, 15 Aug 1999 17:02:21 -0400 From: Chris Ambidge Subject: *Integrator* volume 99-4 INTEGRATOR, the newsletter of Integrity/Toronto volume 99-4, issue date 1999 08 11 copyright 1999 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 == [99-4-1] ANGLICANS MARCHING WITH PRIDE / Anglicans at Toronto Lesbian/Gay Pride 1999, by Marj Richings and Laurie Hall [99-4-2] GRIEF AND ANGER IN LONDON / Bombing of the Admiral Duncan pub shakes the lesbigay community, by Chris Hansen [99-4-3] BISHOP ANN VISITS INTEGRITY/TORONTO / by Mayne Ellis [99-4-4] WHIT'S END / a report from Integrity/Toronto's May 99 retreat, by KD Miller [99-4-5] THE DAY FRED PHELPS DIDN'T COME TO TOWN / A demonstration for tolerance in Ottawa, by Ron Chaplin [99-4-6] IN THE LIGHT(?) OF LAMBETH / Trinity College panel on Sexuality, Unity and Diversity, by Canon Bill Morrison [99-4-7] HUMAN SEXUALITY: A REPORT / The report of the Lambeth Conference 98 sub-section of 60 or so bishops who discussed human sexuality. ======== [99-4-1] ANGLICANS MARCHING WITH PRIDE!! by Marj Richings and Laurie Hall On Sunday 27 June of this year, we joined other Anglicans from several different parishes in the Lesbian and Gay Pride Parade. The group, led by a float from Holy Trinity Church, Toronto, was followed by an Integrity/ Toronto banner and many people wearing T-shirts that identified their parishes. Several people carried placards, made by Chris Ambidge, that said "Anglicans Marching With Pride." Several clergy also marched, including Rev. Jim Ferry, who received a tremendous response from the crowd. This was not the first time we marched in the parade. Each year, the decision to march in the parade as an Anglican, involves making a conscious decision to identify both with the Church and with Christ in a rather unlikely setting. We have met many people, who when they were younger felt forced to make a choice between staying in the church or being true to who they were. This often has caused a great deal of sadness and/or anger. The hurt and rejection goes very deep. It has been very unfortunate that people believe that the Church always speaks for God. Throughout the parade route that day, what we saw and experienced from the 800,000+ people watching from the sidelines, was: surprise, joy, enthusiasm and overwhelming support. Surprise that the Church might now accept them. That maybe it was no longer required to choose between one's faith and sexual orientation. That perhaps the two aspects of their being could co- exist. For many others, to see 'their' church, represented in 'their' parade produced elation and a very enthusiastic response. We felt very strongly, support from the sidelines for our group, being seen as those who would stand up and say it is time to be truly inclusive. It was a profoundly emotion, hear-warming event for us. We were proud to be identified with the Anglican Church before the lesbian and gay community. It is a very healing experience to be able to bring two (sometimes) very separate aspects of ones life together. The Church has supported this separation for far too long. We feel very strongly that this is an example of the best possible outreach we as the Church are called to do. = = = = {Author Box: Marj Richings and Laurie Hall are members of both the Church of the Redeemer, Toronto and of Integrity/Toronto. They were both seen (as were most of the rest of the Anglican marchers) to great advantage in the CITY-TV live coverage of the Pride parade. Laurie's placard, particularly, was very legible on television.} ======== [99-4-2] GRIEF AND ANGER IN LONDON Bombing of the Admiral Duncan pub shakes lesbigay community By Chris Hansen London, England saw a series of three terrorist bomb blasts in mid-to-late April of this year. The first exploded in Brixton, a predominantly Afro-Caribbean district. The second, a week later, was in Brick Lane, a primarily Bangladeshi area. Then, less than a week later, in Soho, a bomb went off in the Admiral Duncan, a pub which catered to a predominantly gay clientele. CHRIS HANSEN is a long-time Integrity member who now lives in London, and sent us this report. + + + + + I moved to London from the USA at the beginning of 1994. At the time, the IRA was still active and no ceasefire had been proclaimed. From my home I was actually able to hear both the bombs of 1995 go off (at Aldwich and Canary Wharf). As a Londoner, I am very used to the idea that unattended packages are always suspected bombs, and security alerts mar my Underground journeys several times a month. The bombs which exploded in Brixton, Brick Lane, and at the Admiral Duncan pub in Old Compton Street touched home in a way that the previous bombs did not. I live in South London, and my lover and I had visited Brixton Market the week before the Brixton bomb went off. We often visited the West End, and walked by the Admiral Duncan quite often, not noticing it as particularly different from any of the other pubs along London's "Gay Street". On that Saturday night I was doing some admin work on the UK gay and lesbian e-mail list, uk-motss. This work involved stopping the list and getting all those who were still active to resubscribe. It was the first time I had done this, and it took some concentration. Just after I stopped the list, the news came over the radio that a pub in the West End had been bombed. Luckily, I was able to restart the list quickly and there was a place for people to write expressing their grief and anger. There was quite a bit of that in the next few weeks. As described by friends who were in Old Compton Street at the time, a bomb explosion is a unique kind of disaster. For a moment after the blast, all is calm and quiet. Then, the screaming begins. People begin to run away from (or toward) the explosion site. Those who were injured walk around in a daze. In the distance, sirens begin to wail as the emergency vehicles start to converge. Then the injured are helped, the dead are moved, and police move in to begin the forensic investigation. After everything had become clear, three were dead, several dozen were injured (some are still in hospital even today, one month after), a business lay in ruins, and the entire community mourns. Oddly enough, two of the three who died were straight, one a pregnant woman who was having a pre-theatre drink with her husband, the other the best man from their wedding. The third was one of their friends from Essex, a gay man who suggested the Admiral Duncan as a good place for a quiet drink. Some of those who wrote to uk-motss were regulars in the Admiral Duncan; some had been on Old Compton Street at the time of the blast; others had had a drink there a few hours before the bomb. One man poignantly told how he had had a drink about a year ago in the Admiral Duncan with a woman who was about to get married. From the description he was sure that she had been the woman who died in the blast -- she had had her bride's "hen party" in Soho before the wedding. The next day, the entire street was still cordoned off by the police while the investigation continued. My lover and I walked past, and the crowd was outnumbered by the camera crews, mobile telecoms units, and police. A small pile of bouquets stood in the corner; those who wished to place flowers gave them to a police officer, who placed them against the wall, behind the barrier. So, what has happened to our community as a result of this bomb? First, there has been not only a tremendous respect for the speed at which the police responded to the blast and its aftermath, but also many questions raised as a result. On uk-motss, a member who is "close to the security services" posted a warning the week before the bombing asking people to be cautious when in lesbian and gay venues, since the police had a hunch that a gay venue would be the next on the list of targets. *The Pink Paper*, the London lesbian and gay free newsweekly, printed a story to the same effect on its front page the Thursday before the bomb. However, lesbian and gay venues were not specifically canvassed by the police and given advice about prevention of terrorism. Were the police going to get around to it but were they overtaken by events, as they say, or were they deliberately overlooking it, as some activists say? The true answer may be a mixture of both. Second, going to a gay venue now has become more difficult. Anyone carrying a bag is searched. We accept this as the price for protection, but it still rankles, a bit. Third, just a few hours after the blast, people were out saying "No one can drive us back into the closet!" When my lover, a friend from the U.S., and I were walking down Old Compton Street last Sunday, everything was as usual, except for the boarded up front of the Admiral Duncan. The pubs, clubs, and bistros were all open for business. The traffic was manic, as usual (I made my usual comment: "I wish they'd pedestrianize this street.") Gay and lesbian couples walked hand-in-hand, as did straight couples. Finally, a few days after the bombing, a man was arrested in Hampshire and charged with the bombing. By his account, he was alone in planning and executing all three blasts (even though rightwing groups had claimed responsibility), and has been remanded in custody to await trial. Every few days there are little news items about the bomb's effects. A doctor writes that much trouble could have been avoided had limbs been amputated immediately instead of trying to save them. It turns out the bomb was packed with dirt and dog excrement as well as with nails. Walking wounded were beginning to come into hospital because their wounds, while minor, had become infected from this material. The community is resilient. Vigils compete with each other for time and newspaper space (a religious one at St. Anne's Dean Street occurred simultaneously with the secular OutRage! one at Soho Square). But every time we go into a bar with our shopping our bags are searched. Every time we're outside and we hear a loud BANG!, we stop and wonder whether it's another bomb. If my lover is a bit late coming home from his university graduate course, I worry. And, before you all say, "It can't happen here," don't even think it! Yes, this is mad, bad Europe, where a religious war is going on in the Southeast Balkans, Turks and Greeks still hate each other, a political assassination in Italy grabs headlines only a few weeks after a popular TV presenter is gunned down on her front porch in West London, and the IRA has recently released details of the burial sites of 20 or so people who were secretly killed over the past 30 years during the Troubles. Fallible human nature does not change even if an ocean separates us. I do not need to catalogue the events of the past year in North America which equal and surpass what happened here at the beginning of May. I'm sure the news media in North America have covered them well, and even to excess. Envy, greed, lust, anger, pride operate in us all. Sometimes, when they boil to the surface, a nail bomb results. Just as often, a carful of young men yelling "Faggots!" sweeps down the street in a North American lesbian and gay district. When they stop, the baseball bats come out and the bashing starts. It's just one little step from breaking gay heads to blowing up gay bars. And it could happen anywhere-even in your local lesbian and gay area. What can be done? We just go on, walking down the same streets, drinking in the same pubs (except for the Admiral Duncan), eating in the same restaurants, and wondering whether that bag next to the lamppost is just a bag -- or something more. [Editor's note: Since this article was written, the Admiral Duncan has reopened. A suspect in the bombings is now awaiting trial] = = = = [Author Box: CHRIS HANSEN is from Marblehead, Massachusetts; but now makes his living as a computer guru living in London. He has been a member of Integrity since February 1988, and an Anglican since October 2 of the same year. After moving from New York to Chicago in 1991, he became Convener of Integrity/Chicago. In 1993, while living in San Francisco, he tried to resurrect the Integrity chapter there, but was translated to London before this came to fruition. In his spare time he tends the sheep of several electronic flocks, was churchwarden at St Matthew's at the Elephant (and Castle) in south London and is now sacristan.] ======== [99-4-3] BISHOP ANN VISITS INTEGRITY/TORONTO by Mayne Ellis Bishop Ann Tottenham blessed Integrity/Toronto with her company on Wednesday 19 May 1999. After celebrating the Eucharist together, we shared with her our perspectives on where the Canadian church presently is on sexuality issues. Bishop Anne said she had come to listen, and this she did with her usual humour and understanding. The debacle of Lambeth's plenary "debate" on sexuality is, we told her, a source of anxiety and pain. Canadian bishops who were present were deeply surprised at the level of discourse and the inappropriateness of the resulting motion. An Integrity member noted that the Canadian church can be better, and indeed has done better than the bishops at Lambeth; but one member spoke for us all in noting that the repercussions of Lambeth will have a profound "ripple effect" on the faith and lives of lesbigay people, our friends, family, partners, and parishes. Some of Integrity Canada's members are on commissions and discussion groups in their dioceses, and some sharing was done about the variety of these conversations. It's possible that the discussions which have begun more recently are affected in both quality and morale by the social and legislative events of the last couple of years, both governmental and ecclesiastical. One member expressed the concern that the bishops were going to wait until there was unanimity on the issue - which is to say never - and drew an analogy with the debate on women's ordination, where the church chose to move forward despite division, "and the sun still rose." Bishop Ann reminded us that to speak of bishops as being of one mind is as inaccurate as to say that the whole church is of one mind - that different people are in different places and that discussion and questioning is taking place in a wide arena. She paraphrased Bishop Rowan Williams: "We need to form relationships within which one can disagree yet the relationship remains primary. The relationship has to come first with the respect and confidence that we are all children of God and inheritors of the kingdom." Amen and amen. = = = = {Author Box: While MAYNE ELLIS is usually to be found in her home city of Victoria BC, in May of this year she visited eastern Canada, and attended both Integrity/Toronto's retreat and the meeting with Bishop Ann. She is a member of the Bishop's Commission on Sexuality for the Diocese of British Columbia.} ======== [99-4-4] WHIT'S END by K.D. Miller The Pentecost (and Victoria Day) weekend this year saw the Integrity/Toronto retreat at St John's Convent. Toronto locals were joined by people from Victoria BC, London, Coburg and Goderich in Ontario, and five people from our nearest-neighbour chapter, Dignity-Integrity/Rochester. This convent-capacity group of 23 people was led by Sr Thelma-Anne. KD Miller was one of the 23, and sends this account. + + + + + Pentecost is one of those church calendar events that just don't "do" it for me. I always feel a bit let down when Easter ends, for one thing. The rest of the year, I'm spiritually most at home in the Old Testament or the Gospels. In fact, one of my dirty little secrets is that I wish the Bible ended with those piquing words in John 21:25 - "There is much else that Jesus did. If it were all to be recorded in detail, I suppose the world could not hold the books that would be written." There. If that isn't an exit line, I don't know what is. But of course, the show doesn't end there. Instead, the supporting cast stay on stage to perform what I think of as literature's greatest anti-climax - The Book of Acts. It doesn't help that a friend once described the events in Acts as being "kind of like church." With a sinking feeling, I had to agree. Though I love to worship, the churchiness of church can sometimes get under my skin. I stay out of church politics, and consider Coffee Hour to have all the disadvantages of a cocktail party, with none of the advantages. So now that I've painted myself up as a thoroughgoing curmudgeon, let me say that I was genuinely glad to have someplace to go and something to do this year on Pentecost, namely the Integrity Retreat at the Convent of the Sisters of Saint John the Divine in Willowdale, Ontario. I wasn't able to attend last year, so there were some (to me) new faces in the group, as well as several visiting members from Rochester, New York. At one point in our free-range discussions, a reference to an obscure bit of Canadian history had to be explained to our American friends. I realized then that our group was kind of like the crowd in the story of the first Pentecost. That is, we spoke a variety of "languages" -- well, dialects. They didn't by any means keep us from communicating with each other, but they did tend to point up our differences. Our retreat leader, Sister T-A, used as her focal point Maria Harris' book *Proclaim Jubilee : A Spirituality for the Twenty- First Century.* Harris identifies five major themes which have shaped the twentieth century and will continue to shape the twenty-first: liberation, connectedness, suffering, imagination and the repair of the world. As we chewed over those themes, relating them to things global and things very close to home, all the terrible, wonderful stories started to come out, as they always do at these retreats. Stories of a priest confessing to having trouble thinking of gays as "quite human"; of another priest risking reputation and career to perform gay marriages; of a lesbian forbidden contact with her brother's children; of gay and straight family members alienated from each other for decades, then reunited in forgiveness and love around their patriarch's death bed. Liberation. Connectedness. Suffering. Imagination. The repair of the world. We told our stories in all our assorted "languages" : homosexual and heterosexual; Christian and Jewish; fundamentalist and liberal; hurt and healing; angry and forgiving. Yet over and above our differences, we managed to speak to each other and hear each other in the unifying voice of God. At Sunday breakfast, Sister Constance Joanna suggested to us that since it was Pentecost maybe we should suspend the rule of silence during meals and *talk*. Well, the roar went up. And I found that I had a choice during that meal. I could distance myself and hear only the babble. Or I could dip into the conversation going on to my left, to my right and across the table. I could listen. Try to understand. Share something of my own. It was up to me. And I began to see why I've always had a problem with Pentecost. It's all about the Holy Spirit, that late- arriving member of the Trinity that represents all the things I'm not very good at. Dealing with other people. Tolerating their differences. Being patient with their little habits and quirks. Letting them be. Forgiving them. Loving them. It's all so damned hard. And it's all so absolutely necessary. Pentecost, as Chris Ambidge reminded us at our final session, used to be called Whitsunday. And "whit" means "wit" - not in the Wildean sense, but in the sense of imagination. Perception. Cutting through the crap. Filling life up. Buoying it along. Making it worth living. *Whit*. One syllable, full of breath. Full of that transforming wind of Pentecost. Well, breathe on me Breath of God. And maybe I'll give Coffee Hour another go. = = = = {Author Box} K.D. MILLER is the author of A Litany in Time of Plague. Her second book, Give Me Your Answer, will be published in September 1999 by The Porcupine's Quill. Right now she is working on Holy Writ, a book of essays exploring the relationship between creativity and spirituality. ======== [99-4-5] THE DAY FRED PHELPS DIDN'T COME TO TOWN by Ron Chaplin Monday 28 June was another of those "interesting" days in the life of Ottawa's glbt community. The notorious homophobic preacher from Topeka, Kansas, Fred Phelps, was supposed to have come to town. He had announced on his www.godhatesfags.com website that he would be coming to "preach" at the Supreme Court of Canada building to condemn their May 20 judgement (in the *M vs H* case, which ordered governments to recognize same-sex partners as "spouses"), and to burn the Canadian flag. Canada, he declared in his press release, its "fag-loving ways", was a "cancerous tumour on the head of the United States mestastisizing to spread its filthy ways." There was considerable agitation in many quarters to avert this demonstration. Even the Immigration critic for the very small-c conservative Reform party asked his parliamentary colleage the Immigration Minister to block Mr Phelps' visit to Canada. As the legislation stands, that is not within the power of the Immigration Minister, but it is indicative of the widespread feeling about Mr Phelps' message that the Reform party, generally no friends of the lesbigay community, wanted him excluded. Faced with the news of Phelps' planned protest, the Ottawa lgbt community quickly organized a response. It was decided that a "vigil" would be held on the Supreme Court lawn at 12:00 noon to coincide with Phelps' demonstration. And so a crowd the police estimated to number 500 persons rallied. They brought banners and placards and flags. Among the banners were those from local churches, and among the placards were many emblazoned with passages from Scripture such as "Love your neighbour" and "Judge not less you be judged." Clergy and laity from a number of different religious community came together, Anglican, United, Jewish, Catholic, Quaker, Unitarian and Baptist, to proclaim collectively that hatred preached in the name of religion was unacceptable! The first speaker introduced by the master of ceremonies was none other than the Rt. Rev. Peter Coffin, Anglican Coadjutor Bishop of Ottawa, who had been consecrated at Christ Church Cathedral a scant four days previously. In his first public pronouncement since his consecration, Bishop Coffin made it clear that he felt an obligation to attend. While affirming God's love for all creation, he was candid in recognizing the Church's struggles with this issue, and its need for repentance. "We may not see eye-to- eye," he stated, "but hate is not what Canadians want." One person missing Only one group was missing: the Phelps family. They never showed up. Phelps' daughter explained to media that they felt that the police were "biased". Welcome to Canada! I was a member of the ad hoc group which hastily organized the vigil, and we met twice with representatives of the RCMP and local police. We organized our own security "marshals", working with the police to patrol the crowd to ensure that there was no violent confrontation. The police assured us that anyone who broke the law would be arrested; and we agreed that this was appropriate. And so, under the stare of the television cameras and the police we came together, joined by our church leaders and local politicians, to joyfully sing together our national anthem and to extol our political institutions and their vigilance in protecting the rights of minorities, extolling the "Canadian way". And I thought to myself, how the world has changed! Even fifteen years ago, I could not have imagined such a event. Postscript On Monday 2 August. a small group from Phelps' church came to Ottawa and demonstrated at the Supreme Court, met by a small group of about twenty counterdemonstrators. Finally, as promised, the Phelps' delegation burned a Canadian flag after seeking the advice of an Ottawa-Carleton police officer. Sgt. Doug Kirkland, referring to himself as a "technical adviser" explained simply that he didn't want anyone to get hurt. Welcome to Canada! While all of this was a very empowering experience for Ottawa's gay and lesbian community, we were reminded once again of our vulnerability. In our community meetings, the police explained to us that if the Phelps delegation did anything illegal, they would be promptly arrested. They explained that any slur against any identifiable religious, racial or ethnic group would result in prompt arrest, under the "hate speech" clauses of the Criminal Code. But, it was also pointed out, at present the gay and lesbian community has no such legal protection. [Editor's Note: -- Ron Chaplin wrote an article on the *M vs H* decision in issue 99-3 of *Integrator*] = = = = {Author Box: RON CHAPLIN is a long-time member of Integrity/Toronto and finds his parish home at St John the Evangelist, Ottawa. He is a member of the Task Group on Gays and Lesbians of the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa, and chair of the Political Action Committee of EGALE (Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere) } ======== [99-4-6] IN THE LIGHT (?) OF LAMBETH The Divinity Associates at Trinity College, Toronto, have a conference every year. This year, the keynote speaker was Archbishop Njonkulu Ndungane, Primate of Southern Africa. THE REV CANON BILL MORRISON attended the conference, and sends this report. + + + + The last afternoon of this year's Divinity Associates Conference was given over to a panel discussion, "After Lambeth: Sexuality, Unity, Diversity." The panelists were Bishops Ron Ferris of Algoma and Terry Finlay of Toronto, Chris Ambidge from Integrity and Dean Mercer of Fidelity. Already pretty aware of my own reaction to Lambeth, I went to the session to hear the interpretation the two speakers from the conservative side would put on it. I found it very interesting indeed. Bishop Ferris was bursting with pride over the success of Lambeth resolution I.10, which he had originally drafted, and which passed by an 88 per cent majority. The true majority was even greater than that, he said, since one American bishop represents far fewer Anglicans than one Nigerian bishop. The passing of the resolution was a triumph for those who uphold the Church's traditional teaching on sexuality. Bishop Finlay was less impressed with the resolution than Bishop Ferris. He felt that the resolution had substantially undone the "800 bishop hours" of work that had gone into the subsection report. [Editor's note: the sub-section report is found immediately below, at article [99-4-7]. For the text of Resolution I.10 *Human Sexuality* see article [98-4-2] ] Bishop Ferris said that, in light of Lambeth, the debate in future will have to be conducted in the context of the "Virginia Report." That means there will be "limitations on diversity." And everything will be submitted to "the sovereignty of Scripture" (a particularly un-Anglican ideological term that seriously erodes the church's belief in the Lordship of Christ.) Dean Mercer echoed Bishop Ferris' words, saying that what Lambeth did was make it clear that "there are limits to how scripture can be used," and "now there are limits to the way this discussion can go forward in the church." They left the impression that, in the light of Lambeth (and in spite of the resolution's call for more discussion) the debate was, to all intents and purposes, over because pro-gay voices no longer fit within the limits of acceptable diversity. By contrast, Bishop Finlay said that the way forward was to broaden the discussion, both internationally and locally. He pointed to the example of the Dialogue Group in the Diocese of Toronto which brings together people of widely divergent views and yet succeeds in fostering the conversation because it continues to ask, "How do we live together in the same church, which we love, and to which we come with differing perspectives?" THAT'S A VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION, but I came away from the session wondering whether the question really is "Can we live together in the same church?" I think of an exchange between bishops Ferris and Finlay on "ideology." There is a "gay rights ideology" that comes from outside the church, Bishop Ferris said. (Gays, according to Ferris, have "ideology" while Christians have "theology.") And gays are trying to force the church to abandon its theology and adopt their secular ideology instead. "We must not sell our faith statements to buy the faith statements of the culture" Bishop Ferris said. Bishop Finlay challenged him. "Feeling that we are always under the agenda of the secular culture is a red herring ... There are deeply committed gay and lesbian people in our churches." There's the debate in a nutshell. It's the difference between the Lambeth report (which, as Chris Ambidge said, "accepts me") and the resolution (whose message to lesbigays, Ambidge said, is "We don't want you. Go away.") Two views. Two solitudes. Two churches? And I think of how Archbishop Ndungane of Southern Africa apologised for the behaviour and attitudes of African bishops at Lambeth, the same behaviour and attitudes Bishop Ferris held up as a model of fidelity to Christian truth. (Archbishop Ndungane asked to speak at the beginning of the panel discussion to "put it in context" for us.) We may have heard African bishops at Lambeth saying that there is no homosexuality in Africa, he said. "That is a lie!" A lie, and "ostrich theology." Defenders of orthodoxy, or men with their heads buried in the sand telling lies rather than face the truth? Which is it? It can't be both. "In spite of the confusion of our minds, God works his will in us," the Archbishop said, "this is where my faith is grounded." The Archbishop may be right in his optimism, and Chris Ambidge may be right when he says, "I can't believe that western Christendom is going to break up over little old homosexual me and what I choose to do in bed behind closed doors," but I'm far from convinced. There are too many people out there who seem to want to break the church up over this issue. Some are like Jack Spong. A lot more are like Ron Ferris. And that makes me despair for the future of our Communion. What disturbs me more than that, however, is the way the people at the centre of this discussion -those for whom it is not a subject for debate but a matter of life and death-get overlooked. Chris Ambidge spoke from the heart-the heart of a Christian gay man who loves the church into which he was born and in which he finds life-but the others talked to each other as if he wasn't there and as if he had said nothing. So let us let him have the last word. "Twenty years [the length of time that the discussion of homosexuality has been going on in the Anglican Church of Canada] is a short time in the life of the church; but I have a limited life span. I'd like to have my love for a man sanctioned by the church before I'm drawing a pension." = = = = {Author Box: CANON BILL MORRISON graduated from Trinity College in 1976. He spent eight years in parish ministry in the Yukon before moving to the diocese of British Columbia where he is a parish priest and was, for nine years, diocesan director of program. } ======== [99-4-7] One of the sub-sections at the Lambeth Conference 1998 discussed Human Sexuality. Here is the report of that sub- section, passed unanimously by the 60 or so bishops who had collectively spent 800 hours in discussion. HUMAN SEXUALITY: A REPORT 1. Human Sexuality is the gift of a loving God. it is a gift to be honoured and cherished by all people. As a means for the expression of the deepest human love and intimacy, sexuality has great power. 2. The Holy Scriptures and Christian tradition teach that human sexuality is intended by God to find its rightful and full expression between a man and a woman in the covenant of marriage, established by God in creation, and affirmed by our Lord Jesus Christ. Holy Matrimony is, by intention and divine purpose, to be a life-long, monogamous and unconditional commitment between a man and a woman. The Lambeth Conference 1978 and 1988 both affirmed 'marriage to be sacred, instituted by God and blessed by our Lord Jesus Christ'. 3. The New Testament and Christian history identify singleness and dedicated celibacy as Christian ways of living. The Church needs to recognise the demands and pressures upon both single and married people. Human beings define themselves by their relationships with God and other persons. Churches need to find effective ways of encouraging Christ-like living, as well as providing opportunities for flourishing of friendship, and the building of supportive community life. 4. We also recognise that there are among us persons who experience themselves as having a homosexual orientation. Many of these are members of the Church and are seeking the pastoral care, moral direction of the Church, and God's transforming power for the living of their lives and the ordering of their relationships. We wish to assure them they are loved by God, and that all baptised, believing and faithful persons, regardless of sexual orientation, are full members of the Body of Christ. We call upon the Church and all its members to work to end any discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and to oppose homophobia. 5. Clearly some expressions of sexuality are inherently contrary to the Christian way and are sinful. Such unacceptable expression of sexuality include promiscuity, prostitution, incest, pornography, paedophilia, predatory sexual behaviour, and sadomasochism (all of which may be heterosexual and homosexual), adultery, violence against wives, and female circumcision. From a Christian perspective these forms of sexual expression remain sinful in any context. We are particularly concerned about the pressures on young people to engage in sexual activity at an early age, and we urge our Churches to teach the virtue of abstinence. 6. All human relationships need the transforming power of Christ which is available to all, particularly when we fall short of biblical norms. 7. We must confess that we are not of one mind about homosexuality. Our variety of understanding encompasses: i) those who believe that homosexual orientation is a disorder, but that through the grace of Christ people can be changed, although not without pain and struggle. ii) those who believe that relationships between people of the same gender should not include genital expression, that this is clear teaching of the Bible and of the Church universal, and that such activity (if unrepented of) is a barrier to the Kingdom of God. iii) those who believe that committed homosexual relationships fall short of the biblical norm, but are to be preferred to relationships that are anonymous and transient. iv) those who believe that the Church should accept and support or bless monogamous covenant relationships between homosexual people and that they may be ordained. 8. It appears that the opinion of a majority of bishops is not prepared to bless same sex unions or to ordain active homosexuals. Furthermore many believe there should be a moratorium on such practices. 9. We have prayed, studied and discussed these issues, and we are unable to reach a common mind on the scriptural, theological, historical, and scientific questions which are raised. There is much that we do not understand. We request the Primates and the Anglican Consultative Council to establish a means of monitoring work done in the Communion on these issues and to share statements and resources among us. 10. The challenge to our Church is to maintain its unity while we seek, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to discern the way of Christ for the world today with respect to human sexuality. To do so will require sacrifice, trust, and charity towards one another, remembering that ultimately the identity of each person is defined in Christ. 'There can be no description of human reality, in general or in particular, outside the reality of Christ. We must be on guard, therefore, against constructing any other ground for our identities than the redeemed humanity given us in him. Those who understand themselves as homosexuals, no more and no less than those who do not, are liable to false understandings based on personal or family histories, emotional dispositions, social settings and solidarities formed by common experiences or ambitions. Our sexual affections can no more define who we are than can our class, race, or nationality. At the deepest ontological level, therefore, there is no such thing as "a" homosexual or "a" heterosexual; there are human beings, male and female, called to redeemed humanity in Christ, endowed with a complex variety of emotional potentialities and threatened by a complex variety of forms of alienation.' ======== End of volume 99-4 of Integrator, the newsletter of Integrity/Toronto copyright 1999 Integrity/Toronto comments please to Chris Ambidge, Editor chris.ambidge@utoronto.ca OR Integrity/Toronto Box 873 Stn F Toronto ON Canada M4Y 2N9 http://www.whirlwind.ca/integrity -- -- Chris Ambidge chris.ambidge@utoronto.ca Integrity/Toronto http://www.whirlwind.ca/integrity Integrity is a member of the Alliance of Lesbian & Gay Anglicans http://www.alga.org