An interview with Bishop Hollerith

Click here to read an interview with Bishop Hollerith regarding the General Convention resolution A049, the blessing of same gender unions. The Bishop addresses these questions:

• What was your reaction to the Episcopal Church’s recent decision to allow the Blessing of Same-gender unions and did you vote in favor?
• What exactly has the Episcopal Church authorized in this new decision?  
• Will you authorize the use of the provisional liturgy for Covenantal Blessings of same-gender unions in the Diocese of Southern Virginia.
• Will the Clergy at some point be required to bless same-gender unions?
• Can you explain from your perspective how it is that the Church can make this decision in light of what the Bible teaches us about homosexuality?
• But what about the creation story in Genesis? Some have claimed that since God created us male and female, same-gender relationships fall short of what God intends for us.    
• Isn’t this new liturgy essentially the same thing as Christian marriage?
• What preparation will a same-gender couple have to receive in order to have their relationship blessed by the clergy using the new rite?
• Why are some Episcopal Dioceses allowing clergy to perform same-gender “marriage”?
• Now that the provisional rite has been introduced are you optimistic about the future of the Episcopal Church?

A new resource posted on our Resource page is "Why the Church changes its mind on one thing or another," an article by the Rev. Howard Hanchey. Click on the "Resource" tab above.

Theological and liturgical resources to be considered at General Convention, July 5-12

The Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music (SCLM) of the Episcopal Church has forwarded to the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies excerpts from its report, “I Will Bless You, and You Will Be a Blessing”: Resources for Blessing Same-Gender Relationships. 

The report, nearly three years in the making, was prepared by the SCLM in compliance 2009-C056, "Liturgies for Blessings,"  a resolution  approved by the General Convention (GC) of the Episcopal Church in 2009 which directed the SCLM to collect and develop theological and liturgical resources for the blessing of same-gender relationships through an open process.

You can read the report excerpt HERE.

Looking at same-gender blessings through the lens of my baptismal covenant

By David P. Price, CAPT, JAGC, USN (Retired)

Eastern Shore Chapel, Virginia Beach

As the Diocese prepares to address the issue of same-gender blessings, I am compelled by faith and commitment to offer my thoughts.

I was born into a Roman Catholic family almost 60 years ago, not even appreciating that there were people in the world who were not Catholic until the Nixon-Kennedy debates.  What a sheltered and dogmatic beginning to life I had!  As early as childhood I came to appreciate that many of the religious teachings from parochial school simply could not be supported on any rational basis.  The earth is not the center of the universe; Heaven does not exist in the cloud-filled space above earth; God does not sanction slavery or discrimination; God created humans in God’s image – not the other way around; we cannot impose upon God the limitations that we – as humans – have; and does it really matter how many angels can fit on the head of a pin!

As a child I heard leaders use what they called “God’s word” as the basis for and in support of so many things that just were and remain wrong both legally and morally.  For far too many years 11:00 on a Sunday morning was factually referred to as the most segregated hour in America.  Racial, ethnic, and gender discrimination has been supported, if not always sponsored, by churches.  Eventually I came to use a rather simple way of looking at religious writings:  “Is it written in red?” - because I found that the words of Jesus are often printed in red ink, and the words of Jesus were always about doing the right thing.

What is a "generous pastoral response"?

By the Rev. Rhonda Wheeler, St. Andrew's, Newport News

“Generous pastoral response” is a term which was part of Resolution CO51 from General Convention 2009.  It calls for clergy, with the guidance of their Bishops, to respond lovingly and faithfully to persons in homosexual relationships who want to live a monogamous life together, blessed by God and the Church. 

It gives us the opportunity to welcome conversations about blessing same gender couples and develop liturgy for such purposes. Pastorally responding to folks involves the couples, but includes the entire congregation.  Is there room for all of us to discuss blessings of same gender couples when we having varying feelings and beliefs about it? 

The ‘generous pastoral response’ calls us to provide education for the entire parish being sensitive to the varying  feelings and beliefs about the Church moving forward.  How do we continue to say “Welcome to the Episcopal Church” if we don’t find a way to honor and bless all persons who desire to live faithfully together in relationship to God?

Do our differences have to keep us apart?

 By Juli Edwards, St. Christopher's, Portsmouth

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.  The church is a safe space where we can escape the persecution of the outside world, right?  A place where all our sins are forgiven and we can be ourselves, accepted as we are, loved and welcomed by all?  Although many may strive for this and this is what many may believe and feel the church should be offering, it is not the reality.  This kind of belief only makes the pain hurt more when people disagree, when someone is asked to leave, or told that they are not welcome as they are in a parish.  Do our differences have to keep us apart?

There are times in our lives when we all come together despite our differences.  Examples of these times are weddings, funerals, family gatherings, etc.  The church is our family and we should learn to come together despite our differences.  These blog posts have offered a starting space to practicing just that.  Can we treat one another with respect?  Can we learn to listen and really hear one another?  Can we sit in the pew and, although some may disagree with the blessing of same-gender unions, be prayerfully present? 

A Scriptural model for living together in our differences

By the Rev. Keith Emerson, St. Paul's, Suffolk

Because the bible is so central and dear to those who oppose the blessing of same-gender unions, it is well worth noting that there is a situation in Scripture very similar to what we find in the Episcopal Church today.  This passage is taken from the fourteenth chapter of Paul’s letter to the Church in Rome:

¹Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarrelling over opinions. ²Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. ³Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. ⁴Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall.  And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

⁵ Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike.  Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. ⁶Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord.  Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God.

⁷ We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. ⁸If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. ⁹For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

¹⁰ Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister?  For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. ¹¹For it is written, ‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.’ ¹²So then, each of us will be accountable to God.

Here we find Paul addressing two incredibly difficult and divisive issues in his day.  Jewish-Christians in Rome believed strongly in following the dietary laws of the original covenant. They had been raised with this practice from childhood. It was central both to their faith and to their identity. They ate only vegetables in Rome perhaps because no kosher meat was available or because it was impossible to know whether or not the meat had been used first in a pagan ritual. Gentile-Christians, not being raised in the original covenant, had no reservations about eating non-kosher food. The two groups also differed on the proper day or days to gather for worship. One group chose Saturday (the traditional day of Sabbath) while the other worshiped on Sunday (the day of the Resurrection). One group observed Jewish festivals and fasts, the other group did not. We live in an era when these disputes have long been resolved, but it is still possible to imagine the level of discord they created in the early church.

Being the Body

By Tony Robinson, St. Thomas, Chesapeake

I must admit that I have been struggling with what to write for this blog ever since I was asked to do so in December.  I wasn’t sure why I found it so difficult, but in the end I guess it was because I was asking the wrong questions.  Just as I think many in this debate are answering the wrong question.

One side defends their position as a matter of absolute Biblical interpretation, the other as a matter of absolute grace.  One side berates the other as unfaithful to the Word of God; the other as unfaithful to the ministry of Jesus.

Oh, it’s all done with civility (for the most part), but the underlying tone is still there.  The explanations of positions do little.  Minds are unchanged; hearts are unmoved; and the road toward anger and schism is built with the paving stones of misunderstanding.

But what is being misunderstood?

Each side interprets Scripture and knows that if they just use the right method to explain it, the other side will see the error of their ways and correct their way of thinking.  But I think that this makes an erroneous and potentially dangerous assumption; i.e. that the Holy Spirit is not working in that other person.

People on both sides of this issue approach Scripture prayerfully and spiritually and come to different conclusions.  Why?