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?

Confronting the question of inclusion

 By the Rev. Maria Kane

As I pulled into my friend Frances’ gravel driveway six years ago, I could barely contain my excitement. A year earlier, Frances--an unassuming fifty-ish woman who loved the color green, turtlenecks, and Native American history--had quietly and rather imperceptibly broken through the layers of my wounded soul and guided me in to a place of awe and wonder. Now, we were reuniting for a weekend visit.

After exchanging hugs on the front porch and dropping off my luggage in the warmly-appointed guest room, she led me to the kitchen and with a deep appreciation in her eyes, introduced me to Marie, her partner of twenty-five years. Wait. Frances is gay? How did I miss that? I wondered. Reaching out to hug Marie I tried to conceal my surprise.

Although I joined the Episcopal Church as a teenager, I still struggled to eradicate the voices of moral superiority that had shaped my evangelical childhood. While I knew people who were gay or lesbian, I had always assumed an attitude of measured distance and indifference, not quite believing that they were “living in sin,” but also unwilling to confront questions of inclusion and justice. “Live and let live” was my attitude. Standing in Marie and Frances’ sun-light kitchen I found myself questioning those beliefs.

What would you do?

By the Rev. Kate Bobbitt

Several years ago while serving in another diocese, I was one of five participants asked to interview a candidate for youth leader in our parish. I asked the new college graduate, “If I came to you and said I have a grandson who is gay and he would like to join your youth group, what would your response to me be?”

“I would sit him down and talk with him about being gay and explain to him that it is a sin and point out verses in the Bible that explain why it is a sin.”

The position that graduate took has haunted me ever since. As a life time member of the Episcopal Church, I have always loved the openness that has been present in our church. Regardless of one’s personal opinion about homosexuality, I have always found the leadership in our community to be fair and just. We have not always agreed on issues but we ‘come to the table’ with our issues and discuss them openly. At least this has been the practice in almost every church I have had the honor to serve. 

My Story

This post is written by a member of the diocesan Episcopal Youth Community (EYC). The post is anonymous due to the author's age.

Hello, I am a local member of your EYC. When I realized I was gay I was terrified. I was terrified about what accepting myself meant for the way my life would work out but mostly I was afraid of how my family would react. I come from a fairly conservative family; I am a “Cradle Episcopalian” and I go to church every Sunday. My parents reacted with complete denial when I tried to come out (twice) and they still talk about boyfriends like I’ll be dating men again any day now. (note: I don’t really care at this point if they know or not. As long as they’re okay by my wedding we should be good!)

On the note of my eventual wedding, I want more than anything to be married in the Episcopal Church. The church has raised me in a way that will leave me forever connected to its grounds and I can’t begin to describe how happy it would make me to marry in my home church. I have even found several priests willing to do so when I’m ready as soon as the bishop gives the go ahead. I don’t imagine myself with a huge white wedding, but rather a closely knit affair with lots of joking and partying all through the night. I am not unusual in that respect.

What is the ancient notion of a “Disputed Question” and how might recovering it help us today?

By The Rev. James Medley, Associate Priest
Eastern Shore Chapel, Virginia Beach

The disputed question is an ancient practice of the medieval Church where groups of students bring forth opposing arguments about theological questions (normally questions not having to do with core doctrine) and debate their contrasting points.   The master (professor) resolved the dispute by making a doctrinal decision as to which argument was correct. 

The disputation is also used today in most, if not all, Episcopal seminaries.  I remember participating in the discipline at the Seminary of the Southwest under our theology professor, Anthony Baker. Tony would give us a question like, “Does scripture contain everything necessary for salvation?” or “Does God suffer?” and then divide a group of us into two teams. One team had to defend the yes point and one defend the no point.  After each team made brilliant arguments (drawing on scripture, early theologians, and reason) Tony would tell us who made the better argument and then which answer, yes or no, was correct from the standpoint of the orthodox faith of the Church. 

Tony had only one hard and fast rule for our disputations: a participant could never argue from the position of unsupported belief.  For example, we couldn’t say, “The answer is this because that’s just what I believe.”   You had to argue from the evidence of your sources.  Sometimes that evidence was inconclusive, especially if the question being disputed concerned issues that weren’t considered matters of core doctrine by the Church.  On those types of questions, we sometimes had to agree to disagree, even to the point of disagreeing with our professor. 

If homosexuality is not a sin, then what is?

By the Rev. Drew Foisie, Curate for Christian Formation

Old Donation, Virginia Beach

It’s a good question, actually. The question is really a straight up look into what sin is and what sin is not. But that’s a big question. Not an easy question. Look up sin in the bible dictionary and you will get reams of entries on the matter. You’ll learn about “moralistic” sin, “monistic” sin, “personalistic” sin and all sorts of other fun things to bring up at cocktail parties. The simplest and most universally agreed upon answer to this question, however, might just be that sin is whatever separates us from God, whatever severs our relationship with the Creator. To do that, to make that happen, usually involves a choice to, in some form or other, either take life from others, or reject and walk away from Life being offered to you. When in the Garden and confronted by the serpent Adam and Eve decided, after some “reasoning”, to walk away from life and into death (Gen 3:2). After eating the fruit and experiencing shame for their nakedness they were later led out of the Garden. But before going God made for them garments. He gave them what they needed to begin their next life – one in which they would learn how to live again. One that would involve loving and trusting God with all their heart, mind and strength and loving their neighbor as themselves.  

What is meant by blessing? *

By Bill Hunter, Eastern Shore Chapel, Virginia Beach

& member of the Leading a Holy Life Task Force

“Blessing” has been defined as the authoritative pronouncement of God’s favor… In Christian practice, blessing finds a frequent place in liturgy, especially in the blessing of the elements in consecration and the blessing of the people at the end of the Mass.  In Holy Matrimony, the formal name of the service is “The Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage.”

From a theological perspective what then is a “blessing”?  If a blessing is the pronouncement of God’s favor, does this also imply God’s approval?  

Blessings appear to have one function in liturgy (the act of consecration or to make holy) and another in the context of the blessing of a home.  In such a blessing, homes are not made holy in the way that a church is dedicated or consecrated as holy space.  What is happening when a home is blessed?  Could it be that we are inviting God’s favor in the hope that we will be worthy of such favor and that we will align our lives with God’s will?  If so, the function of blessing is to remind the ones blessed of who they are.  By grace, we receive the blessing of God.  The blessing is intended to be relational, a two-way street.

Then, what would it mean to bless a same-gender relationship in the context of worship?