I’ve an opinion piece in the Scotsman this morning on why I invited +Gene Robinson to come to St Mary’s.
It is available on their website.
Or here – text below.
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THE bishops of the Anglican Communion are all gathered at Canterbury this weekend. It is the last weekend of the Lambeth Conference, the once-a-decade jamboree for bishops hosted by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Well, all the duly consecrated bishops of the Communion are there except one: the Rt Rev Gene Robinson has been in Canterbury, but with no status in the conference. He was frozen out of the official programme by the Archbishop of Canterbury – presumably his presence was too much to stomach for some potential participants. In the end, they did not turn up anyway.
Gene Robinson was refused a place at Anglicanism’s high table because he is the only bishop to live openly with a gay partner. The rest of the gay bishops of the communion presumably keep the details of their relationships firmly under their mitres.
The Anglican Communion was really started, if you believe any Scottish Episcopalian, by the Scottish Episcopal Church. It consecrated a bishop for Connecticut when the Church of England would not dirty its hands dealing with the Colonies. Yet the Communion remains a strangely English place. No-one really gets excommunicated from the Anglican Communion for being naughty or indeed for being gay. You just don’t get an invitation to sup with the Archbishop of Canterbury at the Lambeth Conference; no garden party with the Queen.
Bishop Robinson has also been refused permission by the Archbishop to celebrate the Eucharist while he is in England. However, the Archbishop of Canterbury has no jurisdiction here in Scotland. When it became apparent Bishop Robinson was inhibited from celebrating communion in England, it was inevitable he would be invited by someone to do so in Scotland. That someone was me. Tomorrow, Bishop Robinson will celebrate communion and preach in St Mary’s Cathedral, Glasgow.
I invited Bishop Robinson to spread good news. Not just the Good News of the Gospel, which inspires all preachers, but the good news that churches are changing. At one time, gay people were expected to pretend they were not doing anything with anyone in order to be acceptable on Sunday. Those days are gone, at least for some of us.
They are certainly gone in the Scottish Episcopal Church, which has many serving gay clergy and in whose churches clergy may offer, if they so choose, prayers of blessing for gay couples.
The character of the Scottish Episcopal Church is more pragmatic than the Church of England. No-one seriously believes there are no gay clergy in the Church of England; their presence has been the subject of snide innuendo for decades. However, their presence has also been witness to the kind of faith often prepared to go places others find most difficult.
A couple of Lambeth conferences ago, the church made a compromise over polygamy that is worth re-examining. It was decided where the church had a mission to local polygamous cultures, if a family were converted to Anglican Christianity, then it would be better to keep it intact than to dump all but one of the women in a culture where women had no power and little value. It was a liberal compromise to ensure women did not suffer as the news of the gospel spread. It meant different standards of behaviour were being worked out in different cultures.
But now many from those cultures are turning the tables on us in the West and demanding we take our cue on morality from their local interpretation.
At such a time as this, I’m proud to invite Bishop Gene Robinson to share bread and wine and preach Good News. He is a symbol of positive change. He represents the fact churches can once again be worth belonging to, preach about a God worth believing in and contribute to a world worth living in.
Hear! Hear! I can feel your passion and justitfed outrage.Our world is the world of the 21st c and we need the Church to realise thisand to help guide and support us in this crazy world.Love and accept who we are-is it any wonder people question Christianity when they see Church leaders treat each other they way some are doing?I’m not saying anything goes but can we at least start by acknowledging those differences and treating each other with respect?Once we do that perhaps we can all get with the” business” of living out and spreading the Gospel message with the faint hope that people will actually think,hey look how these people live and love each other and accept,perhaps there’s something worth listening to.
sorry to have gone on a bit but it saddens me that people just get presented with the wrong message
Thank you for inviting +Gene to Scotland! I am glad to see that there are people who really are open and inclusive and not just paying it lip service.
God Bless You and your ministry!
I was priveleged to hear +Gene preach this morning. He is a loving and spiritual man and spoke with great thoughtfulness and integrity about things that matter. I am so glad he was given such a warm welcome at the Cathedral.
Fr Kelvin, thank you for inviting Bishop Gene. It seems to have been a lovely celebration. Many of us in the US (unfortunately, not all) are quite proud of him and happy to share him with other provinces. We Episcopalians in the US will be forever grateful to the Scottish Episcopal Church for giving us our first bishop. We don’t forget that kindness. May God bless you and St. Mary’s.
Seven years ago I headed for Iona and worshipped with St. Mary’s congregation down the street from the catheral. Iona was wonderful, but I will never forget attending services with a diverce congregation (ethnically and age wise). After the service I was ready to quitely slip away and head back to the place a I was staying. An older woman came up to me, took me over to St. Mary’s for tea, chatted and talked about the renovations taking place.
I was in the closet at the time and a United Methodist pastor of over twenty years. I gave up my orders two years ago because don’t ask don’t tell was taking a heavy tole on my soul. I was confirmed into the Episopal Church and did so for two reasons: the deep respect for the liturgy and “where the church as been” plus a congregation that accepted me without alot of bother, even knowing I am partnered with a wonderful Jewish man.
Can’t tell you how pleased I was to know that Bishop Gene was with you all this morning. After the ABC’s unfriendly statement about same sex blessings and consecrations of gay clergy, my prayers are with you, God’s church, and more especially for those on the margins who you welcome in. What a Christian concept.
Grace and peace,
Tim
Tucson, AZ, USA
“A couple of Lambeth conferences ago, the church made a compromise over polygamy that is worth re-examining. It was decided where the church had a mission to local polygamous cultures, if a family were converted to Anglican Christianity, then it would be better to keep it intact than to dump all but one of the women in a culture where women had no power and little value. It was a liberal compromise to ensure women did not suffer as the news of the gospel spread. It meant different standards of behaviour were being worked out in different cultures.
But now many from those cultures are turning the tables on us in the West and demanding we take our cue on morality from their local interpretation.
At such a time as this, I’m proud to invite Bishop Gene Robinson to share bread and wine and preach Good News. He is a symbol of positive change. He represents the fact churches can once again be worth belonging to, preach about a God worth believing in and contribute to a world worth living in.”
Well said! BTW, I thought the words of the second hymn were so profoundly relevant; the Holy Spirit leads us ever on to fresh insight, throwing new perspective on our traditional teachings. Challenging, sure, but that’s life!