I apologize for not checking
in for a while. The pace has been heavy from early until late. I have not
blogged because so much has happened. The reason I should have blogged is that
so much has happened.
PB Election
Of course you know by now we
elected the Rt. Rev. Michael Curry (North Carolina) as our 27th
Presiding Bishop. Such elections are done in a private session so I cannot say
much to describe the event itself. In fact, another bishop was publicly
admonished today for leaking the election results prematurely. But I will dare to say this much: the
gathering was holy, prayerful, and Spirit-filled. There was no politicking. --
just praying and singing. We voted and waited for the result. The vote for
Bishop Michael was overwhelming on the first ballot. He received 121 of the 174
votes cast and the other votes were pretty evenly divided. So it was an
incredible mandate, a tremendous show of unity.
I had done a straw poll of
the Nevada deputation to advise and guide me in my discernment of how to vote.
The Nevadans were unanimous and emphatic in supporting Bishop Michael. His
election was confirmed in the House of Deputies by a vote of 800 to 12.
I believe the Church, after
years of division, has experienced a moment of unity. But it is not a unity achieved
by middling in – by compromising between opposing positions but rather by
transcending them in Christ. If you are not already familiar with Bishop
Michael, you can get a taste of his spirituality from his brief remarks
yesterday at the end of our march against gun violence. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsfpLdMlaio&feature=share
One thing is bound to be on
people’s minds when we elect our first Black Presiding Bishop: Did we elect him
because he is Black. I would say that his race is a factor. Many of us felt that having a Black Presiding
Bishop proclaims a gospel truth of inclusion.
But the bottom line is that we did not elect Bishop Michael because of
his race. We elected him because of his passion for the faith and his skills as
a leader. We like the way he talks about Jesus. We want his message to be our
message in the coming decade.
March Against Gun Violence.
60 Bishops organized and led
a march against gun violence Sunday morning. We did it in response to the wave
of mass shootings as well as the ongoing epidemic of gun violence in our
nation. The basic reason for our action is this story by a Salt Lake City
gunshot victim. If your time is limited, skip
the rest of my blog and watch this. Never read anything I write again. Just
watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qgeu5I-Hiw0&feature=share
We did not march for a
specific legislative response but for doing whatever it takes to stop the
carnage. Most of the so-called controversy is bogus. There is not as much
controversy as we might think. 92% of Americans favor universal background checks for gun
purchases. 82% of gun owners favor universal background checks. 74% of NRA
members favor universal background checks. The overwhelming majority of people
are pretty rational about this. Most of us are capable of being fairly rational about this and much of rationality is clear. When Connecticut enacted strong handgun
licensing, handgun homicides declined by 25%; when Missouri repealed such
licensing, handgun violence increased by 40%. http://www.taleoftwostates.com But
ultimately it isn’t about numbers. As Carolyn said of handgun deaths, “One more is too many.”
This is not a denial of
anyone’s 2nd Amendment rights. The 2nd Amendment begins “A well regulated militia being necessary .
. .” and goes on to preserve the right to bear arms for the sake of the
militia. It is quite arguable that only members of a militia should be able to
own guns. But no one wants to go that far. Just start with the words “well regulated.” This is not about
seizing our guns but regulating use and
ownership. We have the right to vote but we have to register. We have the right
to marry but we have to get a license. The reasonable regulation of firearms
for the public safety has been upheld as Constitutional over and over.
So what is really going on
here? Why is it that in the aftermath of Columbine, Sandy Hook, the Amish
school shooting, and Charleston, do we do not recoil in horror and throw our
guns away but instead rush out to gun up? Why is it that the stronger the
evidence is that gun violence is out of control and can be curtailed, the more
we fight the action that would have saved Carolyn’s daughter?
The answer is simple and
obvious. It comes in two parts. The first part is our motivation. It is simply
fear – fear for our own safety and fear for the safety of those we love. Our
passion for guns is obviously and simply an expression of fear. Irrational mass
violence makes us even more afraid. It show us we are at risk and the people we
love are at risk. Some of us are afraid of the government. Some are afraid of
criminals. This is unscientific. I can’t prove this. But my empathy tells me
that people are far more afraid today than they were 30 years ago. We are in
the grip of fear.
The second part is where we
place our faith. When we are afraid, what do we count on to make us safe? Our
culture of violence has taught us, indoctrinated us, and programed us to trust
in violence. Kill or be killed. So because we want to be safe, we maximize our
capacity to kill. That makes others more afraid so they increase their capacity
to kill and it snowballs. But there is another way.
In the time of the psalmist
the equivalent of a semi-automatic handgun was a chariot drawn by a warhorse.
It was the ultimate weapon of the time. So the psalmist wrote:
Some trust in chariots and some in horses;
But we trust in the Lord.
Psalm
27: 7
The psalmist and the prophets
said there is another place to put our trust.
Surely it is God who saves me.
I will trust in him and not be afraid
For he is my stronghold and my sure defense
And he will be my savior.
Isaiah
12: 2
God is not pleased by our
preferring weapons to Him for our protection. That is why God longs for us to
shift our faith from weapons to Him:
They will beat their swords into ploughshares
And their speaks into pruning hooks.
Isaiah
2: 4
Our attachment to weapons is
ultimately a matter of faith, which is the opposite of fear. The commandment
Jesus gave his disciples far more often than any other was this: Do not be
afraid. The Bible tells us 365 times, once for each day of the year: Do not be
afraid. We can push rational regulation of guns till the cows come home, but we
won’t make real inroads into our penchant for violence until we deliver our
people from our Egyptian bondage, our Babylonian captivity to fear. That comes
in one way and one way only – faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Same Gender Marriage
For the LGBTQ Community this
was a banner day. Today the House of Bishops authorized several liturgies for
trial use in solemnizing marriage between same gender couples. We prayerfully
hope for concurrence by the House of Deputies to make this Church law.
There were a lot of
complexities to work through, and we worked through them with painstaking care,
but the gist of it was simple: the liturgies were authorized for trial use
subject to the consent of the bishop in each diocese; and any bishop who does
not consent is required to make provision to insure that people in that diocese
have access to the rites. Contrary to what has been said, how the bishop goes
about that is not specified. But he or she has to do it. The legislation
specifies that no one is to be penalized for dissenting from this action.
But what I want to describe
is the spirit in which we took this action. The Task Force on Marriage showed “a
generosity of spirit” (a term we are hearing a lot a this convention around all
sorts of dicey subjects like sex and money) in leaving room for dissent. The
conservative bishops who announced they would be voting against the resolutions
as a matter of conscience expressed heartfelt appreciation to the Task Force
for its consideration. Conservative bishops who had reservations about
canonical processes voted for the legislation because they valued Jesus’ love
of the LGBTQ people above any idolatry of rigid legalism. I literally wept more
than once at the humility and wisdom of my fellow bishops in addressing this
moral moment in our history.
The same gender marriage
legislation, after being thoroughly revised, refined, debated, and perfected
passed by an overwhelmingly strong majority. Those who knew they would be in
the minority called for a roll call vote. I usually resent those a bit because
they are slow and tedious. But I wound up being grateful for this one. Several
bishops that I thought of as fairly progressive voted no; but more bishops who
I thought of as rock-ribbed conservatives, some from the Deep South, voted yes.
One explained that he intended to vote no, but God had moved him in the course
of worship to vote yes.
I have no doubt whatsoever
that some ultra-conservatives will say we have abandoned the faith. (The
protesters outside say as much.) I have no doubt that some ultra-liberals will
accuse us of selling out to the conservatives. But I am 100% on board with the
strong majority vote today – not because it was such a unified consensus but because
it was Christian. Our wise niece recently observed that these days “The Middle
Way is the road less travelled.” But it is our way, the Anglican Way. Today I
am deeply pleased with our Church.
PS They took
up a collection Sunday and put it on the altar. We have a resolution out of
Stewardship and Development to make sure this continues in the future. Also we
are scrambling to restore funding for The Episcopal Network or Stewardship.
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