REFLECTIONS ON THE SAME-GENDER BLESSINGS DEBATES AT GENERAL SYNOD IN WINNIPEG, 2007I believe that God is active and present in events as they are and not as I wish they were. God is God of both the light and the darkness as the psalmist of Psalm 139 reminds himself/herself: “Darkness is not dark to you.; the night is as bright as the day; darkness and light to you are both alike.” I have to examine that activity of God in the decisions and directions of General Synod, as I would have asked others to do if the decisions had gone as I would have liked.
Some of course will dismiss the outcomes as “Episcopal bullying” or the “death throes” of an unchanging structure in deep denial about itself. While agreeing with this in some ways, still there is significant substance upon which to hang a deeper hope and suggest that perhaps there is Divine momentum being given. The witness of the First Nations peoples at General Synod – including the reception of the National Indigenous Bishop Mark McDonald, was as a Haida preacher said. “They talk about Indian time. They say it is because we are always late. But you know, it’s not. It is because we take as long as it takes.” And so they have and so they continue.
In the response regarding the Windsor report the Canadian church made strong statements to the Anglican Consultative Council. While acknowledging the bonds of affection and the need to strengthen them, there was disagreement with directions being taken and a call for mutuality to be exhibited by all parties. The motion which stated that “the blessing…” is not in conflict with the core doctrine of the ACC passed resoundingly. This may indicate an evolving understanding of the complexity and breadth of human sexuality. The vote on the motion to allow for the local option of blessing of same-gender unions passed in both the lay and clergy houses and in the total number of votes. It was defeated by a slim majority in the house of bishops alone. This may have said “not yet”, but it does not say “never”. Like everything else that happens in church and society, it will require continued advocacy, repetition of learning and spiritual will, in order to be transformed by God’s Spirit.
There are of course remaining issues and questions. How much is ever going to be enough study? How long is going to be long enough? There will always be new arrivals to the scene and individuals who were not born when the conversation began. Upon whom does the onus lie in the catching up? There is indeed enough information available to fill libraries. The choice is in looking at it. Ultimately too, much is objective. We will either accept or reject a new thought by personal feeling or understanding of the information presented. No amount of argument will alter some opinions. The blessing of same-gender unions appears as a new thing. How do we respond in faithfulness to new things not counted for in Scripture, as the Church had to do with the ideas of Galileo and Copernicus, Freud or Darwin? Can we ever be fully prepared or is it necessary to live with something for a while to test its rightness for us?
There continues to be the need for careful choice of language in any highly charged environment. Some individuals will nee to learn that while they profess to speak with the most compassionate of motivations, words hurt and offend. I, for example, was offended in the “debate” several times by several suggestions: 1. That by my position on this issue, Scripture does not hold a central place in the practice of my faith and the ordering of my life and that somehow I have rejected Jesus as the one to bring me into relationship with God. 2. That I am rejecting the counter-cultural nature of Christian faith in order to embrace the popular culture without question. 3. That I do not love the rest of the Church as much as others and thumb my nose in superiority at the rest of the world that seems to disagree with me. Firstly, it is through the personal study and relationship to Scripture and a passionate love for its themes in both the Hebrew and Christian Bibles, that I have embraced Christ and the wholeness of life to which I feel called by God. It is the study of Scripture that leads me to affirm my position. It does not say to me explicitly that we should bless same-gender relationships any more than it says the church should be blessing heterosexual marriage. It is Scripture’s deep moral imperatives that convince me that it is right to call all in committed intimate relationships to lives of fidelity, mutuality and wholeness in Christ. Secondly, although the laws of Canada do indeed offer equality to all couples regardless of sexual orientation, the law is not the same as the culture. The culture around me is one in which individuals still feel compelled to lead secret lives for fear of being found out. My culture is where individuals still take their own lives because they cannot face the hatred and loathing of their own families and workplaces. My culture still asks individuals to pretend they are otherwise and keep silent and even change their nature rather than be whole in who they are. That is a culture that has been clearly identified with the prevailing religious institutions. What is counter to this culture? Thirdly, I love being part of a national and a world-wide church because of its diversity and because it widens my personal perspectives on the meaning of faith and practice. I am asking for a place at that table and am committed to staying at it. I have not threatened to leave because someone does not like me or calls me names.
There is indeed further work to do, as there always will be. I have appreciated what I believe I have heard from those who respectfully disagreed with my own position. There was the request to “show me” in the Bible where it says to do this. I have heard the conviction that homosexuality is “sinful” by definition of biblical texts and traditional church teaching which is based on it. This brings a deep-rooted concern with faithfulness to the work of salvation. I heard a disputing of medical and biological evidence as a reason for caution. It is imperative that this information be sorted and collected because stories can be found to prove just about anything. I heard the concerns for the state of the church and for an allegiance to unity, but clearly from both sides of the arguments. What is unity? What is unity in the Trinity of Godhead like? Conformity or Community?
If our responses to GLBT individuals and relationships can become anything other than a visceral response because of imagined “lifestyle” or to expressions of sexual intimacy you cannot understand – if we sincerely want to offer the compassion that we say we do for GLBT people in our Church, then we need to look together at that which informs us as Christian people – the Scriptures and the life of Christ. We can, as was asked, explore the meaning of our Scripture story together again. Perhaps we pull out those “hammer” texts one more time (those that seem to condemn homosexuality). We can explore what kind of behaviour is being addressed. Scholars tell us that it is instances of rape and temple prostitution. Once again we are faced with a choice of whether to accept the input of scholars and their research. Does the behaviour described in the biblical texts describe the GLBT individuals that you know? Is there any biblical reference to what we today call adult, committed, intimate, life long same-gender relationships? On what biblical texts – if any – can we assess these relationships as “sinful”, when they are not described in or anticipated by the Bible? We might ask the same questions in a search for biblical precedent for the practice of so-called “Christian marriage”, which is dispensed with such apparent abandon.
Next perhaps we should explore the Bible for those texts in which God surprises everyone with the faith of the outsider/the unacceptable/the unclean. I think there may be more of these than the other references above. What is the test of something being of the Holy Spirit? We might use the Pauline lists of the gifts of the Holy Spirit as a starting point. Do we find any of these gifts in the relationships of GLBT persons that we know? Then, what does it mean to bless someone or something? There has been work done on the differentiation of kinds of blessings. A salutory blessing names what is already present – what God has done and is doing? Is God doing anything in the lives of GLBT individuals and relationships that you know? How do we know in the end, except that it measures up to Jesus’ two great commandments to Love God and love neighbour as yourself?
One of the profound experiences for me at General Synod was each time we said the Lord’s Prayer. We were encouraged to do so in the language given us. This was hard, because, if you paid too much attention to someone beside you saying the prayer with different language it could throw you off in your own prayer. It could be bothersome – almost intolerable. However, if you could become aware of the rhythm of prayer around you and give in to it, standing and speaking with one another instead of against and in competition, you found the prayer would come and together, and in the fullness of time, we could say “Amen.” - Greg Smith, Diocese of Huron; Christ Church, London; Integrity London
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