Greetings Friends!
One of my greatest concerns is that I could be a chameleon, someone who changes “color” depending on their surroundings and the people present. As I reflect on conversations I have with those I know hold different opinions about controversial issues, I find myself honestly trying to assess if I have been genuine and transparent about my views or did I sit silently, perhaps allowing my companions to think I agreed with their perspective. Working for the Office of Student Affairs at a very conservative institution often means that I don’t impose my thoughts unless I am asked or if I feel that the conversation is truly a dialogue and not merely a diatribe. Some days, it’s not easy to know what is best. And, like most of us, I have grown and changed over the years as I have experienced the richness of life and the diversity of people around me.
The standard I try to use when considering my conversations is our Baptismal Covenant. Now, please don’t think I am some “goody two shoes” because that couldn’t be further from the truth! I know just how often I am in need of some mental lecture about how I was unkind or thoughtless or judgmental. Hopefully, the need for these becomes less and less frequent but I’m certainly not done yet!
I spent 25 years very actively involved in my evangelical church before returning “home” to the Episcopal Church 20 years ago. I was exposed to some terrific Bible studies and great preaching but I also picked up an exclusiveness that I no longer believe is at all pleasing to God – and definitely does not “respect the dignity of all human beings” or “strive for justice and peace for all people.” If one holds tightly to a literal reading of both the Old and New Testaments, it’s easy to fall into this trap. The Law pits those “in” against those “out” all over the place. It’s when one reads the words of Jesus as a fulfillment of the Law, that all this can change:
When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22: 34 – 40, NRSV).
So, why am I sharing this confession today, you might be wondering. My relationship with the LGBT community was one of those areas of exclusivity that gnawed at me for years. I know that this is a topic that continues to challenge many others in the church as well, and has much pain and discord already. It’s my prayer that the Holy Spirit will open hearts and minds to God’s Word for all of us.
I’m bringing this up today because we have received a letter from our Presiding Bishop, the Very Rev. Michael Curry, and the President of the House of Deputies, the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, reminding us that we are called to love our neighbors – ALL our neighbors. Here’s the text of their letter:
June 28, 2016
Dear People of God in the Episcopal Church:
We all know that some things in Holy Scripture can be confusing, hard to understand, or open to various ways of understanding. But some essential teachings are clear and incontrovertible. Jesus tells us to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves, and he tells us over and over again not to be afraid (Matthew 10:31, Mark 5:36, Luke 8:50, John 14:27).
There’s no confusion about what Jesus is telling us, but it often requires courage to embody it in the real world. Again and again, we become afraid, and mired in that fear, we turn against Jesus and one another.
This age-old cycle of fear and hatred plays out again and again in our broken world, in sickening and shocking events like the massacre targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Orlando, but also in the rules we make and the laws we pass. Most recently, we’ve seen fear at work in North Carolina, a state dear to both of our hearts, where a law called the “Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act” has decimated the civil rights and God-given dignity of transgender people and, by extension, drastically curtailed protections against discrimination for women, people of color, and many others. We are thankful for the prayerful and pastoral public leadership of the North Carolina bishops on this law, which is known as House Bill 2.
North Carolina is not the only place where fear has gotten the better of us. Lawmakers in other jurisdictions have also threatened to introduce legislation that would have us believe that protecting the rights of transgender people—even a right as basic as going to the bathroom—somehow puts the rest of us at risk.
This is not the first time that the segregation of bathrooms and public facilities has been used to discriminate unjustly against minority groups. And just as in our painful racial past, it is even being claimed that the “bathroom bills,” as they are sometimes called, ensure the safety of women and children—the same reason so often given to justify Jim Crow racial segregation.
But we believe that, as the New Testament says, “perfect love casts out fear.” On June 10, the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church stood against fear and for God’s love by passing a resolution that reaffirms the Episcopal Church’s support of local, state and federal laws that prevent discrimination based on gender identity or gender expression and voices our opposition to all legislation that seeks to deny the God-given dignity, the legal equality, and the civil rights of transgender people.
The need is urgent, because laws like the one in North Carolina prey on some of the most vulnerable people in our communities—some of the very same people who were targeted in the Orlando attack. In a 2011 survey, 78 percent of transgender people said that they had been bullied or harassed in childhood; 41 percent said they had attempted suicide; 35 percent had been assaulted, and 12 percent had suffered a sexual assault. Almost half of transgender people who responded to the survey said they had suffered job discrimination, and almost a fifth had lost housing or been denied health care due to their gender identity or expression.
In keeping with Executive Council’s resolution, we are sending a letter to the governor and members of the North Carolina General Assembly calling on them to repeal the “Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act.” When legislation that discriminates against transgender people arises in other places, we will also voice our opposition and ask Episcopalians to join us. We will also support legislation, like a bill recently passed in the Massachusetts state legislature, that prevents discrimination of all kinds based on gender identity or gender expression.
As Christians, we bear a particular responsibility to speak out in these situations, because attempts to deny transgender people their dignity and humanity as children of God are too often being made in the name of God. This way of fear is not the way of Jesus Christ, and at these times, we have the opportunity to demonstrate our belief that Christianity is not a way of judgment, but a way of following Jesus in casting out fear.
In the face of the violence and injustice we see all around us, what can we do? We can start by choosing to get to know one another. TransEpiscopal, an organization of transgender Episcopalians and their allies, has posted on their website a video called “Voices of Witness: Out of the Box” that can help you get to know some transgender Episcopalians and hear their stories. Integrity USA, which produced the video, and the Chicago Consultation are two other organizations working for the full inclusion of LGBT people in the church. Their websites also have online materials that you can use to learn more about the stories of transgender Christians and our church’s long journey to understand that they are children of God and created in God’s image.
When we are born anew through baptism, we promise to respect the dignity of every human being. Today, transgender people and, indeed, the entire LGBT community, need us to keep that promise. By doing so, we can bear witness to the world that Jesus has shown us another way—the way of love.
Faithfully,
The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Rev. Gay Clark Jennings
President, House of Deputies
Here is the link for the excellent video from TransEpiscopal –
Please take the time to watch. For me, putting faces to labels always reminds me that this is about people not politics and all people are God’s beloved children.
Here’s the link to the 2011 survey “Injustice at Every turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey” – http://www.thetaskforce.org/static_html/downloads/reports/reports/ntds_full.pdf
And, here is the full text of the Resolution passed at Executive Council of The Episcopal Church during their June meetings in Minnesota –
To: Executive Council
From: Joint Standing Committee on Advocacy and Networking
Date: June 9, 2016
Re: Civil Rights of Transgender People
Resolved, That the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church, meeting in Chaska, Minnesota, June –
10, 2016, reaffirm the Episcopal Church’s support of local, state and federal laws that prevent discrimination based on gender identity or gender expression as set forth in General Convention Resolution 2009 -D012; and be it further
Resolved, That the Executive Council voice its opposition to all legislation that seeks to deny the God-given dignity, the legal equality, and the civil rights of transgender people, including North Carolina’s discriminatory “Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act;” and be it further
Resolved, That the Executive Council voice its opposition to all legislation, rhetoric and policy rooted in the fear-based argument that protecting transgender people’s civil rights in the form of equal access to public accommodation puts other groups at risk; and be it further
Resolved, That the Executive Council call upon the governor and legislators of North Carolina to repeal the “Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act” and call upon all other local, state and federal officials to enact legislation that prevents discrimination of all kinds based on gender identity or gender expression; and be it further
Resolved, That the Executive Council encourage Episcopalians to work against legislation that discriminates against transgender people and for legislation that prevents such discrimination, and to communicate the church’s position to courts, policymakers and others across the United States.
Moved/Seconded: Passed
Explanation
In 2009, the 76th General Convention of the Episcopal Church passed four resolutions lifting up the lives and ministries of transgender people both within and outside the church (D012, D090, D032, and C048). Two (D012 and C048) put the Episcopal Church on record in support of transgender equality at the federal, state and municipal levels. In 2012, the 77th General Convention passed two resolutions (D002 and D019) that added gender identity and expression to the Episcopal Church’s non-discrimination canons. Other resolutions at the 76th and the 77th General Conventions advanced the equality of transgender people in the life of the church and strengthened the church’s opposition to “conversion therapy” and other dangerous and discredited practices.
These resolutions were important steps on the Episcopal Church’s long journey toward understanding and accepting that God made us in more varieties than typically “masculine” men and “feminine” women, and that there are a variety of ways of being men and women and more ways of being human than simply male and female. Now we are striving to respond to these insights by dealing more justly with marginalized and stigmatized transgender people and other gender nonconforming people.
At the conclusion of the 77th General Convention, Deputy Lowell Grisham of the Diocese of Arkansas issued a statement saying, “Today the Episcopal Church affirmed the human dignity of a deeply stigmatized population that is far too often victim to discrimination, bullying and abuse. We will no longer turn a blind eye to the violence and rejection suffered by transgender people. Now our clergy and lay leaders can represent the breadth of our church and serve as agents of welcome to all of God’s people.”
In 2016, the transgender community is subject to unjust discrimination in North Carolina and in others states and municipalities where similar legislation is under consideration. We must carry out the promise of our General Convention legislation by refusing to ignore violations of the dignity and God-given equality of transgender people. By advocating against discriminatory laws, by supporting non-discrimination laws, by seeking to understand better gender identity and expression as part of God’s creation of humanity, and by communicating our position as Christians to our leaders and elected officials, we make tangible our promise to respect the dignity of every human being.
Together, let us work to put an end to the discrimination that our LGBT sisters and brothers have faced. Let us be a voice that speaks and acts to truly “seek and serve Christ in all persons” as we “strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.”
Let us pray –
God of love, you sent your Son to become one of us, and so he knew the joy of intimate friendship and human love. We pray that the Church may show forth the patient and compassionate love of your son Jesus to all people, that they may be drawn to life-giving relationships with you and with one another.
God of love, we know that the world is not yet your realm on earth. We pray for those in power. Inspire the hearts of the leaders of nations and people that they might be moved to compassion and action for the many who are shunned, mocked, wounded, and killed because of who they love.
Hear our prayers for those who suffer.
For those who are wounded by churches and religious leaders,
Lord hear our prayer.
For those who have only heard that God hates them,
Lord hear our prayer.
For those who are bullied in schools,
Lord hear our prayer.
For those whose families turn them away,
Lord hear our prayer.
For those who are sick and have no one to care for them,
Lord hear our prayer.
For those who live on the streets and face violence because of their identity,
Lord hear our prayer.
For those who are in prison and are victimized by inmates and guards,
Lord hear our prayer.
For those who cannot visit the graves of their loved ones,
Lord hear our prayer.
For the families of those who have committed suicide,
Lord hear our prayer.
For those who cannot visit their loved ones in hospitals,
Lord hear our prayer.
For those who face financial insecurity because their relationships are not recognized by civil authorities,
Lord hear our prayer.
For those whose families are not treated as such,
Lord hear our prayer.
For all who suffer from the discrimination, misunderstanding, hatred and fear of others,
Lord hear our prayer.
God of love, you created astonishing diversity in all that lives, and blessed it as good. We pray that the gifts of your lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender children may be recognized, welcomed, and celebrated both in the Church and in the world.
Hear our thanksgivings for the reality of love in the world.
For those to whom we are united in the intimate embrace of sacred love
We give thanks, O God.
For the gift of chosen families
We give thanks, O God.
For the gift of love and celebration in our own communities
We give thanks, O God.
For those who in the LGBT community who work tirelessly for justice
We give thanks, O God.
For those allies who work tirelessly on behalf of LGBT people
We give thanks, O God.
For those in power who make known their positions for inclusion
We give thanks, O God.
For leaders of nations and people who actively work for justice for all
We give thanks, O God.
For churches where diversity is welcomed and celebrated,
We give thanks, O God.
For religious leaders who speak up for all,
We give thanks, O God.
For courageous teachers and students, who stand up for those who are bullied
We give thanks, O God.
For foster parents and adoptive parents who take in children who have been cast aside because of their identity
We give thanks, O God.
God of love, we rejoice in the company Aelred of Rievaulx and of all your saints, past, present, and future, celebrated and unknown. We commend ourselves, all those we love, and all our life, to Jesus our brother, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
(from worship resources for St Aelred’s Day http://www.integrityusa.org/aelred)
~ The Rev. Judith Schellhammer, chair, Resolution Review Committee
