(Note: The reports on the educational series, A Conversation about Gay Unions, on the following pages are abbreviated versions of all presentations. The rector's reflections have been mailed to all parishioners and full texts of the entire series are on the parish Website at http://www.thechapelofthecross.org/2005/GayUnions.html.)

A CONVERSATION ABOUT GAY UNIONS - Part three: "Pastoral reflections," April 24, 2005

Presenter: The Rev. Stephen Elkins-Williams, Rector, the Chapel of the Cross

Summary by Patty Courtright

Until recently, the Church has given people who are gay or lesbian two options: change or be celibate. Both are much easier said than done, and neither option is necessarily in the best interest of the individual or the larger community. This dilemma, reflecting the Church's longstanding struggle with the issue of homosexuality and how we as Christians are called upon to respond to it, was the focus of the third presentation in the series "A Conversation about Gay Unions," given by the Rector, Stephen Elkins-Williams.

Mr. Elkins-Williams' talk, "Pastoral Reflections," explored the issue from his perspective as a pastor for the past 30 years, and specifically as Rector of the Chapel of the Cross for much of that time. He addressed three topics: his perspective of homosexuality from a Christian viewpoint, the wider Church perspective, and what God calls us to be and to do.

Personal Perspective

Scriptural passages dealing with homosexuality condemn the behavior, not the individual - a point on which the Church, except for the lunatic fringe, has reached consensus. Most Christians would agree that sexual orientation in itself is not a sin.

Surprisingly, Jesus is recorded as not having addressed the issue, and our most revered scriptures, the Gospels, do not mention it either. "Maybe it was not as central to Christianity as I had thought," Mr. Elkins-Williams said. Instead, Jesus' emphasis on tolerance and acceptance, his chastisement of the self-righteous, and the ways in which he sought out the identified sinners of the day are at the core of the life-giving, loving, generous, and passionately just God revealed to us through Jesus.

Has the predominantly straight Church been correct, then, in charging gays and lesbians to change or remain celibate? Whether it is truly possible to change a critical element of a person's identity, like homosexuality, is still the subject of debate by psychologists as well as ministers. And whether it is appropriate to ask anyone to forfeit the call to lifelong companionship seems contrary to God's wish for us to live the fullness of the lives with which we have been graced.

Lifelong companionship is "a primary way for us to grow beyond ourselves, to learn to love another sacrificially, to allow ourselves to realize some sense of God's love for us, and to be able to contribute to the building up of the community," Mr. Elkins-Williams said. The needs and rights of the individuals involved are one aspect of the issue. Perhaps even more importantly, though, are the ways in which gay unions might fulfill one of the traditional purposes of marriage: to help build up the community.

Committed gay couples help build up the community through relationships that are characterized by fidelity, monogamy, mutual affection and respect, honest communication, and the love that enables them to see in each other the image of God - traits that are laid out in the language of General Convention. "If they were all living singly, the Church and society would be the poorer for it," Mr. Elkins-Williams said.

As in most moral dilemmas, putting a human face on the larger issue can go a long way toward resolving it. "This is incarnational Christian theology, I believe, seeing Christ in the face of another and opening our hearts to them in love," he said. "As gay and lesbian people are given more support and encouragement to be honest about themselves with others, we will all be changed and grow more fully into the loving children of God we are all called to be."

Wider Perspective

For the past three decades, the Church has tried to reach consensus on this issue. The 1976 General Convention resolved that "homosexual persons are children of God and have a full and equal claim with all other persons upon the love, acceptance, and pastoral concern and care of the Church."

Since then, the Church has struggled with the resolution's meaning and vision. Subsequent resolutions established that no one should be denied full participation or ordination in the Church based on sexual orientation and acknowledged the existence of couples living in lifelong, committed, monogamous, and respectful relationships outside of marriage. However, resolving to develop a rite for the blessing of same-sex relationships has narrowly failed twice.

In 2003, the 74th General Convention affirmed the election of Gene Robinson as the Bishop of New Hampshire and called for continued prayer, study, and discernment about the possible inclusion of rites to bless same-sex relationships, noting that "local faith communities are operating within the bounds of our common life as they explore and experience liturgies celebrating and blessing same-sex unions." Both actions evoked strong reaction within the Episcopal Church and the wider Anglican Communion.

The Eames Commission, appointed later that year by the Archbishop of Canterbury, was asked in part to address the means of union within the Anglican Communion in the face of divisive issues. The commission's findings, known as the Windsor Report, included a call for a moratorium both on ordaining bishops living in same-sex unions and on authorizing public rites of blessing for same-sex unions.

This spring, the House of Bishops resolved that it would not consecrate anyone elected to the episcopate and would not authorize any public rites for the blessing of same-sex unions until the General Convention of 2006. In our diocese, Bishop Curry has issued pastoral guidelines for any congregation that discerns a call pastorally to support gay couples by blessing their unions.

Our Call

We must ask what God calls us to be and to do, a purposeful order of questions.

We are first called to be God's children. "God calls us to be the Church . . . to open our doors and our hearts to all people, not simply to band together as like-minded people, but to seek our unity beyond ourselves and even our convictions in the love and the grace of God," Mr. Elkins-Williams said. "As the Body of Christ, we are not to say to others who disagree with us, 'I have no need of you'."

As a parish, we must recognize our common identity with one another in the Chapel of the Cross as well as in the Church and the Anglican Communion. "We have a pretty good record of making that love and acceptance real at the Chapel of the Cross," Mr. Elkins-Williams said.

Whether the General Convention's specified "full and equal claim within the Church" involves the blessing of same-sex unions is the subject of continued discernment and clarification. "Will we eventually come to some acceptance in the wider Church and in this parish of the fruitfulness of blessing gay unions?" Mr. Elkins-Williams asked. "I think quite likely we will; out of my personal convictions, I hope and pray that we do."

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