Weekly Thoughts
2003, November 2. All Saints Sunday. "Did the World Really Change Today?"
Today the Reverend Canon Gene Robinson, who is married to another man, is consecrated bishop by the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire. Some have claimed it will tear apart the entire Anglican Communion. Others, like I, believe it is the work of the Holy Spirit, ever moving forth the Christian Church in its catholicity. I had wanted to go to New Hampshire to attend the great celebration, but just became too busy. I see on the diocesan website that they will have three cameras and provide live feed to news media. Good, I can watch it on TV after church here, since it will be 1:00 this afternoon in California. What am I offered instead -- football, golf, and racing -- none of which will make the slightest bit of difference to the world one way or the other.
Certainly this is annoying. I wanted good liturgy on TV, since I was sort of regretting not flying back to go in person. And the news media certainly made a big to-do about Gene's election. But today we have football, golf, and racing. Perhaps the lesson is that the world will go on just the same. That is both good and sad at the same time. It is good because the negativity is proven wrong -- the Church is not changed for the worse. It is sad because to much of the world this great leap of faith means no more than (or even less than) what football team beats another.
So what did change? On one hand nothing. Gene is certainly not the first openly gay bishop to be consecrated. I have consecrated a few myself for the Ecumenical Catholic Church. But this time it was the Episcopal Church -- the church home of George I (both the English and American ones) and Elizabeths I and II. A major Christian body was rocking the boat of the heterosexists within the Church -- and it wasn't done surreptitiously (as it had been when women were first ordained), but through the full deliberations of hierarchy and democracy at the regional and national level. Truly it is good news. It was a day to celebrate. I chose to worship at St. Paul's, the parish from which I went to seminary. It was a day to be an Episcopalian, at least at heart. But I got there late because they change the Mass time and didn't post the change on their website. So I missed the celebration again. It leaves me pondering, "Did the world really change today?"
On the one hand I say "No." The Church has always had gay bishops, and it doesn't make any difference anyway because the episcopacy is not a sexual office.
On the other hand I say "Yes." The Holy Spirit does move us forward, and Church has grown today because it has done something very openly, very publicly, with great attention, and still most people didn't notice, or if they did notice they cared more about men wrestling each other on a football field than about what a bishop does at home. Heterosexism and homophobia are diseases of which Christ is gradually but methodically curing the Church.