It is not just about Marriage

While I was away, there was a Diocesan Hui (meeting or conference) to discuss marriage, in particular same-sex marriage.  It was held in our parish hall.  Possibly it was just as well that I could not be there as it is a very emotional topic for me.

Bishop Kelvin has covered it well in his blog.

He concludes:

"At the end of the day no-ones opinions were much changed. But the great triumph was that we stayed together, we talked and we began to feel our way towards that sense of God's presence which enables us to be the body of Christ. We have a long way to go, but I am very optimistic."

In another post he has published his submission to the Ma Whea Commission on Same - Gender Relationship, Ordination and Blessing. 
This commission was set up by the National Synod and is to report to the General Synod by 2014.

Some parts of Kelvin's submission.

"The Diocese of Dunedin has been, for some time regarded as a “liberal” diocese with regard to the ministry of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) people. We have a number of persons that identify as GLBT serving in our clergy, on vestries, and as Synod Representatives. In the last decade several ordained people in same gender relationships have been ordained in our diocese and/or have held licenses for ministry. This has not been without dissent."

"We recognize that for a large number of our people marriage is defined in our Canons and our Prayer Book and means a lifelong union is between one man and one woman, to the exclusion of all others. Further, as our disciplinary canons require ordained people to be either married or celibate, there is currently no possibility of people living in same gender relationships being ordained. "
  
"For others of us there is the recognition that the current situation in the Anglican Church denies a significant group of faithful Christians the experience of living authentically and openly, of celebrating their partnerships and of fulfilling a call to ordained ministry, a situation that many find is difficult to reconcile with a gospel of love and inclusiveness."

"As a diocese we are committed to further discussion of these matters, recognizing that the more we meet with and fellowship with people with diverse opinions and the more we are able to place these potentially divisive matters into the context of the real people whose lives are so impacted by the decisions we make, the more likely we are to find a way in which we can work together for the good of the Gospel which has so captivated all of us."

My own vicar who is now Vicar-General of the Diocese commented on the hui.

"That is the only foundation for 'progress' - the acknowledgement of the foundational significance of our Baptisms, that those who think differently to us are still doing their darnedest to follow Jesus."

In a sermon   the week after the hui the vicar stated

"Jesus sees marriage as relatively unimportant – and I choose my words carefully. Relatively Unimportant. Relative to what you might well ask? Relative to the Kingdom of God, and thus Relative to the life of a Disciple of Jesus."

"At the end of the Hui, Bishop Kelvin speaking of his episcopal ministry used the metaphor of a lumberjack, trying to keep a great raft of logs together on a river. The image that came to mind was that the raft of logs has got stuck up a creek. Perhaps our lack of progress on this issue is precisely its insignificance in terms of the Kingdom of God. "

"I wonder if that was going on last weekend, certainly it yielded little if anything. Our thinking about marriage is so skewed – we see it of such distorted importance, that when we hear Jesus say ‘whoever has left his . . . wife . . . for my sake and the kingdom . . .’ we assume he must have got it wrong . . . but that is quite plainly what he says. To be a disciple is to be devoted to Jesus, to recognise his authority, like the soldiers and the slaves of the Centurion, to Act immediately in accordance with his command. Put another way, to have faith"

 I would reply that to me it is not about marriage it is about equality. 

That was reinforced by Elizabeth Kaeton in her moving post We are Equal.

I was excited when the same-sex marriage bill passed the NZ parliament not because there is any likelihood that I will ever take advantage of its provisons but because it removes the last remnant of  discrimination in the laws of the land.  I have full equality in New Zealand but not yet in my birth country, Australia.

Looking at newspapers of the 1950's when I was a teenager in Sydney, it would seem the politicians, police and certainly churchmen regarded homosexuals as on a par with murderers.  Thankfully I was not very aware of my sexuality at the time.  However even in the 60's,  I was told by psychiatrists that I  should not become a teacher as it would be too dangerous. I seethe with anger at the implications of those remarks.  I taught adolescents for 45 years and never once did anything improper with a student.

I think it is wonderful that today there are openly gay and partnered  politicians, police, judges in both Australia and New Zealand.  Young gay men and women should not feel they are 2nd class citizens anymore.  Except in the church.

While there were many reasons for my migrating to New Zealand and  Dunedin in particular, the existence of one openly partnered gay priest in the diocese was an important factor.

As a young man in Sydney I was keen to train for the priesthood.    I was a youth leader, a lay reader and even preached at Sunday evening services.  But it became obvious that this would not be possible as a gay man.  In fact, when I first told my rector that I was gay,  I was removed from reading the lesson and it was made plain that I was not really welcome to even attend anymore. 

However, until I began worshipping at St James, I never saw a woman read the lesson during a service.

Looking back on my years as a youth leader, we took it for granted that males would be leaders. Girls were assistants but never in charge and although we had youth services, only the boys took any role. 

Now I live and worship in a diocese which has a woman archdeacon, who was in charge of our parish for a year.  Our parish has  a recently ordained woman priest who is assistant and will be in charge during the vicar's absence over the next few weeks and of course there is the  historical fact that we had the first woman diocesan in the Anglican world.

Girls in our churches in Dunedin can see that they can aspire to any role in the church.

Similarly as a gay man it is inspiring to see a gay man preside at the Eucharist and it was one of the highlights of my life to meet and receive a hug from Bishop Gene Robinson. 

However at the moment there is a hold on recognition of gay people in the Anglican church of Aotearoa/ New Zealand.  I wait to see what happens at Synod in 2014.  But I am becoming impatient, there is a strong likelihood that I will not want to remain in a church where I am not seen as equal.

My vicar asks me to see that those opposed to me are also attempting to follow Christ. 

I have received more love and acceptance from atheists than the "Christian" leaders of the Anglican diocese of Sydney.  A straight man who advocated for gay acceptance in Sydney synod told me he had never seen such hatred on  faces as was displayed to him in synod that night. 

There is a local evangelical Anglican church in Dunedin. I have yet to meet any of them and will not be going out of my way to do so. My experience in Sydney makes me very wary of such people. I am told, although a neighbouring parish, they did not send any representatives to the the ordinations of the women of our parish. I see nothing Christlike in them.

Ordinations

Before I came to New Zealand, I had only attended one ordination, that of the 2nd group of women in Australia to be ordained priests at Goulburn in 1992.   I always say that the first group in Perth was a bit far. As it was, I drove nearly 3 hours each way to be present.

I had friends from university days who became priests and a close friend from childhood, for whose wedding I was best man, also became a priest but we had drifted apart by the times of their ordinations.

Shortly after arriving in Dunedin I attended the consecration of Bishop Kelvin Wright and this year I have had the pleasure of attending the ordination as Deacons of 2 women in our parish.

However tomorrow night there is to be an ordination to the priesthood in the cathedral of a man.  My only reason to attend would be to protest so  will not be there. 
David Booth is a member of St Matthews Dunedin , a parish which protested at the ordination in 2006 as Deacon of Rev Juan Kinnear, the partnered gay man who is now an associate priest in the cathedral.  At the time I wrote to them and told them that when I moved to Dunedin I would not be worshipping at St Matthews.  As I have told Juan, he is one of many reasons why I moved here.

Worse, David Booth wrote an article in September objecting to any recognition by the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia of gay partnerships.  I have removed it from my computer but remember being very angry at statements that homosexuality was a choice and could be changed.

I have found this part
“In this paper I have highlighted the results of methodologically sound research that shows homosexuality is a product of social rather than biological factors and that gay relationships are significantly different to heterosexual relationships as far as love, trust, fidelity, and monogamy are concerned.
The evidence so far suggests that non-monogamy is essential for satisfying the male homosexual’s need for ever more satisfying sexual partners, and for ensuring the longevity of committed male same-sex relationships. The evidence also suggests that non-monogamy is a significant factor in there being higher levels of psychological disorder in homosexual households than in heterosexual households."

A response from Dr Nora Dowse, more learned than I, included.
'it is a collection of studies and writings based on anecdotal evidence dating from 45 years ago, with the inevitable question about qualitative methodologies from that era:'

She also stated and I can agree that
Many of us know people who are in loving, loyal, committed gay relationships.

The recent developments in England and the sad  tenure of Rowan Williams as Archbishop pf Canterbury show that we cannot reason or compromise with fundamentalists. They need to be opposed. This week I have read that, while we should pray for our enemies, we are not suppose to have no enemies. Jesus had enemies.

I have never met Rev David Booth but, from his writings, he is my enemy and I object to his being ordained a priest.

My Will

I have just sent a message to Anglicare, the social arm of the Diocese of Sydney.
This was in response to  a news item this weekend.

"The chief executive of Anglicare, Peter Kell, cites a child's need for both a mother and father among the 11 reasons why same-sex couples should not be given the same rights as heterosexual couples under adoption law."

My message was:

'About 15 years ago I drew up a will giving half my assets (about $xxxxxx) to Anglicare. This has been an increasing worry to me. I am glad to report that 2 weeks ago I drew up a new will giving those assets to Anglican Family Care, Dunedin. 

I have recently moved to the Diocese of Dunedin where Bishop Kelvin Wright, now a friend, often preaches in favour of gay acceptance and a partnered gay man is an assistant priest in the cathedral and regularly preaches and presides. They preach the Gospel of Love rather than the gospel of hate preached in the Sydney Diocese.  While living in Sydney I was a parishioner of St James, King Street, an island of sanity within the diocese, but it sickened me to think that any of my money should be used in the name of the Diocese.'

If you are interested, the remainder of my assets go to my sister but, in the event of her pre-deceasing me, to Medecins Sans Frontieres.  Sadly I am increasingly wary of giving my money to Church welfare agencies unless I can be sure they act without ulterior motives.

Addendum
I should post them this excellent piece by my internet friend Betty (Birdie)

http://www.bilerico.com/2010/08/an_open_letter_to_my_fellow_straight_christians_ab.php

but it would be throwing pearls before swine.

I hope to meet up with Birdie while visiting Chicago.

Worshipping in Dunedin

I am an Anglican. It is how I was brought up and, even in Sydney evangelical churches of the 50's and 60's, we followed a set liturgy with robed choirs and the priest wore a surplice and stole. I loved wearing cassock and surplice when I sang in the junior choir and later when I read Evening Prayer. After I gained an Arts degree from Sydney University I was so proud to wear my Arts hood when I preached.
Watching on TV the services in English cathedrals with processional crosses, candles and robed clergy always brings a lump to my throat.

I am quite happy for others to have simpler forms of worship but it is not for me. At school, my closest friend was a Presbyterian.  He was overjoyed to show me a book he was reading which described the Presbyterian church as the church of duty while the Anglican church was the church of beauty.  It was just gentle ribbing as we both shared our love of Christ even if our form of worship was different.

As the Sydney diocese began to become less and less Anglican, I searched out churches where they still used the services in the Prayer Book and the priest wore robes. It was a sad fact of life that there were less and less robed choirs as church attendance declined. I also gradually became accustomed to the modern communion service in the Australian Book of Common Prayer rather than the 1662 which I knew off by heart.

When I went to teach in Catholic schools I became used to making the sign of the cross and recognising the altar and the service of Mass was very similar to the modern service used in Anglican churches.

I have walked out of Anglican churches when the priest walks in wearing a collar and tie, as the anger I feel makes Holy Communion impossible.

It was a great joy for me to begin worshipping at St James, King Street. Of course the main reason was the acceptance of people of all sexualties but on the great Holy days when I attended Choral Eucharist rather than Sung Eucharist and we had a full procession with Cross, candles, incense and robes, I had trouble to stop the tears of joy from flowing.
Even on ordinary sundays when I attended Sung Eucharist, there was still the Cross, candles and robed clergy. I have come to love the dignity and meaning of the Sarum form of worship used at St James.

My first choice of worship in Dunedin has been St John's Roslyn. There is a robed choir and the priest wears robes. There is a processional cross. I am glad to see the church is nearly full most Sundays with many young families. I do not really like the service and hymns being projected onto the wall but guess that makes it easier for many. As an old, single, curmudgeon, I am irritated when parents allow their children to run around the church during the service. However the people have been most welcoming and I have come to know some of the men my own age over Morning coffee.

However I have wanted to experience some of what I missed at St James so have tried to attend the cathedral. On previous visits to Dunedin I attended the cathedral but both times were on Remembrance Sunday so the morning service was not the Eucharist but a special community service.

Since moving here, I have attended on Ash Wednesday and for the consecration of Bishop Kelvin. I attended Said Eucharist early one Sunday in the side  chapel as I was meeting overseas friends and showing them around the city for the day.
Two weeks ago I attended and discovered it was Commonwealth Sunday and again no Eucharist. This was mildly annoying as the cathedral website is hopelessly out of date and did not show this.

Today I have finally succeeded in attending choral Eucharist in the cathedral. The choir singing and organ playing was beautiful. The robed procession was good but no candles or incense. The congregation was smaller, although this might have been an illusion due to the size of the cathedral, and certainly older.

The greatest thing for me was that, although the Dean preached and presided at the Eucharist and his preaching is good, the assistant priests distributed and I received the bread from Rev Juan Kinnear, an openly gay partnered man. I hope one day to hear him preach and, even more importantly for me, to see him preside.

I will probably become a parishioner of St John's Roslyn but make an occasional visit to the cathedral.

I would like to attend a service at All Saints, Dunedin which is more high church but will leave that until after Easter.  It's webpage is also hopelessly out of date and is still advertising the Christmas services. Bishop Kelvin Wright is well in the forefront of communication technology and the webpage of St John's Roslyn is always up to date. I wish other churches would see the importance of this in these times.

I must admit to a longing for the services of St James, King Street but am glad to be out of the Sydney Diocese and know I could not have continued the 2 hours each way of train travel to worship there.

New Bishop of Dunedin

Four weeks ago the electoral synod of Dunedin elected their new bishop. In New Zealand this election must be approved by the other bishops and the General Synod so I have been keenly awaiting an announcement.

For nearly 2 years I have been following the blog of Archdeacon Kelvin Wright "Available Light" It is on my blog roll and my blog is on his blog roll.  He is vicar of Saint John's, Roslyn which is the parish covering the suburbs of Dunedin where I plan to live.
My sister and I worshipped at St John's on November 2nd last year and I introduced myself to him.
When people ask if I know anyone in Dunedin, I have said "the local priest" Well, I read his blog and have followed his fight with prostate cancer and his pilgrimage to the San Camino earlier this year. We have rejoiced that he has been declared clear of the cancer after a session of radiotherapy.

It has just been announced that Kelvin Wright is to be the 9th bishop of Dunedin.
I feel a bit flabbergasted. Now when I am asked do I know anyone in Dunedin, I can say the new bishop but I am a little disappointed that I will not know the vicar of my new parish. He is to be consecrated on February 27th, 2010.  Please pray for him in this new task.

On November 22nd St James is farewelling Fr Peter Kurti who has been Rector for the past 7 years. Please pray for  the parish nominators as they choose a new rector. So many changes.