Posted on 09/02/2003 6:54:12 AM PDT by madprof98
CLAYTON -- In this conservative community, 60 or 70 of the faithful wind their way down Warwoman Road on Sundays, past the Rabun County Bank and Andy's Market, to attend tiny St. James Episcopal Church. My husband and I have loved the little steepled church on the hill ever since we went to our first Christmas Eve service there and were told to just jingle our car keys since we didn't bring a bell for the midnight chorus of "Joy to the World."
With patches of goldenrod heralding fall, about two dozen parishioners gathered recently for a Sunday school discussion on the election of Bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, an openly gay man. I marveled at the perfect tone set by our rector, the Rev. Brenda Monroe.
The previous week, she had given us copies of a provocative article entitled, "Is the Homosexual My Neighbor?" She returned to the gospel theme of love at key moments during the discussion: "Love your neighbor as yourself" and "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart . . ."
The article was not written by Episcopalians but by evangelicals Tony and Peggy Campolo, who subscribe to a narrow moral code. But their views on whether homosexuality is acceptable in Scripture differ dramatically.
Tony believes homosexual acts are a sin, condemned in Scripture; Peggy disputes that interpretation (of Romans 1:26), arguing that he has disregarded the context in which it was written. She believes it's the loving relationship that counts. She points out that Scriptures were also cited to support slavery and to deny the ordination of women.
Tony, a preacher and author, begins by laying out the most important message Monroe wanted us to absorb: that it is possible for people who differ intensely on a crucial issue to have lively debates over it and still stay in a loving relationship.
The most fascinating thing about the Sunday school discussion -- whose participants were mostly middle-aged, educated, permanent residents of the rural community -- was the larger themes that surfaced. Those included the difference between tolerance and acceptance and the pitfall of slapping a single label on whole groups of people.
One woman voiced concern about the loss of family, its importance to child rearing and the concept of the church as a family. But another, citing the high divorce and domestic violence rate, chimed in that no one can blame family disintegration on gay people.
St. James' only openly gay couple, who have been together for 30 years, added an extra dimension to the discussion by sharing some of their previous "in the closet" experiences and their happiness at being accepted in a small church and a rural community. They added a touch of humor, too, "revealing" their gay agenda: mow the grass, pay the bills, go to the grocery.
A discussion of the difference between tolerance and acceptance followed, with one person saying you can't be part of the church unless you're part of all of it. Still, some parishioners I spoke with later were struggling with whether Episcopalians could have faith in a gay bishop whom many would see as not leading the exemplary moral life the ordination ritual requires.
Monroe, who willingly shared that she was comfortable with Robinson's election, said the question she had gotten from some in the church was, "When did this not become a sin -- and why wasn't I told?" She said she knew of only one individual in the parish who was planning to leave the church over the issue.
The Campolos' article will continue to be discussed, and it should be. But most of us came away that morning with the sense that love overcomes our differences; that even when befuddled by spiritual matters -- which is a lot of the time, in my book -- as humans, we can only expect to see through a glass darkly.
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Martha Ezzard's column appears Tuesdays.
It is a rather amazing double standard. Some of us are told we must be tolerant and not fully express our views; others are told they have no limits and must live THEIR lives to the fullest.
Oh, don't worry...Such folks are either warmin' up in the bullpen awaiting the signal or they're down on the farm club waiting to be called up.
Tony believes homosexual acts are a sin, condemned in Scripture; Peggy disputes that interpretation (of Romans 1:26), arguing that he has disregarded the context in which it was written. She believes it's the loving relationship that counts. She points out that Scriptures were also cited to support slavery and to deny the ordination of women.
Tony, a preacher and author, begins by laying out the most important message Monroe wanted us to absorb: that it is possible for people who differ intensely on a crucial issue to have lively debates over it and still stay in a loving relationship...[sic]"
"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry."
2 Timothy 4:3-5
The "can't we all just get along" philosophy is not included in 1 Tim 3 or Titus 2 when enumerating the qualifications for the "episcopos" - the "overseer."
2 Timothy 4:3-5
Thank you.
Episcopalians have been voting with their feet for many years now.
Campolo struck me as heretical in amlost everything he talked about, with lines like "I think we Christians stress belief too much. I mean, look at Gandhi. How was he not a Christian?". Campolo may believe homosexuality is a sin, but he said in the video "...but Jesus didn't say anything about it. However, He did say a lot about the evils of wealth". (I could dwell on the fact that Jesus affirmed that marriage is for a man and a woman and that Campolo knows this, but, well.)
So, here we were in a class sudying the fact that it is "by Grace you are saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves", and we hear this guy stressing works over faith and belief.
For those of you who may not remember, in the video of Clinton at Ron Brown's funeral, the guy walking alongside Clinton while Clinton is laughing his head off was one of Clinton's "spiritual advisers"-Tony Campolo.
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