...Over the years I have been prepared to make certain accommodations to meet the concerns of those whose view of the Gospel promise differs somewhat from my own. I am fully aware that those accommodations have not been uncontroversial. Now, I want to make it abundantly clear that I am not in the least prepared to make any concession that strikes at the heart of my conviction that gay and lesbian people are God’s beloved children. They are we. Our witness to the Gospel would be unthinkably deformed if by some tragic misjudgment we willingly submitted ourselves to vivisection. We are one body in Christ. Each and all of us rely upon the love of God, as revealed in Jesus, to attain to the life that is ours in Him. We have all been called by God to offer ourselves for the transfiguration of our lives in order that we “may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory.” This vision of a God who embraces all in the arms of Divine self-offering love is the vision that is at the heart of the Gospel as I know it...Bp. Sisk repeats this pledge to the NYT:
“Being part of the Anglican Communion is very important to me,” said Bishop Mark S. Sisk of New York. “But if the price of that is I have to turn my back on the gay and lesbian people who are part of this church and part of me, I won’t do that.”
Good to hear from you, Gawain.
J.
These words are from the Bishop of Connecticut, the Rt. Rev Andrew Smith:
ReplyDelete"If the Council of Primates is asking us to undo what we have already done, that is a step many of the [American] bishops would be unwilling to take," Smith said.
While Smith said that he "greatly valued" his relationships with members of the Anglican Communion who disagree with his position, he made it clear that he and most bishops will find it morally impossible to accept the demands of the Dar Es Salaam communiqué.
"I'm not willing to do that," Smith said. "It has always seemed to me that if we accept gay and lesbian people as full partners in our church, we have to be consistent on matters of marriage and clergy. We can't advocate two classes of church citizenship: one for heterosexuals, one for homosexuals. Church unity is important, but you can't compromise on basic principles of conscience."
(from an article in the Hartford Courant)
Help? I don't know how I ended up in here! How do I get back to the regular site?
ReplyDeleteI mean how do I get back to Haloscan?
ReplyDelete