Greenwich Parish Provides 'Warm' Welcome for Archbishop of Canterbury
Episcopal News Service. September 28, 1998 [98-2227_Z]
(ENS) Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey and his wife Eileen, and Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold and his wife Phoebe, broke their vacations to attend a fundraising dinner and a morning Eucharist at a Connecticut parish that has provided generous support for the Anglican Communion.
A Saturday night, black-tie dinner produced $170,000 for the Anglican Investment Agency, a new attempt to fund common work in the Anglican Communion. Most of the seed money for the initiative came from members of Christ Church in Greenwich. Carey originally accepted an invitation to spend a few days with the parish as a way to express his gratitude for their leadership. Marnie Carr, who helped organize the dinner and the funding initiative, said that Carey had often expressed frustration that the Anglican Communion was not able to help the suffering churches he encountered during his travels. "The parish felt uplifted and renewed after spending a few days with the Careys," said Mrs. Carr, former director of the Episcopal Migration Ministry.
Members of Integrity, a ministry with gay and lesbian Episcopalians, joined a packed congregation at a steamy morning Eucharist August 30, celebrated by Griswold. He urged the congregation to welcome the Integrity members, identified by pink triangles, a symbol used by the Nazis during World War II to identify homosexuals in prison camps.
Carey began his sermon with thanks for the support he received at the dinner. "It is the sort of generous, practical expression of faith for which the American church is rightly famous," he said.
Expressing gratitude for being in "the original diocese of the Episcopal Church of the United States," Carey also invoked the name of its first bishop, and first presiding bishop, Samuel Seabury. When he became bishop in 1784, "He found a divided church and he worked unceasingly to bring unity between the high church, loyalist New England churches and the Protestant, more pietistic churches of the South," Carey pointed out.
Citing the encounter of Jesus with the woman taken in adultery and on the verge of being stoned, Carey said that "it is so important for us to learn the lesson of being that kind of church which maintains its principles but in a non-judgmental way as we wrestle with complex issues in our day."
"I know that there are some here today who feel that I am on the opposite side from them on the issue of practicing homosexuality," Carey said. Admitting "that may well be the case," Carey went on to say, "My integrity too calls me to stand out for what I believe to be orthodox sexual morality. But is it not possible for us to show the way in our divided societies how strong positions can be held in tension without demonizing one another?" he asked. "Let me assure you that the resolution from the Lambeth Conference [asserting that homosexual activity is contrary to Scripture and advising against the ordination of active homosexuals or the blessing of same-sex relationships] calls upon us all to listen to one another and I am committed to that."
Carey concluded, "The church and all churches will grow, when we allow our differences not to be cause of separation which drive people apart and away, but as differences through which we see the gentleness of Christ and his call to each of us to follow."
Carey paused for almost an hour after the Eucharist to autograph the service booklet, and some of his books on sale at the parish bookstore. Carey stopped to greet a small group of Integrity members, before joining Griswold in the parish hall for an open forum.
Most of the questions dealt with the Lambeth Conference, which Carey called "a watershed." It was the first time the bishops had addressed the sexuality issues, "the first time that the Anglican Communion addressed the issue [of homosexuality] together, providing an opportunity for some listening. We need to speak honestly to one another and travel together," he said. But he said that holding the church together "can't be done by confrontation, which only polarizes."
The Anglican tradition has "variety, lots of room, inclusivity," Carey said. "I want to bring life into our tradition and integrate the different streams and let joy and life flow through it all." And he said, "Anglicans are marvelously positioned to respond" to the issues of the day.
Phil Nicholson, a regional officer of Integrity, presented Carey with a handful of letters from gays and lesbians telling their stories, and Carey expressed his gratitude, promising to read them carefully.
Later Carey sent a warm personal letter to Louie Crew, thanking him and members of Integrity for joining the services in Connecticut. "I was sorry that I didn't have the opportunity of a personal conversation with you, but I do want you to know that I am committed to dialogue with gay people, and I have already had a discussion with the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church about how we can ensure that the Lambeth Conference resolution is pursued in this respect."
Carey said that he was trying to write each of those whose letters he received at Greenwich, "recognizing the pain which they are feeling and inviting them to recognize the positive elements of the resolution." He added, "To be truly the church, we must stay together and wrestle with the issues over which we disagree. Each one of us is challenged by new insights and new experiences to confront deeply held beliefs and test them, and that is painful. I am sure, however, that out of the apparent confusion will eventually come a fresh sense of unity as we allow the Holy Spirit to work amongst us."