Texas Forum Offers a Model for Future of Difficult Dialogue on Sexuality
Episcopal News Service. April 13, 2000 [2000-079]
Carol E. Barnwell , Carol E. Barnwell is communications coordinator for the Diocese of Texas and editor of The Texas Episcopalian, the diocesan newspaper.
(ENS) More than 700 persons gathered at Camp Allen in Texas on April 8 to discuss ordaining practicing homosexuals and the blessing of same-sex unions, two issues that continue to cause great friction in many denominations today
"I came with great trepidation," one participant from Austin said, "but found a safe place to meet and speak with others who believe differently than I do."
Professor Charles Alan Wright, chair of the group that organized the forum, acknowledged that most participants probably wouldn't leave with their positions on the issues changed. "Whatever your position, being able to talk in a courteous fashion with other Episcopalians who feel differently is important. All of us have learned from each other, and it has been a great thing for the Church," he concluded following the forum.
The forum was planned by a special executive board task force in response to several resolutions referred at the 149th Diocesan Council in 1998. After more than a year in the planning, Bishop Claude Payne called the Forum "a watershed event" for the Diocese of Texas -- "an endeavor to engender respect...perspective...and understanding." It was not a day to vote. Instead the day provided an opportunity for the diocese to gather and "explore ways in which we can differ on issues and simultaneously be united in mission," Payne said.
Pristine blue skies and a cool breeze greeted participants who began the day with worship at All Saints Chapel set in the pine forest near Navasota. A presentation from two Houston attorneys who hold opposing views established a model of collegiality for the forum and outlined possible future encounters among participants.
Bishop Robert Ihloff of Maryland and Bishop Edward Salmon of South Carolina received warm responses to their presentations on the sexuality issues. After lunch, 28 separate groups met with trained facilitators, talked and shared their stories, then reconvened for concluding remarks. The forum was moderated by Mike Amis and Laura Allen, members of the Ministry of Conflict Transformation, based in the Diocese of Dallas.
"I recognize that I am the designated liberal for this particular symposium," Ihloff began lightheartedly. He then offered an outline of how to read scripture. "All Holy Scripture is written for our learning," he said, but he admonished against "wrenching a phrase or a story out of context" to support a certain ideology. He said that scripture must be read in context with an understanding of its original meaning and purpose. He rejected the tendency of some to interpret scripture literally.
"In reality, there are no Biblical literalists, only select literalists" who choose to highlight what will support their position, Ihloff said. Citing the prohibitions against homosexuality in Paul's letters, Ihloff pointed to the vastly different cultural milieu of the time. "Paul also condones slavery...and declares that women should not speak in church," he pointed out. Summing up the epic of Paul, Ihloff enumerated the gifts of the spirit which he said "transform our lives...and ultimately judge our ethical behavior."
Ihloff pointed out that Jesus made a special effort to commune with the disenfranchised, "people who to the religious people of their time were branded as sinners," he said, adding that "Jesus was intent on proclaiming a new ethic which he speaks in the Great Commandment...to love others as you love me." This love is that which "transforms lives...builds up community...and becomes the guiding principle for Christians," the bishop said.
The seven passages he considered in his statement, he explained, "were very complex" and neither a simplistic nor a literal approach to them could fully convey the guiding principles for Christian moral behavior.
Ihloff compared scripture to a lens "through which we see our life." Very familiar scripture, he explained, may at times "become new in some exciting way," informed by personal experience.
He outlined his personal journey from the early 1960s when he, as most of the culture, held the Freudian assumption that "homosexuality was a result of an arrested stage in early childhood development," that could be "cured" by therapy. As an unseasoned priest, Ihloff said, he once heard the "tortured confession of guilt and despair" from a man "who loved the Lord." Ihloff recalled, "I assured him of God's love and forgiveness and suggested he seek therapy in order to become heterosexual. Not too surprisingly, he left the congregation shortly thereafter."
In his ministry since then, Ihloff said, he has become familiar with homosexual couples who care for one another, who love the Lord and are serious about their Christian walk in faith.
"Knowing such persons, more than a study of scripture, changed my heart and my attitudes about homosexual practice."
Acknowledging that blessing same-sex unions is "the thorniest part of the problem," Ihloff said he hopes the church will offer that opportunity in the near future. He suggested the church first needed to grapple with the nature of Christian marriage in a culture where half of the marriages end in divorce, and he pointed out that same-sex relationships must not be defined in the same way heterosexual marriage is defined.
Salmon used secular culture's focus on sex as well as scripture to anchor a more traditional stand on the sexuality issues. "We live in a culture that says 'without sex, you are a nobody,'" he said in his address. To prove his point, Salmon said he reviewed the airport magazine stand on his way to Houston and counted 37 publications whose covers featured sexual subjects. "We, as a culture, are engulfed in it [sexual expression] and as Christian people, we need to live in a way to make a witness to that culture," he added.
The 18th chapter of Leviticus, he said, is the foundation for the universal rejection of same-sex intercourse in Judaism. "In Corinthians, Timothy and Acts, those same prohibitions are assumed on matters of sexual morality," he added.
Salmon explained that Paul defined the character of the Gospel as an "active manifestation of God's power" and suggested that the human race had disregarded God's efforts and turned on a "massive scale to idolatry."
"Romans says the notion that we are free moral agents to choose what we want to do is an illusion," said Salmon. "What we choose is a reflection of our idolatry and our lawlessness, and God is leaving us to our choices.
"One of the difficulties we have as Episcopalians in our debates about homosexuality is in self-righteousness to rise above each other," he further stated. "There are not categories of sin, where one is better than another. We have a tendency to see moral choices as free moral choices and some folks as worse than others. We've lost the Christian understanding of who we are and what we are as God's people," Salmon said, explaining that any dialogue about sexuality needs to be done in this context.
He also said that the means and the end of Christian theology must overlap and be congruent, although "we have lived as if the means and the end are not related....Scripture doesn't believe we can have private, personal acts that don't affect the health of the community," he said. "Our culture is dramatically affecting who we are as Christian people and we have not gotten our act together."
He explained that love of God is more important than any human love and that scripture sees human sexuality as of secondary importance. "My interest is that we find a way to affirm life without colluding with it," said Salmon. "Question what is fundamental and what needs to change," he admonished, "and do those things with great trepidation, and trust that the Holy Spirit will help us do it."
Salmon urged the audience to "be about the fundamental work of the Gospel," instead of being about "the fundamental matter of trying to kill each other over issues."
Long-held stereotypes sometimes unraveled in the small-group sessions, where people spoke freely and with mutual respect. More than 56 facilitators had been trained to convene the 28 groups and kept notes on each of the discussions. These will be published with the task force's final report on the forum and made available to interested persons.
"It's a justice issue, not a holy issue," said a gay man from Houston who does not support ordaining practicing homosexuals or blessing same sex unions. He felt the church should also look closely at the entire issue of marriage. A man in his 70s told his small group that his experience as a physician led him to believe homosexuality was not a choice and, he said, "No one should be excluded from fully participating in the life of the church."
"My picture of Christ has open arms," stated another gay man. "I've been able to witness to my friends that my church has not forsaken us like the fundamentalist churches have." Yet another person asked, "Is the church a reflection of God's word or the culture it finds itself in?"
If some minds were changed by the day's conversations, others remained steadfast. Several speakers reiterated their traditional positions to the reconvened audience following the small-group time. Andrew Jackson, a member of St. Paul's in Katy, Texas, spoke to the authority of scripture. "Do we believe what the Book says or not?" he asked. "I'd rather go with what God designed than what man thought he did."
"The issue before us in not sexuality, it is what is our church's doctrine with regard to marriage," another stated. "This needs to be addressed before we move to devising trial rites for gay unions."
"I can't imagine anyone choosing to be gay and be faced with the hostility society dishes out," said John Touche. He said he felt that "people who condemn gay people usually don't know very many."
After a number of three-minute presentations, the moderator asked the audience, "Where do we go from here?" Responses included "hit our knees in prayer," and "don't isolate anyone," but most seemed to agree that continuing the dialogue was essential in the life of the church. One speaker urged participants to "speak to people who disagree with you" while calling for the conversation to continue in congregations.
These suggestions were further supported by facilitators who met after the forum. "I was amazed at how quickly people opened up and were willing to be vulnerable," said a woman from Austin. Most agreed that the format had worked well and provided a safe place for people to come together and talk, a place where their stories were honored. There was a clear consensus for continuing the dialogue.
The Rev. Larry Hall, a member of the task force who designed the day, felt the forum was productive. "There was a lot of listening and hearing with a degree of care and compassion," he observed, adding that he believes the difficulty lies in "where we go from here."
"As long as people find value added to their lives and are touched by the Holy Spirit, you cannot keep them out of the church," concluded Bishop Payne. "We have the power of the Holy Spirit which is with us even through the anxious and ambiguous times. It gives us confidence and hope for the future."