So, here's what I'm feeling the day after the election of the Rev. V. Gene Robinson to the episcopacy was approved. In no particular order, and sometimes all at once:
Happy for the people of the Diocese of New Hampshire who get to keep the guy they chose to be their bishop. They said, "This is him! This is the guy! We have, after a long, prayerful process, picked him to lead us!" and the General Convention affirmed their choice. I'm glad they were heard.
Sad because I know a lot of people feel that the church has betrayed them. I don't like to see their pain.
Concerned for the Big Church. I hope we won't schism, that we'll all stay in communion.
Concerned for the little church. If people want to leave St. Ned's and find another denomination, that is their choice, but I hope they will stay and grieve with the support of their community.
Annoyed that this played out in the national media and made us into That Gay Bishop Church. I do think the Rev. Robinson did a fine job of handling the media, and managed to make the message not All About Him but all about God's love. It's just irritating that having sexuality issues discussed in the church is like throwing chum in the shark tank. There are real people involved here, and real lives, and real communities of faith.
Confused in general. Sexuality is a big complicated mess under the best of circumstances, and here it is banging up against us and demanding that we pay attention and have answers and be able to support them through Biblical Whack-A-Mole. Guess what? I don't have the answers. I know what my heart tells me, and I want to believe that I'm aligned with God's will, but maybe I'm wrong. I also think we have much bigger fish to be fryin' and I am willing to let this slide to the bottom of my Stuff To Ponder list.
This is still too new, too raw, and too polarizing for any real discussion. I noticed that there were people at Convention who wanted to have further dialogue about the issue of ordaining women. That's been happening since the late 70s, and people still want to talk about whether or not it was a good idea. So I don't expect that we'll have a sudden consensus on this issue, either.
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