Posted on 01/27/2007 7:29:03 PM PST by Rb ver. 2.0
GREENSBORO — Episcopalians meeting in Greensboro this week gave strong preliminary support for a resolution apologizing to gays and lesbians for how they’ve been treated by Christians.
The resolution, which is expected to go before the full Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina this morning, would also affirm homosexuals as "children of God who have a full and equal claim with all other persons upon the love, acceptance and pastoral concern and care of the Church."
A similar resolution was passed this past summer by the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, which has been racked with division since the affirmation of its first openly gay bishop.
The North Carolina resolution comes after the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, the state’s largest religious group, approved a resolution this summer that would remove member churches that endorse or affirm the homosexual lifestyle.
"I would wish it were as simple as saying 'My congregation is open to anybody who wants to come,’" Chaplain Kevin Matthews of St. Mary’s House in Greensboro, who submitted the resolution, said during Friday’s hearing.
"The reality is that sometimes we have to say and do things for people who won’t get to your door for you to be welcoming and friendly because they might already believe you are going to be hostile. … This is an evangelism and mission-minded resolution."
While the discussion never grew heated, some delegates made it clear they wanted the church to stop talking about sex.
Most of those who stood up to be heard spoke in favor of the resolution.
"Yes, it will hurt people," said Steve Gee of All Saints Episcopal Church in Greensboro. "Being a gay man, myself, I see this as part of the ongoing civil rights struggle that started in the ’40s when the churches had to make statements for racial equality. There were people who left churches because they would not drink from the common cup with people of color.
"There are people who will not drink from the common cup if they know they are drinking next to a gay person."
Earlier on the first day of the convention, Bishop Michael Curry emphasized to the gathering of about 600 people the need for ministry and outreach in the community despite distractions.
The sea — beautiful and blue one moment, troubled and tempestuous the next — is a metaphor for life, he said.
"We know that 'sea,’ even now," said Curry, who is the spiritual leader of 48,000 Episcopalians in North Carolina. "We know the winds and the waves — sometimes it’s called 9/11, terrorism, global warming, Darfur, schism, Anglical Communion, Iraq, Afghanistan, genetic engineering, HIV/AIDS.
"I know we can’t do everything, but for God’s sake, we can do something, and that something can make a difference."
K. posts all kinds of things that sound *really* deep. Although I have excellent reading comprehension, there are some things I simply can't grasp amid the turmoil of my daily condition.
In my Retirement Years, I will cultivate long hair and read the Greek Fathers :-).
I will endeavor to translate. Pat and James should be okay, but Vlad and Wednesday are on their own.
"K. posts all kinds of things that sound *really* deep. Although I have excellent reading comprehension, there are some things I simply can't grasp amid the turmoil of my daily condition."
Something which I have never posted is that man has a dual nature of any sort. In the great heresy list Pat is keeping, D is for Dualism and M is for Manichianism.
Well, you guys can sort it out. D was for Donatist, last I heard, but the alphabet is very flexible.
I need to bundle up in my shawl with five shades of orange and head off to Mass with Anoreth and Sally. Is there a heresy for "Oh, no, that hurts my eyes!"?
"Is there a heresy for "Oh, no, that hurts my eyes!"?"
In Greek we call it "Matti-ism"; it relates to giving people the Evil Eye. :)
Okay. I'll post it, but it won't exactly be an original thought.
"Results 1 - 10 of about 1,460,000 for man has a dual nature. (0.12 seconds)"
Man has a dual nature. He is, at the same time, animalistic in many processes. We eat and excrete, we live and die, we bring forth new life and witness the passing of the old.
No doubt many believe that is all there is to life, and seem motivated to grasp at everything they wish to possess, regardless of consequence.
What a limited world view! Man has another side as well. Even something so prosaic as the study of mathematics is a glorious accomplishment in comparison with the best of the animal kingdom.
I'd stack the Pythagorean Theorem up against enormous termite mounds or the great barrier reef any day.
Some of us even delve into this second nature to the neglect of the primary things. So-called ascetics who would rather explore mental and spiritual issues than partake of nourishing sustenance.
I would submit that our physical nature is a corollary to a vehicle which takes us farther and faster than we can proceed on our own. We provide the vehicle with the things needed for its proper functioning, and the fuel it requires, but otherwise, its purpose is to get us where we want to go.
So you always have to ask yourself, "Where do you want to go?"
Well put.
Do you make a rude gesture, like the Italians and Mexicans?
It seems you gentlemen disagree, but that's okay. Have some Cuban black beans and grilled plantain, and pray for the conversion of Fidel Castro!
K didn't say he disagreed with me, he just said he hadn't posted that thought. If we agreed about everything, we wouldn't need to talk.
I am hoping that Castro gets converted very soon, and that Hugo Chavez follows him soon after.
(Did you check your mail?)
I did, but just took a glance before I had to go wash up from the Cuban beans. YUMMY! I think five of us NC FReepers made Cuban beans this evening; maybe it's a political omen ...
I'll have to check my "Healthy Latin Cooking" book for Venezuelan recipes, so we can cook Chavez into a state of repentance!
Guess they will apologize to murders next.
That's the REAL apology that is needed--followed by repentance and an end to gaysbian/feminazi undermining!!!!
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
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