Noisy Cacophony: LGBTQIA2S+ People, the Episcopal Church, the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia and the Anglican Communion

I recently attended the 225th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) [PCUSA] as a Commissioner, which meant I had a vote on matters concerning the national church, which, of course, also has an impact upon the churches in the PCUSA. We are a US based denomination, not a global denomination, like the United Methodist Church (UMC) or the Roman Catholic Church (RC). We are also members of the Worldwide Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC), along with 200 other Protestant denominations, which have our roots to the 16th century Protestant Reformation. What is decided upon in WARC has little to no impact upon the PCUSA. And for that, I am thankful. The PCUSA allowed those of us who are LGBTQIA2S+ to be ordained in 2011, and in the years that followed affirmed marriage equality. In this General Assembly we talked about a staff person on the national level as a person who will advocate for LGBTQIA2S+ people in the denomination.

When I worked for and with the OR-ID United Methodist Church Annual Conference, I was constantly reminded that it was a global or international denomination, which had its advantages and, most lately for LGBTQIA2S+ people and allies, disadvantages. The advantages? All the voices from all different contexts from around the world in the decision making process. The disadvantage? All the voices from all different contexts from around the world in the decision making process. And because the global UMC has not been able to meet for over four years for their quadrennial meetings, or every two years meetings of late, they can't make any head way in changing their primary book of authority, the Book of Discipline, which has the language that "homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching," that same sex marriage cannot be celebrated by its clergy, and no funds from a congregation can be given to an LGBTQIA2s+ affinity group, like Reconciling Congregations. Plenty of churches do not follow the Book of Discipline, and the global denomination is currently going through schism or what they call, "separation."

The same is true for the Roman Catholic church, which is a global-centric denomination: no same sex marriage or gay priests, even though there are churches where same sex marriage is performed, and there are a lot of gay priests.

However, to muddy the waters a bit, there is the Anglican Communion, which meets once every 10 years for what is called the Lambeth Conference. Lambeth is a district in London, which is where the Anglican Communion offices are based. And this summer of 2022 is the year of the Lambeth Conference, with bishops from all over the world descending upon England. It lasts for twelve days, and is presided over by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. 

But preceding this gathering, the Anglican communion was shocked and angry when it was revealed that a 1990s "Lambeth Call" was being resurrected, which would categorically ban same sex marriage within the church, bringing back the Lambeth Resolution I:10, initially passed in 1998, when bishops rejected the language that "homosexual practice (is) incompatible with scripture." Sound familiar, Methodists?

Here's the problem. The 2022 Lambeth Call on Human Dignity reads, "It is the mind of the Anglican Communion as a whole that same gender marriage is not permissible." Marriage can only be between a man and a woman, not between two adults per se.

But the Scottish Episcopal Church embraces same-sex marriage, as does the US based Episcopal Church, while the Church of England does not allow its priests to perform same-sex marriage. However, the Church of England was making small moves forward with its document, "Living in Love and Faith," which is more pro-marriage equality, but will not be received until 2023.

For more about this, here's a link: https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2022/07/26/lambeth-conference-anglican-communion-same-sex-marriage/

What drew my attention to the awkwardness of these governance structure, where the international church-body says one things, while the regional body says something else, and the local congregation does a wholly different thing, was the upcoming consecration of the Bishop of Virginia--a white, cisgender, straight man--who is not going to be consecrated in the nearby National Cathedral in DC, which is LGBTQIA2S+ friendly, but at Saint Paul's Baptist Church in Henrico, VA, which does purport, openly, to be LGBTQIA2S+ friendly. There is now a call among LGBTQIA2S+ activists in the Episcopal Church, along with members of the ESN, the Episcopal Survivors' Network, who are calling on the Diocese to move this consecration service to a site that is more friendly to LGBTQIA2S+ people. 

Here's a link to this story: https://religionnews.com/2022/07/22/lgbtq-advocates-denounce-plans-for-consecration-of-episcopal-bishop-of-virginia/

The upshot is this. There can be no surprise as to why LGBTQIA2S+ people don't know what to think or where to go and which denomination or church to join, because of the muddled mess of our church-based institutions which, so far, cannot find the will to speak with one voice when it comes to LGBTQIA2S+ people. It isn't a rousing chorus of voices from the institutional structure that are supportive of LGBTQIA2S+ per se. Instead, the noise is a messy, ear splitting, nerve-wracking cacophony. And no one will stick around for that kind of noise and lack of coherence or cohesion.

Is it any surprise why so many LGBTQIA2S+ people don't want to attend a church, or explore the spiritual life, when our national and international church institutions are failing us?

May it be so.