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Archbishop Rowan Williams is on a roll. He condemned the killing of LGBT rights activist David Kato within 48 hours. Then today, at the end of a summit of most of the Anglican primates, he went on record again about the murder and disgraceful handling of David Kato's funeral. There are two reports imbedded in the Irish television network RTE's site.

Anglican leader in warning over homophobia - RTÉ News#video#video

Meanwhile, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori's sermon this morning in Dublin at Christ Church talked about infant mortality and the killing of David Kato. She again returned to the theme of the body of Christ. And she challenged the congregation that being part of the body of Christ requires us to "show up". Something that at least seven bishops did NOT do this past week in Dublin. Among those who refused to be at the table because of the presence of Jefferts Schori: ++Henry Orombi of Uganda. A reporter asked Jefferts Schori what she thinks of that, and she simply noted that if they aren't there, there is no way to have a dialogue. ++Katharine expressed a renewed sense of commitment to the Anglican Communion from those present. Will this mean that we move forward and leave those who won't show up in our rearview mirror? I guess we'll see.

Mystery Gift

Today was the annual meeting at St. John's. Nothing terribly exciting to report from that event. We are committing to a year of Christian hospitality which is a good goal. A transformative goal for St. John's which has been through a time of everyone looking over their shoulder before speaking for fear of who might be listening and turning them into the "orthodox police".

As I approached my car with my Pyrex containing the leftovers of my Chicken paprikash from our potluck, I noticed a book on the driver's side of the roof. I had a moment of, "What did I leave out here for four hours?" It was a slim book by the Bishop of Atlanta on his journey toward understanding what I know in the marrow of my bones: Gay people are part of God's kingdom. In fact, I believe my sexuality (and yours) is a gift from God. At any rate, this book had a sticky note: "I hope you enjoy this. I found it very interesting. A fan of your blog."

Quite the mystery! I only know a few of my readers by name or acronym. Some I know personally, but many are folks who I've come to know as part of this virtual church in the blogosphere. Now a member of this church has passed along a tangible gift which I hope to get to this week (unfortunately, I have to focus on the popes of Avignon and Rome for EfM first). But I will read the Bishop's book. And I might even comment on it here. So, thank you, Mystery Gifter. How fun to have blog readers bestow me with books!

And Deliver Us From Evil

Archbishop Henry Orombi

The Mad Priest has made a suggestion that I would love to see happen across Episcopal Churches, and throughout the Anglican Communion: given the deplorable actions of the "official" representative of the Anglican Church of Uganda at David Kato's funeral, the rest of us should celebrate the slain activist's life by reading for him a proper burial service. This would be a way of delivering us from an evil committed against a dead man, and his friends and family, by a church that has decided to place itself in the judgement seat of God.

The readings for this Sunday, too, speak to me about the abuses that have happened this week in Uganda, and elsewhere, against LGBT people. Our first lesson is from the prophet, Micah, which begins with God reminding Israel of all that has been done for the nation.

"With what shall I come before the LORD,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?"
He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
--Micah 6: 6-8

Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with your God. That is what is expected. I wonder if the head of the Church of Uganda, Archbishop Henry Orombi, has any clue or concept that he must read this passage from the prophet and see the error of his ways? He has encouraged and fostered hatred of homosexuals in his country and around the globe. Let's face it: St. Peter's Anglican Church, the renegade crew that left St. John's in Tallahassee with accusations of 'unorthodoxy' and such, is affiliated with the Anglican Church in Uganda. And one need only do a YouTube search to find that the faux priest Eric Dudley is STILL foaming at the mouth about TEC's acceptance of LGBT Christians. I would ask Eric Dudley, Henry Orombi, Nicholas Okoh, Martin Ssempa, Scott Lively, "The Family" on C Street and all the others: where was the justice and the kindness in the offense committed at David Kato's funeral? How was launching into an anti-gay rant at a gay man's funeral a humble walk with your God?

"Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us..."

I am admittedly finding it extremely difficult to forgive what is happening on the ground in Uganda. Ultimately, I know that God is watching what is unfolding there, and my hope rests in the belief that Kato's death may stir some otherwise complacent people to see that the time for silence and wishy-washy liberal excuses about not wanting to appear "colonial" will come to a halt. This is a human rights issue, not a matter of trying to impose foreign rule. It is not OK to kill or to call for the hanging of peaceful people such as Bishop Christopher Senyonjo. People are being murdered for who they are. How is this different from any other holocaust or genocide in history?

The gospel lesson for today comes from Matthew's account of Jesus' sermon on the mount and reciting of the beatitudes:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
"Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
"Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. --Matt 5: 3-12

To all people, and especially my LGBT brothers and sisters in Uganda and Honduras and all parts of the world where you face danger and persecution: the idea of 'rejoicing and being glad' for what is happening may sound idiotic at times. It certainly has to me! But I believe in a God who loves. I believe that those of us who are living as God has known us to be are the ones who are bringing us closer to the fulfillment of the prayer: "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." We remain grounded in our truth because we are blessed.

O Lord, make haste to help us.

Stonewall in Uganda and a Communion Divided

It is no small irony that as I write this entry, the shuffle on my CD player has landed on the 60s Burt Bacharach tune, "What the World Needs Now is Love." After all, "it's the only thing that there's just too little of."

Nowhere is that more evident than in Uganda. Friday was the funeral for slain LGBT rights activist, David Kato. Bishop Christopher Senyonjo was in attendance, a brave move given that he, too, is among those targeted in the tabloids to be hanged. Reverend Canon Albert Ogle, who runs St. Paul Foundation which supports Bishop Christopher's work to help LGBT Ugandans, reported that Kato's funeral became an anti-gay rally...

Since Kato was an Anglican, the local parish church of Nagojje was responsible for his funeral rites to be read from the Book of Common Prayer. Although tributes have been pouring into the Kato family from President Barack Obama and other international leaders, the Church of Uganda sent no priest, no bishop, but a Lay Reader to conduct the service.

Bishop Christopher Senyonjo arrived in his purple cassock accompanied by his wife Mary and let the master of ceremonies know he would like to say a few words at some point in the service. He was going to read a message from Frank Mughisu of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) where David worked tirelessly since 2004.

As an excommunicated bishop of the Church of Uganda, Christopher has no standing in the official hierarchy of the church. The Lay Reader began to make inappropriate remarks condemning homosexuality quite graphically and stating the Church of Uganda’s position that homosexuality was a sin and against the Bible.

The crowd began to cheer him on and the bishop described the event as turning into an anti-gay rally. The bishop was never called upon to speak. He felt for the LGBT community having to suffer yet another public humiliation.

This scene would have continued, but for the actions of one brave lesbian named Kasha who grabbed the microphone away from the lay reader. In Ogle's words, this (Kato's violent death and chaotic funeral) was "the Stonewall moment" for LGBT Ugandans. The reader fled the scene and David Kato's friends completed the service. They had to carry his coffin and bury him quickly as reports are that the local villagers began to assemble against them.

As life for Ugandan LGBT people is becoming more and more difficult and dangerous, the Anglican Church of Uganda has shown little resemblance to the Christ it proclaims to profess.
They refused to send a priest to lead the service, and the man they did send launches into a diatribe about homosexuality. The police in Kampala are claiming Kato's death was an "aggravated robbery" and had nothing to do with is homosexuality or his activism for LGBT rights. Will the Anglican Church of Uganda say anything? I believe the lay reader they sent said enough!

In Canon Ogle's commentary, he poses the central question:
As the Anglican Primates gather in Dublin, Ireland, the question they must ask themselves and ponder this weekend is what kind of Anglicanism are we really representing? What are we proud of from David Kato’s life and the rites our church provided over his dead body? And what are we ashamed of?

From the description of what happened, the Anglican Church... as practiced in Uganda... has much to repent of the sins committed. The Archbishop of Canterbury did issue a statement on the murder from Dublin, where he condemned the killing as "profoundly shocking".

"Our prayers and deep sympathy go out for his family and friends - and for all who live in fear for their lives. Whatever the precise circumstances of his death, which have yet to be determined, we know that David Kato Kisule lived under the threat of violence and death. No one should have to live in such fear because of the bigotry of others. Such violence has been consistently condemned by the Anglican Communion worldwide. This event also makes it all the more urgent for the British Government to secure the safety of LGBT asylum seekers in the UK. This is a moment to take very serious stock and to address those attitudes of mind which endanger the lives of men and women belonging to sexual minorities."

Our own Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, offered prayers for Kato during the eucharist in Dublin, and added that she hopes that from David Kato's life we might gain "a heart of flesh rather than a heart of stone."

But I question where the heart is at all in Uganda. So successfully poisoned by white evangelical American preachers, and the fear of "others", Ugandans seemed to have suffered a massive heart attack. So what will we gain? Will we acknowledge that Kato's death... and his funeral... show us that we in the Anglican Communion can not live in harmony with one another as long as this anti-gay pogrom continues with a wink and a nod from the local Anglican Churches? Will we try to bring a new voice to Ugandan Anglicans, one that sounds more like Bishop Senyonjo? In the resurrection of Kato, will we finally have the understanding that all the kings horses and all the kings men can not put this Humpty Dumpty Communion back together again?

If this is indeed the "Stonewall moment" for LGBT people in Uganda, then something new must be created out of the chaos.

On this date... 25 years ago

I remember where I was at the moment that the space shuttle Challenger blew up.

I was in the student center on the Governor Dummer campus, drinking a cup of coffee and working my way through some homework. Someone called out, "The space shuttle blew up!" Another student looked at me and then he rushed over to the television. He turned up the volume, and the few of us sitting in the building watched the image of what happened a minute and thirteen seconds into the flight... over and over and over as only TV news knows how to do.

I was shaken. Aboard the Challenger shuttle was Christa McAuliffe. She had become a celebrity as the first teacher going into space, and as a social studies instructor at Concord High School in New Hampshire. The hours and hours of TV and radio specials had made her your next door neighbor and best friend. New Hampshire was buzzing that we had a national treasure in our midst... and she taught at the high school in our state capital!

The moment was exhilarating. An ordinary citizen, McAuliffe, was going into space and would be delivering messages back to earth so that all of us could go on this journey with her.

You heard on the video the guy at Mission Control: "Challenger. Go with throttle up." The response, "Roger. Go with throttle up." And then... boom! In an instant... McAuliffe and the other six crew members were gone. It was surreal. After awhile, I wandered toward the dining hall, still seeing the image over and over in my head. My math teacher saw me coming in and must have noticed that I wasn't quite right.

"Sue, what's the matter?"

"The space shuttle blew up."

No response from the teacher. I could have said, "Mashed potatoes" or "What's up, doc?" or any other phrase and possibly elicited a bigger reaction. She shrugged, and that was it. Not even a polite, "I'm sorry to hear that." At tables in the hall, students were cracking jokes about the tragedy. One person actually said of the explosion, "So what?"

So what?!?!

"Am I just that different from all of these people??" I wondered. "Does no one else care that seven people just blew up over Cape Canaveral?! That the coolest person to go into space was now particles vanishing into thin air??"

In my own mind, I saw this as another huge emotional punch in the gut to New Hampshirites. Two days earlier, our beloved professional football team had raised our hopes and dreams by going to the Super Bowl for the first time... only to have the Chicago Bears completely dominate them and clean their clocks. That stung. But the Challenger broke our hearts. That night, Governor John Sununu made a special televised address to the state. It was the only time Sununu spoke in a way that wasn't his normal arrogant, self-satisfied smugness. He was hurting just as much as we all were, and you could see it in his face.

I drew the image of the explosion in the margins of many notebooks the rest of that year. I remember finding the AP radio coverage of the event in the studio at KBIA when I was in college. I listened to the sounds of excited school children counting down to lift off. Because of Ms. McAuliffe, many schools had made this shuttle launch part of their school day. And then that mission control voice: "Challenger. Go with throttle up." The crowd cheered at first, thinking the burst of flames was all part of the show. Then you hear a child's voice in the crowd, "Where'd the shuttle go?"

To slip the surly bonds of earth and touch the face of God, as President Reagan said.

I'm sure we all have memories of where we were on that day and at that hour. So strange to think that 25 years later, the memories are still vivid. The responses, or lack thereof, around me so memorable. And I remember Christa McAuliffe.

To the Archbishop of Canterbury...

Dear Archbishop Williams,

It is with great sadness and urgency that I am writing to you about the murder of LGBT activist David Kato. Kato's murder in Uganda is terrible, but not unexpected given the increasingly dangerous situation there with tabloids publishing the pictures and addresses of gay and lesbian people and their allies with the headlines to hang them. Bishop Christopher Senyonjo was among those pictured, and now his life is in danger. This can not continue without comment from you as the Archbishop of Canterbury.

I implore you, sir: please use your position as a leader in the Anglican Communion to say that such violence against other human beings is anti-Christian, anti-Anglican, and will not be tolerated any longer. You must call on the Anglican Church of Uganda to cease its tacit participation in the violence against LGBT people in that country. We are not all of one mind on human sexuality and gender expression in the Communion. That much is clear. But we should be of one mind that murdering other human beings... regardless of who they are... is a sin.

The silence of the Church on these matters presents a stumbling block to those looking for Christians to follow the gospel message of protecting the weak, the friendless, the oppressed. Please, sir. Speak now.

Peace,

Susan Gage
Tallahassee, FL, USA

Discernment Process

This needs no further comment. This CartoonChurch.com comic by Dave Walker originally appeared in the Church Times.