Bishop Robinson's Retirement

Dear People of Christ Church,

This week, I have been praying for Gene Robinson and the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire. As we celebrated our own diocesan convention in Lynn last Saturday, Dio NH also had theirs, and received the news that Bishop Robinson would be retiring in 2013. (look for something in our Quarterly newsletter about our own Convention from one of our representatives, Mike Balulescu)




Bishop Robinson was elected in 2003 and consecrated in 2004, which brought to head global conflicts that had been stirring for some time about the interpretation of Scripture on the topic of homosexuality. In his remarks, he talked about how he always appreciated the people of New Hampshire-He said "New Hampshire is always the place I remain, simply, 'the Bishop.' This is the one place on earth where I am not 'the gay Bishop." That evening, I received a call from the Boston Globe looking for comments (apparently I am the only Episcopalian who answers their phone after 9 pm on Saturdays), and got quoted the next day in the paper. When asked about the dispute in the church, I said it was "tragic"-and since I saw it in print, I've really struggled with what that means.



Is it, in fact, tragic? I think the means of the schism are tragic in a way that the ends are not. What's tragic is thinking about so much actual ministry that could have happened over the last ten years if we hadn't been bickering. Tragedy is a gay teenager killing himself. Tragedy is a mother being unable to nurse a baby because she doesn't have enough food to eat. It is sad when people who had been in communion are no longer, but it's probably not a full-on tragedy. What is perplexing about all of this as well is that these moves to enforce some kind of centralized orthodoxy are completely contrary to the theological spirit of Anglicanism that has served us so well for hundreds of years. In the overall scheme of things, 100,000 people have left the Episcopal Church in the US over this issue, but over 2 million have stayed. And how many of you are here because you want to be part of a church that recognizes the ministry of all people? How many of you feel loved by each other even though you may disagree about some things?



On Tuesday, in our politics and faith conversation we talked about why it's so hard to be civil when we disagree; in our conversation I think we managed to do so, even with people on opposite sides of some issues. In this polarized world though, we have found ourselves dividing-or being pushed-into separate corners. Hopefully, a church is a place where we can recognize each other's humanity and love each other without having to agree perfectly on every issue. There is, after all, that whole "made in the image of God" idea-it applies to everyone, whatever our opinions.



In an interview with NPR yesterday, Bishop Gene talked about how the opposition he's received-even death threats-have in some ways strengthened his faith. "Believing in the Resurrection... death is not the worst thing. Not living your life, that's the worst thing."



Let's all pray for the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire and Bishop Gene as they move forward in the last chapters of their ministry together.



Blessings,

Sara+