For some time, Christ Church Cathedral in downtown St. Louis has created a very welcoming environment for gays as an Oasis Missouri congregation, even consecrating same-sex unions. Their homeless outreach program was (and still is) the best in the city, they gave anti-war protesters a place to organize during the lead-up to the Iraq debacle, and they had a drag queen in their congregation. What more could you ask for?
Well, one Sunday let to another, and after about a year of attending, I discovered that I wasn't quite the heathen that I had put myself up to be - and my mother didn't have to drag me, kicking and screaming, to church anymore. The congregation was very diverse with representatives from every race, color, creed, orientation and background imagineable and I soon discovered that most everybody, just like me, struggles with their faith and beliefs every day. So I enrolled in their confirmation class (well...it was more like a recovering Roman Catholic 12 step program) and soon thereafter, was a confirmed Anglican.
It was the first time in my life - as an Agnostic - that I felt welcomed in a church, and because I like the congregation so much, I 'offically' joined them.
But since I moved, I haven't been to Church other than to attned two funerals and a wedding. I have a really hard time identifying with the California brand of Christianity with it's drive-thru-strip-mall-McDonalds-ish-chain-Chuches, abstinence rallys, overt christian rock, and an over-abundance of Mercedes with fish stickers. All of this, aligned with all the homo-bashing Bush followers of late, the push for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, the Terri Shiavo disgrace, and living within 20 miles of this and THIS just really makes me want to hurl.
So, needless to say, I haven't had much encouragment lately to renew the calluses on MY knees.
But, once again, the good 'ole Episcopal Church has come through again.
The nomination three years agao of the first openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson pissed off consertative Anglicans so much that they threatened to split from the larger union. All of this was supposed to be resolved last week at the General Convention in Columbus last week, but only proved to be another cat fight. The conservative wings from places like Africa and England requested that the more liberal wings of the U.S. Episcopal Church sign a statement agreeing not to appoint any more openly gay bishops. The liberals instead said basically, "Ok. We'll THINK hard about the POSSIBILITY of not appointing any more gays," - then, in a slap across the face, proceeded to appoint the first female Bishop in the U.S.
Being a proud homo-hater is one thing, but now the conservatives have to admittedly again deal with their sexist side
Confession is a bitch, ain't it?
And as if that wasn't enough, today I see this article on the possibility of another gay man being nominated as a Bishop. If that's not an Alexis-Carrington-back-handed-bitch-slap, I surely don't know what is. I do know that the Democratic Party really needs to take notes and learn a thing or two from these wonderfully unapologetic, liberal Anglicans. This sunday I think I might head down to my neighborhood Episcopal Church and start asking for autographs.