by
Bruce Garner (2/8/01)
We have devoted many hours to prayer, discussion, conversation, hand-wringing, worrying and crying about those who have apparently made the decision to leave the Episcopal Church. I have personally reached the point where I no longer have either the energy or the patience to continue to dwell on the issue. I firmly and passionately believe in dealing with this as pastorally as is humanly possible. But I have also reached the point where I must simply say to those who have made the decision to leave the Episcopal Church: Godspeed. Go with my prayers and best wishes. Should you decide to return, you will be welcomed with open arms. I pray that you will find happiness and fulfillment in the decisions you have made.
The reason that I no longer have the energy and patience to dwell on this issue is the same reason I will not expend energy and patience on a child who is throwing a temper tantrum. Such a tantrum is ego-centric and selfish, with its primary goals as getting attention and getting ones own way, generally at the expense of everyone else involved. Temper tantrums were not a tolerated behavior when I was growing up. I learned very quickly that a tantrum would either be ignored completely or I would get a firm swat across my rear end and told to, "chill out and get over it" in more modern terms. Being a fast learner, I didn't waste much energy on throwing tantrums.
The comparison of those who wish to leave to a child throwing a temper tantrum is fairly basic: Those choosing to leave do not appear concerned with the feelings or interests of others – particularly those with whom they think they disagree. They are seeking attention. They seek attention to "get their own way" much like a child does in a temper tantrum. Their credibility seems rather thin for a number of reasons. Consider the following:
1) If the Episcopal Church is in such an awful state of apostasy, why would those clergy wishing to leave be so reluctant to renounce their ordination vows? If they truly believe that ECUSA has strayed so far from orthodoxy, why are their vows to that same ECUSA of such value to them? For their position to have any integrity, their vows should no longer have any meaning in relationship to ECUSA and should be easy to renounce. (I realize some of the "attachment" is related to pensions and pension fund issues. But that also seems a bit suspect, perhaps even hypocritical. If one doesn't wish to be a part of the organization, then why try to retain connection with any part of it for any reason?)
2) If the Episcopal Church is now so tainted and stained that congregations feel that they can no longer be a part of it, why try to keep property that has been a part of that tainted and stained entity? If it no longer has meaning for you, why struggle to cling to something that has been a part of it? Remember, in most cases, the congregation and its property came into being because of and as part of ECUSA. Again, what degree of integrity is found in clinging to even a physical representation of that which has so offended you? So I personally must conclude that the behavior I am witnessing is very much akin to that of a child throwing a temper tantrum.
We have so much work that we are called to do. The Great Commission at the end of Matthew's Gospel calls us into the ministry of making disciples of the children of God. Yet earlier in that Gospel, near the end of the 25th chapter, we are called into another ministry: We are to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned and provide water to the thirsty. And the reason we are to do all of these things is made quite clear to us: If we do or fail to do these things for our sisters and brothers, we do or fail to do them for the very One who has redeemed us with His blood.
Yet it seems we would much rather find a thousand OTHER things to do than deal effectively with either of these commissions. We argue about who should and should not be at God's table. We make idols of prayer books, insisting that there is only one "true" liturgy for our worship of God. We try to pack God into a "gender box" that fits OUR narrow definition of the divinity of God as only possessing the characteristics of a single gender (despite being told in the story of creation that we are created, both male and female in the image of God).
We take divinely inspired and very holy Scriptures and miss their spirit entirely as we stumble and trip all over ourselves trying to find ways to be ever so literal about each comma, phrase, period and semicolon. Words and phrases are taken completely out of context and reduced to sound bites in debates about how many angels might be able to dance on the head of a pin. We make an idol out of what was freely given to us as a guidebook and a teaching tool. We mock the giver of that gift with its misuse.
We begin to worship our liturgy instead of utilizing our liturgy as a mechanism for worshipping God. We act as if the Holy Spirit can only work within the narrow confines of something WE create rather than letting that Spirit work through wondrous and mysterious avenues of the Spirit's own choosing. Our arrogance closes our hearts, ears, and minds to anything that doesn't fit our definition of what ought to be.
And worst of all, we become so caught up in our own obsessions about what might be orthodox and what might be apostasy that we cease to act as commanded in feeding the poor, tending the sick, etc. etc. We forget that ears that can only hear the growls of an empty stomach have a difficult time hearing the promises of the Gospel. We forget that a beautiful liturgy is completely lost on one who has no home and sleeps in the streets (or the portal of a closed church) every night. And we forget that all of the trappings we call "church" are but an empty, lifeless shell if we do not put into action what we profess to believe.
Those who cling tightly to something in hopes that it will never ever change will eventually strangle the life our of that to which they cling. There is no life without change. Yet, out of some of the very real death we may find around us we will also find resurrection. I think back on the parish where I was baptized and confirmed. Many fought any change in so much as the location of a prayer desk, much less in the liturgy, the gender of the priest, the color of the parishioners, or the social status of the one in the pew next to them. And that rigidity reduced the parish to the brink of non-existence. Then the remnant embraced a ministry to one of the most neglected groups among us: the mentally and emotionally ill. The rattle of dying bones began to be replaced by the sometimes odd and totally unorthodox sounds of those who found new life in the welcome they received that was not dependent on anything but the fact that they walked through the doors of the church. The lily of Easter bloomed. Resurrection displaced death.
So I again wish only the best for those who have chosen to leave. I do indeed bid them Godspeed and will offer welcome should they wish to return. But I have no more time or energy to devote to their tantrums and bids for attention. We have much work to do and we don't need anything to distract us from that work. We should be about gathering the children of God into the Body of Christ. In the event that our gathering collects someone who shouldn't be there, I have faith that God will handle any sorting that needs to be done. I am convinced that my job is only to gather - to gather with great joy! And I need all the energy (and occasional patience) I can get!
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Bruce Garner is a communicant at All Saints' Episcopal Church in Atlanta where he has been active for 20+ years and currently serves as Head Verger. He was a delegate to his Diocesan Convention in 2000, a founding member and currently chair of the Commission On AIDS for the Diocese of Atlanta, and a past Convener of Integrity Atlanta and currently serves on the chapter's steering committee. At the national level, he is in his second term as a member of the National Committee on HIV/AIDS of the Episcopal Church. Professionally Bruce has been employed by the Social Security Administration for almost 28 years. His permanent position is as a Lead Program Specialist for the Atlanta Regional Commissioner.