Volume 3 Issue 3 ~~Summer 1998
Integrity/Calgary
Support for gay, lesbian and bisexual Christians & friends
News of Integrity!
It's Newsletter time again, and our thanks are due to Dan for putting it together.
Montreal
Thank you all for sending me to the General Synod in May. The diocese also help subsidise the cost, and Integrity/Toronto, and Integrity/Vancouver gave sizable chunks, so it was a real joint venture. I was re-affirmed on three levels:
1) As a Canadian- I have never before been east of Toronto, and to experience a sense of home in Montreal was wonderful.
2)As an Anglican- It is easy to feel a sense of affirmation from the Church as a gay priest. But to be at the place where the whole national church is represented, and to recognize faces, and to feel a strong sense of support from most, and to see little rainbow triangles on name-tags multiply as the week passed was awesome.
3)As an Integrity member- It was very good to meet with people from Vancouver, Victoria, Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal. Integrity is a creative and diverse organization!
One further reflection from the Synod. I couldn't help comparing Integrity's approach to some of the more conservative lobbyists, especially Essentials. They really are lobbying, they are obviously well-funded, they treat the bishops to lunch and my impression was that a lot of people were fed up with them! Integrity, on the other hand, is 'grass-roots' has a sense of humour, enjoys good relationships with the religious orders and the justice lobby, and responds to need. A continual supply of rainbow coloured smarties and cheap fans (labelled 'Fan of Integrity')trickled from our display booth to hot and hungry delegates. Integrity at General Synod made a very good impression.
Integrity/Canada
One new idea was that we might have a national Integrity Newsletter. This would be for 'in-house' stories and gossip, things the chapters want to share with each other, but not necessarily with the wider world. To get off the ground, it would need a volunteer to put it together, and of course lots of regular contributions.
We are also being encouraged to take lots of photos of Integrity functions, so that we can put together an Integrity/Canada photo album. Visitors to the Integrity display loved leafing through the album, but sadly almost all of the pictures were happenings in Toronto. Label the backs of your photos and send them to:
Michelle and Bonnie Crawford-Bewley
92 - 2120 Rathburn Road East
Mississauga, Ontario, L4W 2S8
This photo album will then circulate to the different chapters so we can look at each other!
Local News
Enough about national stuff. I thought Calgary's Pride Week this year was memorable. We had two Integrity banners marching in the parade (the third arrived late Sorry!) The street fair was a fun family occasion, and very well placed to advertise our St. Stephens location for later in the day. The Pride Service was our best attended so far (about 60), and the Calgary Men's Chorus gave a real burst of energy with their two pieces. Thanks to Robb Hogan and his men. Also thanks to the Gay Fathers, who had their potluck early so they could attend our service. We raised $98, of which $49 goes to PFLAG. That was all good, but there is one troubling question: Why did many of our own members stay away?
Stew's B-B-Q is about to happen as I write this. Perhaps Dan will give a report on that elsewhere in the newsletter. (Whoops! Too late! editorial note: Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate so the B-B-Q was cancelled. df)
September
I want to suggest for September that instead of a social we have an evaluation meeting. How are we doing as a group? Are your expectations being met? Is there anything else we should be doing? If you get any ideas over the summer jot them down. Meanwhile, have a great summer and hope to see you at one of the meetings.
Jim jp
For Summer Reflection
Stanza's of the Soul
A poem by
St. John of the Cross, 1542-1591
One Dark night,
fired with love's urgent longings
ah, the sheer grace!
I went out unseen,
my house being now all stilled.
In the Darkness and secure,
by the secret ladder, disguised,
ah, the sheer grace!
in darkness and concealment,
my house being now all stilled.
On that glad night,
in secret, for no one saw me,
nor did I look at anything,
with no other light or guide
then the one that burned in my heart.
This guided me
more surely than the light of noon
to where he was awaiting me
him I knew so well
there in a place where no one appeared.
O Guiding night!
O night more lovely than the dawn!
O night that has united
the lover and his beloved,
transforming the beloved in her Lover.
Upon my flowering breast
which i kept wholly for him alone,
there he lay sleeping,
and I caressing him
there in the breeze from the fanning cedars.
When the breeze blew from the turret,
as I parted his hair,
it wounded my neck
with it's gentle hand,
suspending all my senses.
I abandoned and forgot myself,
laying my face on my Beloved;
all things ceased; I went out from myself,
leaving my cares
forgotten among the lilies.
~This is a gay bar Jesus
It looks like any other bar on the outside, only it isn't. Men stand three and four deep at this barsome just for feeling a sense of belonging here, others making contacts for new partners.
This isn't very much like a church, Christ, but many members of the church are also here in this bar. Quite a few of the men here belong to the church as well as to this bar. If they knew how, a number of them would ask you to be with them in both places. Some of them wouldn't, but won't you be with them, too, Jesus?
-Malcolm Boyd, (Are you running with me, Jesus? A Spiritual Companion for the 1990s, p.32)
Covenant
These I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. Thus Says the [Sovereign] God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, I will gather them besides those already gathered.
Isaiah 56:7-8
"These" is a reference to foreigners and eunuchs. We are the foreigners, the eunuchs, the outcasts. We are those alien to the mainstream culture. We are those who may not bear children. We are those cast out from society and religious institutions.
Through Isaiah, God assures us that we who worship, do what is right, love God, and hold fast to God's covenant with us will always have a place and be given an everlasting name. God will give us joy, our offerings will be welcomed, and our prayers will find a home. Jesus quoted this scripture when He passionately cleared the section of temple set aside for you and me.
We have a place of joy, a home of prayer, thanks to you and your covenant, Sovereign God, our creator and redeemer.
- Chris Glaser, (The Word is OUT, April 7)
Sexual Spirituality
(the following are brief quotes from Edward Hays' book Secular Sanctity p. 73-83)
For the Spiritual Pilgrim, all life is wrapped in awe, wonder and grandeur of the Divine Mystery. That halo of the holy should surround our sexuality.... Because of an anti-sexual, anti-female theology, Christianity lacked a wholesome sexual spirituality. Sanctity was thought to be fully attained only by those who had renounced sexual desires...This discrimination against sexual pleasures did not come from a biblical source but from the influence of certain Greek philosophy upon the early church.... However Hebrew spirituality, from which the spirituality of Jesus came, viewed sex as a life-giving, healing continuation of the artistic creation of God... The Last Supper embodies the conditions by which lovemaking becomes ecstatic and creative. At that sacred supper Jesus says, "This is my body...given in love for you." Each time that we love, giving the gifts of body, blood, spirit, life the all of who we are we are taken beyond our limited selves and returned again to the mystery from which all life comes... Pious persons may be shocked, but sex should happen more than once or twice a week; rather, it must be a constant activity. The giving of themselves in expression of affection, service and kindness is the ceaseless love-making of all true lovers. Such passionate abandonment finds expression in doing the laundry, wiping dishes, listening to each other, being as intimate as possible at all times. All such simple acts of love are creative and liberating.... Luther a former Augustinian friar who married, found the art of lovemaking not only delightful but sacred... Luther goes on to state that the best place to be at Christ's Second Coming is to be united in the act of making love. Such a bold statement by a great religious genius supports the spirituality that this chapter has proposed....These reflections are a simple and incomplete beginning. With trust in our capacity to hear with the inner ear the ear of the heart we can find our own spirituality in regard to love and sexuality, once we have moved beyond our old religious prejudices and our contemporary lack of awe....Every human carries the fundamental pain of separation and alienation which requires the touch of both human and divine love to be relived. The wisdomfilled words of our Creator-God in the Garden contained rich implications for all seeking a secular sanctity in this age: "It is not good for one to be alone."df
We long for heaven where God is, but we have it in our power to be in heaven with Him at this very moment. But being happy with Him now means:
Loving as He loves,
Helping as He helps,
Giving as He gives,
Serving as He serves,
Rescuing as He rescues,
Being with Him twenty-four hours,
Touching Him in His distressing disguise.
-Mother Teresa
"Only the Church..."
by Albert Einstein
Editorial Note:Although he was not a professing Christian, this renowned scientist came to appreciate the Christian Church during the days of Hitler and the Nazis. Albert Einstein (1879-1955), a German physicist, is best known for his theory of relativity. df
Having always been an ardent partisan of freedom, I turned to the universities, as soon as the revolution broke out in Germany, to find there the defenders of freedom. I did not find them. Very soon the universities took refuge in silence.
I then turned to the editors of powerful newspapers who, but lately in flowing articles, had claimed to be the faithful champions of liberty. These men, as well as the universities, were reduced to silence within a few weeks.
I then addressed myself to the authors individually, to those who passed themselves off as the intellectual guides of Germany, and among whom many had frequently discussed freedom and its place in modern life. They were in their turn silent.
Only the Church opposed the fight which Hitler was waging against liberty. Till then I had no interest in the Church, but now I feel great admiration and am truly attracted to the Church which had the persistent courage to fight for spiritual truth and moral freedom.
I feel obliged to confess that I now admire what I used to consider of little value. (from "the Silent Church: The Problem of the German Confessional Witness," by Julius Rieger, S.C.M. Press Limited, London England, 1944).
Donations Appreciated
On our behalf, St. Stephen's Church has kindly agreed to issue tax deductible receipts for donations of $35. These donations to St. Stephen's are in lieu of rent. Become a supporter. If you would like to do this please speak to Tim. You can reach Tim at 283-1746.
New Resource
Integrity Calgary has purchased several copies of Toronto: Holy Trinity
Press's Dangerous Practices: A Collection of Queer Homilies,
which are available for a donation of $2, to help cover the costs of the
booklets.
Drop us a line
Do you have a story, article or idea you wish to share? All articles must include name address and phone number. Names will not be published upon request.
Integrity /Calgary
P.O. Box 23093
Connaught Postal Outlet
Calgary, AB, Canada
T2S 3B1
(403) 270-9661
Mailing lists for Integrity/Calgary are strictly confidential. Inclusion or receipt of this newsletter or membership in Integrity/Calgary does not imply sexual orientation.
Check Out: Volume 3 Issue 1 Volume 3 Issue 2