RMN Convocation Recap (Part 4)

By Leland Spencer

After a 2-hour ride to the Denver airport, a 3-hour flight to Atlanta, and a 90-minute ride to Athens, I made it back to Georgia in time for class. The convocation was a wonderful experience, and it's always good to be in such esteemed company. Thanks to everyone who made it fantastic. Here are my notes from Sunday (my editorial comments are parenthetical, as always).

Bible Study by the Rev. Dr. Elaine Heath (This one aims to explore how we can become an answer to Jesus' prayer. I'm not sure if this session was less organized than the previous ones or if my note-taking is just a little more scattered, but here's what I have. There are still some gems in this one!)

• Love takes us in directions that fear cannot, and Jesus invites us into a dance of abundant, self-giving love.
• The word ecstasy means to go out from a static position. When we are in a loving relationship with God, we want to go out of ourselves for the people we love. That is Jesus' prayer for us.
• In a broken world filled with evil, we are called to an irrational love, and love is going to have the last word in our lives.
• Jesus is praying that we will Good News the world! (This is not a typo. She used Good News as a verb, which I think is rather wonderful!)
• To become the answer to Jesus' prayer means living a life of outrageous generosity. We must love the hell out of people!
• We don't need special permission to form community. That's part of the promise into which we've been baptized.

Sermon by Bishop Grant Hagiya (I didn't hear the whole sermon because I had to leave to catch the noon shuttle, so these notes are just from the portion I heard.)

• LGBT clergy often find they have to sacrifice integrity or safety/prudence.
• Our cultural model of courage is unreal; rushing into a situation blindly is dangerous and unsafe (just as coming out to everyone you meet is unsafe).
• The consequences of backing down are worse than the fight. Sometimes, fear is something we create for ourselves. (Okay, I'll grant that thinking, "Oh no, I can't go in the gay section at Borders because the bishop might walk in right as I pick up a book on coming out or finding Mr. Right" is a fear that might be somewhat irrational, but blaming the person for her/his fears isn't entirely fair when being honest and open about living in a loving, committed relationship is punishable with the same denominational disciplinary measures as child abuse and embezzlement of church funds.)
• If you cannot be good at what you're doing, you must have the confidence to do it badly.
• Courage emerges out of the strength of our character. In the midst of our fears, we can stand as authentic children of God.
• Our sexual orientation has nothing to do with our character, and if the church doesn't know that, it's the church's problem, not God's. So, be true to yourself and believe who you are! (When this line came out, it sounded inspirational, but the more I thought about it, the more contradictory I decided it was. The bishop simultaneously told us to be ourselves AND suggested that we might have to be careful/prudent about how we do it, especially for clergy who are might have their credentials revoked. The net sum of the sermon's advice, then, seems to be, "Come out and be authentic, unless you're a pastor who wants to keep your credentials. Then, you probably shouldn't come out, but God still loves you." I'm editorializing here, but the sermon felt disingenuous to me. If the consequences of backing down are worse than the struggle, what constitutes backing down? Is the person who decides to live out her/his call in different ways in order to live openly backing down from the call to ordained ministry, or is the person who enters pastoral ministry and remains closeted backing down from living openly as an LGBTQ person? If someone else who heard the rest of the sermon has a way to redeem this point for me, please let me know.)
• Courage is not the opposite of fear but having the integrity to go forward despite our fear. (Okay, this line I really liked. Amen! I was super sad that I had to leave before communion and a final chance to sing "For Everyone Born" in the gathered community of Reconcilers.)

Stay tuned for a few overall thoughts and reactions in the next few days!