Categories: church
Tags: Bishop Gene Robinson, homosexuality, Christianity, church
Date: 08 August 2008 11:39:48
Now that I've got a bit of distance (both time and geographical) from last Sunday, I wanted to jot down a few thoughts on the service with Bishop Gene Robinson. Firstly, I said already but want to reiterate, the contrast between the glum protesters outside and the happy, buzzing, joyful congregation inside was not only striking, it was actually quite jolting. It's something I've also noticed with some of the eastern European blogs I've been reading - the constant "down with this sort of thing" is wearing, wearying and downright unattractive, not to mention unloving and hateful, and as I've said before, I would actually feel quite self-conscious about self-identifying as a Christian there as that seems to be the predominant view of what being a Christian is. This is something I've been thinking more about for a while, and which is also touched upon in Tractor Girl's remarkable blog post.
Back to the service. The first hymn was "All People that on Earth Do Dwell", but sung to the tune of "Jerusalem". I have to say, it was utterly wonderful to be able to belt out a hymn to that tune (normally I mumble along embarrassedly or refuse to sing at all to the usual words, as they're so awful). And, as with so many familiar hymns, it took singing it to a different tune to notice how wonderful the words are, and how they illustrated again the contrast between the joy inside and the glumness outside.
The service continued, and as Mad Priest has already related [by the way, I just have to say, OMG I was in the same room as MadPriest, and didn't even know it!] what was quite remarkable about this was "it was exactly the same as any other Eucharist you might go to in an Anglican Church on a Sunday morning". As I mentioned in my blog post the other day, I was a bit wary of going to the service to see a "celebrity Christian" (I think this is partly a hangover from my years at madchurch, where on reflection you could say there was a cult of personality around some people), but as I said I'd have been stupid not to go when what Bishop Gene has experienced/is experiencing and is part of is such a huge issue in the Anglican church right now. I was really saddened by his illustration of one of the services at Canterbury Cathedral during the recently concluded Lambeth Conference - apparently all the security guys on every cathedral entrance was given his picture and strict orders to eject him should he try to attend, and then one of the hymns that was sung in that same service was "All are welcome". God help us all, how can that be right?
It was clear from both the sermon and from the choice of hymns that the themes of inclusion, service, justice, and grace, grace, grace were to the fore. Actually, if I'd been Mystery Worshipping the service (which I thought about but didn't in the end, as I know the Provost and the church, and also because they were done a couple of months ago) I think that that would be the answer to the final question, what will you remember about this service in 7 days' time? - grace, inclusion, love, service. Of course I'll remember much more than that, but I think it's testament to both Bishop Gene and to Fr. Kelvin that ultimately, the final memory won't be of the participants, of the visiting celebrity, but of the God of grace.
At the end of the service Bishop Gene was presented with a recording of St Luke's gospel in the Scots language (which, as Fr Kelvin said, once listened to would transform your understanding of the gospel!), and Bishop Gene pointed out the power of giving the Bible to oppressed people - because they actually read it, and seek to apply it. That I think was the most challenging thing for me - how much am I reading, applying, changed by, the message of grace, inclusion, love, justice and service contained in God's word?