One week ago, Bishop Lawrence C. Provenanzo of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island issued a statement to The Living Church regarding Bishop William Love’s not-so-pastoral letter forbidding marriage equality in the Episcopal Diocese of Albany.
A brief recap for those who were not as glued to that limited-run streaming series, General Convention 79 – Austin: Keep TEC Weird. I can’t wait for season 80 – coming to Baltimore in 2021!
The previous Convention in 2015 approved trial liturgical rites for same sex couples, requiring the approval of the diocesan bishop. Eight bishops forbade marriage equality in their diocese. In July 2018, General Convention strengthened the Episcopal Church’s commitment to marriage by closing loopholes in its 2015 legislation. Resolution B012 (proposed by Bishop Provenzano) grants that same sex couples could be married at any Episcopal Church where the couple can legally marry and the parish rector is willing to perform the ceremony. Likewise, bishops whose conscience will not permit them to participate in same sex marriages can appoint a substitute bishop from another diocese to provide the same pastoral support as for opposite sex couples. It passed by an overwhelming majority
A great compromise, no?
Not in Albany.
On November 10, 2018, Bill Love delivered his edict about B012 and marriage equality which he addressed “To the People of God in the Diocese of Albany and throughout the World.” Sounds important.
Love states he “agonized over this letter” further stating that “There has not been a single day since General Convention that I have not thought and prayed about B012.”
An aside: There has not been a single day since marriage equality first passed in 2015 that LGBTQ+ Episcopalians in the Diocese of Albany, the seven other dioceses where the bishops vetoed same sex marriage, and the Episcopal Church at large have not thought and prayed your mind and heart would soften on this issue.
His final ruling was as follows…
“Until further notice, the trial rites authorized by Resolution B012 of the 79th General Convention of the Episcopal Church shall not be used anywhere in the Diocese of Albany by diocesan clergy (canonically resident or licensed), and Diocesan Canon 16 shall be fully complied with by all diocesan clergy and parishes.”
Not cool.
But he doesn’t stop there. I cannot make it through his eight-page hate letter attacking the LGBT community without screaming at the computer and literally feeling like I am about to throw up. Some selected excepts from the Love letter:
“B012 by its very intent of making liturgies available for same-sex marriages, (while perhaps well intended) is in fact doing a great disservice and injustice to our gay and lesbian Brothers and Sisters in Christ, by leading them to believe that God gives his blessing to the sharing of sexual intimacy within a same-sex relationship…”
“B012 through the actions mentioned above, encourages Brothers and Sisters in Christ who have same-sex attractions, to act on those attractions engaging in sexual behavior that God through Holy Scripture has not only NOT blessed, but has identified as sinful and forbidden. In Leviticus, in the midst of a long list of forbidden sexual acts, we read, “The Lord said to Moses [and the Israelites]…Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.” (Leviticus 18:1, 22).”
“B012 is contributing to false teaching in the Church regarding marriage and human sexuality, thus opening the door for people with same-sex attractions to fall into sin by disordering God’s original design in creation, exchanging the complementary nature of the male and female body to “become one in flesh,” with a distorted unnatural expression of sexual intimacy between people of the same sex.”
“In so doing, not only does the same-sex couple come under God’s judgement and condemnation, but it also brings God’s judgement and condemnation against The Episcopal Church. Jesus said, Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.” (Luke 17:1-2 NIV). Recent statistics show that The Episcopal Church is spiraling downward. I can’t help but believe that God has removed His blessing from this Church. Unless something changes, The Episcopal Church is going to die.”
Some have compared Bishop Love’s words and rhetoric with those of Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church.
“While I don’t question the sincerity or the well intentions of many in the Episcopal Church who believe the best way to love and minister to our Gay and Lesbian Brothers and Sisters in Christ is to embrace them in their sexuality and make provisions for their same-sex attractions through same-sex marriage rites, I do believe they have been deceived into believing a lie that has been planted in the Church by the “great deceiver” – Satan.“
“The Episcopal Church and Western Society have been hijacked by the “Gay Rights Agenda” which is very well organized, very strategic, very well financed, and very powerful.”
“Satan is having a heyday bringing division into the Church over these issues and is trying to use the Church to hurt and destroy the very ones we love and care about by deceiving the leadership of the Church into creating ways for our gay and lesbians brothers and sister to embrace their sexual desires rather than to repent and seek God’s love and healing grace.
“It is not out of mean-spiritedness, hatred, bigotry, judgmentalism, or homophobia that I say this – but rather out of love – love for God and His Word; love for The Episcopal Church and wider Anglican Communion; love for each of you my Brothers and Sisters in Christ, especially love for those who are struggling with same-sex attractions.”
Let that digest for a moment…
And now back to Bishop Provenanzo.
As the proposer of Resolution B012, the aforementioned legislative compromise allowing bishops to retain conservative opinions about marriage equality while it was being performed in their dioceses, it was inevitable that The Living Church would ask Bishop Provenanzo his opinion on the Love letter. His response…
“I know that in his heart, Bill Love would never do anything or say anything to directly harm an individual. He is a gentle, kind man. His decision regarding B012 is breaking my heart. I truly believe it is the responsibility and duty of the diocesan bishop to interpret and pastorally implement the decisions of General Convention in the context of a particular local church.”
With all due respect for Bishop Provananzo (and I do have a great deal of respect for this bishop), I disagree with nearly everything in his statement.
As a gay man, I cannot agree that someone is a “gentle, kind man” when he “agonized over this letter” which categorized me, my husband, our relationship, and all LGBTQ+ people and their relationships as…
- sinful
- forbidden
- unblessed by God
- a lie planted by Satan
- worthy of God’s judgment and condemnation
- hijackers of the Episcopal Church and Western Civilization
- removal of God’s blessing on the Episcopal Church
- responsible for declining church attendance and ultimately its death
Sorry, but these carefully crafted attacks are not the language of a “gentle, kind man” – at least not one gentle and kind to the LGBTQ+ community. Members of marginalized communities struggle to find gentleness, kindness, and other positive attributes in a person who can write about them with such venom and/or use his authority to discriminate against them. Referring to someone as “gentle” and “kind” immediately following something like this just rings hollow.
Furthermore, I call shenanigans on Love’s statement that he wrote this directive “out of love” and not “out of mean-spiritedness, hatred, bigotry, judgmentalism, or homophobia.” Sorry (not sorry), but claiming you love a marginalized group of people after using the above statements to describe them and their relationships sounds more like the words of an abusive parent.
Additionally, Love’s words do cause harm to the LGBTQ+ community. They reinforce the stigmatization many LGBTQ+ youth feel about themselves. As they come from someone in a leadership position, they also legitimize similar bigotry in others, encouraging them to “pay it forward” through additional hateful rhetoric or discriminatory action. A 2016 report from the CDC indicates that LGB youth seriously contemplate suicide at almost three times the rate of heterosexual youth and are almost five times as likely to have attempted suicide compared to heterosexual youth. A study reported in Pediatrics states, “On the basis of odds ratios, lesbian, gay, and bisexual young adults who reported higher levels of family rejection during adolescence were 8.4 times more likely to report having attempted suicide, 5.9 times more likely to report high levels of depression, 3.4 times more likely to use illegal drugs, and 3.4 times more likely to report having engaged in unprotected sexual intercourse compared with peers from families that reported no or low levels of family rejection.” Love’s letter only exacerbates these issues.
When it comes to Bishop Provenanzo’s belief that “it is the responsibility and duty of the diocesan bishop to interpret and pastorally implement the decisions of General Convention in the context of a particular local church,” I point him to our church leadership. The response to Love’s directive by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry is unequivocal. “In all matters, those of us who have taken vows to obey the doctrine, discipline, and worship of The Episcopal Church must act in ways that reflect and uphold the discernment and decisions of the General Convention of the Church.” The Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, President of the House of Deputies, supports this contention in his own response when she refers to General Convention as “our highest temporal authority.”
I do agree with Bishop Provenanzo’s statement that Love’s decision is heart breaking. It breaks mine as well. I pray for the LGBTQ+ members of the Diocese of Albany that God strengthen their resolve as they continue to fight for marriage equality. I pray those clergy in the Diocese of Albany who would perform the trial liturgies for same sex couples if they could. I pray that our allies to understand how difficult it is for members of marginalized groups to find gentleness and kindness in those who would so readily use words to attack and authority to discriminate.
And I pray for Bishop Love.
I pray the God opens my heart and mind to see the gentle, kind man incapable of doing harm to others as described by Bishop Provenanzo. I pray that God, through the Holy Spirit, can move Bishop Love to evolve his thoughts about the LGBTQ+ community and their worthiness in the church. I pray he come to understand the joy surrounding marriage equality and can share the closing thoughts of Gay Clark Jennings in her response to his letter:
“When we celebrate these marriages, the entire church is blessed by the love and fidelity of these faithful couples.”
Birds on Sticks 