Not in my name

Well, one bit of the Anglican Communion has finally said something about the Ugandan Bill. The Church of Uganda. Have a look at this: my comments are in italics

For Immediate Release 6th November 2009 Contact: Rev. Canon Aaron Mwesigye, Provincial Secretary +256 772 455 129

The Church of Uganda and the “Anti-Homosexuality Bill”

The Church of Uganda is studying the proposed “Anti-homosexuality bill” and, therefore, does not yet have an official position on the bill (so, it's not, like, urgent?). In the meantime, we can restate our position on a number of related issues.

1. Our deepest conviction as the Church of Uganda is that, in Christ, people and their sexual desires are redeemed, and restored to God’s original intent. Repentance and obedience to Scripture are the gateway to the redemption of marriage and family and the transformation of society. (Position Paper on Scripture, Authority, and Human Sexuality, May 2005)

2. The House of Bishops resolved in August 2008 that “The Church of Uganda is committed at all levels to offer counseling, healing and prayer for people with homosexual disorientation, (how offensive is that!!!) especially in our schools and other institutions of learning. The Church is a safe place for individuals, who are confused about their sexuality or struggling with sexual brokenness, to seek help and healing.” (AYE RIGHT!!)

3. The Church of Uganda upholds the sanctity of life and cannot support the death penalty. (GOOD)

4. In April 2009, Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi said, “I am appalled to learn that the rumours we have heard for a long time about homosexual recruiting in our schools and amongst our youth are true. I am even more concerned that the practice is more widespread than we originally thought. It is the duty of the church and the government to be watchmen on the wall and to warn and protect our people from harmful and deceitful agendas.” (How did this ignorant idiot ever become an Archbishop?)

5. “Homosexual practice is incompatible with Scripture.” (Resolution of the 1998 Lambeth Conference of Bishops.) Homosexual behaviour is immoral and should not be promoted, supported, or condoned in any way as an “alternative lifestyle.” This position has been repeatedly reaffirmed by the House of Bishops and the Provincial Assembly of the Church of Uganda. (And the bits about dialogue and listening are...not mentioned)

6. We cannot support the blessing of same-sex unions or the ordination of homosexuals (Resolution of the 1998 Lambeth Conference of Bishops), and we will oppose efforts to import such practices into Uganda. Again, this position has been repeatedly reaffirmed by the House of Bishops and the Provincial Assembly of the Church of Uganda.

I have to say I am rapidly going right off the idea of regarding myself as in Communion with this Province. Words simply fail me.

"I will go unto the altar of God"

A busy few days doing what needs to be done. But standing in for a Rector at a midweek yesterday meant for the 1st time in 7 1/2 months I presided over a celebration of the Eucharist. Turned up, wondering if Id get through it. Then the sacristan arrived to open up and show me the local drill. And I'd known her since I was a student back in Fife when we both attended Holy Trinity Dunfermline's Thursday morning Eucharist. I got a big hug and "how are you"? It made a great difference. Only thing was I'd forgotten just how wordy the 1929 Prayer Book liturgy is!! There was the odd verbal trip, but I got there and it was OK. Again God ("whosoever, whatsoever" as Lionel Blue refers to him/her/it) gave me just enough to make it on.

A simple guide to religious affiliation

A little lesson in Church History

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSu4pbhaOQY&feature=player_embedded

Says it all!

A hidden agenda in Uganda?

This article made me pause for thought:

http://allafrica.com/stories/200910161126.html

If this is what's up then this really is a nasty game with definite overtones of Germany in 1933.

But on the plus side, Exodus International (one of the biggest of the "ex Gay ministries") have called on their partner organisations in Uganda to campaign against this "nightmare bill" see:

http://blog.exodusinternational.org/2009/11/02/martin-ssempa-renounce-support-proposed-ugandan-criminalization-homosexuality/

I certainly disagree with their fundamental premises, but am pleased to see that they at least have followed the logic of their theology with some consistency. If God loves you enough to heal you of homosexuality, it scarcely seems to be consistent with his will and love to execute those who God loves enough to heal

The divine absence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqBhNJQXNEA

It will seem odd for me to post a link to a You Tube video, particularly to a Country and Western one. But hey, it is the Man in Black himself - Johnny Cash. It's the opening song to his last album, written and recorded when he knew he was dying. I loved Johnny's music since I was a kid-Mum and Dad used to haul us off every Sunday to hotel in Kinghorn for a bar lunch and live C&W music (which meant that I knew the lyrics to "Stand by your Man" off by heart by the time I was 13!!) and as a birthday treat one year, Mum and I went to hear Johnny Cash live in the Edinburgh Playhouse. He has a raw emotion in his singing that is unique in such a powerfully and uncompromising masculine way that it fair moves you. And this song expressed prayer for me today in way that nothing else could. Somebody who's tried to make it under his own steam but realises he can't and turns to God (whoever the hell he is) for help.

I blame the sermon this morning: the message was "You are not alone". When the preacher opined that sometimes we only recognise what love is by its absence in our lives, I went to myself: "S**t. That's put into words what I've felt for years". Which sent me off on a panicky muse, half listening to the sermon and half running after my own thoughts and feelings. I'm aware of the abscence of love or feeling loved often, yet I spent 16 years preaching about God being love, Love Incarnate and personified and made real and solid and concrete in human flesh and loving us. Suddenly I realised that that was what I believed and hoped for and trusted in, but didn't actually KNOW for myself. I suddenly wasn't sure if I'd been telling the truth for years: "Of course I believe in the God of Love and the Love of God." But always, always wondering if it was really true. I had faith, I had hope, but not certainty: was that what was wrong?

I actually went through most of the rest of the service in a real quandry: "Can I say the Creed? I believe..? Do I really believe God is here with me and for me in the Eucharist? I want to, I need to, but is it true? Can I take the sacrament?" Well I did, because I can spot a spiritual panic attack when I see one, because I see the Sacrament as efficacious medicine for the soul in times of trouble independent of my subjective feelings and, I might be in a quandry of doubt, but there is nothing sacriligious in coming to God and saying: "I'm not sure I can see or feel your presence in my life just now but I'm here and I'm holding out my hand. Heal me and feed me. Please." And I didn't feel anything much at all.

Afterwards, I chatted to my neighbour (a priest who left parish ministry several years ago). Apropos of nothing, he remarked that it was X years since he'd said Mass. He'd preached, married and buried but not that. I paused and said: "Do you miss it?" "I never let myself think about that." was the reply. Then I said: "I haven't celebrated for 7 1/2 months, but I'm covering for someone on Wednesday. I'm not sure I'll be able to. What if I only know the absence when I stand there?" We looked at each other, sharing in a moment of communion. We were both suddenly in a place where our sense of God and certainty about God was fuzzy, but where we weren't alone. As I walked back, I realised that I had been unable to see or sense or feel the presence but that God had put me next to someone in a very similar boat and opened us up enough to share a bit of that feeling. If that wasn't a sign of God actually being with us, even when we could only sense the absence, then what on earth was. "See, John, I AM with you always. Even until the end of time. Trust me" The preacher was right. We are not alone.

I sometimes think this is what we look like to seekers...