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Transparency
If a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
Mark 3:25
Today in the Anglican Church of Canada the Book of Common Prayer is at risk; so too is equal status for gays and lebians. Sadly, the two groups affected rarely form a common front. Some think that use of the Prayer Book is incompatible with a homosexual lifestyle; some homosexuals seem to agree and therefore regard the BCP as an obstacle to achieving equal status in their church.
The group whose members are present with us here today are an exception. Propitiation is a fellowship of gay and lesbian Anglicans who prefer the traditional worship and spirituality which is found in the Prayer Book. They therefore belong to both of the groups which are at risk, and this takes great courage and determination.
It is hard to be a minority of a minority. The later entertainer Sammy Davis used to say that he suffered from a two-fold prejudice, because he was both black and Jewish. Members of Propitiation may feel equally uncomfortable at meetings of the Prayer Book Society and meetings in preparation for the Gay Pride Parade.
The church is deeply divided about both worship and sexuality, and there is no magic wand which will make these divisions disappear. But if we are to learn to live and let live, there must be greater transparency in our dealings with each other.
There is a lack of transparency in the motion to be brought before General Synod concerning “the revision of common worship texts,” and some of us suspect a hidden agenda, as was clearly the case in 1985 in the motion to approve the Book of Alternative Services. (This soon became apparent, when the BAS was used not as an alternative to the Prayer Book but as its replacement.)
The principle that “the end justifies the means” may achieve short-term goals, but in the long run it will only deepen our divisions and hasten our demise. Honesty really is the best policy.
If we can put “the bonds of affection” ahead of personal ambition and partisan politics, then the church we love may yet be save.
March 4, 2007
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