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Father Geoff Farrow Experiences the Episcopal Church
From The Lead:This past Sunday, Father Geoff Farrow, a Roman Catholic priest who was kicked out of his California parish because he supported equality for lesbians and gays, visited All Saints, Pasadena, and wrote about his experience there and reflects on what he heard about the Episcopal Church’s actions at General Convention:
The music was beautiful and the verses ended crisply, I recalled a Catholic choir director who shared with me that the way that Catholic priests say Mass could make neurotics of most musicians. The other thing about attending an Episcopalian Sunday service that always struck me is that it is sort of like listening to the BBC. We both speak English, but they just do it so much better.I smiled as I read the directive “Silence is kept” on the liturgical program (should I spell that programme?) The differences were not as pronounced as when I took a course in Shakespeare at UCLA, but they reminded me of my old English professor and I could imagine her smiling. The homily was very well constructed and focused on sufficiency. What is enough? How Americans answer that question as opposed to people in Third World nations. I thought of St. Theresa’s quip regarding material goods “you think you own them, but in reality they own you.”
Later on, Father Geoff was listening to the radio and heard a report about our General Convention and the nominations for episcopal elections in Los Angeles and Minnesota:
Yesterday I was listening to National Public Radio; the journalist was reporting that Episcopal USA had approved the advancement of lesbian and gays to the episcopacy. The journalist went on to mention that there are two such candidates to become bishops in California. NPR further reported that this decision had placed Episcopal USA on a collision course with more conservative members of the International Anglican Community and this at a time when tensions are already high over the consecration of Gene Robinson as a bishop.I sat there in my car after the news program ended and thought how amazing it is that these people prefer justice to security…. When I said my first Mass at my last parish, the choir sang, “All are welcomed here.” I winced when I heard them sing that song, because my predecessor had informed me that they would send LGBT parishioners across the street to the Methodist Church, since they could not offer them services at St. Paul’s.
The choir did not sing, “All are welcomed here” at All Saints Episcopal, but the community silently proclaimed that invitation by their actions.
Read Father Geoff’s blog here.
H/T to Friends of Jake.
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A Drop in the Bucket – Helping One Family
Yesterday, I was visited by Costa Mantis, the documentary filmmaker who has been living with the homeless in the various “tent cities” that keep being disrupted by the police. When he had heard of the tent cities, he left his home and without external funding, has been using short film segments to advocate for safe ground for the homeless. You can see some of his videos on YouTube.Shortly after his visit, a couple came to the church seeking help. They were hours away from being evicted from their home. As you can imagine, we get lots of requests at the church that are beyond our means. I invited them into my office with the intention of telling them that I wouldn’t be able to help them. After talking with them, I decided to give them a little financial assistance and I recommended they go to other churches for assistance. I knew there was little hope they would get the money they needed in time. Many churches have locked doors that make it impossible for strangers to seek help. After I sent them on their way, I noticed their lease agreement on my desk. They had shown it to me along with other important documents and I failed to return it. I hopped on my motorcycle. I caught up to them just as they were arriving at the next church. As I suspected, it was locked. I returned their paperwork. As they were walking away from the locked church, I knew they would not get the help they needed. I thought about the circumstances of the day – Costa’s visit, the forgotten paperwork that took me back to them. I was sitting on my motorcycle watching this couple walk toward their eviction and I knew I had to help (I’m pretty slow when it comes to understanding God’s will.) I once again caught up to the couple. I asked them to go back to Trinity. I called the landlord to verify their situation. I realized that they had the financial means to pay the rent on a regular basis. They just got behind on one payment, late fees kicked-in and things snowballed. If they got evicted, they would loose access to all their belongings and their financial problems would multiply. Intervention on this one day could mean the difference between them getting back on their feet or becoming systemically homeless. I depleted my discretionary fund in order to give them the money they needed and worked out a plan for them to repay me over several months. While it is impossible for me to provide this kind of assistance on a large scale, I am glad I was able to help in this instance and I look forward to following up with this family.