Some thoughts on the ordination of gay leaders in the American Episcopal Church

I often feel like sitting in the Sydney Christian bubble is a very safe place to be. I find great comfort in the accountibility measures set in place by the different denominational hierarachies, by solid uni ministry, by beach mission, outreach to schools and even the Christian music scene. I love that we know not all the books at Koorong are foolproof guides to Christian living. I love most of all that we are challenged to think critically from scripture.
Unfortunately I also believe that in this sheltered environment we are being equipped for a ministry, in whatever shape and form that takes, to our less certain world. The truth is that in many places, scripture no longer justifies actions, particulalrly those of the church and it's members, as wholistically as it should. The American church's stance on gay ordination is a perfect example of how humans so often want to pick and choose their own beliefs.

Here's some excerpts from a recent news article (From the Amercian Chronicle, Aug 22nd) on the matter...

COLUMBIA The leader of South Carolina's largest Lutheran denomination said he believes congregations will be able to abide in faith with Friday's decision by the church's Worldwide Assembly to embrace the ordination of sexually active gay clergy who are in committed, monogamous relationships.

Amid impassioned pleas and prayers on both sides of the issue, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America became the latest mainstream Protestant denomination to move toward greater inclusion of gays and lesbians in the hierarchy of the church.

Bishop Herman R. Yoos III, elected last year as head of the South Carolina Synod, acknowledged that most South Carolina congregations would oppose the call of a gay pastor and would not "lift up" a homosexual candidate for the ministry.
But he denied opponents' charges that Friday's actions will split the denomination.
"Every congregation would be free to decide what to do," he said.

"I think if we look hard at it and live into it, I believe most of the churches in South Carolina will come around to it. It won't be an instantaneous thing." But he added, "I think there are deeply faithful, committed people who will say, 'Maybe this isn't what I wanted, but I'll be able to work through this.'"

It's a huge wake-up call to how I shift through scripture! Do I allow it to penetrate all my thoughts and actions? How simple it is to build structures that from the inside can look like they honor the claims of scripture but in essence are doing all they can to run from it's teaching. The other mistake I feel that is made in this issue deals with another problem, limiting scripture to purely its 1st century context and hence denying the omniscience (all knowing quality) of God. while context plays a huge role in how we understand scripture, it is important to understand what pertained specifically to the first Christians and what should also affect our own lives.

John Shelby Spong (the Episcopal Bishop of Newark, New Jersey 1991) in his book Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism (pg8) states this:

There are certain other places where homosexuality is condemned. Both the Torah and St Paul can be cited. However, the question of biblical authority arises anew, when scientific data, which the fifth and sixth century BCE authors of the Torah and St Paul could not have imagined, throws a new light on the origin and cause of homosexuality. Such data available today suggest that homosexual orientation is not a matter of choice but of ontology; that is, it is the being of the inidividual, not the doing.

Thoughts?