Overview

October 12, 2003

The Rector's Forum

Despite it's occurrence on a holiday weekend, twelve people attended the first in a new series of Rector's Forums, which are scheduled once each month until June. Click here to see the "Forums & Classes" section of the web site for general schedule information.  

At the October 12 forum, the Rector discussed the recent statements by Bishop Mark Sisk at his canonical visitation to the parish on September 21. (A Canonical visitation is a vist made by a bishop to provide pastoral oversight to a congregation, to celebrate and preach and perhaps, as it was in this case, to confirm and receive new members of the parish.)

The visitation was covered by a local newspaper, the New York Blade. Details of the Bishop's statement and reactions to it appeared in the paper the week following September 21.

Bishop Sisk said, in a discussion of rites to celebrate and bless gay relationships, that he felt gays and lesbians should be held to a higher standard of commitment to the church than do their counterparts seeking marriage. Not surprisingly, a spirited discussion followed, with at least three vestry members objecting to the Bishop's apparent double standard.

At the forum, the Rector indicated his disagreement with the Bishop's statement and shared a letter he wrote to the Bishop urging the Bishop to reconsider such public statements and supporting the Bishop's past advocacy of the position of gay men and lesbians in this Church.

The forum considered questions about the scriptural prohibitions against homosexual relations, the history of the Church in dealing with this issue, and the current turmoil which may divide the Anglican Communion over the issue. Comparisons were made with the ordination of women, an issue at the end of the 1970s, and the Church's position on slavery in the 19th century.

The Rector's forums are designed to provide opportunity to discuss any issue facing the parish, the diocese or the Church, or any other matter of concern to the community which worships and serves St. John's in the Village. Suggestions are always welcome.