Diocesan
Life Columns
Bishop Paul V. Marshall
Bishop Paul's writes a monthly column for the Diocesan Newspaper, Diocesan
Life, edited by Communication
Minister, Bill Lewellis.
For more features from the life of our diocese, check Diocesanlife....ONLINE; and Bethlehem
News.
Where Do You Find the Episcopal Church Story?
Whom Do You Trust?
Bishop Paul V. Marshall
Diocesan Life, December 1996
If you believe a recent story in Penthouse, an Episcopal
priest in Brooklyn married a male lover during an orgy in church.
If you believe the priest, no desecration of sacred space took
place. He was "used by two hustlers" and intends to sue Penthouse for
its "tissue of lies." If you believe an issue-oriented group called
Episcopalians United, quick to quote unsubstantiated details from Penthouse,
the Episcopal Church is guilty of condoning lurid behavior.
Whom do you trust? As I write, few know what happened in St. Gabriel's
Church in the Diocese of Long Island. Investigations are underway.
The real story, however, may be not so much what happened there
as why certain reflexes jerk toward every opportunity to press
an agenda, capitalizing even on the suffering of the body of Christ
to win the day. The real story may be the harm that results from
claims to own biblical truth and orthodox Christian teaching.
The Penthouse story would not have been mainstreamed
into the legitimate press were it not for two columnists and a
tricky word that works in court but is missed by many readers:
allegedly. The syndicated column of Mike McManus was published
in The Morning Call, Saturday, November 2. Terry Mattingly
writes his column for the Scripps Howard News Service.
Drawing solely on Penthouse, Mattingly called the story "the
latest twist in the convoluted story of the Episcopalians and their
evolving teachings on sex." McManus incorporated into his column
a statement of 27 bishops and an Episcopalians United editorial,
both of which drew solely on Penthouse for their "facts." (There
are more than 300 bishops in the Episcopal Church.)
Some people and groups in our church have not forgiven Presiding
Bishop Edmond Browning for suggesting earlier this year that the
lives of "gay men and women in committed relationships [can be]
wholesome examples." They have taken every opportunity to suggest
that the Episcopal Church, which has twice refused in General Con-vention
to con-demn those engaged in committed same-sex relationships,
is on the brink of moral anarchy. Approaching next summer's General
Convention, those groups may pursue their agenda by putting some
wicked spin on the Episcopal Church.
If you want to know what's going on in the Episcopal Church, don't
get it from issue-possessed groups or from warmed-over Penthouse fare
dressed up as journalism. Go to an Episcopal church near you. Ask
the folks there how they praise God in their communities.
You will find people helping people in need. You will find people
welcoming the marginalized and caring for the oppressed. You will
find food banks and soup kitchens. You will find creative worship.
You will find caregivers reaching out to persons and families affected
by HIV/AIDS.
You will find innovative ministries where parishioners reach out
to children at risk in their neighborhoods and communities. You
will find people bringing people to the knowledge and love of Jesus
Christ.
You will find us, as we say in our baptismal covenant, continuing "in
the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread,
and in the prayers." You will find us "proclaiming by word and
example the Good News of God in Christ." You will find us "seeking
and serving Christ in all persons." You will find us "striving
for justice and peace among all people, and respecting the dignity
of every human being." That's the Episcopal Church.
The porn for which Penthouse paid would not have been
considered worthy of a journalistic nod had not two columnists
used sacred space (religion columns in secular newspapers) to advance
the agenda of fringe groups - perhaps their own - agenda too readily
identified with the Word of God.
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