The sky's falling

Or is it?

On first reaction to the communiqué and schedule that have emerged from Tanzania, my gut says that once again the church has decided that the LGBT community is expendable and can be merrily told to wait again until the feuding get their act together. It would seem that Lambeth 1998 I.1 is fully enshrined as canon and despite the fact that it came out of a report (and was inserted at the last minute, not being part of the original report), this one line has gained the status of holy writ. Furthermore, it would seem as though The Episcopal Church is again being the scape goat for actions in which a few other provinces have also engaged. At first glimpse, it would seem as though the church allowing for the blessing of persons living in same-gender couples is still on hold (and, no, a house blessing doesn't cut it, to those heterosexuals who think that substitution is sufficient).

On further thought, it seems as though it's the same-old, same-old holding pattern in which we have been for a long time. TEC will argue to the primates, who still don't seem to understand as a collectivity, though I know there are individuals who do get it, that our church operates on a bicameral basis and so the House of Bishops cannot do what it pleases without input from the laity and clergy (who are increasingly being shoved to the side with each meeting of the primates, where they decide to make themselves a curia that determines all), though there are some things (such as not consenting and in the General Convention process, regarding liturgical changes, their house gets the resolutions first so anything to do with blessings of same-gender couples could be stopped there) they can legitimately do.

Is the sky falling? I don't know. But it's not as clear as the photo shows.

The one thing that keeps me from giving into utter despair tonight is that I know there were voices in Tanzania representing the LGBT population of the church and I am confident they spoke out. The problem is that they are outnumbered. And those voices that are stridently against the existence of LGBT people in the church are unfortunately much louder.

Our Executive Council meeting next week is going to be very interesting.

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Staying away from the breaking news and what it may portend for TEC is why I spent a good two hours this afternoon shovelling out of the pathway and driveway the snow a parishioner pushed off the roof of the back half of the rectory. If you look closely at the photo, you can see brown ice formed on the side of the house. There's a good ice dam above, a puddle of water on the roof that is leaking through the upstairs windows down the side of the house between the siding and the original wall of the house and entering through the ceiling and window of the room below. Getting the snow off the roof will help some in the melting process.

The parishioner (who fell off a roof this fall and shattered his wrist) brought over his 13 year-old son to help but the son was less interested in helping out than wondering about the sandwich he would get in return for working (!). He marvelled at my shovelling prowess and proclaimed to his father: 'She's a fast shoveller!' Uhuh. Call it priest-teenager time -- it was fine.

And a good distraction.