Q: How would you describe the statement of the bishops who met in New Orleans?
A: I think it's a miracle when you look at what a broad piece of common ground we are standing on with this document. Then you look at the bishops who are in the room, all but one of whom, a very liberal bishop, voted for it. And it was the full range of liberal to conservative, all kinds of different faith and practice. That we could craft such a broad piece of ground to stand on, I think it's a really wonderful thing. I think the prediction was that this would be like Katrina II. You know, some horrible storm that would tear the Episcopal Church apart. And what actually happened was that the vast majority of the bishops of all persuasions came together for this common statement. It's really, really a miracle.
Q: Where does it leave gay and lesbian members of the church?
A: I think it leaves us pretty much where we were. That is to say we're somewhere between being totally excluded, this was the case in the past, and we're not quite towards full inclusion yet. The Episcopal Church has made enormous progress here, and yet we are a part of a broader Anglican Communion. And although we would like it all to have happened yesterday, that's not the way the church works. I would say it's not the way any group works. We are undergoing vast change at a pretty good pace. Would I have liked to have gone further faster? Absolutely, but there are also people who would have liked it to go much slower, and that's what being a church is about. It's about finding that middle ground, something that we can all live with for this moment. Then we see where the future takes us.
Q: Where does it leave the diocese of Chicago if Tracey Lind, an openly lesbian priest, is elected bishop?
A: We have a resolution of the General Convention that says we should exercise restraint, and we don't really know where that will take us, and we won't know until there is another bishop-elect who is gay or lesbian, and then we'll see how that happens. I think we're all exercising restraint in a sense that we know this is an important issue. We know it's a controversial issue, and only time will tell how that will go either with bishops or with standing committees. And remember in our church it's not just bishops who decide, but clergy and laity as well as the bishop.
Q: What did you learn at this meeting about the feelings of the rest of the world?
A: I think the international visitors underscored for me what we've known, but hearing it coming from their lips is even more powerful. Their contexts are so different from ours. It should not surprise us, but perhaps we're naive when we forget that in many countries of the world if you're known to be gay you can be imprisoned. There's just rampant discrimination. In a context like that, to ever have a chance to sit in the room with a faithful, committed Christian person who also happens to be gay or lesbian -- it's just not something that happens. So to hear from their lips how their contexts are different from ours, I think it always helps to have that personal contact. It was just as important for them to experience how very different our context is. So I think there was learning on both sides. That's really why we treasure the Anglican Communion so much is that if we hold together there is so much to be learned from one another.
Q: We understand there were some pretty frank exchanges. What did you say to the Archbishop of Canterbury?
A: I was frank with the Archbishop of Canterbury, at his invitation. I began my remarks to him by saying, "Your grace, you know that I respect you and your office. I always have. I always will. But some of what you had to say to us was disturbing." And I understood him to be saying that we had to choose between fidelity to our gay and lesbian members and fidelity to the process of what he called "common discernment." I said that as a gay man choosing a process over human beings felt dehumanizing to me. Perhaps there were people who were shocked that I said that, but after all I am the only openly gay voice in that room. I did feel that way. I know that other gay and lesbian people, had they been in the room, felt that way. I owed it to him out of my respect for him and his office to say to him what he came to hear, which was our responses to him. So he invited us to respond. I was not the only one who responded, nor was I the only one who responded in a frank manner.
