Many years ago (well…not that many, I am only 30 after all), I was part of the Episcopal Diocese of Alaska‘s delegation to the Episcopal Youth Event, a huge gathering of kids involved in the Episcopal church. Not merely a local event, the EYE works on a three-year cycle: one year locally, with Diocese level gatherings; one year regionally; and every third year, the EYE is a national event that often becomes international, with attendees coming in from all over the globe. If I’m remembering correctly, I was about 16 at the time (I think this happened the summer after my sophomore year in high school), and the EYE that year was in Missoula, Montana.
That trip has always been one that I’ve looked back on fondly. It was a lot of fun, it affected me fairly strongly in a few ways, and there were three key events that helped both to shape me, and contributed strongly to my continuing to stay a part (if, admittedly, not a very active part in recent years) of the Episcopal Church.
The first thing that impressed me was the level of devotion that some of the attendees had. I don’t mean that to sound like they were ultra-conservative “Bible Thumpers”, either — merely that the church was a strong enough part of their life that they were willing to entirely transform their lives in order to attend this event. There were two or three people there who had come from Jordan (I believe) to this event, and because of the political climate in the world at the time, they were not going to be able to go home afterwards. Quite mind boggling to me at the time, and even still to this day.
The second impression that made a huge impact on me was how wonderfully inclusive the atmosphere was. While the Episcopal church, like all large organizations, encompasses people across all walks of the conservative/liberal spectrum (for instance, I and my family are all quite liberal “West Coast Episcopalians”, while George Bush Sr. is a far more conservative “East Cost Episcopalian”), I had always gotten the impression that the Episcopal church was very open and accepting. This was driven home during the EYE for me. One of the adult RA’s for the EYE was an absolutely drop-dead gorgeous girl who went by the name of Xena (or possibly Zena, this was years before Xena the Warrior Princess was on TV); dressed all in black; wore whiteface and impeccably applied Egyptian-style eyeliner with deep, blood red lipstick; and had her head shaved on one side and long on the other with her hair dyed an incredible iridescent emerald green. I figured if someone like that was not just a member, but was put in a position of authority for the event, than this was likely an organization that I could stick with.
I also think that my life-long attraction to Goth women is based partly on Xena, and partly on Mia Sara in the 80’s fantasy movie Legend, when she’s dressed in the black dress with the plunging neckline — but I digress. ;)
The third thing that has always stuck with me was when the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church addressed all of us in a huge gathering at the amphitheater. While most people would have an immediate preconceived notion of nearly any Bishop as a somewhat dour, stuffy man, the PB was anything but that. Striding back and forth across the stage as he talked, laughing and joking with all of us, and keeping us all involved with what he was saying. During his talk, he was speaking about how so many people tend to look down on the youth of the church, discounting them because they aren’t adults yet.
“Many people say that that all of you are the church of tomorrow,” he said, and we all applauded. After the applause died down, he strode toward the front of the stage. “Well, I say that that’s bullshit!” he yelled. Then, barely pausing while we were all processing the fact that the PB of the Episcopal Church just cursed in front of a few thousand kids, he went on to declare, “I say that the youth of today are the church of today!”
The place damn near exploded.
Here we had someone very high in the church who didn’t talk down to us. He didn’t treat us as if we were inconsequential to the church at large, only to be paid attention to because someday we’d grow into good, responsible, tithing Episcopalians. Rather, he wanted us involved, wanted us to take an interest and be a part of the church we’d all grown up in, and in many cases, had more or less taken for granted. It was a wonderful moment.
What put all this into my head was a report from a Generation Dean rally at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, NH that was posted on the Dean blog today.
Dean says, “People say you [young people] are the foot soldiers of the campaign. Baloney. You are driving this campaign… and you are the driving force who are going to inherit this country after this election. And the kind of country you inherit is very much up to you….”
[…]
The Governor ends by telling the more than 1,000 students and young people and people of all ages that “you have the power to change this country,” and now as the music starts up again he’s down in front, being mobbed by people who want to shake his hand, surrounded by photographers snapping pictures for the wires and the local and university press. It’s incredible.
Also, this bit from a wrapup post at the Generation Dean blog:
Dean opened his speech thanking the young people in the room for driving his campaign. UNH has received or will receive every single presidential candidate, but it was clear that Dean’s message of not using young people as campaign “footsoldiers” was a point not made before on this campus. That message clearly resonated with everyone in the room.
It is incredible. It’s always incredible when people can stop and take the time to recognize that if you can talk to today’s youth rather than at them, if you can take them seriously, and if you can tap that enthusiasm, energy, and initiative, that you can muster a force that is truly one to be reckoned with. The PB knew that at EYE, and it looks like Dean and the people at Generation Dean know it and are doing everything they can to put that boundless energy to good use, and to knock Bush on his elitist little keister in 2004.
Keep it up.
Thanks for this post. I appreciated it all, especially your “take” on EYE.
I belong to several message boards, and I have seen what is happening in our own Diocece, and I fear this attitude of inclusiveness is getting diluted. There seems to be no dialogue with the “anti-Canon Robinson” group, and they believe, it seems, the 70’s bumper sticker, “The Bible says it; I believe it; That’s all there is to it.” They ignore the scholarly studies which seem to show that the words which are translated from the Greek (by the bye, variously) do not mean the same in 2003 as they did in A.D. 55, or whatever. They will not even allow observers in their “anti-MSP” conference:
10/6/2003
No welcome for observers at Texas meeting of conservatives
by James Solheim
[Episcopal News Service] An attempt by Presiding Bishop Frank T.
Griswold and Dean George Werner, president of the House of Deputies, to
send four observers to the American Anglican Council meeting in Texas
has been rebuffed.
Griswold said that the four-Bishop Christopher Epting, deputy for
ecumenical and interfaith relations; Bishop Stacy Sauls of Lexington;
Dean Titus Presler of Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas; and
the Rev. Brian Prior of Spokane, Washington-had been asked to “bring a
greeting and to listen with care and the ear of the heart to the voices
of those present. Their presence was to be a visible sign of the fact
that, in the midst of disagreement, we are nonetheless fellow members of
Christ’s risen body and that we are called to bear one another’s burdens
and to acknowledge that when one member suffers the whole body must bear
that suffering.”
In a letter to Griswold, the Rev. David Anderson, president of the AAC,
said that there is no category for observers and that all must register
as participants, signing the document, “A Place to Stand,” that gives
the AAC’s theological perspective on the current state of the church. He
said that those who are gathering for the meeting feel a sense of
betrayal and abandonment by the leadership of the Episcopal Church and
feel that those who voted to confirm Gene Robinson’s election as the
church’s first openly gay bishop have shattered and shipwrecked the
church.
“When teachings and practices contrary to Scripture and to this orthodox
Anglican perspective are permitted within the Church-or even authorized
by the General Convention-in obedience to God we will disassociate
ourselves from those specific teachings and practices and will resist
them in every way possible,” warns the “A Place to Stand” statement.
— James Solheim is director of Episcopal News Service.
I have been wrong so many times I have a (I hope healthy) distrust of persons who are so cocksure they know the mind of God.
Part 2:
I also find their rhetoric deceptive.
They are saying the Convention authorized “same sex blessings.” This is simply not true. The Convention said much more prayer and study was necessary before a decision could be made in either direction. What the conservative groups are actually angry about is that the Convention did not out and out condemn the Parishes who, for pastoral reasons, have performed these.
It is affecting the Diocese of Alaska. At the recent Diocesan Convention, the decision was made to be inclusive – to agree to disagree – and to keep communication open. However, it is highly possible Minto will leave the Diocese, and John and Alexis Klapproth may leave the Denomination. I understand that All Saints and Holy Spirit have had condemnatory sermons from the pulpit. Fr. Jim Basinger from All Saints is at the conference I mentioned in the previous post.
As you probably suspect, I support what our Denomination did in MSP.
You have also heard me say, many times, I am convinced God is not nearly as interested in our sex lives as we think God is. What God is interested in is whether we love God as much as we possibly can and if we love our neighbor as much as we possibly can. I am not willing to say that gay individuals are not my neighbor. I believe, were Jesus re-writing the parable of the Good Samaritan, the “hero” would likely be gay, or any of the other groups that are so often condemned in American society – pehaps, to overstretch the point almost till it breaks, a lesbian Black or Hispanic mother of five living on welfare, or whatever.