Reflection on Inclusive Church Sunday at St Bride's
At St Bride’s we have three core values at the heart of everything we do. We say that we are Progressive, Creative and Inclusive. These values drive the kind of community we seek to build. Perhaps to some these three words may sound rather woolly or indeed lofty and unachievable ideals. I’m under no illusions that we do it perfectly! However, by constantly reminding ourselves of what we consider to be important, we may grow towards achieving these ideals.
One of the values that resonates with me in particular is inclusion. Having experienced what it is like to be excluded from the faith community of my childhood because of my sexuality, inclusion - particularly as it pertains to faith - is something I am passionate about. However, what does it really mean to say that we are inclusive? Is this just a throw away word that is culturally popular at the moment or, as I believe it is, the beating heart of the gospel?
St Bride’s is affiliated with an organisation called Inclusive Church (http://inclusive-church.org.uk/) which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. Inclusive Church was born in 2003 out of the deep sense of injustice over the rescinding of Rev Jeffrey John’s candidature as Bishop of Reading. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_John). For those who may not have heard, Rev John is a gay man, in a long term, chaste partnership. Despite being recognised as a profoundly gifted priest and living his life in accordance with the teachings on sexuality of the Anglican Church, he was pressured into stepping down.
There was considerable media attention, with a variety of pressure groups on both sides of the argument shouting it out in the public arena. Growing out of the groundswell of support for Rev John, a group of people coalesced into what has become Inclusive Church. However, it soon became obvious to all involved that inclusion was more than just about “the gay issue”, as important as this is. Today Inclusive Church exists to “raise awareness about the ways that people feel excluded by the Church, especially because of their gender, race, sexual orientation, disability, or mental well-being.”
In recent years I have also taken on the role as the Inclusive Church Ambassador within Liverpool Diocese. The aim of the role is to help raise the profile of Inclusive Church as an organisation but also, perhaps more importantly, to raise the issues around inclusion. I also see this as an extension of our ministry at St Bride’s, in particular to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community here in Liverpool, providing a sacred space for those traditionally excluded from the church to explore their faith and share communion. This is also about sharing the welcome that my civil partner and I have received at St Bride’s.
As part of the 10th birthday celebrations, Sunday 15th September was designated as Inclusive Church Sunday. More than 200 churches across the country affiliated with the organisation were provided with a pack of liturgical resources and were encouraged to mark this day within their communities.
Naturally, St Bride’s jumped at this opportunity and indeed we were blessed to have Bob Callaghan, the National Co-ordinator for Inclusive Church, come up to Liverpool to celebrate this important occasion with us. Bob is ordained and has over 30 years ministry experience which he brings to his enthusiasm for inclusion in the church. We planned three events for the Sunday, our 10am Holy Communion Service, a workshop in the afternoon called ’What does it really mean to be inclusive?’ and finishing the day with our regular Open Table service. Open Table is a Eucharist service for Liverpool’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, their family and friends which I’ve had the honour of coordinating for the past five years.
It was an extraordinary day. For the morning service we used liturgical resources and songs specifically written for the day, which were deeply moving. The gospel reading was the parable of the lost sheep and the parable of the lost coins (Luke 15:1-10). As part of his reflection, Bob unpacked some of the symbolism of these stories. The parable of the lost sheep talks of the shepherd leaving his flock of 99 sheep to go after the one that was lost. The 99 were left unattended, or perhaps they didn’t need the attention of the shepherd, they were safe and secure, i.e. included. But the lost sheep needed the shepherd and, there was great rejoicing when it was found. Bob saw this as a challenge that our greatest effort should be in seeking out those who are excluded and not making sure the 99 are comfortable. Is this about going out and seeking the “lost sheep” so that they come back to Sunday services? Is this about making sure others think the way we do? Or, is this about creating a community and society whose hallmark is something quite different? We need to be with those on the margins, not so that we can pull them in so they can become ’just like us‘ but so that all of us are transformed in the process.
This for me highlights the crux of what it means to be inclusive. Many believe this to be a warm, woolly, liberal word that means all are welcome, you come to us and we’ll accept you. Actually I think this is utterly wrong. On the contrary, to truly be inclusive means opening ourselves up to transforming encounters with other people. This isn’t soft and woolly, this is a profoundly challenging, difficult, painful, scary, life changing process. Perhaps the word inclusion is a victim of its own success. Later in the afternoon at the workshop attended by more than 30 lay people and clergy, Bob again laid down the challenge of what is the difference between being inclusive and being radically welcoming. Inclusion is good, but can be just a one way street i.e. the outsider coming in. On the other hand, being radically welcoming is us leaving the relative safety and comfort of our positions and going out to be with those outside our communities and for it to be a truly mutual relationship. We thereby risk finding ourselves changed by the experience.
This is the challenge of the gospel. The word gospel literally means good news. What is the good news that we talk about? What is the good news that Jesus said he came to preach? The parable gives us a clue. Jesus talks how there was “great rejoicing” as one translation puts it when the lost sheep, the lost coin and in the famous parable that follows this passage, the prodigal son, are found. God “rejoices” over us. We are each of us lost in our own way and God seeks us out, and rejoices over us. Rejoices over each and every single one of us. No exceptions. Exclusion is a human trait, not a divine one! George Fox, the founder of The Quakers spoke of seeing “that of God” in all people. That can be quite difficult, particularly in people we may not like, or who may be quite difficult to love or utterly different from us. As long as our communities, our churches continue to think in terms of us and them, in and out, straight or gay etc, we will continue to make the same mistakes repeated throughout history of rejecting the other in vain attempts to feel secure.
I long for the day when the church (in its widest sense) will throw open its doors and go out to risk being changed. I long for the day when our churches will be hubs of welcome, support and care for our communities rather than holy huddles for a select few and only as long as you believe in exactly what we tell you to believe! Perhaps when we do open ourselves to the risk of being transformed and transforming may we see glimpses of the Kingdom of God that Jesus spoke of. I see glimpses of that in the community that is growing around St Bride’s. Perhaps that is arrogant of me, but what I do know is that St Bride’s challenges me, scares me, supports me and encourages me with a healthy dose of doubt thrown in occasionally. Faith isn’t meant to be comfortable, full of certainties and securities, but a journey into the mystery of what it is to be a human being and who we are called to be.
At the Open Table service following the workshop, shared with a hugely diverse community of people from across the city, we thought again about God rejoicing over each and every one of us. I’d like to quote two items from our liturgy which for me movingly sum up the power of what it is to be an inclusive community and express what it is that St Bride’s attempts to be. The first is a verse of the final song we sang, written by June Boyce-Tillman, sung to the tune of Londonderry Air:
“We’ll give a voice to those who have not spoken; we’ll find the words for those whose lips are sealed; we’ll make the tunes for those who sing no longer, expressive love alive in every heart. We’ll share our joy with those who are still weeping, raise hymns of strength for hearts that break in grief, we’ll leap and dance the resurrection story including all in circles of our love”.
And as we are blessed and go out, in turn, to bless:
“May the cross be the sign in which we begin again to undo the cords of violence, the misery of exclusion, and proclaim the love without conditions;”
Amen.
Warren Hartley