Gearing Up for General Convention 2003

	Gearing Up for General Convention 2003 The LGBT Ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of California

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Gearing Up for General Convention 2003

Glbt-related issues will be just one of the many topic areas that will be discussed at General Convention 2003 in Minneapolis. Oasis/California will be shepherding several Diocesan Resolutions for General Convention 2003, one of which asks that an official rite be created for blessing relationships outside of marriage, and another which calls on the Church to disavow the practice of reparative therapies.

Oasis/California has teamed up with several other Episcopal glbt organizations, including Integrity, The Oasis-Newark, Oasis/Missouri, Witness Magazine and Beyond Inclusion, to create a collaborative group called Claiming the Blessing. This is the first time glbt organizations have formally joined together to work toward full inclusion at a national level.

Claiming the Blessing also sponsored a conference November 7, 8, and 9 at Christ Church Cathedral in St. Louis, Missouri. This historic gathering was dedicated to "education and inspiration, theological reflection and political strategy." As part of Claiming the Blessing, Oasis/California dedicated time, treasure, and talent to this important event.

Claiming the Blessing's statement on the theology of blessing same-sex relationships is available in Adobe Acrobat format: CTB Theology Statement.

Below is the latest issue of the Claiming the Blessing newsletter.

CLAIMING THE BLESSING:

An Occasional Newsletter

Volume 1, No. 2; February 1, 2003

From the UK publication "Lesbian + Gay Christians," Winter 2002: "At certain moments during the [CTB] conference I felt like I had been transported to the future. At the banquet there was a female bishop, I chatted with openly gay clergy and all of us in St. Louis were confident that by the end of next summer the Episcopal Church will have authorised the development of a liturgy for blessings. In St. Louis I realized that my vision of a more inclusive Anglican Church is not an impossible dream."

--Nick Godfrey

That, my brothers and sisters, is a glimpse of the Blessing we're Claiming . . . the future we're living into . . . as we embrace the vision of an inclusive Gospel, the blessing of our Anglican heritage and the power of the Spirit moving us forward -- to General Convention and beyond.

Nick Godfrey's words about his experience at the Claiming the Blessing Conference in St. Louis are reminders of how far we have come . . . and how far we have yet to go . . . as we work to realize the dream of a church where ALL the baptized do indeed have full and equal claim on both the rights and responsibilities of being members of the Body of Christ.

Many of us take for granted the very things he found so extraordinary: women bishops, gay and lesbian clergy and laity working together to do the work of the Gospel. And many of us live in dioceses or belong to congregations not "there" yet. But all of us are united in our commitment to Claim the Blessing in the weeks and months ahead. To that end, here's a quick update of where we are and what you can do.

Where We Are: The CTB Steering Committee met January 9-10 to chart the course for the next six months as we move toward Minneapolis. Out of that meeting came a couple of key "next steps." Completion of the Theology Statement is first on the list and the final edit will be finished by the time you receive this mailing, with distribution timed so that all our bishops will have copies prior to their House of Bishops Meeting in March.

The final edit will make use of comments/critique received at the St. Louis gathering as