12 May 2015 A.D. Mr. (Bp.) Gregory Brewer: letter to clerks & people of central Florida—baptism of child of ss-couple
12 May 2015 A.D. Mr. (Bp.)
Gregory Brewer: letter to clerks & people of central Florida—baptism of
child of ss-couple
Brewer, Gregory O. “A Letter to the Clergy & People of the
Diocese of Central Florida.” Virtueonline.org.
11 May 2015. http://virtueonline.org/letter-clergy-people-diocese-central-florida.
Accessed 12 May 2015.
A
Letter to the Clergy & People of the Diocese of Central Florida
By
the Rt. Rev. Gregory O. Brewer
May 11, 2015
May 11, 2015
Beloved
in Christ,
As
many of you know, an enormous controversy has happened over the past few days
regarding the proposed baptism of the adopted child of a same sex married
couple who attend the Cathedral. The baptism was scheduled, but then postponed
four days before it was to occur. The couple, Rich & Eric McCaffrey, posted
an article on Facebook detailing this process and expressing their grief over
the postponement. It caused an online firestorm, including an online petition
that garnered 20,000 signatures saying, "Tell Greg Brewer to baptize the
children of gay parents" as it was falsely reported and widely
disseminated that I was behind the postponement of the baptism. I was not.
After
reading the Facebook post, I obtained the contact information and sent an email
to Rich McCaffrey. In my opinion, a wrong needed to be made right. We met
together in my office last Thursday evening, May 7th. The meeting went very
well. The leadership of the Cathedral met in emergency session and affirmed
their support for the McCaffreys and their child's baptism. The upshot was that
the parents plan to continue attending the Cathedral and present their child
for baptism in the near future.
I
know that in our Diocese there is a wide range of opinions as to whether or not
it is appropriate to baptize the adopted child of gay parents. So I wanted to
share with you the results of my own continuing prayers and reflections on this
important pastoral challenge. The challenge is found in the charge to bishops
to "guard the faith, unity and discipline of the church," and to
"provide for the administration of the sacraments of the New
Covenant."
When
I am considering who should be baptized, my preeminent concern is for the one
being presented for baptism. Which would be better for the child: to be
baptized into the Christian community or to grow up in a secular household
devoid of the both the grace of Christ and bonds of a Christian community?
One
of the precious truths we celebrate is that God, out of His love, acts on
behalf of that child through the waters of baptism. Article XXV of the Articles
of Religion clearly states that through the sacraments God "doth work
invisibly in us and that baptism "is also a sign of Regeneration or New
Birth, whereby as by an Instrument they that receive Baptism rightly are
grafted into the Church; the promise of the forgiveness of sin, and our
adoption to be sons of God by the Holy Ghost are visibly signed and sealed,
Faith is confirmed, and Grace increased by virtue of prayer unto God." In
other words, it is through baptism that God claims that child as His own.
The
visible Church, acting through the congregation plays her part as well. Our
liturgy presumes that baptism is a public service whereby the whole congregation
renews their own vows and promises to "support this person in his life in
Christ." Such promises are crucial to the living out of what we have
received in baptism.
Congregations
often assume, wrongly, that it is the prime responsibility of the parents to
raise their baptized children as Christians with the local church only playing
a supportive or secondary role. As a result, congregations often consider the
baptism service as a welcoming celebration they watch, instead of a corporate
act of re-consecration for the entire congregation- including a sacramental
baptism that changes the child's life forever. In a service of baptism, God
acts in grace and the congregation acts in prayerful and sacrificial love.
If
we are called to "do all in our power to support this person," that
promise implies a level of effort far greater than having a good Sunday school
program. Instead, the implication of the baptismal liturgy is that the task of
raising that child into the "full stature of Christ" is primarily
that of the local congregation, of which the parents and sponsors are coequal
members. It assumes that congregations get personally involved in the lives of
the newly baptized and their families through their prayers and the building of
friendships. Acting in concert for the raising up of children in Christ takes
seriously the fact that such children are full members of the Body and worthy
of our best efforts of discipleship, love and pastoral care.
Some
will say that it is impossible for gay couples to fully assent to the baptismal
covenant, especially the question "do you renounce all sinful desires that
draw you from the love of God?" I wrestle with that as well. But I also
know that the baptismal covenant is written in language so demanding that I am
still discovering places in my life where I live below its demands. The
renunciation of sinful desire is a daily discipline. The call for justice
forces me not only to care about the plight of the least of these, but it also
challenges me to face the places where injustice works to my economic and
social advantage.
I
know that for some, saying yes to this baptism feels like nothing more than
pastoral logic, particularly when one starts with the spiritual needs of the
child, regardless of the child's family situation, and especially if the church
is willing to take up her responsibility for spiritual formation. For others it
feels like a betrayal of the Gospel and a capitulation on my part in my
opposition to gay marriage in the church. Please know, for those on both sides
of the gay marriage issue, that I have not changed- at all- my opposition to
the church's recognition of gay marriage as Holy Matrimony. I still believe,
strongly, that civil gay unions do not conform to the Biblical definition of
Holy Matrimony nor do they conform to the definition of Holy Matrimony found in
our Book of Common Prayer.
Given
our own brokenness as a people, it seems to me that none of us has the right to
cast the first stone. We all live below the demands that both the baptismal
covenant and the Scriptures ask of us, and many times consciously. We need the
whole church to help us out to become all that God intends us to be. We are on
a journey together, and the fact that God has offered us salvation at all is a
sign that God is giving us a free gift of grace to the undeserving. As Romans
3:23 says, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
Who
is deserving or undeserving? For example, in Scripture there are far stronger
and explicit objections to multiple divorces and remarriages than there is to a
monogamous gay union. Are you willing to say "No" to the baptism of
children from a couple that have in their history multiple divorces? If not,
why are you willing to give such heterosexual relations a pass, but condemn
civilly married gay Christians? Who actually qualifies?
In
other words, we are all broken and sinful people who are deeply in need of the
mercy of Christ. There is a child in need of the grace of Christ. There are
parents who are committed to raising their son as a Christian. There is a
congregation that is willing to accept their baptismal responsibilities. It is
for this, that I am saying "Yes" to the baptism of this child.
VOL:
The retired Bishop of South Carolina, the Rt. Rev. C. FitzSimons Allison
offered a contra position and said this: "If they could respect the
teachings of the Christian Church regarding marriage, even if they disagreed, I
would ask them to find godparents who shared the Church's teachings and could
say the vows for the child."
END
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