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Prayer Vigil for Episcopal Church Held at National Cathedral
By Robert England
WASHINGTON, D.C. (1/30/2005)-- A group of 15 Episcopalians held a prayer vigil Saturday morning on the front steps of Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul while delegates met inside for the annual convention of the Diocese of Washington.
Wrapped in scarves and wearing hats and gloves, the participants in the vigil huddled in a circle against the frigid wind. They wore tags with the message "Pray for the Episcopal Church." The prayers were read from a prepared booklet printed for the occasion.
The prayers at the vigil were far more gentle that the statements about the Episcopal Church made by a just-concluded meeting of the Anglican Primates of the Africa, Asian and Latin America. Those Primates called on the Episcopal Church to "repent" for its its approval of the election a gay man, Gene Robinson, as Bishop of New Hampshire in 2003."
The House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church recently said issued a statement of 'regret' that the decision had caused pain in the Communion.
The prayer vigil was lead by Bill Boniface, a layman from St. Thomas in Croom, Maryland. "We gather here this morning with a deep concern for the direction of the Episcopal Church," the group of 14 lay people and one priest, Fr. Ted Lewis, read in unison.
Their prayers continued: "We come here for a single purpose, driven neither by sinful pride in our own understanding of God's will nor the exclusion of other faithful persons who hold sincere but diverging beliefs, but simply to call God's guidance upon this Church and its leaders at a time of great division."
Echoing language in the Book of Common Prayer, the group prayed that God would fill the Episcopal Church "with all truth, and with all peace. Where it is corrupt, purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in anything is amiss, reform it."
The prayer continued: "Where [the church] is right, strengthen it; where it is in want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake of Jesus Christ thy Son our Saviour. Amen."
The gathering also asked God to bless the Anglican Communion and that God would guide the upcoming Primates meeting in Northern Ireland in February to "focus truly on discerning your will for the Church."
The vigil concluded with the singing of the hymn, "Onward Christian Soldiers." The participants then went inside the Cathedral.
In an interview following the vigil Boniface said he had organized it "because there are still a good number of people in the diocese who believe that the diocese is headed in the wrong direction. We want to constantly remind the diocese that there are people out here that they need to consider still part of their flocks."
Boniface said the vigil was also held to signify that faithful people would still take a stand in the Episcopal Church. "As the Primates get ready to meet in Northern Ireland, I want them to know that there are people that will get out and stand up for Christ and the faith."
Those present came from several Episcopal congregations. In addition to St. Thomas Croom, there were people who said they were members of Christ Church in Accokeek, Maryland, All Saints in Chevy Chase, Maryland, Christ Church in Georgetown, D.C., Ascension & St. Agnes in D.C., as well as St. James in Mt. Vernon, Virginia.
Inside the Cathedral Washington Bishop John Chane delivered a mixed message of defiance against critics and sympathy for those hurt and marginalized on both sides of the debate over the election of a gay bishop. At the same time, he made it clear he and the diocese would continue to champion homosexual causes -- including homosexual marriage -- within the diocese and the Episcopal Church.
At one point in the address Chane told the delegates that he considered an attack on Gene Robinson to also be "an attack on me," since he voted for his election, prompting a majority of the delegates to rise to a standing ovation.
Chane further added that he considered those attacks to be an attack on the validity of the election of women to the episcopate.
Chane indicated he would continue to show pastoral support for homosexuals in the church and in society.
"I am also distressed on the attacks that have surfaced (against homosexuals) during and after the recently-concluded Presidential election that have pledged to increase discrimination against gay and Lesbians."
Chane continued: "Your pain at being marginalized by the actions of the church, by the church itself, and what has happened in the recent elections carries, as far as I'm concerned, equal rank with those who have also been hurt by the actions of the convention in Minneapolis."
Chane added: "So, when I engage in conversations and have engaged in conversations after last year's convention with those who are feeling hurt and marginalized by the actions of what happened at Minneapolis. So, I pledge myself to you this day to engage in similar conversations with those in the gay and Lesbian community who are experiencing much of the same rejection and pain at the this present time as they try to remain within the life of the Episcopal Church."
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