Bishop Robinson Preaches At Grace Church

Bishop Gene Robinson and a number of other bishops were missing at the service at Christ Church Cathedral on Sunday, because they were preaching elsewhere in the vicinity of New Orleans.

From the Times-Picayune in New Orleans:

As the leadership of the Episcopal Church meets in New Orleans to confront dissension over the role of gays in religious life, the church's first openly gay bishop gave a sermon at a liberal church on Canal Street focused on the inclusiveness of divine love.
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Although Robinson occupies the center of the controversy, he did not use the sermon he gave at Grace Episcopal Church on Sunday to advocate for the rights of gay ministers. The sermon, rooted in the Gospel of Luke, nonetheless conveyed his view that the church should embrace outsiders who live "on the edges of acceptable society."
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His sermon turned on two points: The church should offer a haven for sinners and outsiders who want to repent, and it should be a place where the faithful can come to renew and recharge their commitment to seeing justice done in the world.

"You and I are called to take a risk, trusting in God who loves us beyond all our imagination," Robinson said.

Amen. We are.

Members of Grace Episcopal Church expressed pride Sunday that Robinson would make a guest appearance at their parish, and they sent him off with a rousing rendition of "When the Saints Go Marching In," complete with a second line-style processional led by the rector, the Rev. Walter Baer.

The congregation of Grace Church and its rector are full of grace.

Baer called Robinson "an icon of the inclusive nature of the Episcopal Church," but he said he was not surprised that the prelate kept his sermon focused on the Gospels rather than on the church politics at hand.

"His being the lightning rod for all this controversy is secondary to his being a bishop and pastor," Baer said.

It's not at all surprising to me that Bishop Robinson preached the Gospel of love, rather than advocate for church politics.