THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 24, 1994 TAG: 9408240007
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
On Aug. 16, you ran an article in which the group Concerned Episcopalians criticized Frank Vest, the Episcopal Bishop of Southern Virginia, because of his positive stance toward gay Christians seeking ordination.
As founder and convener of Integrity/ Tidewater (Episcopal lesbian and gay justice ministry), I have met with Bishop Vest on several occasions. I do not find him to be ``incompetent'' or ``evasive.'' I do find Bishop Vest to be considerate, sharp-thinking, fair and concerned for all elements in the church. He is not ``in the pocket'' of any special-interest group, but challenges us all to work together in love.
Concerning ordination, my guess is that Bishop Vest would echo Micah on the qualifications ``to act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with your god`` (Micah 6:8). Jesus said it is evil intentions coming from the heart which make a person unclean (Matthew 15). In the same way, it is not who a person loves, or the physical act of expression, but the quality of love which matters. These are biblical perspectives, traditional Christian perspectives. Some people think additional criteria are necessary (the person must be male, the person must be celibate, the person must be heterosexual, etc.), but no one has exclusive access to the mind of God.
You quote J. Nelson Happy, a member of St. John's Episcopal Church in Hampton, as saying that many people are leaving the Episcopal Church because gay interests are promoted.
I recently joined this church because it is a church which listens to the voice of the minority, the hurt and the disenfranchised.
I see some legalists and separatists leaving, but I see Jesus and his poor, tax-collecting, leprous and Samaritan friends quickly filling up the emptied pews. I'll stay where I see Jesus.
ANN CARLSON
Yorktown, Aug. 17, 1994 by CNB