Words Cannot Express

Here are two things that I want to cover in this post. This post might be rather long, so feel free to skip to the part that most interests you. I'll be talking about:

1. The Sunday Morning Eucharist in the Canterbury Cathedral
2. The Integrity/Changing Attitudes Eucharist in the afternoon

This morning we had the honor of observing the Sunday Morning Eucharist held at the Canterbury Cathedral. If you don't know, the Cathedral is split into two parts: the nave and the quire. The nave and the quire are separated by a wall, which also holds a door in which one can move from nave to quire. The quire is the larger part of the church and the nave holds the Archbishop's seat as well as pews facing the center. There are tombs alongside the choire, ranging from High Church to Low Church. One important tomb surrounding the choire is the tomb of the Black Prince (Edward III). Another pivotal moment in the Cathedral was the murder of Thomas Becket (the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162-1170) by the knights of King Henry II right in the Cathedral. His tomb was later destroyed in 1538 by orders of King Henry VIII. Today, a candle stands on the place where his shrine used to be. The Archbishop's seat is also told to stand above the place where Thomas Becket's body was dragged below and left for dead in the crypt.

Enough said, we were located in the northern side of the quire (a bishop spouse told me this is was the place where once the royalties sat for services). We weren't in the heart of the quire, but we were off the side, behind the bishops who filled the center of the quire in the pews facing inward. To say the least, we were right close enough to see the Archbishop's seat as well as everything else that happened in the service (well, at least in certain parts). Unfortunately, the spouses sat in the nave and had to watch everything on a big screen from their seats. We had some pretty good seats.

Again, enough said, I really wished I had the time to write out the liturgy in my blog because I think it was one of the most important and beautiful services that I will ever attend in my life...and it marked a pivotal point in my life. For all those who are wondering, I will be returning with the bulletin. For one, the liturgy included the Melanesian monks and nuns who are praying in the prayer place every day (along with the Franciscan monks). For the procession of the Gospel, they danced and sang a hymn while carrying the Gospel in a canoe that they carried on the shoulders. They transitioned from the choire to the nave and read the Gospel in the heart of the nave. They had the bishops clapping (and some were even dancing!). The music was beautiful and it ran smoothly and almost without fault. Especially, the Bishop of Colombo (Sri Lanka) gave the sermon and he pretty much nailed it when he said that the church should be inclusive of everyone....male or female, every ethnicity....and every sexual orientation! The Intercessions included an interchange between English and other languages including French, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, Korean and one language from India that I don't know the name of. The dismissal went something like this:

May the Spirit,
who hovered over the waters when the world was created,
breathe into you the life he gives.
Amen.

May the Spirit,
who overshadowed the Virgin when the eternal Son came among us,
make you joyful in the service of the Lord.
Amen.

May the Spirit,
who set the Church on fire upon the Day of Pentecost,
bring the world alive with the love of the risen Christ.
Amen.

And the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you always.
Amen.


Beautiful! After the Eucharist at the Cathedral, I attended a Eucharist in St. Stephen's Field in Canterbury which was held by Integrity and Changing Attitudes. Both of these groups honor the gifts of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Christians in the Anglican Communion. I finally got to meet Rev. Susan Russell (since she works at All Saints Pasadena which is really close to where I live) and Bishop Gene Robinson. It was a small Eucharist (maybe 100 people) in a park that overlooked the Cathedral. Surprisingly, about 25 bishops attended, helping me to see who was more progressive among them. The atmosphere surrounding the Eucharist was somewhat tense. You could almost cut it with a knife. Perhaps it was because of everything that Bishop Robinson has gone through (for goodness sake he was yelled at by a protester when he preached in a London church for the first time since being here), or maybe it was from a feeling of rejection from the Anglican Communion. No matter what it was, it was strange for me to transition from a very high, "first class" ceremony to a Eucharist that involved a keyboard and loud speakers. Despite this, I was happy to be there to support my brother and my numerous friends who are gay (including those who have to be silent while attending my seminary), as well as to support Bishop Robinson and all those who feel left out of the church because of their sexual orientation. The funny thing was that we sang one of the same songs in both services, except for the Cathedral service it was proceeded by a song which repeated, "All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place." Yes, except for Bishop Robinson....or at least those who did not have a yellow ticket to get into the service.



Tonight, I made connections with some the bishops who were at the Integrity Eucharist (one from North Carolina and another from Wyoming). I also met Bishop Philip Wright today (Bishop of Belize), who our lovely church members of St. John's Cathedral insisted that I meet (and they even sent me away with a card to give to him!).

Today was a GOOD day. Probably the best day since I've been here.

Good night.