Leading Voices: Bishop John Shelby and Christine Spong
July 27, 2010
Author:
Richard Lindsay
On July 27, 2010, CLGS presented Bishop John Shelby Spong and his wife Christine M. Spong the Leading Voice Award for their long-time advocacy for LGBT people.
The following are comments from Bernard Schlager, PhD, executive director of CLGS, delivered at that event.
“This evening the Center is honored to present our Leading Voice Award to John Shelby Spong and Christine Spong for their passionate commitment to social justice and their courageous ministry which is deeply rooted in Gospel values of radical hospitality.
“The CLGS Leading Voice Award is presented to individuals who share our passion for transforming the world so that lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual, and queer people are recognized and valued in their faith communities and in the world at large.
“In the past few years we have presented Leading Voice awards to individuals and couples from all walks of life, including two other Episcopal bishops: Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire and retired Bishop Christopher Senyonjo from West Buganda in Uganda. I think that you’ll agree with me that Bishop Spong and Christine Spong are a wonderful addition to our Episcopal roster of Leading Voice awardees.
“We honor both Christine Spong and her husband John because they form a genuine team in a ministry which takes them all over this country and, indeed, all over the world. Theirs is a message of hope, a message of inclusion, and – above all – a message of love that is rooted in the Gospel and in the life of Jesus of Nazareth.
“On the issue of homosexuality Bishop Spong has written the following and I would like to quote him at length:
‘To the leaders of the Churches today I say: Stop playing ecclesiastical games. Compromising truth never serves the cause of unity. The call of Christ is not to be all things to all people. The time for negotiating and compromising is over. It matters not if you are the Pope, the Archbishop of Canterbury or one of the heads of the various national and international bodies of Christians around the world, both the moral integrity of the Christ you claim to serve and your ability to speak for Christ on any other issue are at stake. There is no room for waffling on this moral imperative.
The idea that you will allow politicians to advocate placing discrimination against homosexual persons into the Constitution of this country, while your voices are either in agreement or remain deafeningly silent, is an embarrassment. If it takes a split in the body of Christ to make this generation understand that homosexuality, like slavery, is a non-debatable, moral issue, then for God’s sake, for Christ’s sake, you must be willing to pay that price.’”
Other quotes from individuals speaking in honor of Bishop and Mrs. Spong:
“The encouragement he gave me by standing in solidarity with LGBT people in the church was like manna in the wilderness.” -- Jay Johnson, CLGS senior director of academic research, who was ordained as an Episcopal priest during the time that Bishop Spong ordained an openly gay priest in the Diocese of Newark.
“[After ten years of resisting his teaching] I finally got what Spong meant by having ‘the courage of being.’ This courage did not exclude my sexuality or my gender and it didn’t require a membership card because no one was excluded.” -- Deborah Cuny, seminarian at the Graduate Theological Union and CLGS administrative assistant.
“Bishop Spong is a true leader, because leaders are people who take us to places we never thought we’d go.” -- Joanne Sanders, Episcopal priest and associate dean for religious life at Stanford University.
On Bishop Spong’s pastoral manner: “When Bishop Spong and Christine come to visit a church I am pastoring, I feel like a bishop has visited me in the best sense; I feel like I have been attended to.” And on Bishop Spong’s relentless push for LGBT inclusion in the Church: “Your impatience was a gift to us.” -- Jim Mitulski, pastor of New Spirit Community Church, Berkeley and member of the board of trustees at PSR.
Comments from Bishop and Christine Spong:
“It always seems strange to receive an award for doing what is right and what is good.” – Christine Spong
“A prejudice is never debated in a society until it’s dying. At the point it becomes a topic of debate, the war is already over, and those who resist change are merely fighting a rear guard action to delay the inevitable.” – Bishop Spong
The following are comments from Bernard Schlager, PhD, executive director of CLGS, delivered at that event.
“This evening the Center is honored to present our Leading Voice Award to John Shelby Spong and Christine Spong for their passionate commitment to social justice and their courageous ministry which is deeply rooted in Gospel values of radical hospitality.
“The CLGS Leading Voice Award is presented to individuals who share our passion for transforming the world so that lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual, and queer people are recognized and valued in their faith communities and in the world at large.
“In the past few years we have presented Leading Voice awards to individuals and couples from all walks of life, including two other Episcopal bishops: Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire and retired Bishop Christopher Senyonjo from West Buganda in Uganda. I think that you’ll agree with me that Bishop Spong and Christine Spong are a wonderful addition to our Episcopal roster of Leading Voice awardees.
“We honor both Christine Spong and her husband John because they form a genuine team in a ministry which takes them all over this country and, indeed, all over the world. Theirs is a message of hope, a message of inclusion, and – above all – a message of love that is rooted in the Gospel and in the life of Jesus of Nazareth.
“On the issue of homosexuality Bishop Spong has written the following and I would like to quote him at length:
‘To the leaders of the Churches today I say: Stop playing ecclesiastical games. Compromising truth never serves the cause of unity. The call of Christ is not to be all things to all people. The time for negotiating and compromising is over. It matters not if you are the Pope, the Archbishop of Canterbury or one of the heads of the various national and international bodies of Christians around the world, both the moral integrity of the Christ you claim to serve and your ability to speak for Christ on any other issue are at stake. There is no room for waffling on this moral imperative.
The idea that you will allow politicians to advocate placing discrimination against homosexual persons into the Constitution of this country, while your voices are either in agreement or remain deafeningly silent, is an embarrassment. If it takes a split in the body of Christ to make this generation understand that homosexuality, like slavery, is a non-debatable, moral issue, then for God’s sake, for Christ’s sake, you must be willing to pay that price.’”
Other quotes from individuals speaking in honor of Bishop and Mrs. Spong:
“The encouragement he gave me by standing in solidarity with LGBT people in the church was like manna in the wilderness.” -- Jay Johnson, CLGS senior director of academic research, who was ordained as an Episcopal priest during the time that Bishop Spong ordained an openly gay priest in the Diocese of Newark.
“[After ten years of resisting his teaching] I finally got what Spong meant by having ‘the courage of being.’ This courage did not exclude my sexuality or my gender and it didn’t require a membership card because no one was excluded.” -- Deborah Cuny, seminarian at the Graduate Theological Union and CLGS administrative assistant.
“Bishop Spong is a true leader, because leaders are people who take us to places we never thought we’d go.” -- Joanne Sanders, Episcopal priest and associate dean for religious life at Stanford University.
On Bishop Spong’s pastoral manner: “When Bishop Spong and Christine come to visit a church I am pastoring, I feel like a bishop has visited me in the best sense; I feel like I have been attended to.” And on Bishop Spong’s relentless push for LGBT inclusion in the Church: “Your impatience was a gift to us.” -- Jim Mitulski, pastor of New Spirit Community Church, Berkeley and member of the board of trustees at PSR.
Comments from Bishop and Christine Spong:
“It always seems strange to receive an award for doing what is right and what is good.” – Christine Spong
“A prejudice is never debated in a society until it’s dying. At the point it becomes a topic of debate, the war is already over, and those who resist change are merely fighting a rear guard action to delay the inevitable.” – Bishop Spong