WWJD?

According to the Episcopal News Service, on Wednesday night, more than 1500 people came to the forum on something called the "Windsor Report" to debate whether the church should offer "an apology and repentance for having"ordained Bishop Gene Robinson at their last meeting. That's the language they use -- to apology and repent for having elected an openly gay Bishop. This is not a judgment on Bishop Robinson's service to the church just that his life partner is a man. The report calls for a moratorium on ordaining gay and lesbian priests, electing gay and lesbian Bishops, and creating rites for same sex unions.

I can't stop thinking what it must have been like to have a gay, lesbian, or bisexual person sitting in that room listening to the speeches. My heart breaks thinking about the pain that they must have felt. No matter how gentile the speaker, the words must have been soul numbing. The message: NOT WANTED. Not wanted on the basis of who you are and who you love. NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR US.

I don't get it. Oh, I get that people of faith have different moral values about homosexuality, and that this is an issue of great concern in some Christian denominations. But what I don't get on a more fundamental level is that a denomination based on Jesus' radical call for love and inclusiveness is fighting about who to exclude from the call to serve, on the basis of sexual identity.

WWJD? It seems very clear to me.

Let us hold the delegates to both the Presbyterian and Episcopalian meetings in our hearts and prayers this weekend.