General Crazy

ABC: The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Rowan Williams, MA, DPhil, DCL, DD, FBA, the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, Metropolitan of the Province of Canterbury and Primate of All England. Most certainly the most influential person in the Anglican Communion and probably the most influential person in the world who I might ever meet.

And I was invited to meet him. One of the deputies from the Diocese of California organized a request to the presiding bishop and the president of the house of deputies that they invite the Archbishop to have a private meeting with a small group of LGBT deputies during his visit to General Convention. Surprisingly enough, he agreed, and miracle of miracles I was invited to be part of the group.

One of the wonderful things about this meeting was that we were not driven by anyone else’s agenda. Since it was not an official meeting between the Archbishop and any church body or other organization, we were not coached or guided or beholden to anyone but ourselves. The group’s roster is available elsewhere online, but let me just comment briefly. This group of priests and laypeople, theologians and scholars, ministers and God’s beloved children was truly extraordinary and I am so blessed to have been able to meet and know them, much less the Archbishop.

In planning what we wanted to do and say, we worked through a number of possible formats and ideas. After much discussion we decided the most effective use of our time with the Archbishop would be to tell our stories. We knew that even though there were eminent theologians in our group, we wouldn’t likely have anything new or critical to say in those terms that the Archbishop hadn’t already heard or known. We felt that telling stories would be the best way to share ourselves with him.

So we did that. In thirty minutes we prayed three times, told eight personal and powerful stories of LGBT ministry and experience, and heard the Archbishop’s response. Since this was a private meeting, I will not divulge details of the conversation; we all agreed that it was in all our best interests (and the Archbishop’s) to keep it private. Doing so also allowed for a depth of vulnerability and detail that would not have been possible if we knew that what we were to say might be later reported in any news media.

I know that the Archbishop heard us. He specifically reflected back the theme of my story in his remarks. So I know that he was taking me seriously and that he is extremely perceptive and thoughtful. Everyone says this about him, largely based on his published work, but I now know it from experience. What I don’t know is whether or not our meeting will inspire any further response. We left him with the message that we wanted to be put to work by him. We did not come to air grievances, but to describe our experience and offer to work with him to change hearts and minds. I hope he calls on us someday.