Recent Sermons
Each week our Locum Vicar delivers sermons that seek to inspire and challenge our congregation in their daily service of God.
Over the coming months we will be adding these sermons to our website for the interest and inspiration of others in our community. We hope you enjoy the words of our Locum Vicar Reverend Dr Ronald Noone.
Should you wish to hear more please join us at 8.00am or 10.00am on a Sunday in the near future.
Each week our Locum Vicar delivers sermons that seek to inspire and challenge our congregation in their daily service of God.
Over the coming months we will be adding these sermons to our website for the interest and inspiration of others in our community. We hope you enjoy the words of our Locum Vicar Reverend Dr Ronald Noone.
Should you wish to hear more please join us at 8.00am or 10.00am on a Sunday in the near future.
4 August 2019: The Feast of the Transfiguration.
August the 6th has always been an important day in our household as it’s our daughter
Sarah’s birthday and for weeks leading up to the great day she ensures that everyone knows it. August the 6th also happens to be an important day in the Church’s calendar as the story is read twice each year – once in Lent and once on August 6th. We transferred the Feast to today. As we just heard in the Gospel reading, the Feast of the Transfiguration commemorates the occasion when Jesus and three of his disciples went up on Mt Tabor. There he was transfigured before them and his clothes became dazzling white and they heard the voice of God saying, “This is my son, the beloved, listen to him.” This same line was used when John baptised Jesus in the river Jordan.
On August 6th in the year 1456 a divine victory was won at the gates of Belgrade when Christian Armies slaughtered the Infidel and halted the progress of Islamic evangelists entering Europe. A year late, Pope Callistus III ordered the annual celebration of the Transfiguration to commemorate the mighty bloodbath.
On August the 6th in the year 1945, allied Christian armies won another great victory over the enemy. As the church kept the festival of Christ’s shinning, Japanese infants roasted and the elderly of Hiroshima turned into shadows in the twinkling of a neutron.
The author of Second Peter, in the epistle today, would not be surprised by the ironic alignment of Mt. Tabor/Belgrade/Hiroshima – he said, ”You would do well to pay attention to this as to a light shinning in a dark place.” Yes, we would do well – do well to remember the brightest light of all and to know that among all the stars that live in our hearts one of them is called ‘Morning’ – Christ our morning star. Yes, we would do well to know that we are made finally for light and for transfiguration, and this strengthens us through times when all we can see is darkness.
Many years ago a friend from England and I visited Israel and Mt Tabor and the Church of the Transfiguration that sits at the top. Mt Tabor isn’t much of a mountain – more like a foothill –or as our guidebook rather raunchily described it –“like a perfectly shaped breast rising out of the valley.” Mt Tabor is located only a short drive from Nazareth but we mistimed our arrival because the church was closed and a sign said it would re-open at 2pm. It was very hot so we sat under the shade of a tree and waited. Some restoration work was taking place on the church buildings and there were three port-a-loos nearby. My friend said to me, “Look, there are three booths. One for Moses one for Elijah and one for thee!”
It was a relief to finally enter the church as it was cared for by a Roman Catholic order of nuns and was very clean and, more importantly, cool. The architecture was unusual because the sanctuary was located down a wide expanse of steps with the altar at the bottom. Above the Sanctuary was an arch with a Latin inscription, “Domine bonum est hic”, which I finally worked out to say, “it’s good Lord to be here.” We sat on the marble steps for some time thinking about transfiguration in the lovely coolness of the church. We agreed it was good to be there.
The story of the transfiguration is not addressed to our experience. It is an account of Christ’s experience and only through him is it an account of what our experience might be. The gospel account is not a kind of ‘flash forward’ to the future glorified Christ. It is an awareness of who Christ was in the days of his flesh – before he suffered, before he died and before he rose. It is the transfiguration of his humanity. As usual Peter does not understand; and that is why he is the most attractive member of the Apostles. Instead of allowing himself to be caught up in the figure that stands before him, Peter wants to capture it for future reference, to confine God. “Let us make three booths; one for Moses, one for Elijah and one for thee.” We have chained down the Law and made it work for us. We have taken the fire out of the prophets and made them holy men instead. Now let us confine God.
There are Christians who wish to confine God to the pages of the bible. Others wish to Confine God to the tabernacle in the most holy sacrament of the altar. Others still wish to confine God to the church. But you can never confine a God who breaks free from the tomb. “Let us make three booths” – with Peter, we say this whenever reality seems too hash for us and holds out the possibility of transfiguration. For we can never be transfigured and yet remain the same. The gospel promise always holds out the hope that we can change, can grow and can break out of the booths, shelters and dwellings that confine us. It is better to lose the confined God we found easy to envisage and stand defenceless in the presence of the one who can only ever truly be known when he is lived with.
On the mountain the apostles saw what they were letting themselves in for – transfiguration at the hands of him who is bound by nothing. But in the valley and on the road to Jerusalem, they forgot what they had seen. Peter asking if two swords will be enough; James asking for a front seat in the Kingdom, and John snoring in the Garden of Gethsemane. Yet the mountain is as real as the valley and we have to believe that or else we shall be consumed by the myth that the present is the only reality we can ever know.
In C.S. Lewis’ story, The Silver Chair, one of the Chronicles of Narnia, the great lion Aslan, who is a figure of Christ, addresses Jill, a little girl who must assist him in his work.
Here, on the mountain, I have spoken to you clearly: I will not often do so down in Narnia. Here on the mountain, the air is clear and your mind is clear as you drop down into Narnia, the air will thicken. Take care that it does not confuse your mind. And the signs, which you have learned here, will not look as you expect them to look when you meet them there. That is why it is so important to know them by heart and pay no attention to appearances. Remember the signs and believe the signs. Nothing else matters.
Peter, James and John weren’t allowed to stay on the mountain and neither can we stay with our mountaintop experiences or spiritual highs. We live most of the time in the valley of mundane, ordinary existence. The transfiguration wasn’t meant to last, but it was meant to be remembered. May the unbounded God help us to remember the mountain, keeps us from idols and be at rest with him who was transfigured, crucified and is risen, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Father Ron Noone
August the 6th has always been an important day in our household as it’s our daughter
Sarah’s birthday and for weeks leading up to the great day she ensures that everyone knows it. August the 6th also happens to be an important day in the Church’s calendar as the story is read twice each year – once in Lent and once on August 6th. We transferred the Feast to today. As we just heard in the Gospel reading, the Feast of the Transfiguration commemorates the occasion when Jesus and three of his disciples went up on Mt Tabor. There he was transfigured before them and his clothes became dazzling white and they heard the voice of God saying, “This is my son, the beloved, listen to him.” This same line was used when John baptised Jesus in the river Jordan.
On August 6th in the year 1456 a divine victory was won at the gates of Belgrade when Christian Armies slaughtered the Infidel and halted the progress of Islamic evangelists entering Europe. A year late, Pope Callistus III ordered the annual celebration of the Transfiguration to commemorate the mighty bloodbath.
On August the 6th in the year 1945, allied Christian armies won another great victory over the enemy. As the church kept the festival of Christ’s shinning, Japanese infants roasted and the elderly of Hiroshima turned into shadows in the twinkling of a neutron.
The author of Second Peter, in the epistle today, would not be surprised by the ironic alignment of Mt. Tabor/Belgrade/Hiroshima – he said, ”You would do well to pay attention to this as to a light shinning in a dark place.” Yes, we would do well – do well to remember the brightest light of all and to know that among all the stars that live in our hearts one of them is called ‘Morning’ – Christ our morning star. Yes, we would do well to know that we are made finally for light and for transfiguration, and this strengthens us through times when all we can see is darkness.
Many years ago a friend from England and I visited Israel and Mt Tabor and the Church of the Transfiguration that sits at the top. Mt Tabor isn’t much of a mountain – more like a foothill –or as our guidebook rather raunchily described it –“like a perfectly shaped breast rising out of the valley.” Mt Tabor is located only a short drive from Nazareth but we mistimed our arrival because the church was closed and a sign said it would re-open at 2pm. It was very hot so we sat under the shade of a tree and waited. Some restoration work was taking place on the church buildings and there were three port-a-loos nearby. My friend said to me, “Look, there are three booths. One for Moses one for Elijah and one for thee!”
It was a relief to finally enter the church as it was cared for by a Roman Catholic order of nuns and was very clean and, more importantly, cool. The architecture was unusual because the sanctuary was located down a wide expanse of steps with the altar at the bottom. Above the Sanctuary was an arch with a Latin inscription, “Domine bonum est hic”, which I finally worked out to say, “it’s good Lord to be here.” We sat on the marble steps for some time thinking about transfiguration in the lovely coolness of the church. We agreed it was good to be there.
The story of the transfiguration is not addressed to our experience. It is an account of Christ’s experience and only through him is it an account of what our experience might be. The gospel account is not a kind of ‘flash forward’ to the future glorified Christ. It is an awareness of who Christ was in the days of his flesh – before he suffered, before he died and before he rose. It is the transfiguration of his humanity. As usual Peter does not understand; and that is why he is the most attractive member of the Apostles. Instead of allowing himself to be caught up in the figure that stands before him, Peter wants to capture it for future reference, to confine God. “Let us make three booths; one for Moses, one for Elijah and one for thee.” We have chained down the Law and made it work for us. We have taken the fire out of the prophets and made them holy men instead. Now let us confine God.
There are Christians who wish to confine God to the pages of the bible. Others wish to Confine God to the tabernacle in the most holy sacrament of the altar. Others still wish to confine God to the church. But you can never confine a God who breaks free from the tomb. “Let us make three booths” – with Peter, we say this whenever reality seems too hash for us and holds out the possibility of transfiguration. For we can never be transfigured and yet remain the same. The gospel promise always holds out the hope that we can change, can grow and can break out of the booths, shelters and dwellings that confine us. It is better to lose the confined God we found easy to envisage and stand defenceless in the presence of the one who can only ever truly be known when he is lived with.
On the mountain the apostles saw what they were letting themselves in for – transfiguration at the hands of him who is bound by nothing. But in the valley and on the road to Jerusalem, they forgot what they had seen. Peter asking if two swords will be enough; James asking for a front seat in the Kingdom, and John snoring in the Garden of Gethsemane. Yet the mountain is as real as the valley and we have to believe that or else we shall be consumed by the myth that the present is the only reality we can ever know.
In C.S. Lewis’ story, The Silver Chair, one of the Chronicles of Narnia, the great lion Aslan, who is a figure of Christ, addresses Jill, a little girl who must assist him in his work.
Here, on the mountain, I have spoken to you clearly: I will not often do so down in Narnia. Here on the mountain, the air is clear and your mind is clear as you drop down into Narnia, the air will thicken. Take care that it does not confuse your mind. And the signs, which you have learned here, will not look as you expect them to look when you meet them there. That is why it is so important to know them by heart and pay no attention to appearances. Remember the signs and believe the signs. Nothing else matters.
Peter, James and John weren’t allowed to stay on the mountain and neither can we stay with our mountaintop experiences or spiritual highs. We live most of the time in the valley of mundane, ordinary existence. The transfiguration wasn’t meant to last, but it was meant to be remembered. May the unbounded God help us to remember the mountain, keeps us from idols and be at rest with him who was transfigured, crucified and is risen, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Father Ron Noone
28 JULY 2019: Amazing Grace
A few weeks ago we sang the wonderful hymn Glorious things of thee are spoken which contains one of my favourite lines: “ Solid joys and lasting treasure none but Sion’s children know.”
It speaks of the knowledge of things eternal, of the spiritual worldview and mindset that religious people have available to them and must be awaken within us. The hymn was written by John Newtown, who also wrote Amazing Grace, one of the most popular hymns in the church. Amazing Grace has been recorded in over 1100 albums! It is the favourite hymn of presidents Carter, Clinton and Bush. Not sure what Donald Trump’s favourite hymn is. Perhaps its “Ego is not a dirty word”!
Some of you may know the fascinating story behind the writing of this hymn and if so, please forgive me if I speak of things you already know. John Newton was born into a seafaring family in 1725. His father was a ship’s captain and was away for much of John’s early childhood. His mother would read portions of the Bible to him every night, so he grew up knowing the scriptures.
Newton went to sea at the age of 11 and progressed through the ranks to become a ship’s captain. Once during a particularly vicious storm at sea Newton prayed to God asking, “if you save us Lord, I will become a good Christian and do your will.” He was saved from the storm but the conversion didn’t stick. In fact Newton became a slave trader, which was a very lucrative business albeit in the tough, ruthless world of trading human beings. Newtown encountered a second storm and conversion and this time it did stick. In fact his encounter with God was so dramatic it led him to give up his ship and study theology and become an Anglican Priest.
Newton was sent to the parish of Olney in Buckinghamshire and in his congregation he had a young man named William Wilberforce. Wilberforce developed a burning passion for politics and was elected to the Parliament at the age of 21. For years he fought for the abolition of Slavery and he became one of the best orators and singers in the parliament. He too, underwent an experience that placed the Christian faith in the forefront of his life, to the point where he thought he might leave politics and seek ordination as a priest. William Pitt, his friend from his days at College and who later became Prime Minister, asks Wilberforce, “Will you use your beautiful voice to praise the Lord or change the world?” Hannah Moore, another abolitionist from the ‘Clapham Sect’ suggests he can do both!
On a visit to his old parish and talking with his priest, Wilberforce elicits from Newton a confession of his slave trading past and his conversion experience. Newton was going blind and he used a secretary or scribe to take down his story. Newton dictated a number of hymns including Amazing Grace with the ironic lines, I once was lost, but now am found, T’was blind but now I see.
Newton urges Wilberforce to stay in parliament and continue the fight against slavery. Wilberforce manages to gain allies in the fight, notably Josiah Wedgewood and Thomas Clarkson. Wedgewood used his famous china to craft an anti-slavery medallion with the inscription, “ Am I not a man and a Brother?” Wedgewood was the first to show the world that something that you wore could show where you stood on an issue. This is commonplace on all sorts of clothing today but it was quite radical in the 1800’s.
Benjamin Franklin took a medallion back to the United States and the Abolitionists there struck a copper coin with an image of a woman with the inscription, “Am I not a woman and a sister?" Given the history of the civil rights movement in America it is no wonder the hymn is more popular there than anywhere else.
After fighting for the abolition of the slave trade for 25 years the bill passed in the House of Commons in 1807. That same year Newton died. Wilberforce continued to fight to free slaves throughout the British Empire for another twenty-six years! Finally in 1833 a law passed for the whole British Empire banning slavery. Three days later Wilberforce died. It is interesting to note that slavery never took hold in Australia with Governor Arthur Philip banning slavery in the Australian colonies on 26 January 1788.
It was a long time before slavery was banned in the United States. It wasn’t until after the Civil War in 1865 that the 13th Amendment to the constitution banning slavery was formally passed by the congress.
William Wilberforce is an example of one man’s fight against injustice where his faith motivated and strengthened him to use his talent to change the world for good. When the whole nation was blind, he made them see and for that he gets a saint’s day in the calendar at the end of this month, on July 30.
Despite his efforts and those of the abolitionists slavery still exists today. In 2003 President Bush told the United Nations General Assembly “each year over 800,000 human beings are bought and sold and forced across boarders in a trade that targets vulnerable women and children and feeds a thriving organised crime syndicate that threatens global security.”
You can look up the website stopthetraffik.org.au
Father Ron Noone
A few weeks ago we sang the wonderful hymn Glorious things of thee are spoken which contains one of my favourite lines: “ Solid joys and lasting treasure none but Sion’s children know.”
It speaks of the knowledge of things eternal, of the spiritual worldview and mindset that religious people have available to them and must be awaken within us. The hymn was written by John Newtown, who also wrote Amazing Grace, one of the most popular hymns in the church. Amazing Grace has been recorded in over 1100 albums! It is the favourite hymn of presidents Carter, Clinton and Bush. Not sure what Donald Trump’s favourite hymn is. Perhaps its “Ego is not a dirty word”!
Some of you may know the fascinating story behind the writing of this hymn and if so, please forgive me if I speak of things you already know. John Newton was born into a seafaring family in 1725. His father was a ship’s captain and was away for much of John’s early childhood. His mother would read portions of the Bible to him every night, so he grew up knowing the scriptures.
Newton went to sea at the age of 11 and progressed through the ranks to become a ship’s captain. Once during a particularly vicious storm at sea Newton prayed to God asking, “if you save us Lord, I will become a good Christian and do your will.” He was saved from the storm but the conversion didn’t stick. In fact Newton became a slave trader, which was a very lucrative business albeit in the tough, ruthless world of trading human beings. Newtown encountered a second storm and conversion and this time it did stick. In fact his encounter with God was so dramatic it led him to give up his ship and study theology and become an Anglican Priest.
Newton was sent to the parish of Olney in Buckinghamshire and in his congregation he had a young man named William Wilberforce. Wilberforce developed a burning passion for politics and was elected to the Parliament at the age of 21. For years he fought for the abolition of Slavery and he became one of the best orators and singers in the parliament. He too, underwent an experience that placed the Christian faith in the forefront of his life, to the point where he thought he might leave politics and seek ordination as a priest. William Pitt, his friend from his days at College and who later became Prime Minister, asks Wilberforce, “Will you use your beautiful voice to praise the Lord or change the world?” Hannah Moore, another abolitionist from the ‘Clapham Sect’ suggests he can do both!
On a visit to his old parish and talking with his priest, Wilberforce elicits from Newton a confession of his slave trading past and his conversion experience. Newton was going blind and he used a secretary or scribe to take down his story. Newton dictated a number of hymns including Amazing Grace with the ironic lines, I once was lost, but now am found, T’was blind but now I see.
Newton urges Wilberforce to stay in parliament and continue the fight against slavery. Wilberforce manages to gain allies in the fight, notably Josiah Wedgewood and Thomas Clarkson. Wedgewood used his famous china to craft an anti-slavery medallion with the inscription, “ Am I not a man and a Brother?” Wedgewood was the first to show the world that something that you wore could show where you stood on an issue. This is commonplace on all sorts of clothing today but it was quite radical in the 1800’s.
Benjamin Franklin took a medallion back to the United States and the Abolitionists there struck a copper coin with an image of a woman with the inscription, “Am I not a woman and a sister?" Given the history of the civil rights movement in America it is no wonder the hymn is more popular there than anywhere else.
After fighting for the abolition of the slave trade for 25 years the bill passed in the House of Commons in 1807. That same year Newton died. Wilberforce continued to fight to free slaves throughout the British Empire for another twenty-six years! Finally in 1833 a law passed for the whole British Empire banning slavery. Three days later Wilberforce died. It is interesting to note that slavery never took hold in Australia with Governor Arthur Philip banning slavery in the Australian colonies on 26 January 1788.
It was a long time before slavery was banned in the United States. It wasn’t until after the Civil War in 1865 that the 13th Amendment to the constitution banning slavery was formally passed by the congress.
William Wilberforce is an example of one man’s fight against injustice where his faith motivated and strengthened him to use his talent to change the world for good. When the whole nation was blind, he made them see and for that he gets a saint’s day in the calendar at the end of this month, on July 30.
Despite his efforts and those of the abolitionists slavery still exists today. In 2003 President Bush told the United Nations General Assembly “each year over 800,000 human beings are bought and sold and forced across boarders in a trade that targets vulnerable women and children and feeds a thriving organised crime syndicate that threatens global security.”
You can look up the website stopthetraffik.org.au
Father Ron Noone
7 JULY 2019: GAY PRIDE AND MARRIAGE EQUALITY
This week in the northern hemisphere was Gay Pride week and parades were held in many places to mark Fifty years since the first parade in New York in 1969. When my wife and I lived in New York in 2016 we only had to walk about 50 metres to watch the parade down Fifth Avenue. It is a massive parade full of music and dancing that lasts about 5 hours with about 400,000 people involved and watched by some 4 million. You may be surprised by just who marched. There were representatives from every city department – the District Attorney’s Office, the Judges, the Mayor’s Office, every branch of the city services, Police Fire & Ambulance all had floats, Lots of politicians, senators, congressmen and women and city councillors. Religions were also well represented - the Jewish Gay and Lesbian Association, Muslims and lots of Christian churches, including a float from the Episcopal Church carrying the bishop of New York, some clergy and lay people. More surprising still was the number of floats representing High Schools in support of Gay rights. Many of the participants’ hand out pamphlets etc. one of them gave me this badge, “God made me queer.”
Some of it was confronting but it’s an issue this country has come the terms with through last year’s plebiscite when nearly 70% of Australians voted for Gay Marriage. When the result was revealed in New York the Empire State building lit up in rainbow colours! The Anglican Church in its wisdom has refused to accept the result and to its shame is officially opposed to same sex marriage.
I want to tell you about my experience working as a Rector in a parish in New York renowned for its marriage ministry. The Church of the Transfiguration married the first gay couple in 2012 when it was legal in New York State. In 2015 Marriage Equality became Federal Law, applicable in all 50 states.
My first wedding enquiry was from two gay men living in Atlanta, Georgia. They wished to marry at Transfiguration because they had worshipped in the parish when visiting New York. I needed to get my head around the idea before I could agree so I entered a similar theological reflection process that I did some thirty years earlier when I first encountered a woman priest celebrating the Eucharist in the same city. That experience was so positive I decided to go ahead and discuss the wedding with the men. I discovered they had been together for 26 years and now wished to consecrate their love in the church service. They both worshipped as Episcopalians and both desired the blessing of the church. They told me there would be no congregation, but a woman friend, Mary, in her eighties would be their witness. The church Verger, a very large black man called Tyrone, who acted as the other witness. They did ask if it was possible to have a choir of boys and girls. The Music Director was happy to provide a teenage choir of about 10 or 12 voices (the parish has three choirs).
The Episcopal Church has authorised an excellent Wedding Service for same sex couples and I was surprised how much I liked it. In fact, I’ve used the preface for heterosexual couples as well who also enjoy it.
The wedding took place on a Saturday morning at 11am. The men arrived together beautifully dressed in black tie. I married them in the Chancel with Mary and Tyrone. We had two hymns of their choice led by the choir and music Director as well as some entrance and exit music. As these two mature men exchanged vows of love for each other I looked at the teenagers in the choir who did not bat an eyelid. For them it was just another wedding and as natural as could be. Mary cried exclaiming, “I never thought this day would come!” Tyrone also cried but I later discovered he cries at most weddings! Following the service both husbands went to the choir to thank them and give them small gifts. Overall it was a wonderful experience for me and I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The following week I married a heterosexual couple who had seven bridesmaids and groomsmen, an officious wedding planner, an interfering mother of the bride who nearly drove the Director of Music mad and a large congregation who were more interested in themselves than any wedding vows. I looked back on the previous wedding with great fondness.
American priests have the right to refuse to marry couples but I decided to obey the laws of the country and I’m thrilled that I did.
People should live with their conscience but as Christians we believe our consciences need to be informed by a process of theological reflection. The Anglican way is holding the insights of Scripture, Tradition and Reason in tension as we address an issue. This is not an easy thing to do. It is far easier to say, ”the bible says such and such and that’s it!” Or the Tradition is clear – “we’ve never done it before’ so we can’t do it now”! Or do we dismiss both scripture and tradition and regard human reason as the lone guiding light. The difficulty is holding all three in tension and then finally in the light of our experience coming to a decision.
The whole thrust of the New Testament is about inclusivity, - God’s love for all. We worship a loving and faithful God and try to act in a Christ-like way towards everyone. St. Paul urges people do what ever is honourable, whatever is just. In today’s epistle he urges, ”Let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the church family.” Same sex marriage is a question of Justice and equality.
Surely the Anglican Church of Australia should welcome same sex couples as the Episcopal Church does and see God at work in their marriages as well?
‘Treat others as you would like others to treat you.’
Father Ron Noone
This week in the northern hemisphere was Gay Pride week and parades were held in many places to mark Fifty years since the first parade in New York in 1969. When my wife and I lived in New York in 2016 we only had to walk about 50 metres to watch the parade down Fifth Avenue. It is a massive parade full of music and dancing that lasts about 5 hours with about 400,000 people involved and watched by some 4 million. You may be surprised by just who marched. There were representatives from every city department – the District Attorney’s Office, the Judges, the Mayor’s Office, every branch of the city services, Police Fire & Ambulance all had floats, Lots of politicians, senators, congressmen and women and city councillors. Religions were also well represented - the Jewish Gay and Lesbian Association, Muslims and lots of Christian churches, including a float from the Episcopal Church carrying the bishop of New York, some clergy and lay people. More surprising still was the number of floats representing High Schools in support of Gay rights. Many of the participants’ hand out pamphlets etc. one of them gave me this badge, “God made me queer.”
Some of it was confronting but it’s an issue this country has come the terms with through last year’s plebiscite when nearly 70% of Australians voted for Gay Marriage. When the result was revealed in New York the Empire State building lit up in rainbow colours! The Anglican Church in its wisdom has refused to accept the result and to its shame is officially opposed to same sex marriage.
I want to tell you about my experience working as a Rector in a parish in New York renowned for its marriage ministry. The Church of the Transfiguration married the first gay couple in 2012 when it was legal in New York State. In 2015 Marriage Equality became Federal Law, applicable in all 50 states.
My first wedding enquiry was from two gay men living in Atlanta, Georgia. They wished to marry at Transfiguration because they had worshipped in the parish when visiting New York. I needed to get my head around the idea before I could agree so I entered a similar theological reflection process that I did some thirty years earlier when I first encountered a woman priest celebrating the Eucharist in the same city. That experience was so positive I decided to go ahead and discuss the wedding with the men. I discovered they had been together for 26 years and now wished to consecrate their love in the church service. They both worshipped as Episcopalians and both desired the blessing of the church. They told me there would be no congregation, but a woman friend, Mary, in her eighties would be their witness. The church Verger, a very large black man called Tyrone, who acted as the other witness. They did ask if it was possible to have a choir of boys and girls. The Music Director was happy to provide a teenage choir of about 10 or 12 voices (the parish has three choirs).
The Episcopal Church has authorised an excellent Wedding Service for same sex couples and I was surprised how much I liked it. In fact, I’ve used the preface for heterosexual couples as well who also enjoy it.
The wedding took place on a Saturday morning at 11am. The men arrived together beautifully dressed in black tie. I married them in the Chancel with Mary and Tyrone. We had two hymns of their choice led by the choir and music Director as well as some entrance and exit music. As these two mature men exchanged vows of love for each other I looked at the teenagers in the choir who did not bat an eyelid. For them it was just another wedding and as natural as could be. Mary cried exclaiming, “I never thought this day would come!” Tyrone also cried but I later discovered he cries at most weddings! Following the service both husbands went to the choir to thank them and give them small gifts. Overall it was a wonderful experience for me and I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The following week I married a heterosexual couple who had seven bridesmaids and groomsmen, an officious wedding planner, an interfering mother of the bride who nearly drove the Director of Music mad and a large congregation who were more interested in themselves than any wedding vows. I looked back on the previous wedding with great fondness.
American priests have the right to refuse to marry couples but I decided to obey the laws of the country and I’m thrilled that I did.
People should live with their conscience but as Christians we believe our consciences need to be informed by a process of theological reflection. The Anglican way is holding the insights of Scripture, Tradition and Reason in tension as we address an issue. This is not an easy thing to do. It is far easier to say, ”the bible says such and such and that’s it!” Or the Tradition is clear – “we’ve never done it before’ so we can’t do it now”! Or do we dismiss both scripture and tradition and regard human reason as the lone guiding light. The difficulty is holding all three in tension and then finally in the light of our experience coming to a decision.
The whole thrust of the New Testament is about inclusivity, - God’s love for all. We worship a loving and faithful God and try to act in a Christ-like way towards everyone. St. Paul urges people do what ever is honourable, whatever is just. In today’s epistle he urges, ”Let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the church family.” Same sex marriage is a question of Justice and equality.
Surely the Anglican Church of Australia should welcome same sex couples as the Episcopal Church does and see God at work in their marriages as well?
‘Treat others as you would like others to treat you.’
Father Ron Noone