Listening?

Sudan & TEC & Lauren Stanley

I was dismayed yesterday to read that Sudan’s Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul has “requested that" the Reverend Lauren Stanley "be withdrawn from that mission field permanently.” This is an atrocity.

It has been my privilege to know Lauren over the last three years or so. Missouri established a covenant relationship with Sudan’s Diocese of Lui a couple of years ago, and I became chair of the Companion Diocese Committee shortly thereafter. Lauren has been a wonderful counselor since then – helping me understand the Sudanese culture, providing links, etc.

When I became chair of our Companion Diocese Committee, I had seen Lauren's writings, and I went to her as one who understands “how things are” in Sudan. She was tremendously helpful to me. She knew the Episcopal Church in Sudan very well, having served a long time there as a missionary. [Pictured above are the Rt. Rev. Francis Gray, the Rev. Lauren Stanley, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, at the consecration of St. Matthew's Cathedral in Renk in February 2006. Photo from here.]

She loved the people with whom she served, and it seemed clear that they loved her. [Photo at right from here.]

She also seemed to know Renk’s Bishop Daniel (before he was elected Archbishop) well, having served for some years in his diocese – working closely with him to provide theological education in his diocese. I was happy to be on her listserv group, so I could learn more about her work in Renk. It was clear to me that she had a passion for her service in Renk, and that the Sudanese people loved her. Renk’s bishop Daniel also seemed to recognize and be grateful for her gifts of ministry.

Lauren was a fierce advocate for Sudan and challenged the world (especially Anglicans) to support peace-making in Sudan. Both a journalist and a missionary, she advocated for our need to work for peace in Sudan. She did this as a journalist for the McClatchy newspapers and through Episcopal news outlets. She was a frequent contributor at Episcopal Café's "The Lead" – where she gave us insights into church and politics in Sudan and called us to advocate for peace in that war-torn nation.

When the Diocese of Missouri was to host Sudan’s newly elected Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul, I turned to Lauren Stanley for advice about how to offer appropriate hospitality. People in our diocese went all out to offer him and his wife meals, parties, opportunities for dialogue and preaching, and hospitality. Many of our people did so even while knowing that he was (at least) dubious about gay/lesbian issues. Many of the people who offered him hospitality were LGBTs or allies. We hoped that his heart might be warmed as he got to know us.

Then, during the Lambeth Conference last summer, Archbishop Daniel pulled his publicity stunt, suggesting gay people may not be completely human and saying Bishop Gene Robinson would resign if he were a real Christian. [You can read all I’ve written by clicking on this link.] I wrote about that here , here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Most movingly, I remember the letter that Anne Kelsey wrote to her aching parish during Lambeth, when Daniel first showed his hate-mongering colors; read it here. Even so long gone, I find solace in her letter while people like Abp Daniel spew hatred and contempt.

After Archbishop Daniel’s media orgy at Lambeth, some parishes in our diocese wanted to back away from our Covenant with the Diocese of Lui. Very many gay men and lesbians showed him extraordinary hospitality when he visited here in the spring of 2008, and many felt he kicked us in the teeth at Lambeth. Yes, I expected him to object to TEC’s acceptance of gay men and lesbians. But he voiced a level of disdain and hate that I never expected.

Many people in my diocese wanted to cut off our ties from Sudan. I argued fiercely that we should not cut off our covenant relationship with the Sudanese Diocese of Lui simply because of the Archbishop's statements. Fortunately, our diocesan convention agreed. In the fall of 2008, our convention passed this resolution:

Be it resolved that this 169th Convention of the Diocese of Missouri affirms its commitment to work toward the inclusion of all the baptized, including gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people, in the whole sacramental life of the Episcopal Church. We also affirm our commitment to strengthening relationships among the Churches of the Anglican Communion, and therefore, despite the sometimes painful differences with Archbishop Daniel of Sudan in our understandings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, resolve to renew and strengthen our relationship with the Diocese of Lui so that each may come to a better understanding of the other.

We have held onto our relationship with Diocese of Lui (in the Episcopal Church of the Sudan), because we know and love those people.

In fact, some of us drew hope from the conversations Abp Daniel had with our missioners last year, when they reported it here, here, and here. I actually drew hope from those conversations. I thought he was speaking honestly. I disagreed with him, but I thought he had integrity.

But now the Archbishop of Sudan has thrown Lauren Stanley out of Sudan because she had the gall to suggest that gay men and lesbians are fully human and faithful Christians. How outrageous, eh? It's pretty clear to many of us that Mary Ailes [sister of the notorious conservative commentator Roger Ailes] alerted Archbishop Daniel that Lauren doesn't hate queers enough to satisfy the Sudanese hatred. Ailes waited several months before dropping that bomb ... God knows why. Of course, Mary Ailes is a member of the breakaway "Anglican" church in northern Virginia. Martyn Minns is her bishop. She shall have her reward. One wonders why Mary Ailes waited these many months before dropping the bomb to Sudan's Archbishop.

Lauren Stanley is not a lesbian herself. She didn’t advocate that the Sudanese open themselves to the ordination of gay/lesbian people. As far as I can tell, her only offense was to argue – several months ago, in the Diocese of Virginia synod – that we treat gay men and lesbians like full human beings.

Apparently, that was enough for the Archbishop of Sudan to insist that she be kicked out of Sudan.

I am livid.

By the bye, the covenant between the Diocese of Missouri and the Diocese of Lui was mutually agreed upon. We developed it after several trips back and forth, and we sent it back and forth between the Diocese of Missouri and the Diocese of Lui. We developed it together after we got to know and respect each other. Neither diocese “inflicted” it upon the other. Our covenant stands in sharp distinction from the so-called “covenant” that is being debated by the Anglican Communion. In fact, I would argue that our covenant – and the process that led to its adoption – should be a model to the dysfunctional Anglican Communion.

In the Anglican Consultative Council that just adjourned, they again called for Anglicans to listen to the experience and witness of gay/lesbian Christians. But the high holy Sudanese Archbishop makes it clear that he will not even listen to straight people who suggest that gay men and lesbians are full human beings. He has made that clear in ejecting Lauren Stanley – a faithful, respectful missioner – from Sudan.

I am disgusted by Archbishop Daniel. I regret the time and energy I spent in making sure he and his wife had a good visit here in 2008. When I look to an image of Christ-like behavior, I see Lauren Stanley – not the Archbishop of Sudan.

Here in the Diocese of Missouri, we have busted our butts to raise money, make visits, and honor our friends in Lui. We have honored their culture. We have maintained that relationship despite the Chief Pharisee of Sudan, Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul.

Right now, I wonder why we bother.