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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Susan Tuchman of Zionist Organization of America interviewed on bullying Jewish students

Susan Tuchman, Esq.

INTRODUCTION BY THE RELIGION WRITER PETER MENKIN TO THE SERIES

The multi part series I’ve been working on since July, 2012 came to an end in November, 2012. I expect to continue to post this series on the Jewish community’s complaint regarding bullying Jewish Students on University Campuses, and the new use of Title VI 1964 Civil Rights action to effect this problem of bullying students on University campuses. This standpoint of a large if not majority segment of the established Jewish Community in the United States is a report on a given point of view that finds Israel part of this conversation and also the point of view this behavior represents anti-Semitism.

 

This introduction introduces to the sixth of of six or more interviews, each with This interview is the final in the series and is held with Susan Tuchman, Esq., Civil Rights Director, Zionist Organization of America. The conversation via writing using email from my home office in Mill Valley, California was made to her office in New York City by me, Peter Menkin. The finalization of the text of the interview was made December 17, 2012.

… a collection of voices in interview from American Jewish Community regarding the real concern by them of bullying Jewish students on some University campuses plays a significant role in unmasking anti-Israel actions and behavior as anti-Semitism. That is the Jewish Community thesis and argument brought to legal remedy through Federal Law that is the theme of this series. The basis for this kind of hate and anti-Semitism, bad behavior at best and hateful activity at worst, is evident in the practiced belief that Zionism is an evil belief by those whose actions show them as performing the Jewish bullying.

The Zionist Organization of America describes the work of Susan Tuchman, Esq.

Director since 2003. Ms. Tuchman graduated magna cum laude, with honors, from Brandeis University, and received her law degree from the Boston University School of Law, where she was accorded the academic distinction of Paul J. Liacos Scholar.

Following a clerkship with the Superior Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Ms. Tuchman was a litigator at the Boston law firm of Fine & Ambrogne until the firm's dissolution, and then practiced in the Boston office of the law firm of Hinckley, Allen & Snyder, where she was the first woman partner in the firm's litigation department. Ms. Tuchman had a general and varied commercial litigation practice at both firms, and also handled several civil rights and constitutional cases

 

The ZOA Center for Law and Justice (ZOA-CLJ) was established to meet the need for greater organizational involvement in legal matters that affect relations among the United States, Israel and the Jewish people.

  • We work to educate the American public and Congress about legal issues in order to advance the interests of Israel and the Jewish people.
     
  • We assist American victims of terrorism in vindicating their rights under the law, and seek to hold terrorists and sponsors of terrorism accountable for their actions.
     
  • We fight anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias in the media and on college campuses.
     
  • We strive to enforce existing law and also to create new law in order to safeguard the rights of the Jewish people in the United States and Israel.

About the ZOA
Founded in 1897, the Zionist Organization of America ("ZOA") is the oldest pro-Israel organization in the United States. With offices around the country and in Israel, the ZOA is dedicated to educating the public, elected officials, media, and college/high school students about the truth of the ongoing and relentless Arab war against Israel. ZOA is also committed to promoting strong U.S.-Israel relations. ZOA works to protect Jewish college and high school students from intimidation, harassment and discrimination, and in fighting anti-Semitism in general. To learn more about the ZOA, go to www.zoa.org.

 

COMMENT ON THE SERIES AS A WHOLE ON BULLYING JEWISH STUDENTS ON AMERICAN CAMPUSES BY RELIGION WRITER, PETER MENKIN

The last of the series, number six of six, has an editorial tone to it and as well, the reader can know that no follow-up was done on answers to questions. They were complete in themselves as submitted, so the Religion Writer concluded.

Conducted in writing, both questions and answers, some words of context for the series and the conflicts on American campuses. No doubt the single cause of this disturbance that results in so much controversy regarding anti-Semitism on campuses, holds an even historic as well as contemporary a motivation for the bullying of Jewish students, and the anti-Israel campaign that is a new anti-Semitism --the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

This Religion Writer will not go into the complexities of this growing controversy that entails an ongoing series of military conflicts between these neighbor territories, one a recognized nation (Israel). That is not the job of this series.

If one goes by the definition of the United Nations, though Palestine may not be a full member State of the international organization, its election to its current status shows the change in the historic perspective and contemporary viewpoint held in a significant segment of the American and world population regarding the need of a two-State solution to the conflict in the interest of Peace. Certainly supporters of Israel will not agree. And this article is not advocating this solution, for it is not the reason for the Religon Writer’s reporting and commenting on the news through the interview series.

This commentary includes the understanding that this controversy is not going away. Below is an historic, and lengthy, archived video interview from the 70s with Golda Meir. She is an admired and even loved early leader of the new Israeli nation. Note her discussion of the two State solution, as it is called, existed even then.

Golda Meir Interview on Arab-Israeli Relations and Terrorism (1973)



 

 

This is a text from Wikipedia that tells about Golda Meir, who she was and what she did when.

Golda Meir (Hebrew: גּוֹלְדָּה מֵאִיר‎‎; earlier Golda Meyerson, born Golda Mabovich (Голда Мабович); May 3, 1898 -- December 8, 1978) was a teacher, kibbutznik and politician who became the fourth Prime Minister of the State of Israel.

Meir was elected Prime Minister of Israel on March 17, 1969, after serving as Minister of Labour and Foreign Minister. Israel's first and the world's third woman to hold such an office, she was described as the "Iron Lady" of Israeli politics years before the epithet became associated with British prime minister Margaret Thatcher. Former prime minister David Ben-Gurion used to call Meir "the best man in the government"; she was often portrayed as the "strong-willed, straight-talking, grey-bunned grandmother of the Jewish people."

In 1974, after the conclusion of the Yom Kippur War, Meir resigned as prime minister. She died in 1978.

After Levi Eshkol's sudden death on February 26, 1969, the party elected Meir as his successor. Meir came out of retirement to take office on March 17, 1969, serving as prime minister until 1974. Meir maintained the coalition government formed in 1967, after the Six-Day War, in which Mapai merged with two other parties (Rafi and Ahdut HaAvoda) to form the Israel Labour party.

In 1969 and the early 1970s, Meir met with many world leaders to promote her vision of peace in the Middle East, including Richard Nixon (1969), Nicolae Ceausescu (1972) and Pope Paul VI (1973). In 1973, she hosted the chancellor of West Germany, Willy Brandt in Israel.

In August 1970, Meir accepted a U.S. peace initiative that called for an end to the War of Attrition and an Israeli pledge to withdraw to "secure and recognized boundaries" in the framework of a comprehensive peace settlement. The Gahal party quit the national unity government in protest, but Meir continued to lead the remaining coalition.

In the wake of the Munich massacre at the 1972 Summer Olympics, Meir appealed to the world to "save our citizens and condemn the unspeakable criminal acts committed." Outraged at the perceived lack of global action, she ordered the Mossad to hunt down and assassinate the Black September and PFLP operatives who took part in the massacre. The 1986 TV film Sword of Gideon, based on the book Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team by George Jonas, and Steven Spielberg's movie Munich (2005) were based on these events.

During the 1970s some Russian-Jewish emigrants were allowed to leave the Soviet Union for Israel by way of Austria. When seven of these emigrants were taken hostage at the Austria-Czechoslovakian border by Palestinian Arab fighters in September 1973, Austrian Chancellor Bruno Kreisky closed the Jewish Agency's transit facility in Schönau, Lower Austria. A few days later in Vienna, Meir tried to convince Kreisky to re-open the facility by appealing to his own Jewish origin, and described his position as "succumbing to terrorist blackmail". Kreisky did not change his position, so Meir returned to Israel infuriated. A few months later Austria opened a new transition camp.

Meir's story has been the subject of many fictionalized portrayals. In 1977, Anne Bancroft played Meir in William Gibson's Broadway play Golda. The Australian actress Judy Davis played a young Meir in the television film A Woman Called Golda (1982), opposite Leonard Nimoy. Ingrid Bergman played the older Golda in the same film. In 2003, the American Jewish actress Tovah Feldshuh portrayed her on Broadway in Golda's Balcony, Gibson's second play about Meir's life. The one-woman show was controversial in its implication that Meir considered using nuclear weapons during the Yom Kippur War.

Valerie Harper portrayed her in the touring company and in the film version of Golda's Balcony. Supporting actress Colleen Dewhurst portrayed her in the 1986 TV-movie Sword of Gideon. In 2005, actress Lynn Cohen portrayed Meir in Steven Spielberg's film Munich. Later on, Tovah Feldshuh assumed her role once again in the 2006 English-speaking French movie O Jerusalem. She was played by the Polish actress Beata Fudalej in the 2009 film The Hope by Márta Mészáros.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golda_Meir

 

 

 

The second video, used with permission from CNN through an embed code, gives a contemporary news report on the situation. This is not a YouTube available video, as is the interview with Golda Meir. This video by CNN was taken from their web page.

Future of Israel, Palestinian Authority

Embed code copied successfully


Erin Burnett Out Front|Added on November 26, 2012Can Israel survive, as a Jewish state without a two state solution? Erin Burnett speaks to both sides of the debate.

 


 

 

In an effort to add color of a current event kind, the video below shows a report of a pro-Israel demonstration held in Los Angeles, California that evidences a counter demonstration against the point of view on Israel and Jewish Amercian participation in the controversy between Israel and Palestine held by the demonstrators.

Pro-Israel Rally draws 1400 people in Los Angeles: Nov. 18, 2012



 

And finally, in this set of videos taken from YouTube mostly, a statement of introduction to the Western Region of the Zionist Organization of America posted here so to introduced the regional organizational statement in an area where many of the alleged acts of bullying Jewish students in Universities has been reported and acted on with action through Civil Rights Act of 1964 Title VI complaints.

Welcome to ZOA Western Region

 



 

Uploaded on Nov 28, 2011

Orit Arfa, the new Executive Director of the ZOA, Western Region, introduces herself and the ZOA. For more info about the ZOA, go to: www.zoa.org. To hear more about the West Coast activity, check out our latest zLetter: http://bit.ly/tLqHbk.

 

 

THE INTERVIEW

Question 1:

1.     In a general sense, Rutgers University in New Jersey is a school reputedly one where Jewish students are unwelcome and where there have been anti-Semitic attitudes and practices. Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) where you work in Law and Justice as an attorney has filed a Title VI Civil Rights complaint asking for redress of specific acts and attitudes at Rutgers that can be called Bullying of Jewish students—even anti-Semitic. A copy of the complaint is found here INSERT LINK. Tell us something of the work that went into the complaint that was also signed by the President Mort Klein of ZOA. How and where did you as one of the drafters of the complaint come across the information and learn about the situation that some characterize as a hate situation. Also, if someone wants to file a Title VI complaint, where on the internet may they go, and what will they have to know to make a complaint of worth?

 

 

The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has taken a leadership role in fighting campus anti-Semitism, including when it’s expressed as vicious anti-Israel and anti-Zionist sentiment.  Our campus coordinators play a crucial role in that effort.

 

We have campus coordinators who work directly with students on campuses across the country.  Our campus coordinators are themselves recent college graduates. They were strong pro-Israel advocates at their own colleges and universities.  Now, working at the ZOA, they’re committed to building strong, knowledgeable and effective pro-Israel leaders for the future.

 

Our campus coordinators build relationships with the students they’re working with.  Often, students will share with our coordinators the problems they’re experiencing on campus – including that they’re feeling harassed or intimidated by anti-Semitic speech and conduct occurring inside or outside the classroom.

 

That’s how the problems at Rutgers University came to my attention.  Our campus coordinator had cultivated strong relationships with students at Rutgers.  These students shared what they’d experienced on campus with the ZOA’s campus coordinator.  They were frustrated by their inability to get the university administration to address the problems they were facing.  Our campus coordinator connected them to me.

 

Filing the Title VI complaint against Rutgers was not an instantaneous decision.  We spent many, many hours interviewing students, faculty and other campus professionals, and collecting information – about students’ experiences; the particular problems that students were facing; the negative and harmful impact that the campus hostility was having on students, both psychologically and academically; their many efforts to get the university administration to respond to their problems and concerns; and the administration’s response – or lack thereof.  We reviewed university policies and protocols for responding to harassment, intimidation and discrimination.  We reviewed student communications with administrators, as well as statements that university officials had issued.  We reviewed articles in the student paper.  We gathered as much information as we could. 

 

We then tried to resolve the many campus problems that we’d identified through informal means, without filing a Title VI complaint.  Twice, we wrote to Richard McCormick, the then-president of Rutgers, detailing the problems, proposing reasonable solutions and offering our help in carrying out those solutions.  While President McCormick did respond to our letters, he whitewashed many of the problems we’d identified and ignored others.  

 

The ZOA didn’t file the Title VI complaint against Rutgers until these other informal efforts were tried and failed.  When we decided that there was a sufficient basis to proceed with the complaint, we first made sure that taking that route was supported by students.  They backed it wholeheartedly and students reviewed the complaint before it was filed. 

 

If someone wanted to file a Title VI complaint, he/she could go to the Department of Education’s Web site for information about the process (http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/complaintprocess.html).  The Department’s Office for Civil Rights is responsible for enforcing Title VI and for investigating and resolving Title VI complaints. The Web site provides a lot of information about how to file a complaint.  It even provides a form for complainants to use if they want to.

 

Jewish students who are facing anti-Semitic harassment, intimidation or discrimination should certainly consider the ZOA a resource for them.  We have helped many students short of filing Title VI complaints. Sometimes they just need answers to their questions.  Sometimes, it’s simply a matter of writing a letter identifying a problem and suggesting a solution, and the problem gets resolved without the need to pursue formal legal action.

 

 

 

Question 2:

 

1.     Your job at ZOA is tied to what kinds of policies, and where do you find resources so to accomplish your work? Did you plan on the kind of work you do for the Jewish Community? By that, I mean did you go to law school with the thought of entering into law and justice work? Tell readers about the journey that you went on to come to your present position, and something of the journey you’ve been on when it comes to Title VI Civil Rights activities and the work you do in the area of bullying of Jewish students in private and public schools. Are most of those who experience this kind of hateful and destructive activity university students?

 

In addition to the legal research involved in my work, I work closely with the ZOA’s National President and with the campus department.  They are both excellent resources for me in responding to campus anti-Semitism. I also value the work and input of other activists outside of the ZOA who understand that campus anti-Semitism is unfortunately still a serious problem that must be remedied.

 

I have always been dedicated to civil rights work and wanted to use my law degree in the civil rights area.  Before coming to the ZOA, I was in private practice in Boston and was able to do civil rights work while also doing the kind of commercial work typical of a law firm. 

 

I left the practice of law for a few years when I had my children.  Once they were older and in school, I decided to go back to work.  I was thrilled to be hired as the director of the ZOA’s Center for Law and Justice, so that I could dedicate myself to issues I care deeply about on behalf of Israel and the Jewish people. 

 

My work in the Title VI area happened fortuitously.  Early on after I started at the ZOA, I happened to read media reports about the problems that Jewish students were facing at the University of California, Irvine.  I was horrified by what they were being subjected to and reached out to one of the Jewish student leaders who was quoted in some of those media reports.  That student leader talked to me in detail and put me in touch with other students.  I also developed relationships with faculty and other members of the university community.

 

I was struck by how hostile the campus environment was for Jewish students at UC Irvine, how hard these students had worked to resolve the problems on their own, and how indifferent the university administration had been to them.  That led me to suggest to students that they consider their legal options, since informal efforts had been tried and failed.  The students were in full support of filing a Title VI complaint, which is what the ZOA filed on their behalf in 2004.

 

Unbeknownst to me at the time, the ZOA’s Title VI complaint against UC Irvine – and the Office for Civil Rights’ decision to investigate it – was groundbreaking, the first case of campus anti-Semitism that the Office for Civil Rights ever agreed to investigate under Title VI.  That case, and the fact that campus anti-Semitism is a serious problem on some campuses in this country, led me on the path that I’m on today.

 

Most of my work has been devoted to the problems on college campuses.  But we’ve also helped students in high school and even on the elementary school level.  

 

Question 3:

 

1.     There is controversy over University of California Irvine campus as an anti-Semitic school where bashing of Jewish students through bullying techniques continues in the present 2012. Among those I spoke with and even received an email letter from is a law professor who says it isn’t so—Jewish students are welcomed. In fact, as this Religion Writer understands it, Professor Erwin Chemerinsky is himself Jewish. In a letter responding to an opinion piece published in a newspaper… column by Erwin Chemerinsky, . . You, Susan Tuchman, Esq. and President of ZOA Mort Klein say in writing as response: Chemerinsky claims he hasn’t “heard one complaint about an anti-Semitic incident on campus.” Actually, there’ve been many.  Last year, the president of the pro-Israel student group described UCI as “a hotbed for anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activism over the past seven years.” Last July, another student wrote that UCI is “a firsthand example of Islamic fundamentalist anti-Semitism.”  In fact, two Jewish students transferred from UCI because of the hostile environment.  Just last week, after members of the Muslim Student Union [MSU] heckled Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren, a student told the UCI newspaper, “Personally, as a Jew, I feel scared and threatened. . . . I didn’t expect it [the campus] to be so hateful . . . .” That response written on behalf of ZOA is found here. In some of my work talking to people in the area of UC Irvine, The Jewish Federation said their work to resolve the tensions and problems of bullying Jewish students on the campus and relationships with Jews and others on the campus had been successful—so much so that relationships on campus were now good. Will you tell us why there is so much obfuscation of the problems, even denials by administrators and in this case just noted, by an established organization of the Jewish Community.

 

You have raised a good question that I wish I had an answer to.  I can’t explain why university administrators would deny the fact that Jewish students have been harassed and intimidated at UC Irvine.  There was an essay in Commentary magazine that revealed what really happened in the ZOA’s case against UC Irvine.  After the Office for Civil Rights investigated the ZOA’s complaint – an investigation that included several visits to the campus and interviews of students and administrators – the investigators had concluded that the ZOA was right:  Jewish students at UC Irvine were being subjected to such severe, pervasive or objectively offensive discrimination on that campus that their educational opportunities were negatively affected.

 

The effects were quite serious.  Jewish students had trouble focusing on their studies.  Some were afraid to come to campus when the vicious anti-Israel programs were taking place.  Some stayed away from campus altogether.  Some students reported being afraid to wear a Star of David or a pro-Israel tee shirt.  Some students even feared for their physical safety.  Two students we worked with actually left UC Irvine and transferred to other schools because they couldn’t endure the hostility any longer. 

 

For administrators to close their eyes to these facts is offensive and demoralizing, particularly for the students who’ve been victimized.  Jewish students have often told me that while the anti-Semitism they’ve been subjected to is painful and harmful enough, almost worse and more hurtful is the administration's indifference to it.  A university’s silence and inaction when Jewish students are being harassed or intimidated sends the message to the students that the harassment and intimidation are not worth responding to, or even acknowledging.  The university becomes complicit in the problem, even if that’s not the intended result. 

 

What’s difficult to comprehend is why organizations in the Jewish community have minimized the problems that Jewish students have been facing, or denied that there have been problems at all.  That happened with respect to the Irvine case, which is a sad commentary on our community.  If we were united in fighting the problem of campus anti-Semitism, the problem would be remedied more quickly and more effectively.

 

Question 4:

 

1.     Thank you very much for your time and willingness to talk with me on this important and even difficult subject of prejudice, hate, and just plain harm to the young people on University campuses.  Please talk about anything I may have failed to bring up in regard to the work of Zionist Organization of America in the area of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and young people who are school students. Or to set the question more broadly, speak of any matter you wish to touch upon for this interview not covered in the questions.

 

The accusation is frequently made that Title VI is being misused or even abused to censor or silence free speech and to inhibit academic freedom.  Even some in the Jewish community have promoted that notion.  It simply isn’t true. 

 

Those of us who’ve filed Title VI complaints have done so after careful consideration of the situation, including whether other alternatives have been tried or considered.  When the ZOA has used Title VI we’ve been extremely careful not to call for the suppression of free speech.  We understand and support the rights and protections that we’re all afforded under the Constitution.

 

But that doesn’t mean that college and universities can use the First Amendment as a shield, to avoid responding to the harassment and intimidation of Jewish students.  It also doesn’t mean that university professors and administrators can twist the meaning of academic freedom and condone the teaching of factual distortions and outright lies about Israel and the Middle East conflict. 

 

One fundamental step that university administrators must take is to exercise their own First Amendment rights and forcefully and publicly condemn campus speech that is hateful and anti-Semitic.  University leaders have the obligation to make it clear to the university community that while some hate speech may be protected speech under the Constitution, it is nevertheless hurtful and harmful to members of the university community and against the university’s values of tolerance and respect.  If university leaders don’t speak out clearly and publicly against anti-Semitism, including speech and conduct that demonize Israel, then they’re sending the message that anti-Semitism is acceptable and tolerable.  It isn’t.            

 

 

VIDEO HISTORY ADDENDUM

High School Students Suffer Bullying, Too

 

 

Jewish Teens: Bullying Ends With Us

 

 

Published on May 22, 2012

The teen leaders of the world's largest Jewish youth movements came together to put an end to bullying in all forms, of all peoples for any reason. The teens in this video have come together as one of the many voices of this generation to assert that this will be the last generation to allow bullying within its schools, neighborhoods and community.

Join this conversation to end bullying with the hashtag #BullyingEndsWithUs, and sign the pledge on CJTonline.org!

 

 

It Gets Better:My Story on Being Bullied



 

Chit Chat: Being Bullied- My Story



 

Abby's Story - A Bullying Story



 This work appeared originally Church of England Newspaper, London by Peter Menkin. Contact the author: pmenkin@att.net .

Inverness, California and St. Columba Church and Retreat: a Report and interview with Reverend Robert Weldy


Rector Father Robert and wife Candace of St. Columba, Inverness, California--near San Francisco--retreat and Anglo-Catholic Parish
Rector Father Robert and wife Candace of St. Columba, Inverness, California–near San Francisco–retreat and Anglo-Catholic Parish

In our scenic drive of 45 minutes from just north of San Francisco by 17 miles, we three traveled the wooded and frequently winding road to meet with The Reverend Doctor Robert L. Weldy, Jr. Rector of St. Columba’s Church and Retreat. A destination for many who wish a more remote retreat at the rural and accessible, if not somewhat secluded area Inverness, California, Photographer and architect Terry Peck drove. This Religion Writer’s assistant Linda Shirado came along for various duties, including her plan to make us a picnic lunch near the beach. Note the boat beached on the shore, a picturesque sight near our picnic bench not far as a picnic site from the retreat building proper.  A seagull joined us duing our meal, but waited in vain for some snacks from us. I think we overlooked giving the bird some tidbits, but maybe did that for she didn’t get too

Boat/by Terry Peck
Boat/by Terry Peck
close. I still feel a little guilty about not sharing lunch. Terry and Linda took a walk on the beach of Tomales Bay, while I enjoyed being alone.
We were to meet Rector Father Robert, but mishaps and events called him away, and we found on this weekday visit just we three in the building, with an opportunity to explore on our own. A visitor and his wife showed up while we were there and told how he’d returned after 40 years away, this his childhood Parish. He was delighted to be there, and it showed this is a memorable place to visit and stay. His wife poked here and there enjoying the wood, the windows, the light, the stonework. They spent some time in the Church upstairs and the Chapel, too. This was a home away from home for them.
In the interview that follows with The Reverend Doctor Weldy, we took the quiet and peace of the area and building in, spending two hours. Unfortunately the interview had to be done later, as he was absent on the business of a Priest.  It’s wasn’t until Linda visited the Rectory and asked Father Robert’s wife where he might be that we learned he’d been called away. We were disappointed.

Linda and Peter in front of Retreat house and Parish
Linda and Peter in front of Retreat house and Parish/photo by Terry Peck

This rich in color and green area, with its Redwood trees, and its morning mist that burned off a little later was certainly a place of retreat. You’ll note that the month of February is a good one to visit,and even later into the Spring, even to May is for our way of thinking particular attractive. The weather gets better as the season goes on, and it is my understanding Summer works, too.
Guests are invited to come by any time of year, for this ministry of hospitality is for the Parish, consisting of 30 or so Parishioners, their main source of income. Though there is a walk for Stations of the Cross, and this is Lent (the time of our visit) we did not take the tour that way. Terry did get some good pictures, and they show some of the stone work of the Stations path.
Later by phone from my home in Mill Valley, California to the Rectory at the Church and Retreat this Religion Writer talked with Father Robert in interview for better than 45 minutes. He was forthcoming and descriptive in the interview, which follows below. This mid-part of February, 2013, we spoke of the scenery, something of the history of the retreat, and even spent time speaking about his ministry. Unfortunately, we only touched on the Sunday worship, but one does get a flavor of it as it is held in the smallish Church. It is an Anglo-Catholic Parish.
After two hours we decided it was time to go home, and so turned the 2002 Mercury Sable in the direction of the 45 minute drive through the little towns and scenic road through Redwood trees along the winding way towards home. Again, Terry drove so Linda and I had a chance to look out the window and enjoy that drive so much. It isn’t always that we get to go out into the countryside. We especially enjoyed passing Samuel P. Taylor Park, a closer landmark for us towards civilized town, for there we often took a picnic during the summer months. It is a public park. But if you do decide to picnic there on your way, I must warn you that in California one pays to visit the parks. The State continues its California austerity, and visiting parks is no longer a free situation.
If one wants to linger, there are small restaurants along with some bed and breakfast places along the way. In the area are stops like Mankas in Inverness, but the purpose of this introduction is not to tell readers the best bed and breakfast, in case there is desire to do an extended visit after a two or three day retreat. Of course, there is a visitor center to find out more along this same road, Sir Francis Drake Blvd.
As a personal note, this was not our first visit to St. Columba, but we were all familiar to an extent with the area and do not tire visiting it over and over.

INTERVIEW WITH THE REVEREND DOCTOR ROBERT L. WELDY, JR. BY PETER MENKIN

  1. 1.     In thinking about your retreat and Church, tell us something of your background as Rector and how you came to this Parish? Are you not a man from the South of the United States, and what was your reaction to Inverness, California in Marin County, north of San Francisco when you got there on Sir Francis Drake Blvd? We’ll come to where you lived and served the Episcopal Church in another question. What is wanted is for you to tell us how you felt on your initial visits about the retreat and Church. That will introduce readers who may visit to how they, too, may find it.
My wife and I were living in Alaska when we made our initial site visit to St. Columba’s. We were both overwhelmed with the peace and sense of sacredness of the facility. We had flown in the day before and spent the night at a vestry member’s house. We were excited to see the buildings and grounds. As we drove through the red wood forest on Lucas Valley Rd., we were enchanted but the natural beauty of West Marin. The church was equally enchanting and inspiring. The sacred space of


a church is typically seen as g-grounds029a silent partner in worship; St. Columba’s is much more active. The structure of a 10,000 sq. ft. building constructed of red wood has an impact on the eye, the ear (acoustics) and the olfactory senses. It was built in 1929 and the church purchased the property in 1950. Having lived in Alaska, the remoteness of the area was not a concern for us. This is my first post as Rector. I have served as assisting priest and or interim at 4 other churches.
 
  1. 2.     Where, Father Robert, are you at the retreat center located vis a vis San Francisco? This Religion Writer is told that your main building was soldto the Parish  by a local family, the Fricks. Do they still attend your Church? Describe for us something of your Chapel, and tell us about the Church itself.  Give us a physical sense, like all the wood, the stone, the windows, the light. How many come for Sunday service, and as an Episcopal Church congregation do they pretty much fill the Church every Sunday? What do visitors tell you about the beauty and uniqueness of the area where you are located, and why was St. Columba chosen as a retreat center by the Diocese of California?
St. Columba’s has been in Inverness for about 115 years. Prior to the current location, the old church was in a house up the hill on Cameron Street.
Robert Frick had 4 daughters and thought this would be a good location for their weddings. He built the house as a summer home and where we have our sanctuary is their living room. It looks like the Nave of a church (he built it to look like a church for the weddings of his daughters). I do not believe that the Frick family were ever members of the church. I understand that 2 of the daughters were married here.

The Church itself
The Church itself/photo by Terry Peck
Our parish is a rather traditional Anglo-Catholic. We alternate Rite I and Rite II services every other Sunday. The congregation has about 60 members, but only about 1/3 live in the Inverness area full time. About another 1/3 have cottages and come out on the weekends or for vacation add the remaining 1/3 travel from Oakland, Santa Rosa, Fairfax, and as far as Antioch (we have 3 families from here who make it out about 10 times a year). We also have several members who divide their time between Inverness and France, and Denmark. Our average Sunday attendance is about 30.
The main sanctuary is made up of clear redwood (old growth without any knot holes) and was put together with copper nails and wooden pegs. The most striking feature is the HUGE Botticelli hanging over the high altar. It is a copy painted by a past member of the church. The pews were made by one of the members and the ends were cut to resemble breaking waves (we are very close to the ocean).
Off of the sanctuary, we have a smaller chapel that is our Mary Chapel. The sanctuary will seat about 75 and the Mary Chapel will seat about 25. The church was purchased in 1950 for $29,500. There are eight acres of property. The parking lot and driveway from Sir Frances Drake Blvd were not a part of the original configuration. Originally, you accessed the property from the top of the hill and that is why the front door is on the side of the sanctuary.
 
  1. 3.     Let’s talk a moment about living in a retreat area. I note by your website for St. Columba (http://www.stcolumbachurch.com/weldy_bio.htm ) you served the Church in Alaska prior to coming to Inverness. Was that a remote area, and do you find Inverness a remote place. Your website reads:  Robert is married to Candace Weldy, M.A. Ed, who served in numerous educational positions in Alaska, including Vice Principal, Principal and Director of Education for Lemmon Creek Correctional Center, a maximum security facility located in Juneau, Alaska. They have no children, but they have a wonderful Ragdoll/Norwegian Forest cat named Houdini. Sell readers on visiting for retreat at St. Columba. Is it that it is remote? The facilities? The lovely location? This is also a chance to talk about your own ministry and policies of the Parish life and of retreat visiting.
 
 
Alaska is a remote location that is described not as rural but rather, frontier. Inverness has some of the same feel with the exception that we have a road system that can get you to the city in a little over an hour. It is quiet out here and that adds to the Holiness of the property.
In Alaska, you learn how to entertain yourself. There are no movie theaters out here, just woods, and some of the most breathtaking beaches in the world. I enjoy hiking and walking along the various beaches.
At the beach, like in Alaska, you can see whales, seals and other marine wild life. My wife, Candace, is an educator by education and training. She has an MA in Education and a Specialist Certificate in Reading. She has taught from kindergarten to adult education. She has been a Principal, Vice-Principal, Directed the Education Department at Lemmon Creek Correctional Center (a maximum security prison in Juneau AK) and was the Director of Vocational Rehabilitation at the Duck Valley Indian Reservation.
Houdini is our cat. We got him from the humane society in Juneau and he is very smart, scary smart. We named him because he knows how to un-latch the pet Carrier. He will walk on a leash when he feels like it, when he is tired; he knows how to push off his collar and leash! Living at a retreat house is exciting.
I am the rector, admin asst., simple handy man, custodian and gardener. Thanks be to God, I have some great help from the parish. This church has a rich history of its members working in the gardens, making art work, and doing construction for all of the many building repair projects that go on out here. The job of the Jr. Warden is very important here and we have had many great ones over the years. Hospitality is a major focus of our ministry.
 
 
  1. 4.     The $50 per night individual cost for a retreat is so attractive. There really isn’t a catch because one brings one’s own food and cooks it in the retreat kitchen.  In this day and time, one can call that a bargain if not a delicious price given all that is at St. Columba’s. Who takes care of maintaining all this area and the retreat facilities itself? Do the parishioners volunteer to do the job—how would you call the retreat ministry, Parishioner driven? How so? How far away is the closest store to buy food, if readers may be interested to visit, for that is a key need for a two day stay or more, usually?
 
Room/by Terry Peck
Room/by Terry Peck

 
The Church … the biggest ministry of the Church is the retreat ministry. The idea is by keeping the rates low more people could be able to afford it, come out here. We do have a lot of Church groups come out here. This is a way to help the Church groups as a silent partner. We have Episcopal Churches, Presbyterian Churches, Evangelical Churches—just a wide variety and they come out here and bring their leadership out here. We get a few confirmation classes out here. They usually try to schedule a retreat during a Rite 1 Sunday. They usually use a Rite II service. This gives them a little different service. We usually chant the Psalms, and are not as contemporary with our music as Rite II.
The our current Prayer Book is more Elizabethan language and King James where Rite II is more contemporary English. In Rite 1 we use the hymnal and chant the Psalms, and some have written music themselves, such as Parishioner David Robinson. Over the years he has jammed with Maria Muldaur and Jefferson Airplane. He is a very talented musician.
When we open the Eucharistic Prayer, one thing that stands out is, in the Rite II service, we say, It is a right and joyful thing everywhere to give praise and thanks. Rite I reads, It is very meet, right, and our bounden duty….
We invite all of our visitors to attend services with us, but it is not required. All may, none must, and some should.
The closest grocery store is 1/2 mile from St. Columba’s. We have a retreat guild and it is lay/volunteer driven. There’s everything from a little bit of fresh produce, and local cheese. Then they have fresh meat, canned goods, and wine. John David Schofield, when he was Rector (later Bishop Schofield) they moved away from allowing alcohol as part of a retreat. We do not normally allow wine with a meal. Couples who come here usually identify themselves as married, but that is not something we ask.
 
 
  1. 5.     Thank you for letting readers get to know something about your retreat, Church and of course making your acquaintance. Hopefully, some readers will find this a little bit of a travel story, but more a destination for them for travel. At this point, we are at the end of the interview. If there is something you’d like to add, please do so here.
A ten minute drive from St. Columba’s there are wonderful beaches, many hiking trails and we’re right across the main road from Tomales Bay (opens up to the Pacific Ocean, and prior to the 1906 earthquake ships came and unloaded. Prior to the earthquake the San Andreas Fault made the bay deeper. The wooden ships came in but when everything shifted there were parts you could walk across. At the nearbyYacht Club, you have to plan your baot launching at the high tide mark.)
The Stations of the Cross start about 100 yards from the Church building. The whole Stations are probably a less than a quarter of a mile:the trail. It terminates at the top of the hill with the big Celtic cross (referred to as the Ionic cross or the Pilgrims Cross). The Stations are made up of Stone, with cedar shingles. We just shingled the stations. They were built sometime in the late 1950s. The story of who built them is the confirmation class of the local Catholic Church and St. Columba’s–all volunteer.
The main building was constructed 1929 and is all old Grove Redwood. Very handsome indeed. The stonework, the glasswork (two made by parishioners—one of which is the Church overlooking Tomales Bay). The Church itself reflects the local landmarks such as the big redwood tree in front (our steeple); the stained glass overlooking the altar shows the redwood tree in front). The stained glass of Mary that was contemporary is also done by a parishioner.
The retreat is a near universal experience, the peace and solitude of this sacred space seems to permeate within the building and ground.
 
Stations of the Cross--the path/by Terry peck
Stations of the Cross–the path/by Terry peck

I’ve never travelled to Scotland, but this is a very lush, green area. We’re at the beginning of spring; the plum trees are blooming, and looking out the dining room window in the Rectory, magnificent trees with moss hanging off them. In the summer we’ll have a massive crop of BlackBerrys people will enjoy picking when on a walk. People even make blackberry pies when they come out here for their meals.
When we got out here it was late afternoon, kind of an evening sort of thing, and by the time I got through meeting everyone. I couldn’t see the Stations of the Cross, and in the morning walked the stations and got to the top and said some prayers, as I looked down from the top of the cross I noticed this big fire place. I wonder where the chimney is. I thought it was in the cross.
The base of the cross is a life size tomb, the 15th station. Just the emotional feeling of looking at that was just how that is the Easter message for all of us, to have place.
People have given us things: We have a Bible 1811, an altar Prayer Book printed 1669. There are many little treasures to investigate at the retreat area. The Communion cup you use is literally encrusted with precious jewels that were donated by members of the Church. This used solely on Sundays.
 
We have a group that is separate from the Church we call the Friends of St. Columba. It’s a cross between an alumni association and a third order. It is for anybody who feels a strong connection to the retreat area or the church. They may want a connection out here. You make a donation to the friends, and agree to include St. Columba in part of your daily prayer cycle. There is a day out here with a guided time, and this is a good way to connect. We have friends all over the world, at this point.
To get in touch with us, call us on the Church phone number: 415-669-1039.

West Marin County, CA. Nov 4, 2010
Uploaded on Nov  7, 2010
November scenes in western Marin county, CA: the road to Olema, Tomales Bay, Inverness, Point Reyes, Nicasio, Lagunitas

Washington National Cathedral conducts Gay Marriage: Dean Gary Hall says it's okay

The Episcopal Church and its clergy are not infallible.
Almighty and everliving God, we most heartily thank thee for thou dost feed us, in these holy mysteries, with the spiritual food of the most precious Body and Blood of they Son our Savior Jesus Christ, and dost assure us thereby of thy favor and goodness towards us; and that we are very members incorporate in the mystical body of they Son, the blessed company of all faithful people; and are also heirs, through hope, of thy everlasting kingdom. And we humbly beseech thee, O heavenly Father, so to assist us with thy grace, that we may continue in that holy fellowship, and do all such good work as thou hast prepared for us to walk in; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honor and glory, world without end. Amen.
--The Book of Common Prayer, p339
The Episcopal Church joins the ranks of United Church of Christ, Unitarian-Universalists in building an even greater mission favorable to homosexual behavior and acts, especially in its now explicit support of homosexual marriage under its majestic-in-structure Washington National Cathedral. An unspoken but clearly missionary work of the Cathedral and the Episcopal Church, homosexual marriage will be practiced in its liturgical form as a blessing by the Cathedral. Dean Gary Hall made the decision for the practice, and its leaders gave the okay to it under liturgical form specially adapted by the Dean from the interim form adopted for a limited number of years by the National Episcopal Church. That Church wide liturgical form is part of the addendum to this article. There was no response to inquiries of The Washington National Cathedral and a copy of its version could not be secured at this time.

The Cathedral is active in social movements and has a history of such secular and even political activity in the American scene. It says, through current Dean Gary Hill, the Cathedral will continue this history by supporting missionary activity pressing for homosexual practices in active sexual matters, with the argument for the moral requirement of inclusion of all kinds of people by the Church—hence the support for and practice of holding homosexual marriages. The Cathedral is reaching out to the gay and lesbian community. Weddings are not being offered willy-nilly, by the way. Nor are they encouraging people become homosexual, as some believe offering marriages will do because of example. The work of marrying homosexuals is primarily for parishioners. This is part of the Cathedral interpretation of social Gospel. The Rt. Reverend Marianne Budde ( mebudde@edow.org ) of the Diocese wherein the Cathedral resides gave the original okay to individual Churches to hold such blessings. No one that this Religion Writer spoke with found the practice of these unusual weddings as part of the Christian tradition either corrupt or aberrant, but themselves a normal and necessary kind of mainstreaming of homosexual civil rights and human behavior.

This influential National Cathedral, influential not only because of the important national events held in it, like this year’s Presidential celebration for inauguration, is a beautiful and historic place for Americans in general. It calls itself a place of worship for all people, and in a distinct way of statement indicates it is a house of worship for all people, almost as if it was not a denominational place of worship. But of course it is Episcopalian, or Anglican as part of the larger 77 million worldwide Communion.

In its own words, “Welcoming people of all Faiths,” the Cathedral states: The Cathedral is a spiritual resource for our nation: a great and beautiful edifice in the city of Washington, an indispensable ministry for people of all faiths and perspectives, and a sacred place for our country in times of celebration, crisis, and sorrow. Generous friends, members, and donors around the world support our mission.

There is so much to offer from The Cathedral and its website is http://www.nationalcathedral.org/ . It is a wonderful place that finds itself under its new Dean Gary Hall whose decision it was to begin offering homosexual marriage. The Very Rev. Gary R. Hall assumed his duties as the tenth dean of Washington National Cathedral on October 1, 2012. Hall has been an ordained minister for more than 35 years and most recently served as rector of Christ Church Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. The Dean’s email: dean@cathedral.org .

Regarding the matter of the institution of homosexual marriage, Dean Gary Hall was asked three questions, but as of this writing no response received yet:

These are the actual questions posed directly to Dean Hall by email. I hope he has inclination and time to respond, and he will do so as he sees fit, of course.

(1) Dean Hall speaks of the goodness of Religion and its reasons to be in his sermon of Janaury 6, quoting Karen Armstrong in a remarkable statement explaining prior to the quote about Christianity not being a religion but a way. He notes in the lengthy quotation from her that religion is about comforting people. In case I did not get that right, and I may use the quotation in full, will he speak more to his point made in the Epiphany sermon--of how Christianity is a way and how homosexual marriage helps all of us in the good on the way, Christian or not, so making good religion. I do not mind a longer answer, if needed. I encourage a long answer. I want to know what is on his mind in the faith and religion sense, in teaching Christianity, and strengthening the denomination and the Cathedral.
(2) How did the Cathedral come to this conclusion of decision on the matter. By this I mean was it a decision by the Bishop, a body of responsible people in the Cathedral, and in this more narrow question on who and what groups at the Cathedral were responsible for the decision to hold homosexual marriage, will you give me names to print—the leadership decision makers themselves. I get the idea that the matter is a full Episcopal Church matter thirty years in the making. I get the idea that he says the whole Church says this is a good thing. May we narrow this issue to the Cathedral in its immediate and news meaning for the event it has engaged in practicing.
(3) I would like the Dean to choose his favorite sections from the liturgy for the marriage of homosexuals, as it will be used in the Cathedral proper. Long is good, short if it suits him—but of course.

In that sermon, Dean Gary Hall says in part:
Dean Gary Hall
The Magi’s pilgrimage reminds us how important journeys are in the life of faith. In the earliest days of the Jesus movement, the group simply called itself hodos, the Way. (See Acts 9.2) In Greek, hodos means “way” in the sense of a travelled way, a road. But like all words, hodos soon took on metaphorical connotations. Just as today we talk of the “spiritual path or journey,” so then “The Way” meant a faith process, a course of conduct, a manner of thinking or feeling or acting or deciding. In the very earliest days Christians got it right: they thought of themselves not as a religious system but as a group of people on a shared journey, a path with ethical and spiritual and behavioral implications.

So here we have the confluence of a couple of ideas. One of them is represented in the Fra Angelico/Fra Lippo Lippi painting: the whole human community—from oriental potentates to leprous beggars and everybody in between—joins in praise of the one born in the stable. The second involves our talk of ways and roads and paths and journeys. The whole world is drawn to this human manifestation of what God is up to. And they respond not with a doctrine but with a pilgrimage. Taken together, they lead me to say—and this may sound strange at first—that Christianity is not a religion. It is a Way; it is a mode of being toward the world, toward others, toward God.
“Christianity is not a religion?” says the preacher. If Christianity (and Islam and Buddhism and Judaism) are not religions, what are they?

Well, what do we mean by the word, “religion”? I think what we mean these days by “religion” is a set of propositions about the universe to which its adherents assent. That’s the way we use the term, but it is a very recent notion. In a Fresh Air interview a few years ago, Terry Gross asked the writer Karen Armstrong, “what do you think religion is for?” Here is how Armstrong answered:
Religion is about helping us to deal with the sorrow that we see in life, helping us to find meaning in life, and helping us to live in relation to … transcendence. … Religious people are ambitious. They want to feel enhanced. They want to feel at peace within themselves. They want to live generous lives. They want to live beyond selfishness, beyond ego.

For Karen Armstrong, who lived a good part of her life in a monastic community, the life of faith is about living in a new way—a way that involves not only self-awareness but making common cause with others. Here’s how she concludes:

All the world religions say that the way to find what we call God or Brahman, Nirvana, or Tao is to get beyond the prism of egotism, of selfishness which holds us in a little deadlock and limits our vision. That if we can get beyond that, especially in the practice of compassion, when we dethrone ourselves from the center of our world and put another there, we live much more richly and intensely. [Fresh Air 9/21/09]



At the time of this writing The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde did not reply to the questions posed of her:

(1) How was the matter of starting the sacrament of marriage for homosexual couples a matter of religious and faith requirement for the good of the Episcopal Church, and in your Diocese? What brought you to make this decision at this time, and not some other.
(2) In terms of the validity of this kind of expression of marriage, do you find it in line with the Bible and its Christian place in our understanding of moral relationship with our God and man? Will you cite Biblical reference so readers may see your immediate religious Biblical authority for the act of saying let us in our Cathedral, so well respected in the Episcopal Church and Christian Community make a statement to influence others in their acceptance and even admiration of homosexuality and homosexual marriage: To begin the act of homosexual marriage in the Cathedral.
Bishop Budde

(3) Did you consider the repercussions and other ramifications on the rest of the Anglican Communion, and what is seen as the divisive nature of this kind of decision for the Church in these difficult times of conflict. Why did you choose to make the decision favorable to this controversial and for many questionable use of the marriage vows in Christ. Comment if you will how either two men or two women are or even can be accepted in Christ as married? Though this sounds like a slanted kind of question, many who do not agree with you or even find your decision offensive want an answer of faith kind based on more than your personal opinion. Or can a Bishop make a decree of this kind without explanation of religious and faith conviction based on personal decision?
 

In an effort to get two quotes from people who have opposing views on the news of homosexual marriage practiced at Washington National Cathedral I contacted the website Virtue, and also the pro gay group Integrity for a quote. It was the Cathedral Dean Gary Hall who gave the okay to homosexual marriage at the Cathedral, by the way. David Virtue supplied this quote, and by the way his website gets 4 million visits annually, he saysThe action of Dean Gary Hall supported by Washington Bishop Mariann Budde to allow the blessing of same sex marriages in the National Cathedral continues the Episcopal Church’s gadarene slide towards the sexual abyss. There is no biblical or theological basis for such blessings let alone homosexual behavior. By allowing these faux marriage Rites the Episcopal Church will further isolate itself from the Global Anglican Communion and orthodox Christianity. The Episcopal Church is on suicide watch. It has replaced the transcendent Good News of the gospel for a mess of ecumenical pottage that offers no saving grace. It is a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions.

The work of decision making was 35 years in the making, The Cathedral claims in a press statement: In light of the legality of civil marriage for same-sex couples in the District of Columbia and Maryland, the Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde (whose Episcopal Diocese of Washington includes D.C. and four counties in Maryland), decided in December 2012 to allow this expansion of the sacrament. Hall, as dean of the National Cathedral, ultimately led the Cathedral’s decision and adaptation of the same-sex rite.

“In my 35 years of ordained ministry, some of the most personally inspiring work I have witnessed has been among gay and lesbian communities where I have served,” Hall noted. “I consider it a great honor to lead this Cathedral as it takes another historic step toward greater equality—and I am pleased that this step follows the results made clear in this past November’s election, when three states voted to allow same-sex marriage,” he added.

The organization IntegrityUSA commented for this writer on the homosexual marriage event starting at The Cathedral. They described themselves this way: Integrity is a nonprofit organization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender [LGBT] Episcopalians and our straight friends. Since our founding by Dr. Louie Crew in rural Georgia in 1974, Integrity has been the leading grassroots voice for the full inclusion of LGBT persons in the Episcopal Church and our equal access to its rites. However, advocacy is only one facet of our ministry. At the national level and in local chapters and diocesan networks throughout the country, the primary activities are:
  • worship
  • fellowship
  • education
  • communication
  • outreach, and
  • service to the church
Through Integrity's evangelism, thousands of LGBT people, estranged from the Episcopal Church and other denominations, have returned to parish life.
Although the Episcopal Church has made tremendous strides toward inclusiveness, it still has a long way to go.

The email response from Integrity by National Vice-President Jon M. Richardson (jon@jonmrichardson.com ) had this to say:

IntegrityUSA joins with LGBT people of faith and our friends all around the
world in celebrating the news that the Washington National Cathedral will
soon implement its policy of marriage equality for all faithful people. The
National Cathedral stands as an important symbol in the life of our nation,
and now LGBT people hold a share of that heritage in a stronger way than we
did before. We are deeply grateful for the leadership of its Dean, the Very
Rev. Gary Hall, and their Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, in
taking this historic step toward full equality for LGBT people. The National
Cathedral calls itself a "house of prayer for all people" - and we are
excited to celebrate with them as this becomes even more true than it was
before."


I might add that The Episcopal Church has been working towards full equality
for LGBTQ people for over 35 years and Integrity is delighted that this year
churches around the country will start blessing same-gender unions with the
backing of General Convention which is the decision-making body of The
Episcopal Church.
The Reverend Caroline Hall
The Reverend Caroline Hall, whose Episcopal Parish is located in California, USA commented on questions sent by email. In a phone call following the email, providing additonal answers from the emails, she noted these responses. Her answers clarified some of the issues readers may want clarified as made at The Cathedral:
  1. Peter Menkin: I am curious to know if you think the significance of the practice by
    Washington National Cathedral is a kind of crowning act of the Episcopal
    Church.
I don’t think so. They are not saying they will marry any same gender marriage that comes along. Even though they are at the center of political capital, they are not saying they will marry anybody. So we can’t expect to see high profile same sex couples walking down the aisle at National Cathedral. This is about members who are members of the worshiping committee there or close to it. They (members of the congregation) may ask to have their relationships blessed there.
  1. Peter Menkin: Further, as is my take, Washington National Cathedral acts in the secular
    realm, and will this acceptance and practice of homosexual marriage be
    vaguely like a national statement of support for homosexual marriage? The
    Cathedral calls itself a place of worship for all people and hosts important
    people of State, too.
I don’t think it is a national statement. It’s certainly symbolically important for the LGBT community, but it is not making a statement (this is a Parish matter)…It is a decision of the worship community as congregation of the Cathedral…Just as it is a decision at other Diocese in the other part of the country. There are 100 Diocese in the Episcopal Church. Each Bishop can make that decision…if they do, the congregations within their Diocese can make the decision to do that (hold same sex marriage).
  1. 3. Peter Menkin: Is the liturgy used marriage or blessing? I have blessing. Does that make a
    difference?
The Episcopal Church has approved a right of blessing for Same Sex marriage, in those states where civil marriage is legal between same sex couples, then the local Bishop may allow his or her clergy to act as agents of the State so then the rite combined with a Civil Marriage. That’s what they’re doing at the Cathedral.
This summary email by Reverend Caroline Hall does clarify again some of the issues involved in The Cathedral decision for many, speaking as President IntegrityUSA again, she says also:
My take on this is that the National Cathedral is acting as many other parishes around the country who are deciding whether or not they will offer same-sex blessings, now that the General Convention of the Episcopal Church has agreed a provisional rite of blessing. Not every bishop will allow the rite to be used and no parish has to use it.
The National Cathedral is in a place where same-gender marriage is legal and the bishop has said that clergy may solemnize such marriages. The rite agreed by General Convention is a rite of blessing. It has to be adapted to make it also a legal marriage. The liturgy the Cathedral will be using is a blessing adapted to be valid as a civil marriage.
The liturgy itself is not a marriage service.
yes this is significant - there are still many people who recoil in horror at the thought of same-sex marriage but who can accept a blessing of a same-sex relationship.
I don't think you can assume that the decision of the Dean and people of the National Cathedral is making a statement beyond that already made by the Episcopal church in creating and approving the rite of blessing.
In an effort to get comment from the Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, this email was sent to Press Officer Neva Rae Fox:
Dear Neva: Will the Presiding Bishop entertain two questions vis a vis Washington National Cathedral action of instituting homosexual marriage?
Two questions:
1. Was this action of allowing, even sponsoring homosexual marriage in Washington National Cathedral a leadership feather for the Cathedral cap and that of Dean Gary Hall?
2. Is this the kind of statement and practice that is part of the larger mission of the National Church?
Many thanks for entertaining my request for a response or statement.
The Press Officer Neva Rae Fox responded (Officer, Public Affairs/Communications/The Episcopal Church):
“It is called same sex blessings, not homosexual marriage.
“The Episcopal Church, at General Convention 2012 in July, approved the provisional use of rites for same sex blessings with the approval of the diocesan bishop. Bishop Budde of the Diocese of Washington approved the use of the rites. The Dean’s announcement followed.
“Neva Rae Fox”
ADDENDUM
This is the link to Church Publishing liturgy for blessing same-sex marriage:
https://www.churchpublishing.org/products/index.cfm?fuseaction=productDetail&productID=9743
or
http://www.integrityusa.org/documents/IWillBlessYouandYouWillBeaBlessingApproved.pdf
For reader’s information, The Washington National Cathedral offers these resources:
Answers to common questions may be found in our Marriage Equality FAQ »
For more information about marriage ceremonies at Washington National Cathedral, please email weddings@cathedral.org.