Danforth: Let's Keep Our Eye on the Prize

The Rev. John Danforth, retired US Senator and former UN Ambassador was at General Convention yesterday. He spoke to deputies and bishops last night (yes, while I was the ball game...). Here is some of what he said to the press yesterday morning:

He expressed his hope that the Church, for its own sake, and the sake of the world could put disagreements over same-sex relationships behind it. “The idea that a Church of less than 1 percent of the American population should be engaging itself in inside baseball is kind of ridiculous, really,” Danforth said.

The other 99 percent of the American population “doesn’t care who the bishop of X or Z isis,” or whether a rite for blessing same-sex relationships “is available in the Prayer Book or on the internet,” he added.

“I am not into the wording of any resolutions,” Danforth said. “My argument is ‘What comes first? You have to keep your eyes on the prize, and I would say the prize is answering Christ’s call to a ministry of reconciliation.”

This echoes something I have heard from Bishop Paul Marshall: that there are times when the Episcopal Church would rather do almost anything but mission.

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