America, America

by Kim Byham There are only three of us here from America (there may have been some confusion about this in posts by others): the Rt. Rev. Otis Charles, the Rev. Michael Hopkins, and me, the non-rev. Kim Byham. That is, there are only three "gay lobbyists" (to use the British press term) here from America. There are tons of other Americans. These fall mostly in two groups -- communicators and anti- gay lobbyists. The only other group is the Women's Caucus, whose posts you can see on their site. There are other volunteers besides those handling communications, but the vast majority are members of Episcopal Communicators who are helping with media.

The reason the Americans dominate the communication team is two: Canon James Rosenthal is Director of Communications for the Anglican Communion and for the Lambeth Conference and he is formerly the Director of Communications for the Diocese of Chicago -- hence he knows all of the American communicators -- and, quite simply, although this is quite unlike General Convention, it is probably more like General Convention than it is like England's General Synod, or Canada's, the two others with which I am most familiar. The one thing that no one has complained about being too American is The Lambeth Daily which looks remarkably like The Convention Daily, and small wonder, Bob Williams from Los Angeles is the editor. Communications here are driving the reporters crazy -- the British only because they want unlimited access to bishops for short quotes and the Americans because they have come to expect more organization at the conventions of most denominations in the U.S. Anyway, for me as a member of Episcopal Communicators even though I'm no longer Integrity's Director of Communication, it has been great to be with so many really nice people I have known for years. The American press people who are here are also very nice folk -- quite different from the British who are about as friendly as a drop- dead gorgeous guy in a gay bar.

By far the largest group here is the conservatives. Perhaps I shouldn't say conservatives because they really transcend that. They are ultra-right and there are a lot of them and they are very well funded. The umbrella under which these groups are meeting is the American Anglican Congress (AAC). The AAC, which is headed by Bishop James Stanton of Dallas, where it is headquartered, includes Episcopalians United, Episcopal Synod of America, and a number of other, smaller right-wing organizations. There are over 30 Americans in their contingent. This doesn't include David Virtue (who is here associated with The Christian Challenge, but this is as a stringer CC's editor arrived late last week), but includes lots of folk you're familiar with: Doug LaBlanc, Todd Wetzel, Martin Mimms, Stephen Noll, and Roger Bolz, to name but a few. Yesterday I had occasion to visit the AAC headquarters at the Franciscan Center. David Virtue had recommended that I see Roger for a copy of the press release about the ex-gay meeting the preceding Wednesday. Roger, who is a genuinely nice person, graciously received me. I couldn't help but be impressed with the scope of their operations. They essentially have the entire Franciscan Center, which is a very large and well-appointed space.

Conveniently for the right wing, the Human Sexuality Sub-Section of Section 1 also met at the Franciscan Center. They weren't originally scheduled to meet there, but moved there at Bishop Stanton's invitation. Very convenient.

Roger told me that much of what they do is a servant ministry. They type and copy things for African, Asian and South American bishops, and they run errands for the bishops and their wives.

How much does all this cost? I have no clear idea, but when you take into account the pre-Lambeth meetings and the expense here, it seems to me that it would have to be at least $400,000. It could be significantly higher than this, but I don't see how it could be much less.

Colin Coward, leader of Changing Attitude, said he hoped we'd take our blokes back with us. I'm afraid we must. They are our crosses to bear. But lest we blame all that is bad in the Communion on the American right wing, we should note that they have their own right-wing groups here in the U.K., including Forward in Faith. It also appears that The Church of England Newspaper is working out of the Franciscan Center. (This is the publication that Andrew Carey joined after his father's election as Archbishop of Canterbury. I am told that they were and are in a delicate financial state and have been trying to position themselves as a right-wing alternative to The Church Times, itself hardly a liberal voice.)

Despite the large number of Americans here, I have never missed America as much as I have during this stay. Continue to pray for us.

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