All things…Episcopal

>> Father David Kendrick: Hello, everyone. Welcome to all things Episcopal, where we talk

about anything and everything related to the Episcopal

Church. This podcast was designed with

younger folks in mind and as a space to learn more about the

christian faith with the episcopal lens. So, in

traditionally episcopalian greeting fashion, the

Lord be with you.

>> Claire: Hey, friends. Welcome back to all things

episcopal. Today, we are bringing

you a bonus episode. This is the

first time we're doing this type of episode out of a regular

season, but we thought that this

particular topic of policy

was really important to address,

and it's going to be jam packed with a

lot of good stuff, and hopefully it will be

enriching and insightful and enlightening

to all of the,

um, folks that are in conversation today, as

well as to, um, the listeners.

So today, like I said, we're talking about

policy. Specifically the policies and stances

of the Episcopal Church, and more specifically,

the policies within the Diocese of

West Missouri surrounding women's, uh, reproductive

health, gun safety, and gun reform.

And while we have addressed this in previous episodes, the

inclusion of members of the LGBTQIA

community, not just as members of the

church, but in all ordained orders of

ministry in the church. With that being

said, while we are speaking about policies that

are made known publicly by the Episcopal Church,

the thoughts and the opinions of the speakers of this

podcast, to include co hosts and guests,

are that of the individual and not on behalf

of the entire Episcopal Church. These

topics are some of the most debated in the

church, but also much of society in the

context of the United States of America. Please

know that we have tried our very best to have a meaningful

and rich conversation. It will not be

perfect, but at the heart of it, we seek to practice

civil discourse and remember our baptismal covenant

to seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our

neighbor as ourselves. At the time of the

release of this podcast episode here in the Diocese of

West Missouri, we will be observing Pride month, as

well as wear orange weekend, which we will

talk about a bit further in this episode.

Links to the policies and community organizations

that the Diocese of West Missouri supports will be provided in

the show. Notes on to the show

we are in conversation today with Tara Bennett

and the Reverend Robin Rusconi,

who serves as a deacon in the Diocese of West

Missouri. Tara and Deacon Robin

serve on the peace and justice committee of the

Diocese of West Missouri. And of course, my

co host, father, uh, David Kendrick, will be joining us in

conversation. Hello to you

all.

>> Tara: Good morning.

>> Robin: Good morning.

>> Father David Kendrick: Good morning.

>> Claire: Tara and Robin, if you would tell us

a little bit about your story and

how you came to the Episcopal Church. And what inspired your

work in the areas of peace and justice? And

I'll let you all decide who wants to go

first.

>> Robin: Tara, I'll defer to you.

>> Tara: Great. Hi, I'm Tara Bennett.

I am a cradle Episcopalian. So

I came to the episcopal church because my

parents and grandparents did, um,

my work with peace and

justice was, uh, inspired

by my daughter being scared

after the parkland shooting. I'd always been politically

active, but she was scared that she was

going to be shot in her school and became active

within Kansas City, um, leading some

student walkouts, vigils,

and, uh,

advocation for policy reform. And

I decided to get involved as well. After

the Uvalde shooting, the

bishop asked me to help form the peace and

justice committee for the diocese of West Missouri.

>> Robin: I'm Robin Rusconi, and

I am a, uh, deacon in the diocese of West

Missouri. And I came to the

Episcopal Church when my husband and I started talking about

getting married. Both of us weren't,

um, we were born and part of

the Roman Catholic Church and

did not feel comfortable raising children in that environment.

And so we came to the Episcopal Church because it was

something that appealed to both of us. And I

became involved in peace and justice

activities in the early nineties. I was

politically active before that, but more active starting in the

early nineties and joined the,

uh, the peace and justice committee when

the, um, reproductive rights,

um, lawsuit was filed in the state of

Missouri, um, in early

2023, I believe.

And that became a part of the peace and justice

committee's activities.

>> Tara: Thank you both.

>> Claire: So, as we said before, much of this conversation

will focus on three areas. Women's reproductive

health, gun safety and reform and inclusion of

the LGBTQIA community. But before

we begin, I think it's important for our listeners to know

how policies are developed, decided on,

and ultimately voted on in order,

um, to become policy

within the church. And I'm actually going to defer

to Father David, um, to talk a little bit more

about that.

>> Father David Kendrick: Thanks, Claire. Um. Um, you've

been. You might have been hearing about, I don't know how much on this

podcast, if you've been listening to us, how much you've heard

about general convention. What in the

world is that? Um, well,

general convention is the main decision making body

of the episcopal Church. It was created

when the episcopal church was, uh, formally

begun around the year 1789.

Um, general convention meets every

three years, it turns out this year it is

meeting in, uh, Louisville, Kentucky. It tends to

rotate around, uh, the country.

So general convention meets every three

years. And, um,

sometimes folks say it was modeled on

congress. Technically, it was really modeled more

on the british parliament.

So, you know, the british parliament has a house of

commons and a house of lords.

So the episcopal church has

two houses. There is a house of deputies,

and the house of deputies is made up of laypersons, priests

and deacons. And then there is the

house of bishops. Now,

in a sense like congress, there no

resolution. Nothing can pass general convention

unless it's approved by both

houses. So when I say that general

convention is the main decision making body of the church, the

kinds of decisions it makes. First of all,

it sets the budget, the triennial budget,

of the national church headquarters, which is. Which

is located at 815 2nd Avenue.

Sometimes in the episcopal church, if you know enough, after a while, you might just

say 815 and people will know what you mean.

So it's. It's at 815 2nd

Avenue in New York City, just a couple of blocks from

the United nations. Uh, I found this out with our

family a few years ago when we were. Our son

was in working in New York City and we went to the UN and

we were making our way back to a subway station.

I passed a street and I suddenly saw the

episcopal flag flying from a building. I thought, this

is it. This is the mothership. Um,

so it's the budget for the national church that general

convention sets. It's also important to know

that general convention approves any

revisions or changes to the Book of Common

Prayer and any other, uh, church

wide liturgical resources. And

then, more specifically for the purpose of this

episode, a, uh, general convention approves

resolutions that are intended to express

the official position of the Episcopal Church

on the most pressing issues of justice and

peace. And, you know, we. At one

point, I know we've had a podcast on baptism, and you might remember

that we have this thing called the baptismal covenant.

And one of those vows that all

baptized Episcopalians make is to,

and I'm quoting, strive for justice and

peace among all people. So here we

are talking about justice and peace, and we have

representatives of our diocesan peace and

justice committee. So

that's general convention in a nutshell.

>> Claire: Thank you for that quick rundown, uh, on

what general convention is and how policies are

made and decided on. Um, I want to

first touch on gun safety and gun

reform. So, in the Episcopal Church,

we've had a long history of seeking to respect the

constitutional rights of an individual

while also being deeply concerned with the

community welfare, particularly as

it pertains to the children and use of our

communities. Um, the first

resolution on gun safety and reform that

came to the floor at general convention was actually

all the way back in the seventies,

1976, at the 65th

General Convention. However, I want to

start a bit more, um,

recent with our resolutions,

um, starting with resolution number,

uh, c zero zero five, which

was established in 2015, also known

as resolution implement laws to

decrease gun violence, if you would, Tara,

uh, tell us a little bit more about this particular

resolution and its impact on the Episcopal

church and broader community. As you are able.

>> Tara: The 2015 gun violence and gun

safety resolution really

was a catch all for

good gun policy that has been

advocated, um, by

groups across the spectrum, from

Brady and Giffords and Sandy Hook

promise. It calls for

people to have to

have permits for concealed carry. It calls for

universal background checks, including at gun

shows. It calls for a ban on military

style assault weapons and high capacity

magazines. It calls for a ban

for the import and manufacture of full

automatic conversion kits. It

calls for the tightening of laws on gun

trafficking and stock purchases.

It requires people who possess guns to have

gun safety training. And it

advocates for more funding for

research about gun violence, all of

which are very important.

And I'm glad to say that

some of those things have actually been implemented

since then. We still have a long way to go.

But nationally, a good number

of those policies, between

the bipartisan Safer Communities act

in 2022 and

changing of the

funding understanding for

the CDC and the NIH to actually do some

funding into research

and guns as a public health

problem, those have all.

Uh, we're making some progress, and I think

the episcopal church's advocacy has helped.

>> Claire: Oftentimes, we don't see the intersection

of public health and faith based

communities. Intersectional. Um, I'm

wondering if you can talk to us a little bit more about how

addressing gun violence as a matter of public health

is also a matter of being faithful to our

baptismal covenants. You touched on it a little

bit earlier, but if you can expand,

well.

>> Tara: Gun violence is a public health

issue. The number of people

who are killed, the

families who are traumatized,

the people who turn

to guns because we have a proliferation of

them, and they're easy to access when they're

in a mental health crisis,

and those who

don't see any other form of

conflict resolution other than pulling out a

gun, all of those things are

adversely affecting our

communities.

The actual economic

cost is huge that

those resources that could be put into

better healthcare are instead being used to

treat victims of gun violence, not just

homicide, but suicide. Keeping in

mind that over half of the deaths by guns in

our country and our state are

both due to suicide, not homicide.

>> Claire: Thank you. In the state of Missouri,

in particular, um, more

specifically, Kansas City, gun violence is

a very concerning issue. Can

you share a little bit more about the statistics

about gun violence in Kansas City,

um, and where the church is striving to stand

in solidarity not only with government officials, but

also with nonprofits in the area and

nationwide?

>> Tara: Absolutely. Thank you, Claire. Really,

we are an outlier. Um, Missouri has

the fifth highest gun death rate in the

country. Uh, so far

this year, 53 people have died in homicides

in Kansas City. Last year, Kansas

City alone had 182 homicides, which was

the highest on record ever in Kansas

City. And since we are the diocese of West Missouri,

I have to note that Springfield also has a

disproportionately high number of per

capita gun deaths

compared to other similar cities across

the country. In the gun deaths in

Kansas City, a firearm was used in 89% of

the killings we've had.

Also this year, while our

homicide rate has slowed, we've had

an almost 40% increase in nonfatal

shootings. Those are still families and lives

that are upended by

people being shot.

In Missouri, as I said, 53% of, um,

gun deaths are suicide. So that

looks at. We've had, last year,

733 gun suicides

in our state. It's the 10th

highest in the country. Wow. A

suicide occurs every 12

hours in our state, and

63% of the people, uh,

who try suicide use a

gun. Our rates of gun suicide

and homicide from 2013

to 2022 in Missouri

have increased at almost double the rate of

nationwide. This is why it's

important we don't live like

other areas. I've lived in

five states and two additional

foreign countries. I have to tell you,

other people don't live like this. They don't live with the

gun violence we do. Which is why it's so important

as a, uh,

diocese that we work

with organization who look at the

local level, because we can see that there's a difference in

policy. We can talk about nationwide policy all we want,

but really, policies made at the state level,

and in our state, it's. At the state level, it's very

rarely because of preemption able to be

made at the city level. So

we work with organizations that are

advocating for data

proven gun safety

policies, like many of them that

I just discussed, that the national convention has

called for things like, moms

demand action for gun sense.

We have, uh, worked hand in hand

with some of their calls to

action, particularly when gun policies will affect us in the

church. We also. There are violence

and eruptor organizations throughout

both the southern and northern part of our

state that are doing the work in communities

to stop the cycle of violence before

it continues to escalate. Like aim

for peace or a

few other great organizations within Kansas

City.

>> Claire: Gun violence is a very

personal experience for many, um.

For myself, um, my youngest

brother and my cousin were involved in the

episcopal high school shooting

many, um, years back, or several years back. I shouldn't say many, just

several, um. And

it can be

devastating. I mean, there's no other

way of saying it. Devastating, overwhelming, um,

grief. And one of the

ways we can remember and find our

onward, um, for lives lost

is by participating in community

gatherings such as wear orange. Can you

talk a little bit more about, uh,

where orange is and,

um, how the church

is supporting ware Orange? Um,

yeah.

>> Tara: Well, where Orange is a

nationwide movement, it

is the first week,

first full weekend of June,

and it is a

remembrance. National gun Violence

Awareness Day will be this year

on Friday, June 7.

It's a remembrance for the victims and survivors

of gun violence. As you said, Claire,

it's devastating

for entire communities

and were. Orange is not

a political event. It is a remembrance

event. And in the diocese of

West Missouri, all of our churches have been

invited by our bishop to

participate in wear Orange to encourage that

Sunday. All, um,

everyone. To all parishioners to wear orange.

Orange vestments, light churches,

orange, if possible, orange flowers.

And we have a set of prayers

to be implemented. Prayers praying

for all those affected by gun

violence, all of the families, and for the families of the

perpetrators, and for the perpetrators themselves,

because more than likely, they've been a

victim of violence themselves.

We're Orange was started

after a young woman was

shot after being, uh, the

week previous in President Obama's

inaugural parade. She went home to Chicago,

was out on a playground, and

was shot and killed. And her family decided

to start a remembrance,

a yearly remembrance. And it's blossomed into a full

nationwide event. You will see

civic buildings and

proclamations up and down our state,

throughout all of our cities. Um, lighting

orange and recognizing national gun violence

survivors League or national gun violence

Survivors Day, and wear Orange

weekend. We also have, which I hope you'll link in the

show notes, a list of daily activities, things

that can be done. The

diocesan suggestion is to do them the week leading up

to wear orange, but they can be done

at any time. Things to learn about the

scourge of gun violence and the toll that it's taking

on our community and how you can be part of the

solution and turn your thoughts and prayers

into action.

>> Claire: I love that there is a sense

of remembering

someone's life and

the healing component of

taking time, uh, to be in

community, to share story, um, but

also to say, enough is enough,

and to do the little bit of good

that we can in the ways that we can.

And one of the ways

that I see the Diocese of West

Missouri doing that work through the peace and

justice committee, with the support of the bishop, has

been supporting the Be Smart program,

the, um, last few years. Can you tell us a little

bit more about what be smart is and what

its mission and vision is to end gun violence and how

folks can, can get involved?

>> Tara: Absolutely. Be Smart is a

nationwide program that we are

implementing in the Diocese of West

Missouri. And I have to say also, the Diocese of Missouri, on

the other side of our state, is also following our lead.

And we work very closely with them in many things

with the peace and justice committee. The

Be Smart is a program

about gun safety for kids. It is not a

political program. It is not

advocating for any of the gun

policy issues that we've discussed already.

It's just making people aware

that guns

are the leading cause of death of children and youth in our

country and in our state.

And by keeping guns out

of the hands of children, it's an adult's

responsibility to do that. Then

we can at least

start lowering those deaths.

In Kansas City, in the

last, uh, so far, we've had seven

children, just within the city limits, ages eight weeks

to 17, who've been killed in gun homicides.

There was one that was killed in an unintentional shooting

where he found a gun in his mother's bedside table.

These can be prevented if adults keep

guns on the hands of children. Make sure that children don't

go to homes where there are unsecured

guns, and that

we recognize the role of guns in suicide,

particularly in our teen.

It's a full presentation. We can come

to coffee hours, to adult

forums, talk to Sunday school parents,

just bring a table to a trunk, or treat and

pass out information. Um, so we can

either give a full 20 minutes presentation with

discussion, or just be there and provide you

resources within your parish

to talk about gun

storage, safe storage, and keeping guns out

of the hands of our children.

>> Claire: And correct me if I'm wrong,

but, um, normally at, ah,

diocesan convention, the peace and justice

committee has a table. And,

um, be smart is kind of

a focal point for that. Um,

so if you're in the diocese of West Missouri

and you're curious and want to meet Tara in person

and Deacon Robin and want to know

more. You can have conversation with

them, um, at diocesan convention.

>> Tara: Um, feel free at any time to

contact me directly. My information is on the

diocesan website and we'd be happy to

be in conversation with you both for be smart

or to add you to our list to advocate

for policy.

>> Claire: Fantastic. And we'll also link, um,

the peace and justice committee page in the show notes as

well. Switching topics,

um, we're going to move towards talking about women's

health and access, um,

to abortion services and

birth control without restriction. Um, and I'm

actually going to let Father David, um,

lead the questions on this segment of,

uh, the podcast. Father David, thanks.

>> Father David Kendrick: Hey, so, first of all, just

to set the ground, um, you know, the Episcopal

Church has been, um,

issuing general convention. There are

resolutions from general convention that go

actually all the way back to

1967, even before

the Roe versus decision.

Um, and if you look at all those, and there is actually

an excellent summary of those resolutions, I

think will be in the show notes that the

Episcopal Church has, um. And in many

respects, I think the episcopal Church really

has tried to take a balanced view that

really does respect all viewpoints on

this issue. For instance, one, uh, general

convention resolution states, all human life is

sacred. Hence it is sacred from its inception until

death. The church takes seriously its

obligation to help form the consciences of

its members concerning this sacredness. Human life,

therefore, should be initiated only advisedly

and in full accord with this understanding of the power to

conceive and give birth, which is bestowed by

God. Okay. But at the same

time. And this, and this, what I'm about, the next thing I'm

about to quote here is from the very first resolution passed

by general convention on this issue in the year in

1967 in which

the Episcopal Church stated

or stated, and I'm now quoting, it's, quote,

unequivocal opposition to any

legislation on the part of the national

or state governments which would abridge or

deny the right of individuals to reach

informed decisions about the

termination of pregnancy and to

act upon them. So I think that

those are really the two. Those are. And when I, when

I look at all of the resolutions, uh, that

general convention has passed on resolution, those are the two statements that

jump out the most at me, uh, a clear

understanding that abortion is a very

serious matter for the human conscience, while

at the same time saying the, the

individual conscience of the woman has to take

priority in terms of what decision is made.

Now we know, of course,

um, that is not now the case

in many parts of the country, because

we know, for instance, you know, we're in the diocese

of West Missouri. So

the Missouri had passed the laws a few years

ago that basically banned

abortion. Um, and I think

it's, uh, in cases, except in the cases of

a medical emergency, where a delay would create a serious risk

of substantial or irreversible.

Irreversible. Irreversible

physical impairment of a major bodily function.

And that law also had a provision that

basically said it would take effect the

moment that Roe versus Wade was overturned. And

so it took effect on the day of the Dobbs

decision in

2022. So

there are other things that could go on, but let me turn it over to Tara

and Robin and ask you guys,

um, how is the diocese

of West Missouri, uh, responding

now? In what ways are we still trying to. Can we

support reproductive rights in this legal

climate?

>> Robin: Um, the first thing that the bishop did was

she, um. Immediately after the

Dobbs decision, she

issued a letter, um, basically,

um, father,

um, citing pretty much what she

just cited from

the general convention and just letting

people know the position of the episcopal church,

um, just so that there was clarity,

so that throughout the diocese, people

knew, um,

what, you know, just where the church was, because

I think that that's something that. That

people don't know, you know, just. Just

because, frankly, up until Dobbs, it

wasn't. There wasn't a reason for people to really have

a lot of discussion about it.

>> Father David Kendrick: Right. Uh.

>> Robin: Um, and then we have. Because

she is sensitive to the fact that there are pretty high

emotions. We have taken a pretty

low stance on it, but she is

encouraging individual action

on this topic and a lot of education.

And so a lot of members of the

committee have been, um,

active in the pursuit of getting

signatures with the initiative, um,

movement. And so we have been educating

people so that they knew that there was

an initiative petition out there, um,

getting signatures for that initiative

movement, um, which just.

Well, recently. So, in the beginning of

May, there were signatures set up,

or, um, turned in for the initiative

to get, um, reproductive rights on the

ballot in Missouri. And so now what we will

be doing is trying very hard to educate people

about what that initiative,

um, that is going to be on the. Well, that will hopefully be on

the ballot, um, what that

includes. So we'll be doing some educational pieces

for that.

>> Father David Kendrick: So just to

let people know what this means. So there was a

group that collected, and they collected enough signatures.

Now we have, uh. To be honest,

we have a, ah, secretary of state, who. Whose

views are very clear. And,

uh, unfortunately, there may be

other attempts to try to keep this off the ballot, but

hopefully there will be on the ballot a

measure that would amend the Missouri constitution

to provide for the right for reproductive freedom, which is

defined as, and I'm quoting, the right to make

and carry out decisions about all matters relating to

reproductive health care, including,

but not limited to, prenatal care,

childbirth, postpartum care, birth control,

abortion care, miscarriage care, and

respectful birthing conditions. The, uh, amendment

would further provide that the state legislature

could enact laws that regulate

abortion after fetal viability.

So that would be the big change. Only after fetal

viability, which is defined in the initiative

as in the good faith judgment of a

treating healthcare professional. And

based on the particular facts of the case, there is

a significant likelihood of, uh, the fetuses

sustained survival outside the uterus

without the application of extraordinary

medical measures. So, so

basically, hopefully that will be on the November ballot. And

so, um, our members of the peace and justice

committee working on that. Then I guess you said, Robin.

>> Robin: Yes, we will, we are waiting now. We

have, we will know, hopefully,

by the,

basically this should be figured out by

the end of July, beginning of August.

Um, that's when the local authorities should

have determined if there's sufficient signatures that can

be verified. And then we will start

information campaigns to,

um, let people know that this is out there and what that

means, because there's going to, as you can

anticipate, there's going to be two sides to all of

this. Um, and

basically we want people to understand this false

amount of what this is because it's not just

abortion, because a lot of this. And then

you read it in those words, this is the full gamut

of reproductive care.

>> Father David Kendrick: True.

>> Robin: You know, this is the right to be able to have

access to birth control.

>> Father David Kendrick: Mhm.

>> Robin: This is the right to be able to have access

to all sorts of reproductive,

um, tools,

you know, and reproductive ability. And, and

there are, if you look at what the

Louisiana legislature just did, they banned all,

they just made certain types of

what we would consider basic

reproductive care, uh,

uh, um, banned or a higher

level of medical

care, a.

>> Father David Kendrick: Controlled, they mean it.

>> Robin: A controlled substance.

>> Father David Kendrick: Controlled substance. Like an illegal drug.

>> Robin: Yeah. And so we need to be able to

protect women's healthcare, and that's what this is

about. And so we need, so that's

what we want to be able to educate people about, that this is a

bigger, broader women's

reproductive health care, not just

abortion.

>> Father David Kendrick: Absolutely.

>> Robin: And that's, that's the, uh, that's the message we have to get

out because this is. This is a bigger issue than

that.

>> Father David Kendrick: Absolutely. Is there anything else that,

um, folks out there ought to know about what the peace and

justice committee for the diocese of West Missouri is doing

on for reproductive rights? That's a lot. I just wanted to

make sure there's anything I hadn't mentioned that you could bring it

up.

>> Robin: Tara, do you want to? The only

other thing I can think of is, is that we're following a lawsuit,

but the lawsuit pretty much is

not, um.

The lawsuit, I think, is going to remain

dormant until,

um. Until this runs. The initiative runs its

course. There, um, was a lawsuit filed in

January of 2023, and actually, um,

Bishop Dion out of the diocese of

Missouri is a plaintiff in it

challenging, um.

Challenging pretty much all of the abortion laws

in Missouri, and specifically the trigger ban

that went into effect, um, on the

basis of, um, that

it violates their freedom of religion.

Because the basis for the

legislative record specifically on

the trigger ban is egregious

from the perspective of just how religious

some of the testimony was.

Um, and so. But there are.

>> Tara: There.

>> Robin: Now, the last I heard, there were 14 different

plaintiffs from seven different denominations

that were challenging it, but. And they were supposed to

be a decision by the

judge this January, and

there has been absolutely no movement on the

lawsuit. What people

believe is happening is, since the

initiative language got cleared up

and started moving, that the judge is just sitting on it.

Um, there's been no actual statement

to that effect. But

speaking as a former attorney, that there is always a

preference in the judiciary to

have matters like this decided

by. By vote as opposed to by

the judiciary. So the. The common opinion is

that he's just going to let it hopefully be settled by

the voters as opposed to by him.

>> Father David Kendrick: Got it. Well, thank you, Tara, do you have.

>> Robin: Anything you want to add?

>> Tara: Um, I think you covered it very

well. When the peace and justice committee was

formed, the bishop specifically

said she wanted to address gun violence and

reproductive rights, and those are

the major issues we've discussed today.

>> Father David Kendrick: Great. So, switching gears one more

time, uh, going to our

LGBTQIA siblings and their

struggles, and, um,

those of you who are faithful listeners of this podcast, forgive

me if I'm repeating some of what was already said with

Father David Wilcox, but just to set the ground

here, because, uh, of the US Supreme Court's

Obergefell decision in 2015, same

sex marriage is legal in all 50 states.

In that same year, general convention authorized

same sex marriage liturgies as what were called

a trial use. Um,

but. So clergy can use those

liturgies for same sex marriage.

But, uh, the prayer book has not yet been

revised in order to remove

gender specific language in its marriage service.

Now, general convention has also barred

discrimination within the episcopal church in

any hiring or decisions about ordination

on the basis of sexual orientation and gender

identity. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of

the state of Missouri. In, uh, fact, the law

was recently just enacted. This year, I believe

that bars physicians and other health

care providers from providing gender

transition procedures to any

minority. And I've seen some reports that

because of some of the restrictions they have put on insurance coverage,

that even adults are having

troubles accessing gender transition

care. So. And of course, I say this

with. It's today is may, um,

28th. Uh, pride month begins in just

a few days. So, first of all,

um, how is the diocese of West Missouri

participating in pride monthly?

>> Robin: Well, we have any. We have a number

of activities that

we participate in. I want to first say that this will

be our third year, that as a diocese,

that we are showing up and showing out

at pride. Um, in the

past, we've had individual

churches that have been there, but we

are. We are coming together as an entire

diocese, and this is our second year.

Um, and the Kansas City pride fest that we

are a sponsor. And so we are.

We are not just as a. As a vendor,

but we are. We are tabling as a sponsor in the sponsor

tent. Um, so

we will be at Pride Fest at both. In both

Springfield and in Kansas City.

Um, and so pride fest for Kansas

City is Friday night, Saturday, all

day Saturday and Sunday. Um, we will.

In both Kansas City and Springfield,

we will have a pride mass that starts at 930.

Um, and then for both, we will

have pride parades, and we

will be marching in those pride parades. Um, proud.

And a very vocal vocal group.

>> Father David Kendrick: And, uh, I'll ask Springfield. Let me go ahead. And we,

um. So I think it was in 2016,

the. My parish, St. John's, uh,

was the first to be a sponsor of our local pride

fest, which back then was on Father's day weekend. It was.

Used to be Springfield's pride fest was between,

um, Kansas city's and St. Louis's.

And so St. John's, um,

we have been sponsoring Pride Fest since

2016. Um,

2022 was the first year that we

had, um, the other Springfield

Episcopal churches join in, along with some other episcopal

churches. And we did that again, uh, last

year. And then this is the first year that the diocese is officially

sponsoring the, uh, pride fest in Springfield.

And this year, just so we know, Springfield and Kansas City are

taking place on the same day. Um,

actually, at one point,

there was a period there where Springfield tried to have theirs in

October because they

decided they did not want to

interfere with juneteenth celebrations that were taking place

in Springfield always around Father's Day

weekend. And so for a while, they tried in October

and then realized people really wanted to do it in June.

So in 2022, we went back to doing it in June, and

now we do it the same day as Kansas City. Um.

Um, I'm m proud to say, uh, our bishop

will be in Springfield, or, ah, Springfield

best. So,

um, on top of that,

I mean, what is it? What can. I

mean, given the climate, particularly for

transgender persons now, um, where

they're just being scapegoated,

what can we do in terms of peace and

justice for those folks?

>> Robin: I think we need to speak out as often.

Speaking as a parent of, um,

uh, LGBTQ, um,

children, we, um, need to

be as vocal as humanly possible, um,

and we need to tell their stories.

>> Father David Kendrick: Amen.

>> Robin: I, um, have seen a transformation

in an LGBTQ

child, um, that

is unbelievable as I watch

her become who she really

is, and

I am unbelievably grateful that

she has been able to get the treatment that she has

gotten. And, um,

so far, we have not had trouble with insurance

and we have not had trouble,

um, with anything, but

we. I am anticipating all sorts

of challenges changing id

and changing, you know,

all of that, and I've had to make

plans for where she might go live,

and it's ridiculous.

>> Father David Kendrick: Yeah.

>> Robin: Um, and I just read this morning,

um, that the attorney, ah, general in

the state of Missouri is

investigating, you know, social

workers at Washington U. Because of

different stuff. And, you

know, I'm sorry, you, uh, know, my.

Fortunately, my child is getting treated

in Kansas, and I can't

say enough good things about the staff

that have treated her at Ku and that

they have been a blessing for her. And I

feel so awful for whatever is

happening to the staff in St. Louis because I

can only imagine that they have

been a, uh, blessing for a lot of

people in that area, just like

the people who have treated mine. And now

there are countless youth

and others that are not getting that care, and that

is abhorrent to me, and it is

not what God wants

in my mind for. For our

trans brothers and sisters.

>> Father David Kendrick: Can you elaborate a little bit more on that? Um,

that was a reminder to me that, you know, here in Springfield,

it's. We're surrounded by Missouri, whereas you've

got Missouri and then.

>> Robin: And we have an outlet.

>> Father David Kendrick: Yeah.

>> Robin: Right now for adults

um, you know, because we can't cross

the state line. Um, yeah, I

mean, you know, and I

guess it really was brought home to me. I was listening to NPR,

and there was this woman who was talking

about her trans sibling, and she was

telling the same story about her sibling

that I feel about my child,

that she saw this. This. This

child, that she saw her sibling bloom

when they became themselves.

And it was just so much the same

story I feel for my daughter.

And there are all of these

people now in Missouri who

either have to leave to be who they

are or

cannot be who they are.

>> Father David Kendrick: Mhm.

>> Robin: And that. That is not

what God would want for them. I mean, they're

forced to live in a way that is

not truly who they are. I mean, I had

no sense of that with my

child. They were just very quiet. And

Tara can tell you that they barely talked,

and Claire can, too. They were just, like, super

silent. And now you cannot shut this

child up. And, um,

praise God. But they're happy,

and they are coming out of their shell,

and they suddenly care what they

wear. And

it's like a whole new

human m. And

it's beautiful.

>> Father David Kendrick: Yeah.

>> Robin: But I would never have seen that

coming had they not had the courage

and the trust in us to say, this is who

I think I really am.

>> Father David Kendrick: Yeah.

>> Robin: And then you, you know,

you trust in that, and you. You follow with

faith that they know who they are.

And. And then you. You

do that and you see this

beautiful person come out,

and now, you know, it's

just helping them,

you know, discover all, uh, this. This

person who's just been hidden there for so

long.

>> Father David Kendrick: Well, I'm glad to hear. Thank you for sharing that. I mean, it's a

story every people need to hear to actually,

that transgender persons are real people, you

know, with.

>> Robin: You know, and real feelings.

>> Father David Kendrick: Real feelings. That's right. And, uh, I almost hate to

ask. Go ahead. You go ahead.

>> Robin: No, I said. And potential. I mean, we're. We're missing

out because we're not. We are not

experiencing them as their true selves.

>> Father David Kendrick: Right. So that does it for issues. I

do want to ask one more question, and.

And, uh, I have to admit I'm

a little uncomfortable asking it, but I kind of feel like

I. So I. I'm in my 17th year of ordained

ministry. I've been episcopalian for 40

years. I've been around.

And so the

question of general convention and the decision and the

resolutions that they pass on issues of justice

and peace, uh, I'm certainly

aware, and I suspect you all are, too. There are significant

numbers of our fellow Episcopalians

who perceive general

conventions, resolutions on peace and

justice to be partisan.

Um, and so I kind of feel like,

just because I know there are people who, even people I

serve who have these opinions, I feel like I

need to at least throw it out there and

ask you all whether.

And feel free to jump in, all three of

you. I assume you've heard at least some of

these opinions. And how do you respond to

the question of partisanship

or the argument that the Episcopal Church is

being too partisan?

>> Tara: We are living out our baptismal

covenant. We are

following what

Jesus taught. Jesus

taught us to take care of the least,

to protect children, and to

love everyone. There's

nothing partisan, as

Presiding Bishop Curry would say

about, if it's not about love,

it's not about Jesus. And mhm.

That's. That's what we're called upon to do.

That policy

swings from party to

party. There are some of the policies

that we were discussing today with regards to

guns that were

originally supported by

one party and then swung to

another. Policy can change.

Parties can change. But

protecting and loving everyone

is universal.

Mhm.

>> Claire: Well said.

>> Tara: Well said.

>> Claire: Thank you. Uh, my

two cent is,

um. If our listeners don't know

this, my, um, spouse and

I, we typically vote

differently. Um,

and one of the things

that the Episcopal Church has

done for us is a

reminder of the importance of civil

discourse. And,

um, the

undercurrent of that importance of civil

discourse is the baptismal

covenant to seek and serve Christ in

all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself, to

honor the dignity and humanity of all

persons. So when you have a

disagreement with someone over

policy or a resolution,

you have to remember that

that individual is your sibling

in Christ. That is where you

have to remember to be your teammate, not just like in marriage,

but as friendships. Cause we've

seen more and more and more

people are disassociating from

long term friendships because of,

um, political stances

that an individual or

individuals. Okay,

so remembering to

Tara's point, to love your

neighbor as themselves. And

I've often heard from, uh, some

mentors of mine,

um, specifically in the context

of addressing,

um, the topic of

LGBTQIA inclusion,

and, um, sometimes

the challenges that go with that, to love your

neighbor as they wish to be

loved, not necessarily how you wish

to be loved, but how they wish to be

loved, so that their

dignity and humanity can be

honored to the best of

our ability to find two cent.

>> Father David Kendrick: Good. So I'm

good. Thanks.

>> Robin: What Tara said.

>> Tara: Just.

>> Claire: Just copy paste what Tara said.

Well, thank you both so very much. Thank you, Father

David. Um, and,

uh, this is such a meaningful

conversation. We will post all

the things, um,

concerning resolutions, ways to

get involved, um, information about

Wear orange pride month, all the things that you

can possibly want in the show notes,

and, um, yeah, we wish you all

well. The Lord be with you all.

>> Father David Kendrick: And also with you.

>> Tara: Thank you for having us.

>> Robin: Yes, thank you.

>> Claire: Hey, friends, thanks for listening. Please like and

subscribe and leave a review wherever you listen.

Podcasts. To learn more about all things

Episcopal, visit

campusministry

diowestmo.org,

allthingsepiscopal all things

Episcopal podcast is a production of the Diocese

of West Missouri in association with

resident media. Uh, the Lord be with you all.