----------------------------Original message----------------------------
          The following was forwarded from one of the gay/lesbian
          meetings on ECUNET, the religious computer network:


"LESBIAN AND GAY PUBLIC"
2563 (of 2563) DENNIS SHEPHERD Sep. 17, 1993 at 11:47 Eastern

I port the following from a BBS list.  Would that more pastoral letters of
this sort be delivered.  --dos


The following pastoral letter was issued today by the Episcopal Bishop of
Atlanta, Frank Allan. It was written is response to the recent anti-gay
activities in Cobb County, Georgia, as well as to address other situations
where bigotry is disguised as Christian family values.

===

The Grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God, and the Fellowship of
the Holy Spirit be with you always.

There is currently considerable debate in our community about "family
values" which has now received national media attention.

The root of the word "family" is "household," and the households in which
people live are found in many shapes and forms: parents and children,
husbands and wives without children, divorced and single people with
children, couples of the same sex, adult children and elderly parents,
extended families, etc. Most people in our society do not live in families
that fit the stereotype of the father who goes to work and the mother who
stays home to take care of children. But whatever form a household may
take, the values that we are called to uphold are fidelity and stability
and relationships that do not exploit and abuse. Tragically, there is too
much violence, abuse, and incest even in those families that we call
"traditional." Jesus reminds us that his family, his mother and father and
sisters and brothers, are those who do the will of his Father. (Matthew
12:50) Ultimately, our family is the Family of God. We are all called to be
brothers and sisters to one another.

That is why the Baptismal Covenant in the Book of Common Prayer asks each
candidate for Baptism to promise to respect the dignity of every human
being, for we are all bound to one another, made in the image of God. To
this end, our Church has called us "to find an effective way to foster a
better understanding of homosexual persons, to dispel myths and prejudices
about homosexuality, to provide pastoral support, and to give life to the
claim of homosexual persons upon the love, acceptance, and pastoral care
and concern of the Church."

As we struggle with the ethical issues around homosexuality, people of
faith are called to listen lovingly to those with whom they may disagree.
As Jesus was converted by the Syrophoenician woman the outsider who came to
him on behalf of her daughter (Mark 7:26ff), we might find that we too are
changed, as he was, when we stop long enough to listen to the other person
whose differences from us are far outweighed by our common humanity.

It is important, however, to state unequivocally that such statements as
"Praise God for AIDS," seen on a poster in the midst of a crowd advocating
"traditional family values," are contrary to the mind and love of Christ.
Such statements and attitudes do not represent the teaching of this Church,
nor, for that matter, the majority of Christians.

+Frank K Allan
Bishop of Atlanta

DENNIS SHEPHERD (written on Fri, Sep 17, 1993, at 10:53)
A Grateful Heart Praying to Encourage Others.
INTERNET ADDRESS:  DENNIS_SHEPHERD.parti%pcusa01@uunet.uu.net