Episcopal News Service January 8, 2007
Northern California parish's ad about conflict in Episcopal Church garners much reaction
Ad's objective was to broaden context of neighboring rector's decision to leave
By Mary Frances Schjonberg
[ENS] A full-page newspaper advertisement "meant to change the context" of media coverage of the Episcopal Church appears to be meeting its goal, according to the priest who wrote the ad's text.
The ad, titled "Sex, Religion, and the Culture Wars: An Open Letter to the Community," ran on the back page of the local news section of the January 7 issue of the Santa Rosa, California Press Democrat newspaper.
In the ad, under the sub-headline "Too Boring for the Culture Wars," the Rev. Matthew Lawrence, rector of Church of the Incarnation (http://incarnation-sr.org/index.html) in Santa Rosa, wrote that "sometimes the only Christians who receive media attention are those who make the most noise with their extreme views. Granted, they do provide entertainment value -- extremists are fascinating. By contrast, most Episcopalians tend toward the boring mainstream."
The ad is due to be posted on Church of the Incarnation's website soon.
Placement of the ad in the newspaper generated coverage by the Press Democrat (http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070105/NEWS /701050305/1033/NEWS01 #more) and television stations in San Francisco and Santa Rosa, Lawrence said.
"What I'm proud of is that we got the media to change the context of the story," he said. "Instead of it being a story about homosexuality splitting the Episcopal Church, it became a story of how the majority of Episcopal churches stand in affirmation of gays and lesbians despite this one little church, and I think that shift in the context of the story is really important and I'd love to see that happen in other places."
In the ad, Lawrence wrote that "this letter is one local pastor's attempt to shed some light on this overheated topic. I do not claim to speak for every member of my church -- one thing we love about our church is its diversity of opinions."
Lawrence told the Episcopal News Service that he got the idea for the ad while talking to a reporter about the decision by the rector and the majority of the members of St. John's Episcopal Church in nearby Petaluma to leave the Episcopal Church.
Full story and photograph: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_81038_ENG_HTM.htm
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