EDITOR'S NOTE
The following information comes in response to an article that appear in a popular pornography glossy PENTHOUSE in the USA. The story was carried on EPISCOPAL NEWS SERVICE. The unfortunate incident is addressed very well by the Bishop of Bethlehem (ECUSA) and we post this for your information and use.

Letter of Bishop Paul V. Marshall, Diocese of Bethlehem

November 8, 1996

Brothers and sisters in the Diocese of Bethlehem:

There follows a response to the Mike McManus and Terry Mattingly columns, which last Saturday so severely blasted the Episcopal Church in general over the tragic incident by which Penthouse magazine is hoping to increase its December circulation. Let me add a few in-house comments.

I am also writing to you because, like most bishops in the church, I was given no input into the organized responses to the situation Penthouse reports. I am too new in the House of Bishops to know why this is the case.

I want to make certain that you understand that my reply comes from an ecclesial concern, not a sexual agenda. The response says that in Northeastern Pennsylvania, at least, you look at a very different sort of story to discover the nature of the Episcopal Church.

Please also be crystal clear that I have not written to condone what is said to have gone on in Brooklyn: the priest involved does not even do that. My concern is with the callous exploitation of a tragedy to peddle magazines or newspaper columns, as it is with the exploitation of the incident to advance a partisan agenda or further pillory our Presiding Bishop.

I very much hope that you will include prayers for all those caught up in this situation in your intercessions this Sunday.

Faithfully yours,

Paul V. Marshall
Bishop

Ends.

November 7, 1996

THE MORNING CALL

To the editor:

If you believe a recent story in Penthouse, an Episcopal priest in Brooklyn married a male lover during an orgy in church. If you believe the priest, no desecration of sacred space took place. He was "used by two hustlers" and intends to sue Penthouse for its "tissue of lies." If you believe an issue-oriented group called Episcopalians United, quick to quote unsubstantiated details from Penthouse, the Episcopal Church is guilty of condoning lurid behavior.

Whom do you trust? As you read this, few know what happened in St. Gabriel's Church in the Diocese of Long Island. Investigations are underway. The real story, however, may be not so much what happened there as why certain reflexes jerk toward every opportunity to press an agenda, capitalizing even on the suffering of the body of Christ to win the day. The real story may be the harm that results from claims to own biblical truth and orthodox Christian teaching.

The Penthouse story would not have been mainstreamed into the legitimate press were it not for two columnists and a tricky word that works in court but is missed by many readers: allegedly. The syndicated column of Mike McManus was published in The Morning Call, Saturday, November 2. Terry Mattingly writes his column for the Scripps Howard News Service.

Drawing solely on Penthouse, Mattingly called the story "the latest twist in the convoluted story of the Episcopalians and their evolving teachings on sex." McManus incorporated into his column a statement of 27 bishops and an Episcopalians United editorial, both of which drew solely on Penthouse for their "facts." (There are more than 300 bishops in the Episcopal Church.)

Some people and groups in our church have not forgiven Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning for suggesting earlier this year that the lives of "gay men and women in committed relationships [can be] wholesome examples." They have taken every opportunity to suggest that the Episcopal Church, which has twice refused in General Convention to condemn those engaged in committed same-sex relationships, is on the brink of moral anarchy. Approaching next summer's General Convention, those groups may pursue their agenda by putting some wicked spin on the Episcopal Church.

If you want to know what's going on in the Episcopal Church, don't get it from issue-possessed groups or from warmed-over Penthouse fare dressed up as journalism. Go to an Episcopal church near you. Ask the folks there how they praise God in their communities.

You will find people helping people in need. You will find people welcoming the marginalized and caring for the oppressed. You will find food banks and soup kitchens. You will find creative worship. You will find caregivers reaching out to persons and families affected by HIV/AIDS.

You will find innovative ministries where parishioners reach out to children at risk in their neighborhoods and communities. You will find people bringing people to the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ.

You will find us, as we say in our baptismal covenant, continuing "in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers." You will find us "proclaiming by word and example the Good News of God in Christ." You will find us "seeking and serving Christ in all persons." You will find us "striving for justice and peace among all people, and respecting the dignity of every human being." That's the Episcopal Church.

The porn for which Penthouse paid would not have been considered worthy of a journalistic nod had not two columnists used sacred space (religion columns in secular newspapers) to advance the agenda of fringe groups -- perhaps their own -- agenda too readily identified with the Word of God.

The Rt. Rev. Paul V. Marshall
Bishop of Bethlehem