Day Seven

Psalm 143

Hear my prayer O Lord:
in your faithfulness consider my petition, and in your righteousness give me answer.

2 Bring not your servant into judgement:
for in your sight can no one living be justified.

3 For the enemy has pursued me, they have crushed my life to the ground:
they have made me dwell in darkness, like those for ever dead.

4 Therefore my spirit grows faint:
and my heart is appalled within me.

5 I remember the days of old, I think on all that you have done:
I consider the works of your hands.

6 I stretch out my hands towards you:
my soul yearns for you like a thirsty land.

7 Be swift to hear me, O Lord, for my spirit fails:
hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the Pit.

8 O let me hear of your merciful kindness in the morning, for my trust is in you:
show me the way that I should go. for you are my hope.

9 Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord:
for I run to you for shelter.

10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God:
let your kindly spirit lead me in an even path.

11 For your name's sake, O Lord, preserve my life:
and for the sake of your righteousness, bring me out of trouble.

from Changing Attitude's Media release at the conclusion of the Anglican Primate's meeting in Dar es Salaam, February 2007.

Conclusion: Hope for living the Gospel
We look forward to a time when our conversations will be dominated by concerns of mission, evangelism, and service rather than by threats of discrimination, persecution, and schism.

We read the Gospels as commending radical inclusion. Jesus again and again shared meals with outcasts, treasured those whom the culture rejected, and taught that religious practice must be loving. St. Paul urged the earliest Christian communities to be people of Gospel love and hope, rather than people enslaved to the Law. We firmly believe that LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transexual] Christians belong at the centre of our common life in Christ, not at the margins.

We hope that the church will live this vision. In short, we seek a church that embraces all people as God's precious children. We want an inclusive church.

The Revd Colin Coward
Director of Changing Attitude England

Davis Mac-Iyalla
Director of Changing Attitude Nigeria

The Revd Scott A Gunn
ECUSA representative to Inclusive Church