Wednesday, January 03, 2007

A Certain homily at the Ford Funeral

Father Robert Certain's homily is available in full here. (via My Manner of Life) The portion on gays, same-sex marriage, and schism gets a mention in the Washington Post.

A bit more from the homily regarding schism in the Episcopal Church:
He then asked me to work for reconciliation within the Church. I assured him I would, just as he had worked for reconciliation within the nation thirty years ago.
George Archibald reflects on church and state and the Ford funeral. He quotes from an August essay by Certain.

Anglicans United are shocked by Certain's homily.

The regulars at titusonenine are furiously commenting on the gospel and the homily. Revealing of how far we are from the reconciliation that Ford prayed for.

Andrea Mitchell reflects:
Jerry Ford was a religious man, but he kept that mostly to himself. He even rejected the advice of some aides to use faith as another reason to justify pardoning Richard Nixon. Ford did not want to wear his religion on his sleeve. But his longtime pastor, the Reverend Robert Certain, knew Jerry Ford's faith ran deep. Ford also cared deeply about the well-being of the church. In his homily today, Dr. Certain -- a former Air Force pilot and prisoner of war in Vietnam -- recounted how Ford called him last summer. At the time, Dr. Certain was preparing to leave for the General Convention of the Episcopal Church. The church was facing a schism over the role of human sexuality and women's leadership. Ford told him there shouldn't be divisions among those who lived by the Great Commandments to love God and neighbor -- and asked him to work for reconciliation. Nothing could be more revealing of Jerry Ford's character. To the end, he was the great healer.

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