About every decade or so I write The Living Church. Something just wells up inside and I can’t help myself!

Unlike many of your correspondents, I am Rector of a large congregation that is fully inclusive and welcoming.

We like being Episcopalians and are proud to be a part of the theological journey the Episcopal Church has been on to make room at the table for everyone. We support our Presiding Bishop as she attempts to recover properties for mission that have been taken from us. We even pay our diocesan assessment and don’t try to designate it to causes we like. I think it is called Anglicanism, and I rejoice being one.

That said, I think our Executive Council and other national leaders are making a mistake engaging in an argument with the Archbishop of Canterbury over his Pentecost Letter and the related decisions to remove certain representatives of the Episcopal Church from ecumenical dialogues.

First of all, they are his commissions and so, presumably, it is his right to remove us. Secondly, all in all it is a small price to pay as he is under tremendous pressure to go further. Finally, and most significantly for me, if the mind of the North American Church is Godly about inclusion and a deeper understanding of the sacredness and mystery human sexuality (and I believe that it is) we should witness to that belief and accept the Archbishop’s Godly Admonition.

Our vote in the political process is not nearly as eloquent as our commitment to justice and compassion. The movement for inclusion will win; the course of history is clear on that point. “Gracious restraint” is not too big a price for this victory.

The Reverend) J. Kenneth Asel, D.Min Episcopal Church / Jackson Hole