May the words of my mouth
and the meditations of my heart
be acceptable to you, Oh God.
Amen.

Psalm 84 is one of my favourites - commentaries tell us it's actually about the Temple - God's dwelling place is God's Church, the place where God's people meet and dwell together.

Let's hear parts of this Psalm again:

"How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God." and later
"I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than live in the tents of wickedness.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield."
(and as Michael beautifully sang:)
"No good thing will the Lord withhold from those who walk with Integrity"!

This Psalm sums up for me why it is so sad that so many of our gay and lesbian, bisexual and transgendered and questioning brothers and sisters have been turned away from the church - and therefore, away from God. They have been denied their home, the loveliness and comfort of this dwelling place of God.

What a tragedy that is. And continues to be in so many places in our world, such as Nigeria, where gays and lesbians and their friends are jailed for even meeting together to talk about same-sex marriage.

And yet, somehow, both here and in Nigeria and elsewhere in the world, the words from Ephesians have been ringing true: "be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power." In England, they have a wonderfully named group fighting for the rights of our brothers and sisters to have full inclusion in the church. It's called: Changing Attitudes. And in Nigeria, the astonishingly brave group is called: Changing Attitudes Nigeria - do pray for them, for their safety! Pray that they may hold on to the shield of faith and continue to be strong as they battle attitudes that quite frankly frighten me.

And here at home we have Integrity Canada.

When Garth asked for someone from Integrity to preach today on why a local chapter had been formed and what it was about, I immediately cast around in my mind for who I could volunteer. Ron, of course, sprang to mind. So did Ross. And I'd love to hear Joy or Mary Lou or lots of the others in the group speak.

So why am I up here? When I'm a straight woman and this is the Pride Service? Well, the simple answer is that I restarted the local Integrity chapter this past January, after it had been moribund for a couple of decades, and somehow got elected chair.

But the real answer is even simpler.

Equal rights for gay and lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people is not just a GLBT issue. It is an issue for straight people too.

Mind you, I'm preaching to the converted. You all know that. That's one of the main reasons why Iain and I worship here at St. John's.

But so many other people don't know it. I read letters all the time about the 'Gay Lobby Group' and I always reply that I'm a member of it and, um, not gay. Though quite cheerful.

Here at St. John's, it's easy to slip into thinking the battle's won and the work is done - but for those of us who are actively engaged in the work, or reading David Bewley's extraordinarily valuable postings of news from around the Communion, it's quite clear the troubles are only just heating up. Will we still have a world-wide Anglican Communion in 10 years? And if we don't, will the Anglican Church in Canada be part of the inclusive split-off? The answers worry me enormously.

But before I get too far into what Integrity is, I'd like to briefly share a bit of my journey of what led me to become a Christian gay rights activist.

My mother isn't a very nice person. I had a friend in Grade 8, Cindy, who my mother for some reason disliked. Mom took me aside one day and told me Cindy was a lesbian so I should stay away from her. I looked at Mom, said 'so what', and went over to Cindy's to play.

Now before I sound too noble, let's remember this was a small town in 1971, and I'm not actually sure I had any idea what a lesbian was. I just knew I disliked my mother for thinking a label was any reason to reject a person.

My next experience was my closest friend in university. It took him until 4th year to tell me he was gay and he was crying when he finally got up the courage. Again I said, 'so what.' He was really taken aback. He was convinced I'd spurn him. And I really couldn't figure out why. We were in music, for heaven's sake. It's not like over half the tenors weren't gay...

But he was from a devout Christian family. And terrified. He knew he was wrong. It took me years to convince him otherwise.

Over the years, persecution by the church has been the largest theme in my experiences with gay and lesbian friends. I remember a lesbian friend here at St. John's who was deeply upset when we took part in the "Hearing Diverse Voices" General Synod study. She asked me if I had any idea what it felt like to be studied as if I was an insect. And she left the church.

And then there was Matthew Shepherd, God bless his soul, the young man in Wyoming who was attacked and left to die for being gay. His funeral was picketed by a so-called minister, Fred Phelp's congregation with signs such as: "Matt Shepard rots in Hell" and "God hates Fags", etc. I still get upset when I think of it.

But you know, other Christians were there at that funeral. They dressed as angels with huge white wings which they held between the signs and the family so Matthew's parents wouldn't see the ugliness.

And that taught me a lot. That we have to get busy. That we cannot let others speak for us! Too often in the press all we hear is what the Evangelicals have to say about same-sex marriage and homosexuality. And it is not a good message - nor one that I believe comes from God.

We must speak up more!!! We must, if you like, hold up our wings! We must share with the world God's true message of absolutely radical inclusive love, summed up so simply in today's Gospel reading from John: "Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them." Please note: it doesn't say only heterosexuals. Jesus loved those who were the outcasts in his day, he loved everyone equally.

So because of these experiences, I gradually got busier, doing more and more activities, speaking out whenever possible. Alex Munter contacted Ron Chaplin, oh, I think it must be around 12 years ago now, wanting someone to do something about the religious fundamentalists who carry those nasty Biblical abomination signs in the Pride Parade. Ron knew how I felt about them. He called me. We got busy. And so signs were made, lots of people volunteered to carry them, and thus began St. John's participation in the Pride Parade. We added in cookies and lemonade - and I must say this is a fabulous church - last year, we had over 100 dozen cookies donated - you really are amazing, and your love is well-known.

But still, the need for action didn't stop. When a call came for a Christian participant on a new committee being formed to lobby the government for same-sex marriage, I said yes, even though I'd taken a life-time vow against ever joining another committee. I felt Christians should help to undo the damage other Christians were doing. Canadians for Equal Marriage proved to be deeply rewarding work - I received far more than I gave.

After we finally won our historic vote, I was hugely relieved, thinking the work was done. What happened next is probably Murray Hunter's fault - he invited me to be the guest speaker at the first meeting of the new Integrity group in London, Ontario, where he had just moved. They were lovely people - half GLBT, half straight, old ladies with their hair in pin curls and men stooped over with canes. Very inspiring. But they made an embarrassing assumption - that we already had an Integrity group in Ottawa. I had to confess we didn't - yet.

And then Jackie Manthorne preached that moving sermon last year at Pride Service. And Linda Privitera faced the ugliness caused by the Open Letter published by 7 priests in our diocese protesting her right to function as a priest just because she is honest and open about who she is.

And so as a Christian, I felt I had the responsibility to do something about it. And I'm very glad to say, I have an extremely supportive husband - he faithfully has attended every demonstration I've helped organize, even though it's seriously not his thing. He's made signs - and still has rainbow paint marks down the front of his raincoat from carrying them to the car when they were still wet. He's sung "We Shall Overcome" till he was hoarse, and given media interviews too.

And was cheerfully good-natured when I said we had to restart up Integrity in Ottawa because there was a need. And that I thought straight people should be doing it because, quite frankly, LGBT people should not have to beg for their rights. Nobody should have to beg for the right to be treated equally. Not in society and especially not in God's church.

That conviction is what keeps me going - that and the constant reminder that it's Christians who are causing deep and lasting pain to our brothers and sisters - to my friends, to people I love, and to people I don't know but still care about because they are God's children.

So what is Integrity?

It's an international group; there's an Integrity USA too. We're linked with Integrity Canada and have received a lot of support from them. Our chapter is diocesan-wide - so far, we have around 40 active members from 4 different parishes, of which 5 are clergy, and 1/3rd of us are straight. But we have a wider readership - and at least 3 other clergy listen in on our conversations as it were, staying in touch with what we're doing because they support us.

Our goals are:

1. to minister to LGBT and questioning members in the Diocese of Ottawa; - to be a place of support and fellowship



2. to minister to both the diocese and the wider church as a resource and an advocate on LGBT issues - by lobbying and educating, by writing and by speaking out



3. to reach out to the wider LBGT community, ministering to them and inviting them into the church - by walking in the Pride Parade, for example, and letting the community know there are churches that welcome them

Our theme for this parade is "Angels with Integrity" - I wasn't a part of the group that chose the theme - I personally favoured "By their fruits ye shall know them" but got voted down - or laughed down, hard to say which. But I like Angels with Integrity especially because it reminds me of Matthew's funeral and makes me think of Christians standing up and saying that love is strong, that we want to shield those we love from as much hurt as we can.

Integrity meets once a month - the night varies as we can't find one we all agree on. Our meetings are a combination of fellowship and work - heavy on the fellowship, since we've taken to starting most of them with potluck suppers.

So how can you help us?

Well, I know I can't ask all of you to join Integrity - though I'd love to. As Paul says, God gives each of us different gifts and we can't all try do the same things. You each have the work God has called you to - and this church is so wonderfully faithful at heeding God's call, it's amazing how many people get cared for here.

But for those who do feel inspired to join us, great - please do. We need you, I think now more than ever in the Anglican church. There's a lot of pain and I think it will get worse in the next few years without a great deal of support and advocacy.

But if you're already busy doing God's great work elsewhere, then can I ask you to do two things for us? The first is relatively simple but very powerful. Please pray for us - please pray for God's hurting people throughout the world. I believe in prayer - I have very often seen its power.

And the second? Walk with us this afternoon, despite the rain... Remember God's promise in the Psalm: "No good thing will the Lord withhold from those who walk with Integrity!"

Let us have a really good showing of Christians to send a loud message of welcome to all those who for too long have heard only rejection from the church. So if you have brunch plans - well, bring your friends. And if you need a nap, we'll wake you up. And if you have children with you, bring them along. There will be cookies...

Every year we've participated in the parade, people have told us the difference it has made to them. Come and be a part of that holy difference this year. Help send the message of God's great love for all people.