[ENS] In an All Saints' Sunday sermon stating that God's people "are meant to be family," Archbishop Desmond Tutu called Anglicans everywhere to remember the "comprehensiveness" of their tradition.

"Jesus did not say, 'I if I be lifted up I will draw some,'" Tutu said, preaching in two morning festival services at All Saints' Church in Pasadena, California. "Jesus said, 'I if I be lifted up I will draw all, all, all, all, all. Black, white, yellow, rich, poor, clever, not so clever, beautiful, not so beautiful. It's one of the most radical things. All, all, all, all, all, all, all, all. All belong. Gay, lesbian, so-called straight. All, all are meant to be held in this incredible embrace that will not let us go. All.

"Isn't it sad, that in a time when we face so many devastating problems -- poverty, HIV/AIDS, war and conflict -- that in our Communion we should be investing so much time and energy on disagreement about sexual orientation?" asked Tutu, the Nobel laureate and Archbishop Emeritus of Southern Africa.

Pointing to the Anglican tradition of tolerance, Tutu said the Communion, which "used to be known for embodying the attribute of comprehensiveness, of inclusiveness, where we were meant to accommodate all and diverse views, saying we may differ in our theology but we belong together as sisters and brothers" now seems "hell-bent on excommunicating one another. God must look on and God must weep."

Emphasizing the connectedness of the human family, Tutu further asked: "How could we then -- we who are family -- go on spending obscene amounts on budgets of death and destruction, knowing full well that a minute fraction of these would insure that children everywhere would have clean water to drink, would have enough food to eat, would have adequate, affordable health care, would have decent homes. How could we if we r eally are those who pray as our Lord has taught us? How can we be willing to drop bombs on those who are our sisters and brothers, children of God, members of our family? God's family. How could we?"

Yet when Christians are found to be "caring, gentle, compassionate, sharing, embracing everyone ... God is smiling," Tutu said.

Tutu began his sermon with repeated "thank you's" to All Saints Church, which stood by him faithfully in the fight against apartheid. Rector J. Edwin Bacon and Rector Emeritus George Regas joined in welcoming Tutu to the parish.

Los Angeles Bishop J. Jon Bruno honored Tutu with a November 5 dinner attended by nearly 90 gathered at the city's landmark California Club. Praising Tutu's unparalleled ministry, Bruno presented the Archbishop with a framed photograph of Tutu visiting with Rosa Parks some years before her death on October 24.

The Archbishop departed Pasadena on November 10 to meet in Santa Barbara with Oprah Winfrey on the subject of girls' education in Southern Africa.