Reconciling Ministries Network

RMN Convocation Recap (Part 3)

By Leland Spencer

Sunday was a great day at convocation. In some ways, blogging about an experience that is so relational-emotional-spiritual is difficult because I can't capture things like exciting dinner conversations or the glory of the moonlight sky with patchy clouds behind gorgeous mountains. I can at least share the ways in which sessions are inspirational and educational, so I invite you to consider my notes (and comments) from yesterday's worship and Bible study.

Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Eunice Musa Iliya

• Until you've been a victim of injustice, it's hard to know what it feels like.
• The time has come to come together and talk about our sexuality as a gift of God.
• How do we make a difference? By seeing God in other people--by seeing God in all people!
• Jesus commands us to love one another! It's not a choice, but a command. Love is more than a word; it's an action and an attitude. (Very true, and Dr. Iliya really lives this out! Though hard to explain in a way that does her story justice, she shared with us how she challenged close-minded attitudes at a leadership training event in her conference, eventually getting silenced by her bishop. What great courage!)

Bible Study by the Rev. Dr. Elaine Heath

• When Jesus called God "Father," Jesus was not being a patriarchal bigot. Instead, Jesus was using intimate language in a time when people did not speak the name of God. (I appreciate this perspective, though I think worship leaders and preachers and Sunday school teachers today should employ a variety of images across and beyond gender in order not to limit anyone's understanding of God.)
• To be a baptized Christian is to be a part of a resistance movement.
• When we give our lives up to God, God fills us with who we truly are; therein, God gives us the fullness of joy and abundant life.
• Today's question to answer: What is Jesus praying for me (as an individual) in this prayer? The answer can be remembered as five words (one word for each finger on a hand if memory devices help, moving from the pinkie to the thumb).
• 1. Home: Jesus prays that we will find a home in God's love. Home is a place to feel loved and secure.
• 2. Protection: Jesus says Jesus will protect our hearts as we adjust to living in two words--the earthly world and the spiritual realm--and that eventually those will fuse into one world. (I'm not sure if this makes any sense. I got a little lost on her explanation of this one, so it's probably a little over my head. If anyone wants to leave a clarifying comment, I'd appreciate it.)
• 3. Belonging: Jesus doesn't want us to believe lies, especially lies that religious communities teach people to believe about themselves and God. Instead, we are invited to belong fully to God and to engage in God's mission.
• 4. Dance: God's love is like a joyful dance that causes creation to come into being. We co-create with God, and justice comes out of our love.
• 5. Adventure: Jesus wants us to be with Jesus where Jesus is. That means we have to go to others--to reach out to the least of these.
• When we live this way--by the words on all five fingers--we become God's hand of blessing in the world.
• AND, this nugget from Q&A: Being a part of a resistance movement is like a vampire story. In vampire stories, if you try to kill a vampire, the vampire might bite you first and turn you into one. Likewise, if we resist evil with evil, we multiply evil in the world. Instead, we must (as Paul says) resist evil with good.

Finally, I want to say just a few words about the evening program. RMN is 25 years old (I was born in the same year as the reconciling movement. Isn't that neat?). There was a great celebration of the history of the movement, including photos and videos. I'm not sure if that presentation will be available online, but it's worth a watch if it is. Congratulations to the award winners! Finally, I want to say something I've said before, but I think the Parents Reconciling Network is amazing. PRN is my argument for the introduction of sainthood into the United Methodist Church. Thank you, parents, for your profound witness, your prophetic voices, your tireless effort, and most of all, your deep love.

Pastor is church’s first openly gay bishop candidate

The United Methodist News Service reports on an openly gay candidate for Bishop in the Western Jurisdiction.

Standing before an assembly that would elect two bishops, the Rev. Frank Wulf shared his problem as a candidate for one of the top clergy positions in The United Methodist Church.

"The problem is that I come as a gay man, and I know where our church stands on the issue of same-sex orientation," Wulf said in his candidacy address before the Western Jurisdictional Conference, which represents United Methodists in the western United States, Guam and other U.S. territories in the Pacific.

The delegates, who later approved four statements challenging the denomination’s position on homosexuality, listened intently as Wulf continued: "And I know that the church says … a practicing self-avowed homosexual shall not be ordained or appointed within our church."

By extension, Wulf noted that his candidacy created a quandary for jurisdictional delegates in a denomination that consistently has declared homosexuality "incompatible with Christian teaching."

"I know that if, by some chance, I were ever to be elected as a bishop within this jurisdiction or any jurisdiction, that all hell would break loose …," he said, explaining later that he would anticipate church judicial charges, threats and hate mail.

Full story:
Pastor is church’s first openly gay bishop candidate

Western Jurisdiction challenges homosexuality stance

The United Methodist News Service reports on four resolutions passed at the Western Jurisdictional Conference challenging The United Methodist Church stance on homosexuality.

Challenging the United Methodist stance on homosexuality, the church’s Western Jurisdictional Conference approved four statements aimed at changing denominational policies and beliefs on human sexuality.

With no debate, the legislative assembly voted July 18 in favor of resolutions that presenters said will serve as "a witness to the general church."

One resolution celebrated a May 15 ruling by the California Supreme Court clearing the way for gay marriages, which began in that state June 16. It states, in part, that the conference supports "same-gender couples who enter into the marriage covenant and encourage(s) both congregations and pastors to welcome, embrace and provide spiritual nurture and pastoral care for these families."

Another asks that church leaders look for "creative ways" to "be in full ministry with all who come to us" and declares an intention not to penalize clergy or churches "for being agents of this ministry in God’s name."

A third resolution challenges decisions last April by General Conference, the denomination's top legislative body, that kept intact the church’s position that homosexuality is "incompatible with Christian teaching."

"We stand with our gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender brothers and sisters, both lay and clergy, who have been shunned by The United Methodist Church in polity and deed," the resolution states. "… As a welcoming and reconciling jurisdiction, we will take steps of inclusion in the sacred trust of marriage, ordination and leadership roles for all."

A fourth resolution affirms a statement approved by the human sexuality subcommittee of General Conference. That statement, which was not approved by the churchwide assembly, says United Methodists and other Christians "have struggled to find principles for applying traditional teachings to contemporary understandings of human sexuality." The resolution encourages "the medical, theological and social science disciplines to combine in a determined effort to understand human sexuality more completely."

As the only body that speaks for the entire church, General Conference affirmed its stance while holding that all people are "individuals of sacred worth created in the image of God." Meeting in Forth Worth, Texas, the denominational assembly also retained statements asking "families and churches not to reject or condemn lesbian and gay members and friends."

General Conference represents a worldwide denomination of 11.5 million people. Of those, 390,000 United Methodists are in the Western Jurisdiction, which covers the Western United States and some U.S. territories in the Pacific.

Full story:
Western Jurisdiction challenges homosexuality stance

Blaming the Bishop?

By Leland Spencer

On one level, I was at least disturbed and perhaps hurt when I read the UMNS story about Bishop Shamana's ruling that the California-Nevada conference's affirmation of clergy who conduct same-sex weddings is "void and of no effect." After all, I thought Bishop Shamana was an ally. I love the chapter about her in Bishop Craig's The Leading Women, especially because she created a name for herself in order to extricate herself from the patriarchy of traditional nomenclature. Furthermore, I thought for sure when I read her inspiring sermon from the 2004 General Conference that she was an ally in the movement for full inclusion. How, then, could she use the word "void" to describe the faithful witness of the conference over which she presides?

On a another level, I understand that her job as bishop is to offer a ruling based on the laws of the church. Therefore, she reached the conclusion she had to reach, and I don't think that surprises anyone. Of course the statement has no effect in the realm of church law, and its authors and supporters know that. I am certain that no one voting for the statement of support expected that statement alone to acquit pastors who are brought up on trial for violating church law by doing the ministry God calls them to do. The authors and supporters of the statement of support recognize that, in the words of MLK, "an unjust law is no law at all."

So where does that leave me? Well, I admit that I am still a little bit frustrated with the bishop. I know she had to issue the ruling that she issued--any literate bishop would--but I think she could have done it with more grace. "Void and of no effect" is harsh as well as redundant. I think my irritation in this situation echoes that of the Rev. Gayle Felton, who said in her sermon at the RMN convocation last summer, "I'm frustrated with bishops. If you can't be prophetic when you get to be a bishop, what are you waiting for?"

Additional coverage:
Ruling of Law (pdf)

Moral Dilemma: When Weddings Are a Career Risk

The Wall Street Journal reports on California UMC Clergy marrying same-sex couples and the career risk involved.

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. -- On a Sunday morning last month, the Rev. Eileen Lindsay stood smiling at the front of her California church, sunlight streaming through the stained-glass windows. She was about to sign three couples' marriage licenses, and asked her congregation to join in blessing their unions.

It was a joyous occasion, but for one thing: The act could bar her from preaching in United Methodist churches. That's because the couples were gay.

"Most Holy God," she prayed before the assembled. "Today is a day of lament and a day of thanksgiving." Her congregation of about 100 people, many wearing rainbow pins on their shirts, read from their programs in response: "We confess that we are members of a denomination whose official policies hurt and oppress people."

The California Supreme Court's decision that gay couples can wed went into effect in June, with much national attention on images of happy couples. But it suddenly put religious leaders like Ms. Lindsay in a bind because of their dual duties: They must care for their flocks' religious needs, including performing marriages; but they must also adhere to church rules, which often bar them from performing gay marriages.

After the Supreme Court decision, Todd Marler and Tim Barron, a couple in Ms. Lindsay's congregation, asked her to sign their marriage license. Messrs. Marler and Barron had exchanged vows a few years prior and were eager to make the union official.

Ms. Lindsay faced a dilemma: Should she marry the couple and risk losing her right to preach -- or refuse to marry them, and risk damaging her relationship with them and her congregation?

Full story:
Moral Dilemma: When Weddings Are a Career Risk

The Northeastern Jurisdiction supports California pastors

The United Methodist News Services reports that delegates to the Northeastern Jurisdiction passed a resolution in support of California UMC pastors performing same-sex marriages.

In sharp contrast to the action taken at the United Methodist General Conference last spring, delegates to the denomination’s Northeastern Jurisdiction Conference voted July 17 to support clergy in California who choose to perform same-gender marriages.

The delegates approved a resolution expressing respect for pastors in the California-Pacific and California-Nevada annual (regional) conferences “who as a matter of Christian conscience, spiritual discernment and prophetic witnessing” opt to participate in the celebration of same-gender marriages that are not approved by the church.

The resolution also asks for lenient disciplinary action against clergy who disobey church law on the issue.

The 2008 General Conference, the denomination’s top legislative body, voted to retain its ban on same-gender marriages and to bar clergy from performing such marriages or consecrating them in the church. Pastors who perform same-gender unions risk losing their clergy credentials. The assembly met April 23-May 2 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Division among Northeastern Jurisdiction delegates over the resolution prompted passionate debate from supporters and opponents. Bishop Jane Allen Middleton of the Harrisburg Area, who was presiding over the session, prayed for holy discernment before the delegates voted.

On May 15, the California Supreme Court struck down the state’s ban on same-gender marriage, ruling that the state constitution protects that “right to marry.”

Full Story:
NEJ affirms Calif. clergy on same-gender marriages
Click here

LA Times: Pastors defy United Methodist Officials

The LA Times reports that scores of United Methodist pastors are conducting weddings for gay and lesbian couples in California:

Scores of United Methodist Church ministers in California are putting their careers on the line in an open revolt against religious edicts that forbid them to conduct weddings for gay and lesbian couples.

The pastors could lose their jobs and clerical credentials in the church, the nation's second-largest Protestant denomination.

Ministers in Santa Monica, Claremont, Walnut Creek and other cities have already performed ceremonies for gays and lesbians or are planning to do so.

In addition, 82 retired pastors in Northern California signed a resolution in June offering to perform such weddings on behalf of ministers who feel they can't do so themselves.

Pastors have been emboldened by United Methodist assemblies in California that declared their support last month for the state Supreme Court's recent ruling overturning a ban on same-sex marriage.

The regional assemblies -- composed of lay leaders and clergy from California and other states -- also urged pastors and congregations to "welcome, embrace and provide spiritual nurture" for gay couples.

Defenders of gay marriage say they want to compel the 11-million-member denomination to live up to its slogan -- "Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors."

"I'm tired of being part of a church that lacks integrity," said the Rev. Janet Gollery McKeithen of Santa Monica's Church in Ocean Park, who plans to conduct weddings for two gay couples in August and September. "I love my church, and I don't want to leave it. But I can't be part of a church that is willing to portray a God that is so hateful. I would rather be forced out."

The two bishops who oversee United Methodist churches in California -- Mary Ann Swenson and Beverly J. Shamana -- have cautioned ministers against taking matters into their own hands.

Note: Rev. Janet Gollery McKeithen, quoted above by the LA Times, appeared in the 7/2/2008 Flashnet.

Full Story:
Pastors defy United Methodist officials to conduct gay weddings

Additional Coverage:
Here is Bishop Shamana's Ruling of Law about the California-Nevada Conference's resolutions to be in ministry with LGBT people and marry same-sex couples.
Ruling of Law (pdf)