In the 1970s, I was a
member of the United Methodist Church. That was a long time ago. And,
now, I do not practice worship in a formal church setting. I admit
over the years I have not been comfortable joining any particular
denomination; however, some of the best people I have known in my 69
years of life were Christians, and particularly, members of the
Methodist faith. I remain a believer in God though not a practicing
church goer.
A recent development
stirred my renewed interest in this denomination I hold in high
regard. It describes how a “united” faith is currently facing a
controversial split.
The current proposal of
the United Methodist
Church to split the denomination over what it called "fundamental
differences" regarding its beliefs on same-sex marriage and
LGBTQ clergy is puzzling and indicative of a struggle in religion
with changing values and beliefs.
The United Methodist
Church is the second largest Protestant denomination in the U.S.
(after the Southern Baptists), with more than 12 million members
worldwide. The proposal, signed by 16 church leaders from around the
world, will be voted on at the church's 2020 general conference in
May. If passed, it would allow for a "traditionalist"
denomination to separate from the United Methodist Church.
Ordained pastors currently
are not allowed to perform same-sex marriages, risking disciplinary
action if they do, and "practicing" LGBTQ people also
cannot become ordained pastors, according to the church's book of
discipline. The new traditionalist denomination, once separate, would
open the door for the existing United Methodist Church to repeal the
church's ban on same-sex marriages and LGBTQ clergy.
I understand how change
develops … slowly and with small steps. It seems as if this vote
will be a major advancement for the LGBTQ community and for human
rights in general. Many laud the proposal.
Rev. Tom Berlin – a
pastor at the Floris United Methodist Church in Herndon, Virginia who
signed the protocol and described himself as a centrist – says …
"If this actually
passes, it will be a great relief. What this proposal allows us to do
is be a more inclusive United Methodist Church. It also allows us to
put a controversy to rest. The controversy itself has been a
stumbling block toward our larger mission."
The question of whether to
allow LGBTQ marriage and clergy has existed since the founding of the
United Methodist Church in 1968. That's 52 years ago. A 2014 survey
by the Pew Research Center found in the U.S., 60% of United Methodist
members say homosexuality should be accepted. The minority divide
addresses views of Methodists in the United States and those in
less-developed, more socially conservative countries, particularly in
Africa and Asia.
If
the proposal passes, local churches would be able to choose whether
they want to stay in the United Methodist Church or join a new
denomination. Those decisions must be made by the end of 2024,
according to the proposal, and any church moving to another Methodist
denomination would maintain its assets and liabilities.
Consider the Rev. David
Meredith, a pastor at the Clifton United Methodist Church in
Cincinnati. He is gay and has been married since 2016. Meredith
shares this …
"In the
congregation I serve, they're delighted that I was appointed to be
their pastor. They would describe it as an answer to prayer …
"When my husband
and I made it legal, suddenly they had this piece of evidence – my
marriage license – to get me. The United Methodist Church
post-separation will be a place where the injury and the harm of
LGBTQ clergy and of LGBTQ couples, their families, their
congregations, their communities, will be removed. Part of that
begins immediately …
“No matter what the
politician, the TV preacher, your income, your diagnosis, your
documents, your relationship says about you, you're a beloved child
of God."
Meredith, who signed the
protocol representing progressive groups, says that he is under
complaint from the church for marrying a man, but that his immediate
supervisors and his congregation are happy to have him continue to
serve as pastor. The protocol immediately puts into effect an
abeyance, which means that complaint goes "into a drawer where
it can collect dust."
Still …
To me, that word “united”
just flies in the face of a compromise as a “split” in the
Methodist denomination. I understand the feelings of Rev. Keith
Boyette, president of the traditionalist Wesleyan Covenant
Association, who defends the separation as "a fair and equitable
solution that puts decades of conflict behind us and gives us a
hopeful future. "
However …
Last year, the United
Methodist Church voted to reinforce the church's stance against
ordaining gay clergy and performing same-sex weddings. At the St.
Louis conference in February, the denomination decided that United
Methodist churches and clergy could face removal if they did not
affirm its stance against gay marriage and non-celibate LGBT clergy
by 2021.
"Ultimately, the
Church's decision to split leaves many LGBTQ Methodists who want to
be fully included in the life of the Church in limbo, trying to
determine their place in a Church that has still not embraced them,"
Michael Vazquez, Human Rights Campaign religion and faith program
director, said in a statement.
So, to me, the bottom line
should involve both
being “united” and
“fully included.”
I am not a practicing member of the United Methodists, but I question
why an amicable denomination must split over these issues. I believe
any denial of LGBTQ rights is, at best, both a bigoted and temporary
offense to human beings, those “beloved children of God” seeking
dignity, equality, integrity, and respect. We must overcome old
prejudices, and stubborn resistance to change only hinders truth.
The United Methodist
Church is one of the few major mainline Protestant denominations in
the United States that does not sanction same-sex marriage. The
Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and others have moved to embrace gay
marriage in recent years.
If Methodist conservatives
wish to remedy this situation by remaining true to their anti-gay
theological understandings, what does this say about their united
teachings of “God’s grace is available to all” and “we seek
to live together in Christian community”?
Now, a clear majority of
Methodists accept homosexuality. Here is the point: Shouldn't the
denomination remain a single
body united in one fully included
progressive stand? Doesn't split just stand for
fractured in disrepair? Maybe the reason this United Methodist future
will not happen is readily apparent. Look at some of these statistics
for an answer:
Pew Research (2019)
reported that the United Methodist Church is older and less racially
diverse than many other denominations in U.S. The median age of
United Methodist adults is 57, well above the national median. And,
94% of United Methodists are white, much higher than the share of
whites in the overall U.S. population (66%).
Top 10 Ways We Know God
Loves Gays (with Bible Scriptures!)
10 –
God and Gay both start with a “G”.
9 – God knew we
would be gay before we were born – and He made us anyway. (Jeremiah
1:5; Isaiah 49:1; Romans 8:28-31). He let LGBT people write some of
His favorite Gospel songs, direct some of His favorite choirs and
called many to television and megachurch ministries.
8 – LBGT = Loved
By God Truly! (Get the T-Shirt!)
7 – He structured
salvation such that every man who wants to be a Christian must learn
to love a man named Jesus. (John 14:23).
6 – Jesus never
said anything against homosexuality and He approved gender
reassignment surgery. (Matthew 19:12)
5 – God uses
rainbows in the sky to show his love and covenant of peace with
humanity. (Genesis 9:13) There’s even a rainbow around His
throne.– (Revelations 4:3)
4 – He published
David and Jonathan’s tragic love story in His best- seller, the
Bible. (1 Samuel 18:1-4; 1 Samuel 20:40-42; 2 Samuel 1:25-27)
3 – In the
Beginning, all humans were created intersex. (Genesis 1:27; Genesis
2:21-23)
2 – He designed a
FABulous wedding in the Holy City of New Jerusalem and invited all
his children (male, female and intersex) to come dressed in a
gorgeous bridal gown. (Revelations 19:5-9; Revelations 21:9-11)
1 – And the top
way we know God loves gays? Because God IS LOVE. (I John 4:16; John
3:16)
By Aimee Maude Sims of
NuWine Press, the Gay – and everybody – friendly Christian Book
Publisher
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