I'm back from a young adult retreat in Glenwood Springs - not as relaxing as it would have been if I were attending without leading, but still very enjoyable - and trying now for the third time to post this press release (work with me, Blogger!).
The Judicial Council of The United Methodist Church (UMC), our denomination's highest church court, will meet this week in Overland Park, Kansas, to decide, among other things, whether to reconsider a ruling made last October reinstating a pastor who had excluded a gay man from membership in a United Methodist church. Seventy-five United Methodist clergy have issued a pastoral letter to the UMC via the Reconciling Ministries Network (RMN), and they invite other LGBT clergy in the denomination to join as co-signatories (see bottom of press release for contact info).
To learn more of the background, read the United Methodist News Service stories about the issue, or my post responding to the ruling last fall.
In addition to spreading the word about the letter and press release, I ask your prayers, as students from both Iliff School of Theology and St. Paul School of Theology (two of the 13 United Methodist seminaries) will offer a Reconciling Witness during the Council session (learn more at RMN's website; scroll down on the front page). May hearts, minds, and doors be opened to God's unconditional love.
---------------------------------------------------------------
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Susan Laurie 773.736.5526
Rev. Troy Plummer 773.315.9225
Letter from 75 UMC Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender Clergy Notes Defrocking Fears yet a Continued Commitment to Service
On Eve of UMC Judicial Council, Clergy Insist On Inclusion of LGBT Community and Say Hundreds Still Serve Silently in Church
(Chicago - April 18, 2006) -In an unprecedented move and at great personal risk 75 United
Methodist Church (UMC) lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender (LGBT) clergy issued a letter to UMC church leaders today seeking full inclusion in the life of the church and outlining their deep fear of coming out of the closet because, like Beth Stroud, they will be stripped of their ordination credentials. The letter also reaffirmed their commitment to serve the Church.
The 75 signatories were collected by the Reconciling Ministries Network, a "national grassroots organization that exists to enable full participation of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities in the life of the United Methodist Church, both in policy and practice." The list includes clergy from every jurisdiction in the UMC and represents a unified voice of hundreds of others who serve the church in silence at all levels.
The Methodist denomination has been wrestling with the issue of homosexuality since 1972, when it declared homosexuality "incompatible with Christian teaching." Since that time, legislation has been passed preventing the ordination of "self-avowed, practicing homosexuals." The ban against homosexuals extended from clergy to the laity when an October 2005 Judicial Council ruling allowed a pastor to withhold membership vows from a gay man.*
"This letter represents hundreds of clergy from around the United States who are giving their heart and soul to the United Methodist Church and its ministry through work in local congregations and specialized settings," said Dr. Joretta Marshall, chair of the Reconciling Ministries Network and RMC clergy member. "Their voices and experiences are silenced out of fear of losing their standing in the church and, as a result, fear of losing their ability to respond to the call of God for their lives. It is a tragedy that so many good pastoral leaders have to hide and live in fear when they have gifts and graces in abundance to share."
While the debates around homosexuality will continue in the church, the signers of the letter emphatically state that "even with the most restrictive legislation, LGBT people will still be raised up through the UMC's Sunday School and youth programs. They will hear God's voice calling them into ministry, and Boards of Ordained Ministry will continue to find them called and gifted candidates, regardless of their sexual orientation."
Additional clergy are welcomed to confidentially add to the number of signers in a secure way. For instructions on how to do so, contact Jennifer Soule, Attorney At Law, at 312-616-4422 (indicate "RMN confidential respondent" when calling).
# # #
----------------- Pastoral Letter -----------------------------------------------------------
A PASTORAL LETTER TO THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH FROM 75 LESBIAN/GAY/BISEXUAL/TRANSGENDER UM CLERGY
For Immediate Release
The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don't, the parts we see and the parts we don't. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance. You are Christ's body--that's who you are! You must never forget this.
The Judicial Council of The United Methodist Church (UMC), our denomination's highest church court, will meet this week in Overland Park, Kansas, to decide, among other things, whether to reconsider a ruling made last October reinstating a pastor who had excluded a gay man from membership in a United Methodist church. Seventy-five United Methodist clergy have issued a pastoral letter to the UMC via the Reconciling Ministries Network (RMN), and they invite other LGBT clergy in the denomination to join as co-signatories (see bottom of press release for contact info).
To learn more of the background, read the United Methodist News Service stories about the issue, or my post responding to the ruling last fall.
In addition to spreading the word about the letter and press release, I ask your prayers, as students from both Iliff School of Theology and St. Paul School of Theology (two of the 13 United Methodist seminaries) will offer a Reconciling Witness during the Council session (learn more at RMN's website; scroll down on the front page). May hearts, minds, and doors be opened to God's unconditional love.
---------------------------------------------------------------
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Susan Laurie 773.736.5526
Rev. Troy Plummer 773.315.9225
Letter from 75 UMC Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender Clergy Notes Defrocking Fears yet a Continued Commitment to Service
On Eve of UMC Judicial Council, Clergy Insist On Inclusion of LGBT Community and Say Hundreds Still Serve Silently in Church
(Chicago - April 18, 2006) -In an unprecedented move and at great personal risk 75 United
Methodist Church (UMC) lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender (LGBT) clergy issued a letter to UMC church leaders today seeking full inclusion in the life of the church and outlining their deep fear of coming out of the closet because, like Beth Stroud, they will be stripped of their ordination credentials. The letter also reaffirmed their commitment to serve the Church.
The 75 signatories were collected by the Reconciling Ministries Network, a "national grassroots organization that exists to enable full participation of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities in the life of the United Methodist Church, both in policy and practice." The list includes clergy from every jurisdiction in the UMC and represents a unified voice of hundreds of others who serve the church in silence at all levels.
The Methodist denomination has been wrestling with the issue of homosexuality since 1972, when it declared homosexuality "incompatible with Christian teaching." Since that time, legislation has been passed preventing the ordination of "self-avowed, practicing homosexuals." The ban against homosexuals extended from clergy to the laity when an October 2005 Judicial Council ruling allowed a pastor to withhold membership vows from a gay man.*
"This letter represents hundreds of clergy from around the United States who are giving their heart and soul to the United Methodist Church and its ministry through work in local congregations and specialized settings," said Dr. Joretta Marshall, chair of the Reconciling Ministries Network and RMC clergy member. "Their voices and experiences are silenced out of fear of losing their standing in the church and, as a result, fear of losing their ability to respond to the call of God for their lives. It is a tragedy that so many good pastoral leaders have to hide and live in fear when they have gifts and graces in abundance to share."
While the debates around homosexuality will continue in the church, the signers of the letter emphatically state that "even with the most restrictive legislation, LGBT people will still be raised up through the UMC's Sunday School and youth programs. They will hear God's voice calling them into ministry, and Boards of Ordained Ministry will continue to find them called and gifted candidates, regardless of their sexual orientation."
Additional clergy are welcomed to confidentially add to the number of signers in a secure way. For instructions on how to do so, contact Jennifer Soule, Attorney At Law, at 312-616-4422 (indicate "RMN confidential respondent" when calling).
# # #
----------------- Pastoral Letter -----------------------------------------------------------
A PASTORAL LETTER TO THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH FROM 75 LESBIAN/GAY/BISEXUAL/TRANSGENDER UM CLERGY
For Immediate Release
The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don't, the parts we see and the parts we don't. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance. You are Christ's body--that's who you are! You must never forget this.
- 1 Corinthians 12:25-27 (Peterson, The Message)
We are 75 lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender (LGBT) clergy in The United Methodist Church and we feel it is time our voices were heard in the debates regarding sexuality and the church.
We have known the church at its best through first hand experience. In baptism, we were welcomed into the loving, waiting arms of the family of God. The United Methodist Church both nurtured and confirmed our faith, saturating our lives in God's grace. You are the church that opened our minds and hearts to God's irrevocable call into ministry.
As your pastors, we have embodied God's presence in worship and in your lives, blessing your marriages, responding to midnight calls, holding your hands, wiping your tears, and laying your precious loved ones to rest. We have had the joy and privilege of baptizing you, your children, and your grandchildren, and we have experienced the profound mystery of the spirit of Christ in serving you Holy Communion.
At the same time, we have known the church at its worst. Since 1972, the UMC has been on a slow but steady course to exclude LGBT people from the life of the church as a whole. Many in our denomination support this dismembering of Christ's Body. Yet even while our sister Beth Stroud was stripped of her ordination credentials, LGBT clergy continue to serve the church faithfully at every level of leadership.
We serve our beloved United Methodist Church at great cost. We have experienced personally the church's power to harm as it rejects an elemental part of who we are. The UMC's official policy has pushed us, as well as our families, into closets of fear and isolation. We are not deceitful people, but the church has given us no choice. To deny God's calling in our lives would leave a void in the Body of Christ.
As LGBT clergy, we are also keenly aware of the suffering of LGBT laity who question whether they can continue to support the UMC with their ongoing prayers, faithful presence, personal and financial gifts, and dedicated service when the church has declared their lives to be incompatible with Christian teaching. Judicial Council Decision 1032 has revealed what we have known for a long time: there are those in the UMC whose agenda is not only antithetical to our Wesleyan heritage, but a dismembering of the Body of Christ.
Yet we know that it is ultimately impossible for the church to amputate us from Christ's Body. Even with the most restrictive legislation, LGBT people will still be raised up through the UMC's Sunday School and youth programs. They will hear God's voice calling them into ministry, and Boards of Ordained Ministry will continue to find them called and gifted candidates, regardless of their sexual orientation. Many will realize, as we have, that seeking ordination in another, more welcoming denomination, is impossible-for it is in the UMC that our spirituality is rooted.
If you are an ordained, commissioned, licensed, or lay LGBT person in The United Methodist Church, take heart! Hear the good news: If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. You are not alone!
We call upon our UM sisters and brothers to break the silence and bear witness to these truths. We implore you to do all in your power to support LGBT people and their families so that we may live our lives as ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ with integrity and without fear.
John Wesley's prayer is our prayer, that we might serve the United Methodist Church with "purity of intention, dedicating all the life to God... giving God all our heart...devoting, not a part, but all, our soul, body, and substance to God... loving God with all our heart, and our neighbor as ourselves." (John Wesley's Theology--A Collection from His Works, 1982.)
# # #
We are 75 lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender (LGBT) clergy in The United Methodist Church and we feel it is time our voices were heard in the debates regarding sexuality and the church.
We have known the church at its best through first hand experience. In baptism, we were welcomed into the loving, waiting arms of the family of God. The United Methodist Church both nurtured and confirmed our faith, saturating our lives in God's grace. You are the church that opened our minds and hearts to God's irrevocable call into ministry.
As your pastors, we have embodied God's presence in worship and in your lives, blessing your marriages, responding to midnight calls, holding your hands, wiping your tears, and laying your precious loved ones to rest. We have had the joy and privilege of baptizing you, your children, and your grandchildren, and we have experienced the profound mystery of the spirit of Christ in serving you Holy Communion.
At the same time, we have known the church at its worst. Since 1972, the UMC has been on a slow but steady course to exclude LGBT people from the life of the church as a whole. Many in our denomination support this dismembering of Christ's Body. Yet even while our sister Beth Stroud was stripped of her ordination credentials, LGBT clergy continue to serve the church faithfully at every level of leadership.
We serve our beloved United Methodist Church at great cost. We have experienced personally the church's power to harm as it rejects an elemental part of who we are. The UMC's official policy has pushed us, as well as our families, into closets of fear and isolation. We are not deceitful people, but the church has given us no choice. To deny God's calling in our lives would leave a void in the Body of Christ.
As LGBT clergy, we are also keenly aware of the suffering of LGBT laity who question whether they can continue to support the UMC with their ongoing prayers, faithful presence, personal and financial gifts, and dedicated service when the church has declared their lives to be incompatible with Christian teaching. Judicial Council Decision 1032 has revealed what we have known for a long time: there are those in the UMC whose agenda is not only antithetical to our Wesleyan heritage, but a dismembering of the Body of Christ.
Yet we know that it is ultimately impossible for the church to amputate us from Christ's Body. Even with the most restrictive legislation, LGBT people will still be raised up through the UMC's Sunday School and youth programs. They will hear God's voice calling them into ministry, and Boards of Ordained Ministry will continue to find them called and gifted candidates, regardless of their sexual orientation. Many will realize, as we have, that seeking ordination in another, more welcoming denomination, is impossible-for it is in the UMC that our spirituality is rooted.
If you are an ordained, commissioned, licensed, or lay LGBT person in The United Methodist Church, take heart! Hear the good news: If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. You are not alone!
We call upon our UM sisters and brothers to break the silence and bear witness to these truths. We implore you to do all in your power to support LGBT people and their families so that we may live our lives as ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ with integrity and without fear.
John Wesley's prayer is our prayer, that we might serve the United Methodist Church with "purity of intention, dedicating all the life to God... giving God all our heart...devoting, not a part, but all, our soul, body, and substance to God... loving God with all our heart, and our neighbor as ourselves." (John Wesley's Theology--A Collection from His Works, 1982.)
# # #
*Clarification: the Judicial Council ruling does not categorically ban GLBT laypeople from membership in The United Methodist Church, but it declares that the pastor in charge has sole authority to determine who is fit and ready to take the vows of membership to join the local congregation.
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