How does The United Methodist Church live with integrity amid sexuality debate?

(High-lighting added.)

By Heather Hahn
Nov. 1, 2014 | OKLAHOMA CITY (UMNS)

A video submitted by a mother whose gay son died by suicide after facing condemnation in the church was one of four personal stories viewed and discussed by a panel on sexuality in The United Methodist Church.
The mother’s video (click to watch the video) sparked the most vehement reaction from the panel of six bishops and the head of the denomination’s publishing house during the Nov. 1 live webcast, which was viewed by about 450 people around the world. The webcast was the second of three interactive, online discussions around human sexuality planned by the denomination’s Connectional Table, which coordinates the denomination’s ministry and resources.
The discussions have centered mainly on United Methodists’ differing views of how best to minister with LGBTQ individuals. The initials stand for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning.
In the video, Julie Wood recounted how her son, William Benjamin “Ben” Wood, was deeply involved in his church until a new youth minister arrived. One night before a mission trip, the youth minister pressured each of the youth in Ben’s presence to say they were uncomfortable being around him. The youth minister told the youth “Ben is going to hell" and that he was unworthy and not a representative of Christ. He did not go on the mission trip. He took his life years later as college student.
“We’ll never know how much of an impact this traumatizing time at youth had on his decision to end his pain. But I know he never set foot back into a church,” Wood said in the video.
Florida Area Bishop Kenneth Carter said Wood’s experience was a “failure not only at the denominational level but also at the local level where people become disciples and experience grace.”
“The incompatibility language is not helping us in our mission. People hear that as if it were spoken with a megaphone and they don’t hear our words of grace,” Carter added, referring to language in The Book of Discipline that says the practice of homosexuality “is incompatible with Christian teaching.”
Retired Bishop Melvin G. Talbert said he decided to stand against church law on homosexuality in part because of learning of suicides such as Ben's.
Ohio West Area Bishop Gregory V. Palmer apologized to Wood on behalf of the denomination.
Fort Worth (Texas) Area Bishop J. Michael Lowry said, “Shame is not a tool or weapon to use against anyone.”
Wood told United Methodist News Service she did not want to identify the congregation because the incident was “not characteristic” of the congregation. The youth pastor involved is no longer at the congregation or part of the denomination.
“I don’t want to hurt anyone,” she told UMNS. “I just want to help.”
Wood, a lifelong United Methodist and the daughter of a United Methodist pastor, now attends another United Methodist congregation with her family. At her new church, she said she sees people of all sexual orientations and all races getting along.
She said she remains in the denomination because “I have to believe change must happen.” She said the church can make a start by providing solid education on sexuality for parents, youth, congregations and pastors.
Before the event, the Connectional Table had invited church members to submit videos sharing their perspectives on human sexuality. Four were submitted. The other three came from gay church members.

Divisions evident

The panel of six bishops as well as the top executive of the United Methodist Publishing House were all contributors to  “Finding Our Way: Love and Law in The United Methodist Church,” released in late April by the publishing house’s Abingdon Press.
Divisions in the church were evident before the event began. Three representatives of the unofficial advocacy group Love Prevails tried to enter the Oklahoma City hotel meeting room where the panel was being videotaped for online streaming. Event organizers and two off-duty Oklahoma City police officers hired to provide security for the event turned them away.
Love Prevails aims to change the church’s stance on homosexuality and what it sees as discrimination by disruption if necessary. In this case, the group promised not to disrupt the livestream.

Ultimately, the three watched from a public lobby area and held cardboard signs to protest when the bishops departed. They criticized the panel for not including any LGBTQ individuals.
One of the women, the Rev. Julie Todd, said she thought the best part of the morning's presentation was the inclusion of the videos. But she added that most of the bishops' responses were typical.
“They are unwilling to have these conversations in public forums in which they can be held accountable by actual LGBTQ people,” she said. “The fact that they would not let us in the room when we promised not to interrupt the livestream is an indication of their fear and control.”
All outside observers, including a UMNS reporter, were not allowed in the room because of limited space. No other advocacy group came to the morning session.

Changing times

For more than 40 years, United Methodists have debated the stance in the church’s Book of Discipline that the practice of homosexuality “is incompatible with Christian teaching.” The debate has intensified in recent years as more states in the United States and more nations around the globe have legalized same-gender civil marriage.
The global United Methodist Church is not alone in dealing changing social attitudes and civil laws. In recent weeks, both Catholic bishops and Southern Baptist leaders have met to discuss and reaffirm their respective denominations’ views of family and marriage.
Same-gender marriages are now legally recognized in 32 states and the District of Columbia. At the same time, homosexual acts are criminalized in 38 of 54 African countries, including most of the 18 African countries that could send delegates to The United Methodist Church’s top lawmaking body, General Conference.
Church law sanctions marriage only between a man and a woman and bans the ordination of “self-avowed practicing” gay clergy.
But some United Methodist clergy have publicly defied the prohibition against performing same-gender unions. Among them is the panelist Talbert, who is now under a church complaint after officiating at the same-sex union of two men last year.

The panelists

In addition to Carter, Palmer, Lowery and Talbert, the other panelists included Bishops Hope Morgan Ward and Rosemarie Wenner. Each spoke about their essays in the book “Finding Our Way.” Also participating was Neil Alexander, president and publisher of the United Methodist Publishing House, who helped edit the book. The Rev. Amy Valdez Barker, the Connectional Table’s executive secretary, was the moderator.
Bishop John K. Yambasu of Sierra Leone initially had planned to participate but had to cancel. He faced a potential 21-day quarantine in the United States because of the Ebola outbreak in his country.
Palmer said the Book of Discipline makes no claim to be perfect, and can be changed by General Conference. He stressed that the Discipline provides a framework for ministry and the covenants that clergy and lay member agree to follow. Still, he said, church law does not require that complaints against clergy necessarily result in church trials.
Carter said he thinks the lack of unity around sexuality is a symptom of a deeper condition — “that is, our theological incoherence.”
“On one side of the issue, there is our theology of prevenient grace and social holiness and on the other side, there is a theology of justifying grace and personal piety,” he said. He said he thinks the current impasse results in part “because we are talking past each other.”

Is there room for debate?

Viewers could submit questions to the panelists via Twitter using the hashtag #cttalks. One of the questions was if the denomination had room for more than one biblical interpretation.
“We are people who love Scripture,” said Ward, who leads the Raleigh (North Carolina) Area. “It is a simple, observable truth that we differ on how we interpret Scripture around human sexuality. So, I would say an emphatic yes that absolutely, there is room for more than one view or opinion on what Scripture is saying.”
Wenner, after the event, said she was grateful for the questions from viewers as well as four videos submitted for inclusion. As Germany’s bishop, she was the only panelist who does not live in the United States.
“For sure, we did not a have the full spectrum of opinions at the table,” she said. “I hope and pray that through this panel and through many other efforts, people are encouraged to create space for dialogue and for prayer so we can move toward a better future.”
Hahn is a multimedia news reporter for United Methodist News Service. Contact her at (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org .
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COMMENTS
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 The “mother’s video” plainly makes the tragic case. We cannot escape the fact that the UMC is culpable, and we as a denomination need to ask for forgiveness, as well as seeking change now without delay.

Robert B Shepard

  

What United Methodists need to know about voting

A UMC.org Feature
By Barb Dunlap-Berg*
October 31, 2014

Sporting an “I voted” sticker yet? On Tuesday, Nov. 4, many citizens across the United States will head to the polls. Others will stay at home, arguing, “My vote won’t make a difference.”
However, two young United Methodist pastors beg to differ.
The Rev. Elizabeth Murray, a provisional deacon in the South Carolina Conference, is director of Hispanic ministries at Mount Hebron United Methodist Church, West Columbia, South Carolina, and a Hispanic/Latino ministry consultant to the conference Office of Congregational Development.

The Rev. Elizabeth Murray directs Hispanic ministries at Mount Hebron United Methodist Church, West Columbia, South Carolina. Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Murray.

“I vote,” she says, “because I know voting can make a difference in my community, nation and the lives of others. I vote, not only because it is my civic duty as a United States citizen, but also because I have vowed, as a Christian, to do no harm and to do good. I vote to protect the rights of — and promote equality for — women. I vote to make sure everyone has equal access to the right to vote. I vote for my voice to be heard on comprehensive immigration reform.”
The Rev. Michael Anthony Parker II agrees.
“To cast a vote,” Parker says, “is to say to those we endow and enable to serve us as civil servants that we affirm their leadership and ability to act on the behalf of the citizens they serve.
“As a young adult and man of color,” he continues, “I deeply value and honor the legacy my ancestors laid as they fought for the right to make their voices heard at the polls. Not an election day goes by that I do not make way to the polls and cast my ballot.” Parker is lead pastor at Ames United Methodist Church in Bel Air, Maryland.
Both Murray and Parker believe voting is the right thing for people of faith to do.
“Throughout the Bible,” Murray says, “God commands people of faith to love the widow, the orphan and the immigrant. How does our faith influence how we vote at the polls or how we think politically?”
“We have a moral responsibility to exercise our right to vote,” adds Parker. “One of the distinct calls of Christians is to be a prophetic witness to the communities in which we live. By prophetic witness, I simply mean we are obligated to speak truth to power, even when it is difficult.”

The Rev. Michael Anthony Parker is lead pastor for Ames United Methodist Church in Bel Air, Maryland. Photo courtesy of Michael Parker.

Social Principles provide foundation

Murray cites the United Methodist Social Principles, first adopted by the 1972 General Conference. Paragraph 164.B states, “The strength of a political system depends upon the full and willing participation of its citizens. The church should continually exert a strong ethical influence upon the state, supporting policies and programs deemed to be just and opposing policies and programs that are unjust.”
“The people of The United Methodist Church,” she says, “are committed to justice for all. It is important to recognize that not everyone who is in this country or who attends our churches has the ability and right to vote, so we much use our privilege to stand up for those who do not have a voice. Voting is important for United Methodists because we have the power to influence policies that could severely influence our communities for better or for worse.”
Don’t just talk about voting, Parker cautions. Set a positive example.
“Candidates who care about what we care about cannot elect themselves. However, it goes beyond simply encouraging others to vote.”
He offers three concrete ideas:

• Offer neighbors and friends transportation to the polling site.
• Form a voting group and go to the polls together. Walk if the polling site is close; that would be great exercise as well.
• Volunteer your church van to carpool community members to the polls, especially older adults and people with physical limitations.

“A vote-less people is a voiceless people,” he says.
Murray adds, “If we do not vote, how can we be a voice of justice and hope? We cannot be that voice when we remain quiet.”
*Dunlap-Berg is general church content editor, United Methodist Communications, Nashville, Tenn.
Media contact is Barbara Dunlap-Berg at 615-742-5470.