The Reconciling Ministries Digest

(Note: Because of the nature of many websites, some of the links to external news sources in this digest may have expired.)

1. New Reconciling Community in Tuckahoe, New York
2. Reconciling Ministries Network Celebrates Black History Month
3. GC 2008--Ordination: Book of Discipline
4. GC 2008--Ordination: Introduction to Beth Stroud's Trials
5. GC 2008--Ordination: Beth Stroud's Coming Out Sermon, Walking in the Light
6. GC 2008--Ordination: Seventy-five LGBT United Methodist Clergy Write Pastoral Letter
7. Let Us Pray For You
8. Miracle Moments

 New Reconciling Community in Tuckahoe, New York

Asbury UMC
Asbury UMC, Tuckahoe, New York

On Thursday, December 6, 2007, by unanimous action, the Charge Conference of Asbury UMC formally endorsed the following Welcoming Statement and declared Asbury UMC to be a "Reconciling Congregation".

Here is Asbury UMC's Welcoming Statement:

The Asbury United Methodist Church in Yonkers, New York, established in 1771, has long been a welcoming community. We strive to follow the example of Christ, grow in love and welcome into full fellowship persons of every race, gender, culture, nationality, sexual orientation or gender identity, economic circumstance, age, physical and mental ability, family and marital status. We affirm that all persons are individuals of sacred worth.

--------------------

Several news stories about Reconciling Congregations (official and unofficial) appeared on the Internet this week:

Euclid Avenue UMC in Oak Park, Illinois hosted the Tree-mendous Gospel of Hope on January 26, 2008. They posted pictures from this great Reconciling United Methodist event with keynote speaker Bishop Sprague.

Photographs:
Tree-mendous Gospel of Hope
Click here

--------------------

The Austin American-Statesman reports:

In most mainline Protestant churches, if you’re openly gay and not committed to a life of celibacy, you’re not eligible for the ordained ministry. For some Protestants, that’s a necessary, albeit sometimes painful, policy that ensures following the Bible’s prohibition against homosexuality.

For many other Protestants, though, this rule is hurtful and damaging and sends hundreds of would-be ministers packing for denominations that ordain gay clergy. Those people, gay and straight, stay in their denominations, seeking change from within. And they honor the gay men and women who have left with a project called The Shower of Stoles.

The stoles represent the contributions of gay people to the ministry and have become a traveling exhibit. You can see them through Sunday at First United Methodist Church. And at 6 p.m. Sunday in the church’s Murchison Chapel, you can hear from the Rev. Dawson Taylor about his experience as a gay minister.

Full story:
A shower of stoles and the stories of gay ministers
Click here

 Reconciling Ministries Network Celebrates Black History Month

The National Black Justice Coalition is featuring daily stories about African American LGBT persons for Black History Month. Here is Rev. Irene Monroe's story:

A native of Brooklyn, Rev. Irene Monroe is a graduate of Wellesley College and Union Theological Seminary at Columbia University. She served as a pastor at an African-American church before a Ford Fellowship took her to Harvard Divinity School for a doctorate. Monroe has been profiled in Oprah Winfrey's magazine, O, as well as on CNN's Paula Zahn Now and CNN Headline News.

She has written columns for publications such as In Newsweekly, The Witness, Advocate magazine, the Windy City Times, Washington Blade, the Boston Globe, and many more. Monroe' award-winning essay, "Louis Farrakhan's Ministry of Misogyny and Homophobia," was greeted with critical acclaim. Her "Let Your Light Shine Like a Rainbow: 365 Days a Year-Meditations on Bible Prayers" will be out in June 2008.

Rev. Irene Monroe's perspective:

In this era of the Christian Right, a notable element of my public outreach ministry is the number of queer religion columns I write for papers and online journals across the country. As a religion columnist I try to inform the public of the role religion plays in discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people. Because homophobia is a hatred of the "other" and is commonly acted upon in the name of religion, reporting religion in the news should highlight how religious intolerance and fundamentalism not only shatters the goal of American democracy, but also perpetuates other forms of oppression such as racism, sexism, classism and anti- Semitism.

Full story:
Rev. Irene Monroe
Click here

--------------------

In replying to last week's Flashnet, Rev. Caldwell recommended that we make an article from the Advocate available for Black History Month. "Racism [not equal to] homophobia" by Richard Goldstein is an important reminder that while working for LGBT liberation, "we have to immerse ourselves in the battle against racism. And we have to acknowledge the profundity of this sin in American life."

In the glory days of gay liberation our movement was blessed with strong support from African-American leaders. That's still the case, but on the ground the bond may be fraying. One Gallup survey shows a growing antipathy among blacks toward gay rights.

There are many reasons for this shift. One of them stems from the perception that queers have hogged the civil rights limelight. I think that's largely true, through no fault of ours. The troubling fact is that the sound and fury over issues such as same-sex marriage provides an excuse to divert attention from racism. To add insult to injury, some LGBT leaders act as if their struggle is comparable to that of blacks.

Full story:
Racism [not equal to] homophobia
Click here

Prior coverage:
Black History Month at UMC.org
Click here

 GC 2008--Ordination: Book of Discipline

Coalition Petitions to the 2008 General Conference:

Our coalition (RMN, Affirmation, MFSA, the General Board of Church and Society and others) submitted the following petition regarding ordination to the 2008 General Conference:

Amend Discipline ¶304.3, as follows:

While persons set apart by the Church for ordained ministry are subject to all the frailties of the human condition and the pressures of society, they are required to maintain the highest standards of holy living in the world. The practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. Therefore self-avowed practicing homosexuals are not to be certified as candidates, ordained as ministers, or appointed to serve in The United Methodist Church.

Amend Discipline ¶2702 1 b, as follows:

A bishop, clergy member of an annual conference(¶368), local pastor, clergy on honorable or administrative location, or diaconal minister may be tried when charged (subject to the statute of limitations in ¶2702.4)...with one or more of the following offenses: . . .(b) practices declared by The United Methodist Church to be incompatible with Christian teachings, including but not limited to: being a self-avowed practicing homosexual; or conducting ceremonies which celebrate homosexual unions; or performing same sex wedding ceremonies;

Petition to Remove Discriminatory Language Around Homosexuality and Ordination. Discipline ¶304.3
Click here

Petition to Remove Chargeable Offenses from The Discipline. Discipline ¶2702 1 b
Click here

 GC 2008--Ordination: Introduction to Beth Stroud's Trials

An article from the United Methodist News Service provides a good overview of Beth Stroud's Church Trials and the ordination issue that will face the General Conference in 2008.

When a United Methodist clergywoman from Philadelphia was stripped of her credentials after a church trial, even those who prosecuted her found no cause for celebration.

"We have no delight in finding a colleague guilty of the charges," said the Rev. Thomas Hall, who served as church counsel for the denomination’s Eastern Pennsylvania Annual (regional) Conference in the Dec. 1-2 trial of Irene Elizabeth "Beth" Stroud.

A jury of 13 clergy members voted 7-6 to withdraw the ministerial credentials of the 34-year-old associate pastor of First United Methodist Church of Germantown in Philadelphia. Stroud, who had publicly acknowledged she was living in a committed relationship with another woman, was found guilty by the same jury of violating Paragraph 2702.1 (b) of the 2000 Book of Discipline by engaging in practices declared by the United Methodist Church to be incompatible with Christian teachings.

While there was no dispute from the conference about Stroud’s effectiveness as a pastor, Hall said he believed the trial court had reached the proper decision "in this place and at this time in our history together." Church law bars the ordination or appointment of "self-avowed practicing homosexuals."

Full story:
Court upholds church stance on "self-avowed practicing homosexuals"
Click here

Additional coverage:

Beth Stroud UMC.org News Archive
Click here

Washington Post: Lesbian Minister Defrocked By United Methodist Church
Click here

 GC 2008--Ordination: Beth Stroud's Coming Out Sermon, Walking in the Light

On April 27, 2003, Beth Stroud preached the "coming out" sermon mentioned in the bill of charges and specifications brought against her on October 11, 2004 for violating ¶ 2702.1(b) of the Discipline. One of the specifications in the bill of charges reads:

On April 27, 2003, Rev. Stroud did deliver a sermon to the congregation of First United Methodist Church of Germantown about her sexual orientation in which she stated that she was a lesbian, introduced her partner to the congregation, acknowledged that they lived in a covenant relationship for two-and-one-half years, and stated that disclosure of her lesbian relationship could result in “losing [her] credentials as an ordained United Methodist minister.”

Here is an excerpt from Beth Stroud's sermon on the morning of April 27, 2003:

I know that, by telling the truth about myself, I risk losing my credentials as an ordained United Methodist minister. And that would be a huge loss for me. But I have realized that not telling the whole truth about myself has been holding me back in my faith. I have come to a place where my discipleship, my walk with Christ, requires telling the whole truth, and paying whatever price truthfulness requires. I don't feel afraid. I feel that God is with me. I feel that I'm doing my best to follow Jesus, and to walk as he walked. I know that God will take care of me. I know that God will bless my truth-telling and my risk-taking as God has blessed my ministry. I believe that somehow, in my taking this step together with FUMCOG, the life and light of Christ will shine in the world. And that's what really matters to me.

As we enter into this time of risk and uncertainty together, there are a few things I want to tell you.

First of all, I want to tell you about a very important person that most of you haven't had a chance to know. That person is my partner, Chris Paige. Chris and I have lived together in a covenant relationship for two and a half years. More than anyone else in my life, Chris embodies grace and love and discipleship for me. Because of my relationship with her, I am a better, more faithful Christian. I am deeply grateful to her for the daily practice in loving and being loved, and forgiving and being forgiven, that constantly deepen who I am as a person of faith.

Chris is a person of deep theological wisdom and insight, and a true spiritual partner in ministry. You may have noticed my sermons improving since about October of 2000, and that's due at least in part to an expert theological consult that I'm sometimes able to get at seven o'clock on Sunday morning. She prays for me. I am proud of her ministry as publisher of The Other Side, a wonderful progressive Christian magazine to which you should all subscribe. I pray for her.

Chris is understandably nervous about becoming known as a "minister's wife." I have promised her that she doesn't have to wear a big hat unless she wants to. It is important for you to know that Chris is an active member and a leader at her own church, Tabernacle United Church in University City, where she has important relationships and responsibilities going back eight years. While Chris will come to services at FUMCOG from time to time, Tabernacle will continue to be her spiritual home. I know that you will all want to get to know her, because she's wonderful. But please give her time to get to know you, and understand that she does have her own congregation where she will continue to worship on most Sundays.

Second, I want you to know that I am not all alone up here. In getting to the point of taking this risk, I have had wonderful support from FUMCOG's Staff-Parish Relations Committee, the lay leaders, an amazing support committee that has been working with me for the past few months, and the Administrative Council. In the past week there has been a flood of supportive phone calls and notes and e-mails from all of you. But, outside of my partner and my family, the most profound support of all has come from my colleagues. Melody Porter has been a great source of encouragement ever since she came to us at FUMCOG. Other members of the staff have also shared kind words and thoughts and prayers and listening ears as I have been working my way to this day.

But you especially need to know that no one I have ever worked with has been more unconditionally supportive or more willing to listen and share this journey with me than Fred Day. We have been talking together about my sense of calling to take this step since before Fred even officially came on the staff, and he has never once flinched from the professional risk this represents for him as well as for me. From Fred I have experienced nothing but respect for my ministry, and tremendous freedom to follow my conscience and my calling. Fred, thank you.

I also need to say a word to you about the larger United Methodist Church, and particularly our Annual Conference and our Bishop. They are not the enemy; they are my family. 

Full story:

Sermon: Walking in the Light
Click here

Judicial Council Decision, Decision No. 1027
Click here

 GC 2008--Ordination: Seventy-five LGBT United Methodist Clergy Write Pastoral Letter

Seventy-Five United Methodist Church (UMC) lesbian / gay / bisexual / transgender (LGBT) clergy issued a letter to UMC church leaders on April 18, 2006, 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 original 75 signatories were collected by the Reconciling Ministries Network. 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. Since this project started, the number of signatories has increased to 96.

If you are an LGBT clergy person and would like your signature added to this letter, you may call Jennifer K. Soule, legal counsel for RMN. Your name is protected by attorney-client privilege. Her number is 312-616-4422.

--------------------

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.)

 Let Us Pray For You

Please let us be part of your support and let us know how we might help. One way is to let us pray for you. We invite you to send your prayer requests to us and be counted in the weekly offering of joys and concerns. You may call (773-736-5526), write (RMN 3801 N. Keeler Ave. Chicago, IL 60641) or email these requests to prayer@rmnetwork.org.

Pray for the California Supreme Court as they hear arguments next month challenging the state's ban on same-sex marriage. According to 365 Gay:

The case dates back to 2004 when San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.  Some 8,000 couples exchanged vows before the state Supreme Court ruled Newsom had acted illegally.

Full story:
365 Gay
Click here

--------------------

Pray for the men in Egypt convicted for the “habitual practice of debauchery” based on their HIV status. According to Human Rights Watch:

“These shocking arrests and trials embody both ignorance and injustice,” said Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. “Egypt threatens not just its international reputation but its own population if it responds to the HIV/AIDS epidemic with prison terms instead of prevention and care.”

Full story:
Human Right Watch
Click here

"Now during those days Jesus went out to the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God” ~ Luke 6:12

 Miracle Moments

We include these Moments of significant cultural shifts in the hope these societal events may positively impact life in our Church. The implication is not that these events happen spontaneously or miraculously. These highlights occur after years, even decades of struggle and hard work by many people. We offer them as blessings for our journey. Please send us your Miracle Moments to be included when space allows. Send to Moments@RMNetwork.org.

The Washington Post reports:

Five years after a gay advocacy group was told that it could no longer use the e-mail, bulletin boards and meeting rooms at the Justice Department, Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey has reversed that decision and issued a revised equal-employment-opportunity policy barring discrimination against any group.

Mukasey informed leaders of DOJ Pride last week that the department would give it the same rights as all other DOJ employee organizations, said the group's president, Chris Hook. In a statement, Mukasey said the department will "foster an environment in which diversity is valued, understood and sought" and maintain "an environment that's free of discrimination." 

Full story:
Attorney General Reverses Curbs On Gay Group at Justice Department
Click here

--------------------

365 Gay reports:

Salt Lake City Council has unanimously approved a proposal for a citywide partner registry. It will be available to same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples who cannot or chose not to marry.

Despite being the home to the Mormon Church and in one of the nation's most conservative states, Salt Lake tends to lean left and a majority on city council say they will support the plan.

Full story:
Salt Lake Passes Partner Registry
Click here