The issue of sexual morality and same-sex unions or marriages came up again as a matter of contention, in the religious sphere anyway, in mid-November of last year (2013) with the church trial of Rev. Frank Schaefer, formerly of the East Pennsylvania Annual Conference, for his active role in conducting the wedding ceremony for his gay son, Tim, and his partner in April of 2007. On November 19, 2013, Rev. Schaefer was found guilty of violating two counts of Church law and given 30 days to submit a statement affirming The UM Book of Discipline in its entirety or lose his ordination credentials. In good conscience, he could not abide by this order, and so his ordination credentials were taken away in mid-late December. [Many good links to the full story can be found here: http://unitedmethodistreporter.com/special-coverage-trial-rev-frank-schaefer/]
Hitting the press at the same time was coverage of retired UM Bishop Melvin Talbert performing a similar ceremony on October 26, 2013 for a gay couple at Covenant Community UMC in Center Point, AL, part of the Birmingham metropolitan area. Bishop Talbert received censure from many of his fellow bishops, and faces disciplinary action himself as a result of his actions.
Over the next couple of weeks, I heard from many in our congregation (Ft. Collins First United Methodist) who were terribly dismayed by what they came to learn of the official United Methodist stance on the subject of homosexuality, essentially its being "incompatible with Christian teaching" (from "The Social Principles" of The UM Book of Discipline). To be accurate, that stance and how it is published claims much more uniformity-of-thought among us than is warranted, with significant percentages of UM persons holding opinions at odds with the official stance.
As a result of the deep hurt on one side of the issue and the fear of a church in danger of losing its identity and integrity on the other, the need to address this in worship felt compelling to me. December didn't seem the appropriate time to speak to it, however, and so we've put it off until this coming Sunday, Feb. 23rd, as part of our series on "WARM'ing the Church".
Because I feel many are caught in the quandary between (1) traditional understandings of Biblical and related church teachings on this subject and (2) current ways of understanding gender and sexuality which challenge the traditional understandings, my approach to this is going to be one of illustrating a faithful way to sidestep traditional understandings by exploring the first documented "church council" in Acts 15 (verses 1-29). If there is any instance in the Scriptures, however anachronistic, of our United Methodist "quadrilateral" approach to the exploration of tough theological issues, it is in this passage from Acts. I will be asking us to wrestle with the question of what constitutes "sexual immorality" and "sexual morality". Is it really a matter of biology and external sexual characteristics? Or is it deeper and more sacred than that?
As part of our worship celebration this coming Sunday, we are honored to be hosting a part of Harmony: A Colorado Chorale, a choral group comprised of men and women whose mission as "the Gay, Lesbian, Bi-Sexual, Transgendered, and Straight voices of Harmony", is to "embrace and inspire an inclusive community through song" [http://www.harmonychorale.org/about_harmony.html].
In bringing this subject to worship, it is my hope not to drive wedges between us but to offer ways for us to engage one another in grace-filled, Christlike conversation where persons of all opinions, positions, and perspectives can be heard and honored, even if disagreed with. For as our Discipline also states, we are all "persons of sacred worth".
Blessings, Everyone - see many of you on Sunday, I hope
Steve
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