General Conference 2008: Church Door Slammed Shut, Again
PSUMC members reacted with sorrow and anger to the news that the United Methodist General Conference decided once again to affirm its bigotry against God’s lesbian and gay children.
On April 30, the General Conference, the church’s quadrennial policy-making body, rejected the majority report of the committee that considered matters relating to the church’s policies towards LGBT people and adopted instead the committee’s minority report. With that vote, delegates to General Conference chose to retain the Book of Discipline’s language condemning homosexuality as “incompatible with Christian teaching” and rejected alternative language that said “faithful, thoughtful people who have grappled with this issue deeply disagree with one another; yet all seek a faithful witness.” They also voted to uphold the Judicial Council’s 2005 decision allowing pastors to bar gay people from church membership.
These actions further entrenched the denomination’s doctrinal prejudice and institutional discrimination and prompted reconciling activists to immediately stage a silent vigil outside the Fort Worth Convention Center . Members of the Reconciling Ministries Network, the Methodist Federation for Social Action, Affirmation and Soulforce lined the entrance as delegates returned from a dinner break.
The next day, yesterday, reconciling Methodists conducted a powerful witness during one the conference’s recesses. You can watch the whole thing on the UMC’s website. You can also read the proclamation read as part of that witness on the RMN General Conference blog; it is powerful and moving.
Bishop Mel Talbert spoke during the reconciling protest, comparing the UMC’s discrimination against LGBT people to its segregation of African Americans into the Central Conference in 1939. He named both acts of bigotry as sin.
Rev. Bryan Hooper noted in his blog that our bishop, Jeremiah Park, joined the reconciling witness.
It is now up to all of us to live the inclusive Gospel despite our denomination’s exclusive policies. It is up to all of us to “stand with holy boldness,” in the words of the proclamation,
to
welcome
LGBT laity and clergy into our churches and pulpits, NOW;
to
keep
baptismal promises for all, NOW;
to affirm calls to ministries for
all
people, NOW;
to bless covenant relationships
in
our churches
by
our clergy, NOW;
to assure
membership for all
, NOW;
to provide
hospitality for all
, NOW.
It’s up to all of us to take that “holy boldness” into our congregations and in to our annual conference meeting June 11-14. It’s up to us to ask Bishop Park to join the reconciling witness at annual conference, as he did at General Conference. It’s up to us to challenge ourselves and each other and the leadership of our conference to find ways to move beyond resolutions affirming God’s extravagant welcome to actions living it.
Methodists in New Directions (MIND) will stage its biggest witness ever, and dozens of volunteers are needed to do it. Click here for a flyer with all the key dates.