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California-Nevada clergy celebrate 'holy union' for two women


From NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>
Date 18 Jan 1999 10:31:49

Jan. 18, 1999  Contact: Tim Tanton*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
10-21-28-71BP{029}

NOTE: Photographs are available with this story.  

By Charley Lerrigo*

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (UMNS) -- More than 150 clergy blessed the partnership of
two United Methodist women in a Jan. 16 "holy union" ceremony forbidden by
the denomination.

Most of the clergy members were United Methodists from the church's
California-Nevada Annual (regional) Conference. They were joined by lay
representatives from 17
Reconciling Congregations, which are churches in the denomination that
welcome all people regardless of sexual orientation.

The clergy put the emphasis on pastoral joy and responsibility rather than
the challenge that the ceremony represented to church law. By performing the
service, they opened themselves to the probability that charges would be
filed against them, which could lead to church trial and loss of their
ministerial orders. 

However, in a joint statement, they declared that "as pastors we have no
choice but to be the vehicle for God's blessings."

"We are not responding to 'an issue,'" they continued. "(We) are responding
pastorally to those in our congregations who live in committed relationships
of love and fidelity. ... We are responding to the call of Jesus as
reflected in Scripture."

The ceremony drew more than 1,200 invited guests to the Sacramento
Convention Center, and at times it seemed more like a soulful "love-in" than
a solemn worship. 

The couple, Jeanne Barnett and Ellie Charlton, were greeted with cheers and
sympathetic tears as they declared their 15-year relationship would continue
as a life partnership. Charlton's daughter-in-law and granddaughter paid
poetic tribute to her courage as a lesbian. Charlton, a 63-year-old
great-grandmother, broke into tears as she publicly affirmed her love for
her 68-year-old partner.

The service was the largest public holy union in the denomination since the
controversy over such ceremonies heated up last year.

The couple's pastor, the Rev. Don Fado, became choked up as he announced
that 95 Cal-Nevada clergy  (some participating in absentia) would join him
in the service, a major outpouring of support for his pastoral decision.
During a press conference after the service, Fado's voice quavered again as
he said Jeanne and Ellie "are two of the most wonderful people I know. ...
To be true to the Gospel, I am here to bless them." Fado leads St. Mark's
United Methodist Church in Sacramento.

Folk singers Jean and Jim Strathdee drew cheers for their "Ballad of Jeanne
and Ellie," in which they sang of the women's first kiss; of Barnett falling
in love for the first time at age 50; and of Charlton's process of coming
out as a lesbian, during which "she couldn't stay with the people whom she
loved the most."   

Mixed with the songs and prayers were challenges to homophobia in the church
and society. One such challenge came from the Rev. Jeanne Knepper, director
of Shalom Ministries in Portland Ore., a regional organization that
ministers to gays, lesbians and bisexuals

"This is the act which makes all other actions possible: To claim I am who I
am," said Knepper, reciting a poem written for the couple.

"We are who we are," she continued. "We love. And it is good, very good. ...
It is by such plain love that mountains will be made plain, and we will all
clap for joy."   

Randy Miller, a black gay activist member of Bethany United Methodist Church
in San Francisco, preached a five-minute sermon on I John 4:13-5:4, the
biblical passage in which perfect love is said to cast out fear. 

"Thank you for not stopping because of fear," Miller told the couple. He
praised them as part of a steady stream of "sheroes and heroes" in the
battle for gay rights.

Miller attended seminary but did not pursue a career in ministry. He joined
four other people who had surrendered clergy orders due to their sexual
orientation, and they formed the first rank of those who laid hands on the
couple during the blessing. The act was intended as a reminder of the
struggle that homosexuals, bisexuals and transgender persons have faced in
the church, which officially excludes them from ordination.

After the ceremony, Barnett and Charlton thanked their supporters, then
encouraged other homosexuals to publicly "come out" and declare their sexual
orientation.

"The closet is a dark and unhealthy place," they said. In a reference to the
exuberance and affirmation of the worship, they declared that "the sunshine
out here is beautiful, and there's more love than you can imagine." 

"God created us. God loves us," Charlton told reporters. Then she paused. "I
wish (the rest of) the church loved us."

While the worship was a challenge to the denomination, it also affirmed the
couple's commitment to the church. Their vows set their relationship within
the church community.

Both women hold high positions in the annual conference and are involved
extensively in their local church and community. Charlton is on the
conference board of trustees. She also has been a regional leader of United
Methodist Women, one of the nation's largest women's organizations. Barnett
is conference lay leader, the highest elected lay position in the annual
conference. 

Barnett presented an official four-year denomination-wide study on
homosexuality to the 1992 General Conference, the top legislative body of
the United Methodist Church. At the next General Conference, in 1996, the
delegates voted to add a sentence to the denomination's Social Principles
declaring that same-sex unions shall not be held by United Methodist clergy
and in United Methodist churches. 

The denomination's supreme court, the Judicial Council, ruled last August
that the statement is enforceable as church law. Ministers who violate it
risk a clergy trial and loss of orders.
	
During the Sacramento service, the couple and the clergy made clear that
they were celebrating not a marriage but a "holy union." Marriage imparts
legal benefits and status that holy unions do not, they observed. Marriage
between persons of the same sex is also not recognized by the state of
California.
	
The participating clergy ranged from ministers who had never performed holy
unions to the Rev. Cecil Williams, pastor of  the conference's largest
congregation, who blessed his first such service 34 years ago. Williams
leads the multiethnic Glide United Methodist Church in San Francisco. 
	
"The significance of this event," Williams said at the press conference
after
the worship, "is that ... here is a group of clergy and laity who will live
their lives with good news. The good news is that all people are accepted no
matter who they are." 

Sixty-five United Methodist clergy members from other conferences joined in
the ceremony, most of them in absentia. Thirteen clergy from other
denominations, including retired Lutheran Bishop Stanley E. Olson, also
participated.

The clergy members spent an hour before the service in prayer, song and
conversation to prepare themselves spiritually for what would follow.  
	
Seventeen United Methodist churches from around the conference sent
delegations who joined the clergy in the hands-on blessing proclaiming "that
Jeanne and Ellie are loving partners together for life." When Fado asked for
gay and lesbian couples present to stand, about a quarter to a third of
those in the hall arose.
	
The only dissonant note during the afternoon was sounded by a handful of
demonstrators led by the Rev. Fred Phelps, a Baptist minister from Topeka,
Kan. The group frequently holds anti-homosexual demonstrations around the
country. Their picket signs proclaimed the couple to be "Brides of Satan."
Their presence was offset by an estimated 500 well-wishers, who formed a
"circle of love" around the outside of the building. As Phelps' group
intoned "God hates fags," the supporters sang "Jesus Loves Me."

However, the California-Nevada Conference's conservative caucus, the
Evangelical Renewal Fellowship, decided not to disrupt the worship. The Rev.
Harry Wood, president of the ERF, said that while he believes homosexuality
is sinful, he did not want to infringe on the pastoral role of his
colleagues. Wood, is pastor of Visalia (Calif.) First United Methodist
Church, the conference's third-largest congregation. At a Jan. 15 press
conference, he said the officiating clergy should stay within the church law
and not perform the holy union service.
	
Bishop Melvin G. Talbert, leader of the conference, has said he disagrees
with the denomination's stance on holy unions but would apply the church law
properly to those who have official charges filed against them. Talbert and
his seven district superintendents have declined to initiate complaints
based on the ban against holy unions.  Though the cabinet and conference
leaders met the previous week to freshen their understanding of the process
in the Book of Discipline, the denomination's book of law, no conference
clergy or lay member had lodged such a complaint at that point.
	
The ceremony in Sacramento may change that. More than one person has said he
would file a complaint. But before a complaint can lead to a church trial,
it must go through due process, and alternate resolutions or reconciliation
are possible at several points.
	
Some clergy have argued that they are being obedient rather than disobedient
to church law by their pastoral support of holy unions. The Rev. Jim
Lockwood-Stewart, pastor of Epworth United Methodist Church in Berkeley,
said he does not feel his participation in the Jan. 16 holy union service
was "disobedient" to his role as a pastor and ordained elder. "I am being
obedient to my pastoral role," he told his congregation the following
Sunday. 
	
During the press conference, Fado was asked what he would do if charges were
filed. "We are on the right side of history," he replied. "We are on the
right side of God. We are committed to the struggle."

During the service, he referred to the prospect of charges arising. 
	
"If people are going to file charges," he said, "then let it be because of
this prayer." He and the other ministers then read:
	
"O God our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer, we bow before you to ask your
blessing upon Ellie and Jeanne, whom we now bless in your name. Their
commitment to one another grows out of their commitment to you, whose love
is revealed through Jesus Christ. We pray for you to guide and strengthen
them, that they remain open to your spirit and continue to grow in love. We
thank you for Jeanne and Ellie's love and faith, which they so readily share
with us. We recognize in this service the place of family, friends, church
and the entire human family. We are able to love because you first loved us.
O God, our Maker, we gladly proclaim to the world that Jeanne and Ellie are
loving
partners together for life. Amen."

# # #
 
*Lerrigo is a United Methodist clergyman and journalist who has been
covering religion news since 1965. He lives in Berkeley, Calif.   

______________
United Methodist News Service
http://www.umc.org/umns/
newsdesk@umcom.umc.org
(615)742-5472


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