wfn.org | Bishops hold first dialogue on homosexuality, discuss racism

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

May 7, 2002  News media contact: M. Garlinda Burton7(615)742-54707Nashville,
Tenn.  10-21-28-31-32-71B{211}

NOTE: For further coverage of the Council of Bishops' spring meeting, see
UMNS stories #201 and #205-208.

By M. Garlinda Burton*

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (UMNS)-The denomination's 30-year-old ban on ordaining
gay men and lesbians remains, but United Methodist leaders admit there is a
large and vocal minority of faithful, biblically grounded Christians who
disagree with the official stand.

To that end, the United Methodist bishops meeting April 28-May 3
participated in the first of four churchwide conversations designed to
"create open, grace-filled space" for people to discuss, disagree about and
acknowledge the "deep wounds" experienced by the church around this issue.

For nearly 20 years, church law as recorded in the Book of Discipline has
included a ban on the ordination of "self-avowed practicing homosexuals" and
has espoused "fidelity in marriage and celibacy in singleness." And while
acknowledging the "sacred worth" of homosexuals, church law condemns
homosexual practices as "incompatible with Christian teaching."

After a particularly tense series of votes on homosexuality - and
pro-gay-rights demonstrations - at the 2000 General Conference, delegates
asked the denomination's Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious
Concerns and the Council of Bishops to sponsor churchwide conversations on
the issue. The purpose: to model for local congregations honest, thoughtful
dialogue to replace win-or-lose wrangling on what is viewed by many as the
denomination's most controversial issue. 

At their spring meeting, members of the Council of Bishops sat around tables
to discuss their feelings and theological understandings about the issue
that many have feared would split the 9.7-million-member denomination. Their
comments came in response to papers presented by two respected scholars, the
Rev. Billy Abraham of Perkins School of Theology in Dallas and the Rev.
Donald Messer of Iliff School of Theology in Denver. 

Quoting Galatians 3:28-29, Messer declared that inclusiveness of all people
was a "precondition of being the one catholic, apostolic" church of Jesus
Christ. He also asked the bishops to consider whether, like the church's
"dramatic" change in how we now view divorce, there is some "new revelation
or understanding from God" about sexual identify.

Abraham countered that the gospel of Christ "is not about inclusivism or
exclusivism. It's not even about sex." Rather, he said that the church - and
its bishops - is called to ensure "that God's Word for us in Christ is
fulfilled and practiced." He stressed that the "final ultimate word of God"
clearly affirms sexual unions among married, heterosexual partners only.

In their follow-up conversations, the bishops weighed in. Chicago Area
Bishop C. Joseph Sprague took issue with the notion that homosexuality is,
by definition, flawed. He asserted that if God creates gay men and lesbians,
"God brings them to wholeness where they are." 

Retired Bishop Richard Looney of Lake Junaluska, N.C., defended the church's
current stand. "I would hope that our current position would be viewed as a
loving one. We don't have signs outside our churches that say, 'No
homosexuals allowed,'" he said. "We do have a position on the practice of
homosexuality, and it is consistent with the Scriptures." 

The three other churchwide dialogues will involve members of the General
Council on Ministries, youth and young adults, and people of color in
leadership in the denomination. Planners hope to encourage similar
conversations at the regional and local church levels.

The bishops also spent a day examining racism and its effect on their work
and life. They discussed the challenges of appointing pastors across lines
of race, and asserted the need for more training and preparation for
congregations and clergy in order to make successful cross-racial
appointments. 

Led by the Rev. Chester Jones, top staff executive of the churchwide
Commission on Religion and Race, the workshop challenged the bishops to
explore their own roles in either promoting or eradicating racism from the
process of appointing and promoting clergy.

Bishop William Dew of the Phoenix Area was among those who stressed the
importance of education and training for local churches in receiving and
working with a pastor of a race or culture different than that of the
congregation. "You can never prepare the church enough," he said. 

He also urged his colleagues to identify churches and pastors that are ready
for cross-racial appointment and to offer them "visible support" before,
during and after the assignment is made.

For a church about to receive a new pastor from another racial group, the
role of the current pastor in that slot "plays a key role in whether or not
the transition is a smooth one," said Bishop Joel Martinez of the
denomination's San Antonio (Texas) Area. "They lay the groundwork for the
church, so we've got to work with all pastors and the cabinet to see that
cross-racial appointments succeed."

Still, the bishops' tenacity and commitment to desegregating churches
determine the success of pastors appointed across racial lines, declared
Bishop G. Lindsey Davis of the Atlanta Area.

"The main stumbling block to cross-racial appointments belong at our feet,"
he said. "If we lack the moral courage to do what we need to do, then racism
will continue to be a problem."

In other business during their spring meeting, the bishops:

7	Adopted a message to the church for Labor Day (in the United States,
Sept. 2), emphasizing the right of all workers to receive a "living wage"
and calling on governments around the world to allow workers to organize
unions to protect their rights.
7	Began conversations with heads of United Methodist theological
schools about working together to better train and equip pastors for
ministry at all levels of church life.
7	Asked its executive committee to plan a trip for the Council of
Bishops to Vieques, Puerto Rico, during the group's Nov. 3-8 meeting in San
Juan, "as an expression of the council's corporate witness." (Bishop Juan
Vera of the affiliated autonomous Methodist Church of Puerto Rico has been
among the church leaders opposing the U.S. Navy's use of the island for
bombing exercises. A resolution passed by the 2000 General Conference called
for the return of the land to the people of Vieques and U.S. government
attention to the health concerns and economic development needs there.)
7	Adopted statements on the current Middle East crisis and made plans
to lobby the U.S. Congress this summer for more support for children and the
poor.
7	Named Mississippi Bishop Kenneth Carder to deliver the Episcopal
Address at the 2004 General Conference in Pittsburgh.

The international council includes nearly 150 active and retired United
Methodist bishops in Africa, Europe, the United States and the Philippines.
# # #
*Burton is director of United Methodist News Service.

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
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