wfn.org | Western United Methodists respond to General Conference pain

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

July 17, 2000   News media contact: Tim Tanton·(615)742-5470·Nashville,
Tenn.  10-21-28-71B{328}

NOTE:  This report is a sidebar to UMNS story #327. A complete text of the
Western Jurisdiction's statement follows at the end of this story.

CASPER, Wyo. (UMNS) - United Methodists in the Western states say they will
continue working for full participation of sexual minorities in the life of
the church, despite votes by the denomination's top legislative assembly
regarding homosexuality.

Delegates to the July 12-15 Western Jurisdictional Conference almost
unanimously approved a statement titled "We Will Not Be Silent," in which
they resolved to "continue to be in ministry with all God's children and
celebrate the gifts diversity brings."

"Certain actions of General Conference 2000 have caused tremendous pain for
individuals and communities and have resulted in an attempt to suppress our
prophetic and pastoral ministries among all people, regardless of sexual
orientation," the delegates said in the statement.

The General Conference voted during its May 2-12 meeting to uphold the
denomination's strictures against the practice of homosexuality. The
church's Book of Discipline forbids the ordination of self-avowed,
practicing homosexuals and the performance of same-sex unions in the church
or by its ministers. It also declares the practice of homosexuality
"incompatible with 
Christian teaching." The votes carried on margins of roughly 2-to-1.

"We cannot accept discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual or
transgender persons and, therefore, we will work toward their full
participation at all levels in the life of the church and society," the
Western Jurisdiction delegates said in their statement.

The statement, adopted July 14, was drafted by a committee that included
people from all of the annual conferences (regional units) in the
jurisdiction.

"I hope that this is a sign of hope for everyone whose heart is breaking,"
said the Rev. Sharon Rhodes-Wickett of Los Angeles during a news conference.
The idea for the statement arose from a discussion between Rhodes-Wickett
and the Rev. James Lawson, the renowned civil rights leader and United
Methodist pastor from Los Angeles, following a July 13 episcopal address by
Bishop Melvin G. Talbert.

"For me, the hope is to let folks in the church and who are no longer in the
church know that just because the General Conference makes these kinds of
decisions, the quest for justice is not over," Rhodes-Wickett said.

"We felt unresolved about General Conference," explained the Rev. Doug Fitch
of Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco. "We felt we had
been cast aside, cast adrift by the general church in a real sense.

"We serve parishes where we have openly gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgender persons who serve well and serve ably," Fitch said. They are
affirmed in the local church, and being denied by the general church was a
blow, he said.

The statement represented the deep disappointment in the Western
Jurisdiction following General Conference. The West, which has about 450,700
members, is the smallest of the five U.S. jurisdictions and is viewed as
being the most liberal and diverse. 

"The 2000 General Conference caused us much pain in the West," said Bishop
Talbert of the San Francisco Area in the episcopal address. "We lament the
decision of the General Conference not to be more open on the issue of
homosexuality and the matter of holy unions."

Talbert mentioned other General Conference actions not related to
homosexuality. A decision regarding Judicial Council membership - which
knocked a Western representative off the court - was "unbelievable," he
said. "The change of the formula for how delegates are chosen for General
Conference caused further marginalization in the West."

The General Conference delegates from the most heavily populated areas of
the country effected a change in the denomination's rules that would give
their areas more votes. This resulted in an increase in delegates for the
largely conservative Southeastern and South Central jurisdictions.

"However, I'm hopeful," Talbert said. The General Conference did encourage
parents of gays and lesbians not to abandon their children, he noted. And
the West can increase its number of delegates significantly by committing
itself to increasing membership by 100 percent in the next 20 years.

United Methodists in the West experienced General Conference as "an
unrelenting rejection" of what they believe the church is about, Bishop Roy
I. Sano of the Los Angeles Area said during a July 12 sermon at the
jurisdictional conference. 

He emphasized the need for talking with one another in the church, for
seeing each other as children of God and ending the "demonization" of people
on "the other side."

Throughout the jurisdictional conference, the delegates and bishops
celebrated the diversity of the Western area and raised it up as a vision
for Christ's church in the world today. 
# # #

The complete text of the Western Jurisdiction's statement follows:

WE WILL NOT BE SILENT 
A DECLARATION FROM THE WESTERN JURISDICTION
Meeting in Casper, Wyoming, July 12-15, 2000

We of the Western Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church have heard the
call of the prophet Micah "to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with
God." We have heard Jesus' invitation for all to come to the banquet table
of God's abundant grace.

Certain actions of General Conference 2000 have caused tremendous pain for
individuals and communities and have resulted in an attempt to suppress our
prophetic and pastoral ministries among all people, regardless of sexual
orientation.

The votes may have been cast but our voices will not be silent. Our
jurisdictional vision calls us to be "a home for all God's people, gathered
around a table of reconciliation and transformation." Affirming the
statement of United Methodists of Color for a Fully Inclusive Church, "We
acknowledge that there may be differences of opinion among us, but this does
not require 
that we wait on justice." We cannot accept discrimination against gay,
lesbian, bisexual or transgender persons and, therefore, we will work toward
their full participation at all levels in the life of the church and
society. Valuing the voices of those who disagree, we will continue to be in
dialogue as we journey together in creative tension. We will continue to be
in ministry with all God's children and celebrate the gifts diversity
brings. We will continue to feast at table with all God's children.

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