wfn.org | [UMNS-ALL-NEWS] UMNS# 619-United Methodist bishops affirm church

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

United Methodist bishops affirm church membership open to all

Nov. 3, 2005

NOTE: Photographs and video are available at http://umns.umc.org.

By Tim Tanton*

LAKE JUNALUSKA, N.C. (UMNS) - Homosexuality is not a barrier to
membership in the United Methodist Church, the denomination's bishops
said Nov. 2, two days after the church's top court supported a pastor's
refusal to allow a gay man to join.

"While pastors have the responsibility to discern readiness for
membership, homosexuality is not a barrier," the bishops said in their
pastoral letter to the people of the United Methodist Church.

In a ruling announced Oct. 31, the Judicial Council supported the Rev.
Ed Johnson of South Hill (Va.) United Methodist Church in his decision
not to allow a gay man to join his congregation. The man was a choir
member and had been meeting with Johnson about transferring membership
from another denomination.

Johnson was placed on a yearlong involuntary leave of absence by fellow
pastors during the clergy session of the Virginia Annual (regional)
Conference last June. The Judicial Council upheld Johnson's action,
citing the authority given to clergy by the church's Book of Discipline.
The court ordered that the pastor be reinstated to his previous status.

The ripple effect of the court's decision was felt immediately in Lake
Junaluska, where the Council of Bishops is holding its weeklong fall
meeting. The council spent at least four hours in closed session working
on a statement responding to the ruling.

"With the Social Principles of the United Methodist Church, we affirm
'that God's grace is available to all, and we will seek to live together
in Christian community,'" the bishops said, quoting from the Social
Principles in the Book of Discipline. "'We implore families and churches
not to reject or condemn lesbian and gay members and friends. We commit
ourselves to be in ministry for and with all persons.'

"We also affirm our Wesleyan practice that pastors are accountable to
the bishop, superintendent and the clergy on matters of ministry and
membership," the bishops said.

The Council of Bishops unanimously adopted the pastoral letter in closed
session.

The announcement of the court's ruling caused "considerable conversation
within the council," said Bishop Janice Riggle Huie, who led the
seven-bishop writing team that worked on the statement. Huie oversees
the church's Texas Annual (regional) Conference.

Many of the bishops had received calls and e-mail from pastors and lay
people in their conferences who were "greatly troubled" by the ruling
and were asking for clarification, she told United Methodist News
Service.

"We wanted our response to be thoughtful, prayerful and to speak to the
church," she said.

As the bishops worked on the statement, it became clear that there was
unity within the council regarding the membership of gays in the United
Methodist Church, she said. "I don't think it's going too far to say the
council is of one mind that gay and lesbian people can be members of the
United Methodist Church."

The Book of Discipline affirms homosexuals as people "of sacred worth."
It also holds the practice of homosexuality incompatible with Christian
teaching, and it bars the performance of same-sex unions by the church's
clergy and in the church's sanctuaries.

During oral hearings before the Judicial Council Oct. 27, the Rev. Tom
Thomas of Virginia, speaking for Johnson, argued that the pastor "drew
the line not at the homosexual person but at homosexual practice."
Johnson, who was at the hearing, did not address the court.

Virginia Bishop Charlene Kammerer defended the suspension of Johnson,
stating that the Constitution emphasizes inclusiveness and not
exclusiveness, and that only allowing participation in the church
"amounts to second-class citizenship."

In their pastoral letter, the bishops said they "uphold and affirm" that
the church's top legislative body, the General Conference, "has clearly
spoken through the denomination's Constitution on inclusiveness and
justice for all as it relates to church membership."

The bishops cited the Constitution's declaration that all people shall
be eligible to attend the church's worship services, participate in its
programs, receive the sacraments, be admitted as baptized members, "and
upon taking the vows declaring the Christian faith, become professing
members in any local church in the connection."

"The invitation that this (Judicial Council) ruling gives to all of us
is to think carefully about the meaning of United Methodist membership,"
said Bishop Peter Weaver, president of the council and leader of the
church's New England Conference.

The ruling provides an opportunity "to think about how we are inclusive
of persons who are in our communities and how we make disciples of Jesus
Christ for the transformation of the world," he said. Making disciples
is a theme of the bishops' fall meeting and their focus for 2005-08.
Weaver noted that earlier on Nov. 2, the council had heard a major
presentation on evangelism by a Duke Divinity School theologian.

Regarding a pastor's authority to make decisions about membership,
Weaver said: "The local pastor does have authority, but it's in the
context of the theology and values of the United Methodist Church."

The bishops will discuss other possible responses to the ruling as their
meeting continues, he said. The meeting, which began Oct. 30, ends Nov.
4.

Weaver is already responding in his own New England Conference by
setting up four regional opportunities for Christian conversation about
the Judicial Council ruling.

The Council of Bishops comprises the top clergy leaders in the nearly 11
million-member United Methodist Church. The council has 69 active
bishops and about 100 retired bishops from the United States, Africa,
Europe and the Philippines.

*Tanton is managing editor for United Methodist News Service.

News media contact: Tim Tanton, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

The full text of the letter follows.

A Pastoral Letter to the People of The United Methodist Church
>From the Council of Bishops

By grace you have been saved through faith.

-Ephesians 2:8

Grace to you from Jesus Christ who calls his church to welcome all
people into the community of faith as it proclaims the Gospel.

The Judicial Council, our denomination's highest judicial authority,
recently issued a decision regarding a pastor's refusing a gay man's
request for membership in the church. In the case, this man was invited
to join the choir at the United Methodist Church in the community. As he
became more active in the choir and the church, he asked to transfer his
membership from another denomination to The United Methodist Church.
Because he is a practicing homosexual, the pastor refused to receive him
into church membership. The Judicial Council upheld the pastor's refusal
of membership.

While pastors have the responsibility to discern readiness for
membership, homosexuality is not a barrier. With the Social Principles
of The United Methodist Church we affirm: "that God's grace is available
to all, and we will seek to live together in Christian community. We
implore families and churches not to reject or condemn lesbian and gay
members and friends. We commit ourselves to be in ministry for and with
all persons." (Para. 161g, 2004 Book of Discipline of The United
Methodist Church)

We also affirm our Wesleyan practice that pastors are accountable to the
bishop, superintendent, and the clergy on matters of ministry and
membership.

The United Methodist Church is committed to making disciples of Jesus
Christ with all people. We, the bishops of the Church, uphold and affirm
that the General Conference has clearly spoken through the
denomination's Constitution on inclusiveness and justice for all as it
relates to church membership:

"The United Methodist Church acknowledges that all persons are of sacred
worth.	All persons without regard to race, color, national origin,
status, or economic condition, shall be eligible to attend its worship
services, participate in its programs, receive the sacraments, upon
baptism be admitted as baptized members, and upon taking the vows
declaring the Christian faith, become professing members in any local
church in the connection." (Article IV, Constitution of The United
Methodist Church)

We believe the ministry of the local church, under the guidance of the
Holy Spirit, is to help people accept and confess Jesus Christ as Lord
and Savior. We call upon all United Methodist pastors and laity to make
every congregation a community of hospitality.

Nov. 2, 2005

Lake Junaluska, N.C.

********************

United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org

----------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from this group, go to UMCom.org, log in to your account,
click on the My Resources link and select the Leave option on the list(s)
from which you wish to unsubscribe. If you have problems or questions, please
write to websupport@umcom.org.

Powered by United Methodist Communications http://www.UMCom.org