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Pastor is church's first openly gay bishop candidate

>Jul. 22, 2008

NOTE: Photographs, audio and related coverage are available at
http://umns.umc.org.

>By Marta W. Aldrich*

PORTLAND, Ore. (UMNS)-Standing before an assembly that would elect two
bishops, the Rev. Frank Wulf shared his problem as a candidate for one
of the top clergy positions in The United Methodist Church.

"The problem is that I come as a gay man, and I know where our church
stands on the issue of same-sex orientation," Wulf said in his candidacy
address before the Western Jurisdictional Conference, which represents
United Methodists in the western United States, Guam and other U.S.
territories in the Pacific.

The delegates, who later approved four statements challenging the
denomination's position on homosexuality, listened intently as Wulf
continued: "And I know that the church says ... a practicing self-avowed
homosexual shall not be ordained or appointed within our church."

By extension, Wulf noted that his candidacy created a quandary for
jurisdictional delegates in a denomination that consistently has
declared homosexuality "incompatible with Christian teaching."

"I know that if, by some chance, I were ever to be elected as a bishop
within this jurisdiction or any jurisdiction, that all hell would break
loose ...," he said, explaining later that he would anticipate church
judicial charges, threats and hate mail.

He challenged them: "If in fact you feel this is what God is calling you
to do ... then I would be willing to be your bishop. But if the Western
Jurisdiction is not at the point where it is willing ... to deal with
the maelstrom that will occur, then I am certainly not the person you
should elect as bishop in this jurisdiction."

Wulf then left the podium-the only one to receive a standing ovation for
a candidacy address among more than a dozen clergy members asking that
July 16 to become bishop. In so doing, he became the first openly gay
candidate for the United Methodist episcopacy. (During his 2004
candidacy, Wulf had not openly shared his sexual orientation.)

Two days later, in the late-night hours of July 18, as delegates
struggled to elect their second and final bishop, Wulf went to the
podium again-this time to withdraw his name from consideration. For the
previous two days, he had consistently finished sixth in the balloting
among 19 clergy members receiving votes. At this hour, it was apparent
that he would not be elected.

"I am withdrawing from this race for the episcopacy, but I'm doing so
with the hope that a gay man or a lesbian will be able to be elected
bishop of The United Methodist Church. ... I know that day is coming,"
Wulf said to applause and another standing ovation.

>Mixed reaction

As word of Wulf's openly gay candidacy spread elsewhere, reaction was
mixed but passionate on all sides.

"Even though he was not elected, I think it was a significant milestone
for The United Methodist Church," said Mary Larson, chairperson of the
pastor parish committee at United University Church, a United
Methodist/Presbyterian congregation that Wulf leads in Los Angeles.

"He made the decision to run as an openly gay man, and it was a
challenge to the whole church to deal more directly with this issue. ...
He was not a token candidate just to make a point; he was a serious
candidate," said Larson, who attended the conference in support of Wulf.

Others countered that the Western Jurisdiction, which historically has
supported the full inclusion of gays and lesbians in the life of the
church, is not of one mind on the issue. They noted that a large number
side with the denominational stance on human sexuality as passed by
General Conference, the church's top legislative body, which met last
spring in Fort Worth, Texas. They said church law is based on Scripture
and longstanding Christian tradition, and that it serves as a covenant
for the entire denomination, including Wulf and others advocating for
change.

Such advocacy is a perplexing statement to the world at best and a
subversive act of teaching at worst, according to the Rev. David Parker,
senior pastor of Central United Protestant Church, an 1,100-member
United Methodist congregation in Richland, Wash.

"To change our official stance and even advocate for that change is both
harmful and subversive, not only to The United Methodist Church but to
the larger global Christian church and our commitment to understanding
holiness in every dimension of life," said Parker. "...I haven't run
into any self-avowed homosexuals willing to remain celibate and teach
and advocate that God has a different and healing vision for sexual
practice."

The Rev. Maxie Dunnam, a well-known United Methodist speaker, author and
educator, said the fact that an openly gay person would run for bishop
shows the depth of division with United Methodism.

"It also shows how far removed the leadership of the UM Church in that
jurisdiction is--not only from the consistent witness of United
Methodism but from the church universal and the vast majority of
Christians around the world," said Dunnam, chancellor of Asbury
Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky.

Dunnam said bishops are to be both symbols of unity and defenders of the
faith.

"What bothers me most is that our bishops in that jurisdiction (and some
in other jurisdictions), while not openly violating the law of our
church on the issue of the practice of homosexuality, are pastorally and
prophetically supporting persons and positions that do violate our stand
on this issue," he said. "I am deeply troubled that they seem oblivious
to the fact that their failure to lead prophetically and pastorally in
support of the church's doctrine and discipline contributes greatly to
division and the threat of schism."

>Jurisdictional duty

The Western Jurisdictional Conference's primary tasks during its July
16-19 gathering were to elect two bishops and then to assign all of its
bishops to geographical areas of responsibility for the next four years,
starting Sept. 1.

Wulf had agreed to be nominated from the floor at the urging of members
across the jurisdiction's gay/lesbian/bisexual/transsexual community.

"There's no question that he is recognized as the community's natural
leader," Larson said.

As for Wulf, he believes his candidacy represented "a growing movement
within the church to understand another way."

"When General Conference ends and questions related to the Book of
Discipline have been voted on, it looks like it's all settled and done.
But what that uniformity of the Discipline really does for us is to
disguise a disunity that exists in our church," he said in an interview
with United Methodist News Service.

"I think my running provides an opportunity for us to talk across those
boundaries-to listen to each other, read Scriptures together, pray
together, fast together-and hopefully not just to shout insults at each
other. I feel that God called me to this moment."

*Aldrich is news editor of United Methodist News Service.

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

>********************

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

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