The Messenger Dear Friends, I want to provide an update on the next steps for the Stop the Trials initiative. The disappointing news on Rev. Schafer’s trial underscores that we have much work to do. At Metropolitan Church, we celebrate the broad-based support that has been expressed for Stop the Trials at all three of our sites. To make our efforts most effective, we have created three groups to work on various aspects of the initiative. • Communications: Led by Ellen Bachman, ellenbachman@comcast.net and Kerm Towler, flautobasso@yahoo.com • Outreach to Other Churches and Groups: Led by Suzanne Forsyth, suzanneforsyth@ aol.com • Judicial Issues (Resolutions to Annual Conf. and General Conf. and legal implications of some proposed strategies, for example): Led by Nate Kline, nkline1@gmail. com. Please contact them if you are interested in joining one of these groups. Also, if you have not yet done so, please write to our Bishop and any other Bishop with whom you have a connection. Our Website, nationalchurch.org/stop has contact information for all of the Bishops, but below is the contact information for our Bishop (if you can only do one thing, please write this letter): Bishop Marcus Matthews Baltimore-Washington Conference 11711 East Market Pl., Fulton, MD 20759 While you do not need to send me a copy of the letter that you write, it would be very helpful if I knew that a letter has been sent so that I have a sense of our church’s outreach to the Bishop. I am privileged to be in ministry with a community that joins together in such remarkable ways to fight injustice and inequities. We are making a difference (churches from as far away as Oklahoma and as near as Baltimore have contacted us asking about the Stop the Trials banner, and we have sent them our pdf). We will continue to work together to spread the good news of God’s love for all people and to demonstrate that the Trials do not speak for all United Methodists. Blessings,
January 13, 2014 Volume XXIV, No. 1 Nationalchurch.org
What Do We Mean and How Did We Get to This Place? by Ellen Bachman
Many of us in the Metropolitan Community were surprised, dismayed, upset or even angered over the events of the fall, in which Frank Schaefer, a United Methodist minister in Pennsylvania, was found guilty and later stripped of his clergy credentials for having violated rules in the United Methodist Book of Discipline (BoD) when he performed a legal marriage ceremony for his gay son. Some of us were not even aware that such a thing could happen in our denomination. In two meetings following the ecclesiastical trial, the sense of our community was that the first step in responding as a Reconciling Congregation was to call for an end to such trials. But how did we get to a place where we need to demand that our church Stop the Trials? The rules and policies of the United Methodist Church (UMC), set forth in the BoD, are established at General Conference, the quadrennial meeting of the world-wide church, which includes clergy and lay delegates elected from the Annual Conferences. UMC statements on various issues are set forth in the Social Principles, which are included in the BoD, but are not church law. The Social Principles were revised in 1972, to affirm that all persons are of sacred worth, and to call for equal rights for all persons, regardless of sexual orientation. Other provisions of the BoD, however, state that the UMC holds that the practice of homosexuality is “incompatible with Christian teaching.” Subsequent sessions of the General Conference added language prohibiting the ordination of “self-avowed, practicing homosexuals,” preventing clergy from conducting same-gender marriage ceremonies, and churches from allowing such ceremonies being conducted in UMC church buildings. The social upheavals of the 60’s and 70’s lead to greater awareness of many forms of discrimination including those against LGBT persons. The Reconciling Ministries Network developed as an independent organization of United Methodist congregations that favored repeal of the policies outlined above, and proclaimed their welcome of LGBT persons in the life of the church. Metropolitan Memorial became a Reconciling Congregation in 2008 (see our statement at nationalchurch.org/stop). Some UMC pastors found it impossible to reconcile their charge to minister to all persons within their congregations with the prohibition on same-gender marriage, and chose to celebrate those unions. Some notable trials resulted. More recently, it seems that many bishops have chosen to quietly ignore the actions of clergy in their jurisdiction who were conducting marriages, especially if no complaints were filed. However, it is now the case that complaints are pending against at least four other clergy, including a retired Bishop. These trials are expensive for the UMC, result in driving members and clergy elsewhere, and contribute to the disaffection many of the “nones” have with the very idea of church affiliation. Thus, Metropolitan Memorial, in collaboration with other DC area Reconciling Congregations, has called on our denomination to Stop the Trials, in hopes of finding a new way forward. We are working on a resolution to Annual Conference, and other legislative remedies. We encourage each concerned member of the Metropolitan Community to write letters to our Bishop, and to other Bishops as well. Watch for letter writing opportunities soon. If you would like more information, the Reconciling Ministries Network has many resources, at rmnetwork.org. Check out the RMNBlog, and consider joining as an individual Reconciling United Methodist. Next month in the Messenger: Biblical Obedience, and a sampling of letters.