Open Hands Vol 2 No 2 - Images of Healing

Open Hands Vol 2 No 2 - Images of Healing

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The Reconciling Congregation Program i a network of United M thodist local churches who publicly affirm their ministry with the whole family of God and who welcome lesbians and gay men into their community. In this network, Reconciling Congregations find strength and support as they strive to overcome the divisions caused by prejudice and homophobia in our church and in our society. These congregations strive to offer the hope that the church can be a reconciled community.
To enable local churches to engage in these ministries, the program provides resource materials, including Open Hands. Enablers are available locally to assist a congregation which is seeking to become a Reconciling Congregation.
Information about the program can be obtained by writing:
Reconciling Congregation
Program
P.O. Box 24213
Nashville, TN 37202
Open Hands (formerly Manna for the Journey) is published by Affirmation: United Methodists for Lesbian/Gay Concerns, Inc., as a resource for the Reconciling Congregation Program. It seeks to address concerns of lesbians and gay men as they relate to the ministry of the church.
Contributing to This Issue:
Susan R Beehler Marshall Jones Kathy Black Julie Morrissey Ralph Blair Beth Richardson Mark Bowman Bradley Rymph Rita Nakashima Wendy Tate
Brock James S. Tinney Guy Charles Quentin L. Hand Graphic artist Hoyt L. Hickman Brenda Roth
Open Hands (formerly Manna tor the Journey) is published four times a year. Subscription IS $10 for four Issues. Single copies are available for $3 each. PermiSSion to repnnt is granted upon request. Reprints of certam articles are available as Indicated in the issue. Subscnptlons and correspondence should be sent to:
Open Hands
P.O. Box 23636
Washington, D.C. 20026
Copyright 1986 by Affirmation United Methodists for Lesbian/Gay Concerns, Inc.
ISSN 0888-8833
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Contents Healing is a word that scares many gay men and lesbians when used in a spiritual context. Too many of us have experienced families trying to cart us off to psychiatrists to make us "normal" or telling us that, if our faith were only strong enough, God would "cure" us. Yet healing is meant to be a positive, enlivening term-the making whole of something that was previously broken. That is the meaning we affirm in this issue of Open Hands. Quentin L. Hand opens our examination with "Saved and Sound" (p. 6), a reflection on the relationship between salvation and healing and how sexual orientation fits into that relationship. Hand's analysis is supplemented by discussions of what healing can mean from two alternative theological perspectives. In uCharismatic Healing and Homosexuality" (p. 8), James S. Tinney discusses Pentecostal concepts of healing and what they might offer gay men and lesbians. Rita Nakashima Brock shares what healing means to her as a Christian feminist in "Feminism, Healing, and Christ" (p. 10). In the midst of the AIDS crisis, healing can have special meaning for gay men, as well as their friends and families. Wendy Tate, in UHealing Ministries and AIDS" (p. 12), shares what she learned through her work as a chaplain with persons with AIDS. No examination of healing as it relates to gay men and lesbians would be complete without a look at the so-called "ex-gay" movement that remains popular in some Christian circles. Ralph Blair studies the history and claims of this movement in uThe Real Changes Taking Place" (p. 13), finding it seriously lacking in credibility and success. Guy Charles-a gay man who founded and, for a time, led one "ex-gay" organization-shares his insider's perspective in HOne Former 'Ex-Gay' Leader's Story" (p. 18). Coming to accept and love persons with sexual orientations different from one's own can be a slow, even painful process of healing. Members of two Reconciling Congregations discuss how they are working through this process in HHealing through Reconciliation" (p. 20). In SUSTAINING THE SPIRIT (p. 23), we offer HBeyond Our Healing, " by Susan R. Beehler and Rev. Kathy Black. This song celebrates the healing that flows from community, enabling us to move beyond our souls' wounding to "greet the sunrise" and "heal the world." Beehler is minister of program at Metropolitan Memorial UMC in Washington, D.C. Black is the pastor of Magothy Church of the Deaf (UMC) in Severna Park, Maryland. Our consideration of healing is rounded out in RESOURCES (p. 24), with a bibliography of materials that further discuss healing's many images. As usual, the RCP REPORT (p. 3) brings us up to date on what is happening in our Reconciling Congregation family.
Next issue's theme: Homophobia
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IA AL
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Northern Illinois Declared
"Reconciling Conference"
"'J"'fhe Northern Illinois Annual
.I. Conference of the United Methodist Church adopted a resolution urging its local churches to become Reconciling Congregations and declaring itself to be a "Reconciling Conference."
The resolution, adopted at its June 1986 meeting, reads as follows:
WHEREAS Jesus taught us that we are called to be the good neighbor to all persons regardless of their identity; and
WHEREAS Paragraph 7lF of the Social Principles reads in part: Homosexual persons are "individuals ofsacred worth, who need the ministry and guidance of the Church in their struggles for human fulftllment, as well as the spiritual and emotional care of a fellowship which enables reconciling relationships with God, with others and with self." (The 1984 Book of Discipline); and
WHEREAS homosexual United Methodists might misconstrue Paragraph 402.2 of The 1984 Book ofDiscipline as an absolute ban on the participation of lesbians and gay men in the representative ministries and general mission of the United Methodist Church;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Northern Illinois Conference urges each local church to become a "Reconciling Congregation" by studying and adopting the materials of the Reconciling Congregation Program which affirms the full participation of all persons, regardless of sexual identity, in the life of the congregation; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Northern Illinois Conference declare itself a "Reconciling Conference," affirming the full participation of gay men and lesbians in the life of this Annual Conference .
R'I
Resolutions on Civil Rights "'J"'fhe Wyoming Annual Conference .I. (northeastern Pennsylvania and southern New York) passed a resolution "supporting state legislation that would prohibit discrimination on the basis ofone's sexual orientation." A resolution ofthe Pacific Northwest Annual Conference urged opposition to referenda threatening the civil rights of lesbians and gay men.
The texts of these two resolutions are:
WHEREAS our church "affirms all persons as equally valuable in the sight of God." (par. n, 1984 Discipline); and
WHEREAS "homosexual persons no less than heterosexual persons are individuals of sacred worth, who need the ministry and guidance of the Church in their struggles for human fulfillment, as well as the spiritual and emotional care of a fellowship which enables reconciling relationships with God, with others, and with self. Further we insist that all persons are entitled to have their human and civil rights ensured, though we do not condone the practice of homosexuality and consider this practice incompatible with Christian teaching." (par. 71, 1984 Discipline); and
WHEREAS "the rights and privileges a society bestows upon or withholds from those who comprise it indicates the relative esteem in which that society holds particular persons or groups of persons." (par. n, 1984 Discipline);
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Wyoming Conference of the United Methodist Church goes on record as supporting stale legislation that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of one's sexual orientation in employment, housing, public accommodation and in any other area of civil rights.
-Wyoming Conference BE IT RESOLVED that in response to the Gospel ofgrace and justice, this Annual Conference supports those civil measures that affirm the rights of all people, regardless of their sexual orientation, to be free of harassment and discrimination in matters of housing, job-security, public safety, insurance coverage, and full medical treatment.
WE COMMEND the King County Council for its support of anti-discrimination measures, and Governor Booth Gardner for his executive order which assures that protection also for all state employees under his jurisdiction.
AND, FURTHERMORE, we urge all United Methodists to vote for referenda protecting civil rights for lesbians and gay men in the King County election of September 1986 and against Initiative 490 or any other measure which would threaten civil rights in the Washington state election of November 1986 as steps to further secure such rights.
-Pacific Northwest Conference
AIDS Resolutions
A t least 14 annual conferences 1"1.adopted resolutions related to the AIDS crisis this spring and summer.
Common points among the various resolutions were: 1) urging increased education of all persons about AIDS; 2) calling for increased funding and expanded efforts in research and treatment by public and private agencies; and 3) encouraging local churches to be in ministry with persons with AIDS (PWAs) and their families.
In . addition to those common points, several annual conferences (North Arkansas, North Indiana, Desert Southwest, Florida) appealed for the protection ofthe civil rights of PWAs. Rocky Mountain and Pacific Northwest asked local churches to take a special offering to contribute to programs providing services for PWAs. Further actions by general church boards were requested by Northern New Jersey and CaliforniaPacific.
We provide the texts of some of the resolutions:
WHEREAS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is a major health crisis in our world, nation, and some of our churches, and science has not yet found a cure for this painful and usually fatal disease, and (cont.)
Open Hands/3
• • • • • • •
WHEREAS many persons in our local churches live in fear of developing this disease, or that a friend or relative will develop this disease.
BE IT RESOLVED 1) that the North Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church be intentional in prayerful concern for all persons with this disease and seek to educate our members on the facts and fallacies of AIDS and ARC (AIDS Related Complex).
2) That our Conference encourage government and private agencies in continuing the search for the cure, prevention, and treatment of this disease.
3)That pastors and lay members of our churches recognize our calling to be in ministry to persons with this disease and also to those families and friends affected by it.
4) That we seek ways to disseminate information about this disease, recognizing our need to learn more about its cause and treatment. In carrying out this objective, we refer this resolution to the Division of Health and Welfare urging them to act as soon as feasible.
-North Texas Conference
RESOLVED that each local church in the Pacific Northwest Conference be encouraged to take a Sunday offering during the coming year in support of programs to provide housing and medical services with advanced cases of AIDS.
FURTHERMORE the Conference Board of Global Ministries be directed to provide sample bulletin inserts for the offering to be included in the coordinated mailing and be directed to select authorized agencies within the bounds of the PNWAC to receive the funds collected.
-Pacific Northwest Conference
WHEREAS it is estimated that over a million people in over 70 countries have been infected with the AIDS virus, a disease that almost always leads to death; and the tragedy of this disease is further compounded by its psychological, emotional and social impact on the family and friends of victims and on the community in general, and
WHEREAS a usually compassionate and caring community has been slow to respond to this crisis because of lack of accurate information, fear and prejudice and because we often have viewed the problem as limited to and affecting only a certain group of people, not ourselves, and
WHERE.AS it is the unique and special calling of the Church to minister in just such a situation in the name and spirit of Jesus Christ,
THEREFORE we call upon the Church of the North Arkansas Conference at the local, district and conference level to:
1) Become informed by studying the basic information available on AIDS from various sources. We especially recommend the engage/
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social action forum 123 available from the General Board of Church and Society. In turn, help to inform the community by sharing information with the public.
2) Work with local and state health agencies and other health professionals to promote programs of research, prevention, treatment and other related services such as the formation of support groups for AIDS victims and their families, while at the same time work to protect the health of the community at large.
3) Develop sensitivity to human rights issues and concerns deriving from the AIDS crisis, such as rights of privacy and access to public institutions and freedom from discrimination and harassment.
-North Arkansas Conference
WHEREAS Jesus of Nazareth reached into the lives ofthose whose minds and bodies had been destroyed by disease, spoke for those whose ability to speak for themselves had been denied them, and exposed the foolishness offear and oppression against the powerless, and WHEREAS he liberated those suffering from social, physical and spiritual diseases, and WHEREAS the church is called to follow the example of Jesus Christ as it ministers to those who are stricken with disease or are victims of political and social oppression, THEREFORE, LET IT BE RESOLVED that the churches of the North Indiana Conference
I) Provide opportunities for objective education about Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS);
2) Provide personnel, materials, space, etc., as needed to groups developing support systems for AIDS victims and their families;
3) Provide opportunities for reconciliation between AIDS victims and the greater community;
4) Take seriously the fears surrounding the AIDS controversy while exposing the misunderstandings which create those fears;
5) Speak out in words and action on behalf of victims whose civil rights are being denied them due to their disease;
6) Consider specialized ministry to AIDS victims and their families; 7) And, advocate for the rights ofvictims in all forums. -North Indiana Conference
In addition to the conferences mentioned above, AIDS resolutions were adopted by Baltimore, California-Nevada, Kansas East, Minnesota, and South Georgia. Texts of all the AIDS resolutions can be obtained by writing to Open Hands.
Recognition must be given to the Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA) for its work on behalf of many of the lesbian/gayrelated resolutions adopted at annual conferences this year. MFSA members and local chapters were active in writing and advocating these resolutions.
Oregon-Idaho Lays
Groundwork for
Reconciling Congregation
Program
~irty-five persons attended the
.I. Mfirmation meeting during the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference session in June 1986. Much of the meeting was devoted to planning for the future of the Reconciling Congregation Program there.
Participants in the meeting developed a list of steps and suggestions for preparing local churches to become Reconciling Congregations. That list included:
-Prepare yourself through reading and study, getting to know openly gay and lesbian persons.
-Assume there are lesbians and gay men in any group ofpersons. -Don't allow put-downs to pass by unchallenged.
-Use prayers ofpetition and intercession for gay/lesbian people and their families, including specifics such as AIDS, Julian Rush.
-Use gay/lesbian positive illustrations in sermons, liturgies, prayers. -Find ways to expand the terminology used about relationships. -Have positive gay/lesbian literature in the literature rack. -Host workshops on human sexuality, homosexuality, and the church.
-Support social/cultural/sharing activities for lesbians and gay men; use church facilities for such groups.
-Ask the Pastor-Parish Relations Committee and other committees how they would have the pastor answer the question: '1s this a church which welcomes lesbian/gay persons?"
-Always emphasize the word reconciling when talking about the program.
-Discover and tell stories ofchurch growth resultingjrom being a Reconciling Congregation.
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current wording which intends moral has developed a resource packet for
The NCC Task Force on AIDS
character on the part of ministers congregations. It can be ordered for
and so as not to single out one par$5.00 (prepaid) from: NCC Task
ticular behavior as immoral. Force on AIDS, 475 Riverside Drive
• Also denied were overtures that (572), New York, NY 10115.
would have given the presbyteries
ultimate authority in ordination of ministers and sessions the same authority for deacons and elders.
Civil Rights Threatened
Park Slope UMC Hosts
These overtures were denied so as to
in California
maintain the connectionalism of
Nicaraguan President
~proposition to appear on the
the church.
Daniel Ortega, president of Nica1"
1.California state ballot this NoIn
other action, the Generalragua, addressed the worship
vember would classify AIDS as a
Assembly adopted a resolution callservice of Park Slope UMC, a Recon"
contagious" disease and would
ing for various actions in behalf ofciling Congregation in Brooklyn,
place severe restrictions on persons
persons with AIDS, their families, New York, on July 27. Ortega apwith
AIDS or AIDS-related comand
loved ones.
pealed to the congregation to encourplex,
persons who test positive for
Members of Presbyterians forage the U.S. government to cease
the HTLV-III antibody, and even
Lesbian/Gay Concerns were highly support for the contras, who are
persons suspected of testing positive.
visible during the General Assembly.
attempting to overthrow the NicaSuch
persons would be barred from
Their luncheon attracted 200 persons.
raguan government.
teaching, going to school, or working
Ortega's address received an
in medical, food service, or other
enthusiastic response from the 400
public-contact areas. The wording of
persons crowded into the church
Back Issues Available
the proposition is vague enough that
building and the large crowd gathered
I ssues of Open Hands are good
such persons could be quarantined
outside. The worship service received resources for local church study
by the California State Health Dewidespread
coverage in the religious groups. Back issues can be ordered partment.
and secular media.
for $3.00 each (20 or more copies are
Proposition 64 was initiated by a
Ortega's visit to Park Slope was $2.50 each) from: Open Hands, P.O.
group related to Lyndon LaRouche's
preceded by a trip to Nicaragua by Box 23636, Washington, DC 20026.
National Democratic Policy Comseveral
members of the congregation Issues available are:
mittee. The initiative has built on the
this past April. At that time Park -"Be Ye Reconciled" (Summer
ignorance and irrational fears about
Slope established a covenant rela1985)
AIDS that many people continue to
tionship with La Merced Christian -"Living & Dying with AIDS"
have. Because of this, opponents of
Base Community.
(Fall 1985) -"A Matter of Justice" (Winter Proposition 64 believe it may be difficult
to defeat. Churches and individuals who 1986)
-"Our Families" (Spring 1986)
National Days
want more information or wish to
-"Our Churches' Policies"
provide support for efforts against
of Prayer and Healing
(Summer 1986)
Proposition 64 can contact: NO on
for Persons with AIDS
LaRouche Initiative, 7985 Santa
'T'fhe National Council of
Monica Blvd., #109-174, Los Angel•
Churches (NCC) is calling on all es, CA 90046.213/738-8245.
Financial Support
churches in its 31 Protestant and Orthodox communions to recognize
Appreciated
November 3-9 as National Days of
M any thanks to those who made
Presbyterians Maintain
Prayer and Healing for all persons
extra contributions with the related to the AIDS crisis.
Status Quo on Ordination
renewal of their Open Hands The call to National Days of
General Assembly of the subscriptions.
TIe
Prayer and Healing is one part of a
Also we are grateful for a $4,000 resolution, "The Churches' ResPresbyterian
Church (U.S.A.)
grant that we received from Chicago ponse to the AIDS Crisis," approved
dismissed two opposing groups of
Resource Center this past summer unanimously by the NCC Governovertures
regarding ordination durand
a special donation of over $230 ing Board in May 1986. The resoluing
its June 1986 session.
from a Gay Pride worship offering at tion also encourages local churches
One group would have inserted
Bethany UMC (San Francisco).
to engage in various actions and
various words concerning the moral
All of these contributions and ministries to persons with AIDS and
character of ministers, deacons, and
more are crucial in moving us fortheir families.
elders into the Book of Order. These
ward on our common journey . •
overtures were denied in favor of
Open Handsl5
he gospels tell us that Christians are to have an abundant life (In. 10: 10). They are to be set free by the truth (In. 8:32). Jesus clearly viewed obedience to his teaching as the appropriate
response to this life that God offers. Still, the exact meanings of this promise of free, abundant life continue to be debated among Christians, as they have been through the centuries.
Too often, Christians of different persuasions have claimed that they have exclusive understanding of what Christian faith and salvation mean and require. They have appeared to regard any spiritual experiences different from their own as "not Christian." One way in which this spiritual exclusivism is practiced by some Christians today is in their attitudes toward homosexuality. These believers frequently maintain that a gay man or lesbian could not possibly also be a "saved" Christian, saying that a truly "saved" Christian would be "healed" of his or her homosexuality.
Such views are far too simplistic for Christian thinking and acting. They cannot stand when theological meanings of salvation and spiritually based healing are carefully examined.
Defining Salvation
To be "saved" is to be in a relationship with God in ======= which the divine love and acceptance is present for
-___the person and the person is both committed to God in
----love and seeking to live in loving ways toward God and others. For Christians, this includes acknowledging Jesus as the One who shows God to us and was God among us. Some Christians speak ofbeing "saved" as having had a conversion experience. This experience is a moment or
by Quentin L. Hand
event, usually emotionally intense, that the person remembers as a turning point in life. Nevertheless, such an instantaneous event-no matter how significant and moving for the one who experiences it-may initiate but does not constitute a "saved" relationship with God. Rather, such a relationship exists in a day-by-day, ongoing commitment to God expressed in loving actions.
Salvation must always exist within a broader context ofthe people of God. God's covenant is always, first, with a group of persons and, second, with an individual as a member of the group. After the flood God's covenant was not just with Noah but "with all living beings" (Gen. 9: 12). The covenant with Abram (Gen. 15:18) included all of Abram's descendants. The Sinai covenant was with the Hebrews as a people, not Moses as an individual. Jesus often ministered to persons, but his message was of the Realm of God or ofa new age for all who heard. The Holy Spirit was given to the entire Church on the day of Pentecost rather than to one, two, or a few individuals. Paul wrote to congregations rather than individuals. Even when dealing with such personal issues as the runaway slave Onesimus (Phm.) or the incestuous Corinthian (1 Cor. 5:1), Paul addressed the congregation.
A covenant is an agreement of commitment between two or more parties. God's covenant with anyone always implies that person's membership in God's family. Hence the way in which one does or does not love the sisters and brothers, the way in which one provides for another's needs or ignores them, is interwoven with the commitment made to God. Ifone does not love the sister or brother that is seen, that person is not able to love the unseen God (1 In. 4: 19-5:2). Welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, caring for one of the least important persons is an expression of caring for the "Son of Man" (Mt. 25:31-46).
Hence, while being "saved" is a relationship that each
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individual may have, it is first the community or family of God that has the saving relationship and second the person. We learn to love within a family or group who loves us. We become capable of loving others because we participate in a loving group. We become capable of making and keeping a promise because others have been faithful to us. Any personal commitment to God inevitably means being a member of some form of congregation, or community, as a visible, real expression of God's people. As a congregation, and as members of congregations, loving others includes awareness of and appreciation for the differences that God has created. Learning to accept others as God accepts them, to recognize there are different gifts for the upbuilding ofthe body ofChrist, to give thanks for their contribution to the Church and to our salvation, are parts of our commitment to God and our love for God's works.
Relating Salvation to Health
Any theological understanding of health must reflect ----this concept of community-based salvation. A
,...---,...-___
healthy, or sound, body is the result not only of one's own ----attention to well being but also of a community that provides good food and sanitation and protection from the elements. A healthy relationship includes one or more parties who stabilize the soundness. A person can become spiritually sound only through a healthy relationship with God and with community. The goal of a true spiritual quest is never health or, in some other way, to improve one's personal life. *To be real, a spiritual quest must be to know God. The goal must be to enlarge and enrich the exchange between God and others of God's people and oneself; to commit oneself continually to love God and others; to reach out to invite others into a loving relationship with God. Having a salvific relationship should make a difference in the way that a Christian makes commitments and keeps relationships. It may, for example, lead to reduced conflicts with others, less frantic efforts to gratify one's own wishes, and increased willingness to meet others' needs. But neither divinely created givens (such as one's skin color) nor humanly created givens (for example, amputation of a diseased arm to save a life) will be changed. Salvation can change destructive sexual behavior, but will not change sexual orientation. Ofcourse, a close tie does exist between one's physical body and one's psychological and spiritual state. The study ofpsychosomatic medicine shows, for example, that constant worry can produce stomach ulcers, a strong drive to succeed may contribute to heart attacks, and people with poor emotional control are accident prone. A trust in God that enables one to reduce fears and anxieties about tomorrow makes for better digestion, uninterrupted sleep, and improved health. Psychotherapists observe that as people learn to improve their relationships with others they have lower blood pressure, better muscle tone and skin color, and fewer illnesses. It must also be acknowledged that there are many references in the Bible where God gives health to some
Is Homosexuality a Sickness?
The assertion that homosexuality Is a sickness, and therefore a punishment sent by God, is simplistic and Incorrect. The American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses in 1973. Recent scientific studies have shown that homosexuality Is a natural condition, affecting about 10% of all known animal and human populations.1 The
.
mental health of lesbians and gay men, as measured by standard psychological tests, is as sound as, or even better than, that of the general population. And, while some persons argue that the homosexual condition can be traced to abnormal childhood situations, the overwhelming scientific evidence is that there is no known "cause" for homosexuality at this time.2
-Quentin L. Hand
1.
William Paul et aI., Homosexuality: Social, Psychological, and 8iologlcal lssues (Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage Publications, 1982).
2.
Alan P. 8ell, Martin S. Weinberg, and Sue Kiefer Hammersmith, Sexual Preference: Its Development In Men and Women (Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 1981).
who ask. Jesus' healing miracles were evidences that God was present with humans for their physical as well ~s their spiritual welfare. And there are references in which people believe that sickness is a sign ofGod's punishment. So there is some basis for the assumption that health indicates God's favor while illness is a sign one has done wrong.
But the relationship between God and human health is not so easy. The book ofJob wrestles with the problem of undeserved suffering. The dedicated Roman Catholic priest, Father Damien, who worked among lepers and contracted the disease, is evidence that illness is not a sign of God's disapproval.
It is idolatrous to use mental or physical health criteria as measures of one's relationship with God. To do so substitutes human measures for the theological standards of love for God and others expressed in service relieving human misery. To claim that God gives health and hence only the healthy have received God's favor, or that God gives freedom so only the free are God's chosen, ignores the reality that many ill and dying persons and many who are bound by social or political factors are acknowledged as "saved." The definition ofhomosexuality as an "illness" or a "sin" is, then, arbitrary and without theological substance.
The needed change is the furthering of the covenant community within which individual salvation can occur. The reconciliation of God and persons requires the presence of a reconciling people, or congregation. Under(
continued on pg. 8)
·Sometimes, nowadays, the primary fruits ofan individual's being "saved" seem to be disguised individualism and thinly hidden self-centeredness. Such a person may tell of how his or her life has improved and how he or she is more at peace since being "born again" (referring to the requirement Jesus made of Nicodemus in In. 3:3).
Open Hands/7
---Saved and Sound (continued)
---standing God as Trinity provides the ground that the divine love was the act of a "community," the three Persons, wanting other persons to receive and retu:n t~at love. As we know that love in the saved relationshIp WIth God we want to assist others to realize they are members of God's family. Our mission is telling of and sharing God's action.
A "saved" and sound congregation provides both acceptance for each member and stimulation for growth in spiritual living. It strives to offer introduction to the varieties of theological positions, to the many ways that religious people receive God, so that all benefit. Through it the charismatic and the liturgist can seek to learn from e~ch other, and the monastic and the social actionist can recognize that each enriches the Christian mission. Men and women members of different races and of different ethnic groups, can understand that, because of biosocial factors, their experiences are not identical; they can rejoice in the Creator's abundance. Heterosexuals ~nd homosexuals can discover that each knows somethIng about love's gifts and expressions to enlarge the others' understanding.
The varieties of creation are unlimited. But we humans become anxious in the presence of the unknown, the unfamiliar, the different. We build barriers of distance and isolation between nations, races, neighbors and groups, denominations and congregations, .and individual Christians. In so doing, we provide safety for ourselves and our group at the expense of unity and harm?ny. ":Ie become able to avoid the unexpected and to hve WIth equanimity, but we also restrict our love to those like ourselves.
A sound congregation seeks both to receive God's love and to share God's love in all of its forms. A sound congregation does not fear differences, for "there is no fear in love" (1 Jn. 4: 18). Its members actively work for reconciliation among themselves and with those outside of the congregation. They seek reconciliation both between persons and God and between persons with one another. They strive to provide the setting in which individuals can realize their salvation.
Being "saved" is a question neither of health no~ of
1----being good. One need not have a sound body or m~nd
I-----to have a saving relationship with God. A savIng
I-----relationship is one of love, of God's love for us and of our loving commitment to God. This commit~ent le~ds ~o loving actions. And the foremost of these lovIng actIOns IS to promote the reconciliation of God's people with one another. In the context of the concerns of this journal, it means straight and lesbian and gay persons all seeking to know and love each other as members of God's family .•
Quentin L. Hand, B.D., Ph.D., is a United Methodist minister. He served in pastorates for 18 years before being appointed to his present position as Associate Professor of Psychology and Pastoral Counseling, Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, Ga.
entecostals and charismatics* have always
differed from other evange~icals. in
their insistence that all of the sIgn gtfts
(Mk. 16:17-18, 1 Cor. 12: 1-11) of the Holy Spirit are available to every Christian today. While a number of spiritual gifts are evidenced, two or t~ree have always been most visible in their circles: heahng, glossolalia (tongues-speaking), ~~d perhaps p~op~ecy. In addition, unlike older tradItIOnal denomInatIons (which at times emphasize spiri~al. healing), .Pentecostals insist that all the gifts are WIthIn the proVInce of all Christians and should operate on a continual basis in every congregation. .
At first glance, it might seem that Pentecosta.hsm would have little of appeal to gay men and lesbIans. Charistmatics have, after all, generally aligned themselves with other anti-gay/lesbian conservatives in interdenominational alliances, and they do tend to dominate the New Religious Right.
Yet individual Pentecostals have played a surprising role in the lesbian/gay Christia~ movement. ~e Universal Fellowship of Metropohtan CommunIty Churches was started by a Pentecostal minister, Troy Perry, and has always attracted a significant number of members from charistmatic backgrounds. The Pentecostal Coalition for Human Rights, begun in 1981, has more than 2,000 persons on its mailing list and participates in various gay/lesbian interfaith conferences and alliances. With the spread ofAIDS, many gay men are asking what promise for healing charismatic beliefs might offer.
A cluster of beliefs underlies the Pentecostal doctrine of divine healing. ** Four beliefs are prominent:
•
God can heal; only sin and unbelief obstruct God's ability.
. It is always God's will to heal every sickness and disease.
•
Faith (and sometimes obedience or "positive confession") is the requisite for obtaining healing.
•
A failure to be healed represents a fault in us, rather than fault, unwillingness, or delay on God's part.
Pentecostals do not believe that healing is a necessary evidence or equivalence of salvation, however. Rather, in Wesleyan terms, it is more a "sign and seal" -a "sign" ofGod's power and presence within (and of
*Formeriy, many persons read Pentecostal to refer to a ,,:,emb~r of a denomination espousing speaking in tongues, whereas chansmattc was used to refer to a member of a mainline denomination who exercised spiritual gifts such as tongues. Today, the two terms are used interchangeable, as is the case here.
**Divine healing is Pentecostal language; faith healing is the term used by critics and the press; spiritual healing is more prevalent among non charismatic denominations.
8/0pen Hands
God's personal care and concern) and a "seal," or sacramental act, much like baptism or the eucharist.
This belief system often has not led openly gay men and lesbians to feel very welcome in Pentecostal circles. Many Pentecostals view gay men and lesbians as pariahs, true lepers. Homosexuality is, to these Pentecostals, "worse" than other "sins" or "sicknesses," simply because it does not conform or respond to charismatic healing. They conclude that either (1) homosexuals' failure to overcome this "sin" lies only in their human will or (2) the persistence of homosexual practice is a symptom of a deeper malady such as demonic possession.
All-in-all, charismatic teachings on healing can be disastrous to the personal faith ofa gay man orlesbian. Instead of providing a sense of personal control, growth, assurance, and persistence, vibrant traditional Wesleyan doctrines of freedom of the will, the witness of the Spirit, and personal holiness can become harbingers of spiritual destitution.
espite these difficulties, however, many charismatic
gay men and lesbians seem to have reconciled their faith and sexuality. Gay and lesbian people still fill Pentecostal pews every Sunday; it has been estimated that up to 70 perent of men in Pentecostal churches are gay. Lesbians and gay men are a staple in the gospel music industry and performing circuit.
What accounts for this? I think there are several reasons gay men and lesbians are attracted to Pentecostalism. One ofthese probably is Pentecostals' promise of instantaneous healing and deliverance, which can attract gay men and lesbians hoping for a heterosexual "cure" in orientation.
Such a "healing" of homosexuality itself is, of course, a false hope, but Pentecostal experience can offer another, truer form of healing for gay men and lesbians. It can help them to reconcile their faith and sexuality and thus to experience real healing in terms of their intrapsychic selves. I know that, in my own experience, some elements in my religious background and tradition actually helped me to "come out" and facilitated my approach toward a more holistic, healthy lifestyle.
What were these elements, which no doubt also operate in others' lives? Chief among the healing forces that operate within charismatic circles for gay men and lesbians, I think, are the following:
The Importance of the body In worship and theology. That God cares enough about our bodies to want to heal us is just one example of this. Just as important-and just as healing-is the charismatic emphasis on touching, uplifted hands, and even praise-dancing in spontaneous fashion. Such practices provide a linkage for the embodiment of spirituality.
The practice of glossolalia. Charismatics believe that tongues-speaking overcomes the usual route of the rational and provides an access to healing that enables the deepest recesses of our personalities to commune with God.
An emphasis on biblical empiricism. Charismatics agree with John Wesley that ifinterpretation of scripture runs counter to human experience, then it is not scripture that is in error but the interpretation of it. In my case, after years of praying, fasting, selfdiscipline, and believing and "confessing" for deliverance, I suddenly realized that my spiritual and sexual experience both ran contrary to my biblical interpretations. Finally, I yielded to the consistency of biblical empiricism.
A boldness, a zeal, a spontaneity, enabling persons to rise above their inhibitions. Pentecostals call this the "power of the Holy Spirit." Biblically, of course, such power was to enable the church to witness. But, in practical terms, it had a spillover effect in other areas as well. This "holy impulsiveness" is in reality a stimulus to take risks. No doubt my own ability to "come out" as an openly gay man was linked to the lessons I learned and the charisma I experienced.
A sublimation of anger, a sate rebellion,
encouraged by the charismatic dimension. Spiritual gifts represent "new wine," a kind of rebellion against religious authority and a reaction to what has been called "frozen theology." To an individual who feels circumscribed by overbearing structures, a healthy bit of self-assertion, such as the charismatic movement encourages, can be very healing.
Finally, we should not overlook the fact that many of us need healing as gay men and lesbians. While our sexual orientation in itself is not evil, and while all homosexual activity is not sinful either, many of us bear much pain, abuse, and oppression. We often come from broken relationships with parents, teachers, preachers, peers, and even lovers. We experience frustration from false guilt, over-sensitivity, and other inner wounds from unhealed memories. And, in addition to all this, we experience the same fears and failures that are common to the human condition.
Whether or not one agrees with typical charismatic theology or biblical interpretations is not the issue here. The point is that the charismatic dimension calls our attention-everyone's attention-to a whole arena of inner ministries by the Holy Spirit.
In one sense, every Christian has chan'sma (which simply means, in New Testament Greek, a gift of grace). As Christians, we are all recipients ofthat grace. We are all gifted. In fact, every believer has the Holy Spirit living within-one who has come to accomplish many things in our lives, including healing.
And I can testify that this One is, indeed, a "mighty good" Counselor and Healer! •
James S. Tinney, Ph.D., is the pastor andfounder ofFaith Temple. a predominantly black gay/lesbian church in Washington. D.C., and the national director ofthe Pentecostal Coalition for Human Rights.
Open Hands/ 9
lO/Open Hands
Every summer since 1977 I have spent a week in August with 180 high school students and 25 adults in a process that is a magical 160 hours. Most of us
strangers to each other, we are thrown together in a program designed to confront social issues such as racial and sexual identity, sexism, racism, and family interactions. The "Brother/Sisterhood Camp" is a project of the National Conference of Christians and Jews. Those precious days buoy my spirits all year and haunt me when I capitulate to flabby, dishonest relationships.
The annual magic is conjured when we connect beyond the level of our most competent, "together" identities and the realness of the pain we all carry inside us becomes a healing power. A deeper connecting begins to allow change to happen and healing energies to surface. One moment in the week always astounds me with its power.
An invited speaker talks to everyone about the fear and anger women feel at the threat of rape and about the real damage done long after the deed has happened. The speaker is angry, and she speaks with the force of her anger and of her concern for women. Some males react with hostitlity or defensiveness. Suddenly, the speaker stops and asks the women in the room to share their anger, their feelings about rape.The rape survivors, with support from their sisters, tell the horrifying tales and bare the hidden scars. Permission has been given for the truth to be told. The males are abruptly confronted, not by some strange speaker-one of those "libbers"-but by the female campers they have come to know and care about. Slowly, in the excruciating sharing of pain and terror, a transformation happens. A severer listening, a deeper hearing is taking place.
Two events begin in those moments of truth spoken. The dominant-male/submissive-female ritual is exposed by those with the courage to name the truth of their lives. Behind the male hostility and defensiveness are fear, profound loneliness, and a raging sense of inadequacyfeelings embraced openly by many for the first time. With the embracing comes new feelings of shared pain with the women who speak. No longer just a victim's pain, the pain has become the shared hurt of honest relationships in which brokenness is named. And for those who had the courage to hear, to feel, and to speak, a new empowerment begins. As one women decides to say her life is important to her, and in her fear she tells the truth of her existence, others rise to support her and claim themselves. For some, the glimpses of transformation and empowerment illumine enough to light a way dimly to wholeness; for others they become a long-forgotten dream.
Those brief, healing, summer hours lurk behind my every religious question. They also illustrate an important truth for me as a feminist and a Christian: only when we actually engage in the
difficult and painful process of deep, intimate relationships with those who threaten and frighten our securely defined selves are our whole beings pulled into new ways of understanding that heal and nurture life. The power that comes from living in relational process transcends ideology in a closed universe and reaches for understanding. It transforms, empowers, and saves our lives.
To develop and use this power is feminist freedom, a participation and presence in reality to the fullest extent possible. Freedom is to love ourselves and others deeply, and to be created continually by the many complex dimensions of relationship to ourselves and others. When we insist on the increase of this freedom we are led toward salvation.
Salvation is the healing of life that emerges from our freedom and from the creative imagining ofa restored and whole existence. In the best offeminist visionaries such as Doris Lessing, Susan Griffin, Adrienne Rich, and Alice Walker, we encounter a persistent eros for wholeness-inprocess, for self-affirmation, for relationship, for forgiveness, and for the embracing of ambiguity as a key to self-discovery.
Redemption as Healing
Healing is the dominant image of much of feminism today. Those most wounded by reality are the most attuned to the brokenness of reality and the demands of relationships. Such sensitivity can heal. Pain is sometimes the only way to heal. When disease is deep, sometimes only a deep cut will lance the hidden infection. The healer's knife must have the courage to go deep. We dare not surrender our rage to safety or complacency as long as women continue to suffer the wounds of patriarchal violence.'Our anger is fueled by our longings for ourselves, each other, and a reality that does not destroy us. Shared pain brings empathy and compassion.
Healing rejects coercive power and authority. Healing is its own authority; its energy cannot be controlled. Because healing is not based in control, it cannot work unilaterally. The internal wisdom of each of us must participate in and want wholeness before it will come. Hence, the healer cannot dictate healing, only offer and receive
it . The primary context for healing is relationships. Healing requires an empathetic, compassionate participation in the life ofanother. Healing is engaged and active. It is a gentleness that is not afraid of pain but soothes encrusted wounds and makes them whole again. Profound healing functions only when individual persons are willing to be vulnerable and share intimate feelings. Healing requires calling up the depths of cold pain in ourselves and each other until the warmth of our own tenderness and yearning for each other makes us alive again. We destroy each other in increments by abandoning each other in our fear of what pain and the truth of our lives will do. To discover what does not destroy us, however, more than anger and passion are required. Healing needs imagination. Not only must we strive to see those we love
fully and participate in their suffering; we need also to sustain a vision of Wholeness that imagines what is not yet a full reality. Imagination is a wellspring for trust and hope. Imagination must be alive in us as the searchlight for treasures yet unclaimed.
Jesus as Healing Presence
One life-giving image is that ofJesus Christ as a healer.
Healing is the living Jesus' salvific power. Yet in our
scientific age, sceptical of the miraculous, this image has
been long-neglected.
The Jesus of the early church recognizes the coercive
powers behind some forms of pain. Evil is removed when
it is acknowledged. Naming the powers and calling them
out removes them. But Jesus is not concerned with placing
ultimate blame for suffering. People ask to be healed, and
he heals them because he has a vision of the wholeness
that opens him to concrete persons in his presence. He
stands with God against suffering and acts to purge
illness.
In the biblical stories, however, Jesus is not always the
source of healing. In some stories, the faith and vulnerability
of the sufferer usher in the miracle, and the
healer-sufferer relationship produces wholeness. Jesus is
the miracle worker, not the miracle itself.
While healing is a proof of Jesus Christ's power, healing
does not belong exclusively to Jesus. Mark 9:38ff, Luke
9: Iff, and Acts 3: Iff. tell of others who heal. Most receive their power through Jesus Christ, but in Luke 9:49-50 other healers are recognized as part ofGod's salvific work. Hence, healing can have an authority outside the realms ofJesus' powers. God is at work restoring creation even in unseen corners.
The healing images of Christ are not the center of our faith, but they can nourish faith when they feed our power, a power that helps us save the images that restore us and lead us back to each other. Christ as healer need not be an image ofexclusive power and authority. Christ is an image of shared power that works and is increased only in the sharing.
Healing reality does not emerge from a reliance on a past or future salvific event. Healing requires loving, imaginative presence here and now. And healing is to be in each other, loving ourselves and each other fiercely into wholeness.•
From Christian Feminism by Judith Weidman, Copyright 1984 by Harper & Row, Publishers, San Francisco. Used with permission of Harper & Row, Publishers, San Francisco.
Rita Nakashima Brock is director of the Women's. Studies Program at Stephens College, Columbia, Mo. A Ph.D. candidate at the Claremont Graduate School, she is working on a dissertation on feminism and Christology. She also writes on Asian women's theology, peace, power, and feminist understandings offreedom.
Open Hands/ II
1\ the crisis ofAIDS has gro~ ten, silence is a powerful tool to be concepts of healing used when working at spirituality have expanded greatly as and prayer. well. Persons with AIDS (PWAs)Be informed. The more you
faced with a clear threat to their continued existence-seem increasingly willing to "try anything" in the hope that some physical improvement may, indeed, occur. Widely varied therapies-imaging, zero-balancing, macrobiotics, positive thinking, herbal medications, and others-have grown in popularity. They now are frequently used in conjunction with or in place of other conventional medical therapies of pharmaceutics and radiation. But what of healing can be directed beyond the realm and aspect of the physical? Several years ago, I worked with cancer patients as a chaplain in a North Carolina hospital. The hospital staff and administration impressed on us chaplains that we were just as important a part of the healing teams as were the doctors, nurses, therapists, and interns. Several doctors remarked to me that, when they could do nothing else, they called a chaplain and were constantly amazed by the results. I have found much the same to be true in working with PWAs. Usually though, the healing process is far more complicated for PWAs than for persons with other long-term, terminal illnesses. The internal healing processes for PWAs can be thwarted in a number of ways: • Most PWAs have contracted the virus either through homosexual activity or by sharing needles when using intravenous drugs. Because many people view these behaviors solely as matters of choice, persons who become ill with AIDS are accused of "bringing it on themselves." They are made to feel guilty and somehow less deserving of support and proper care. • The church's historic failure to accept and provide spiritual support for gay and lesbian persons
~WendyTate healing processes for gay men. Regardless of how it is stated, the church's condemnation of their lifestyle is seen as rejection of the persons themselves. • Rejection and ostracism by family and friends can seriously affect the mental and emotional health of PWAs. Such rejection may occur in conjunction with the process of "coming out of the closet," as a complication of having AIDS, or as a combination of both. • Although understanding of AIDS among the general population is certainly higher than it was even one year ago, hysterical, irrational fear of someone with the disease still is not uncommon. Family members, friends, work colleagues, and others may fear exposure to the disease even when assured that they are safe. • Finally, social situations may cause problems for PWAs, and not only because side effects of the disease significantly limit the socializing that is physically possible. Invitations to dinners and parties are rescinded or never extended at all. Friends call instead of dropping by. These painful situations inevitably increase the stress felt by PWAs. The effect of stress on someone whose immune system is already compromised is even greater. Fortunately, some things can be done to assist persons with AIDS in bringing about healing and reconciliation. Be present. This is the first and most important action. To be available to talk, to run errands, to just sit and be in the same room and read can be very healing. Listen carefully to what is said and take note of what is left unsaid. Praying together mayor may not be helpful, especially at first, but do not
know about AIDS, the less you will have to fear regarding spending time with PWAs. Ifyou are uncomfortable or fearful, PWAs may recognize that fear, increasing their stress. Be honest. To maintain a healthy, helpful relationship with someone, you must build trust and respect with that person. It is not necessary to protect PWAs; they usually are well aware of the extent of their illness. An atmosphere of honesty and respect allows for the discussion of subjects that can be tense and uneasy. Be patient. Healing of any kind takes time, so take things at whatever pace feels comfortable. For a gay man with AIDS, in particular, brokenness and scarring may be very old and deep, so patience, persistence, and an attitude of sincere caring are important. Avoid being judgmental. Opinions are fine, but judging another person can cause further alienation. Recriminations and blaming do not encourage reconciliation and healing. More often than not, they simply add insult to injury. In short, in spending time with persons with AIDS, nothing can take the place of good old-fashioned TLC. Kindness, care, and concern always show through if they are genuine. I have found that something amazing happens when I see healing in the life of someone with whom I am working. I, too, am healed and gain something for myself as well. When we allow ourselves to be open to God's power as it flows through us, a we direct that power to others, we may find that the healing is in us as well .• Rev. Wendy Tate is an elder in the Virginia Annual Conference ofthe United Methodist Church. She spent the 1985-86 appointment year doing pastoral care and counseling with AIDS patients through FOCUS,
can further complicate internal
assume anything. Always ask. Of-
the Fellowship of Christians United in Service.
12/ 0 pen Hands
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
C·H·A·N·G·E·S T·A·K·I·N·G
P·L·A·C·E
by Ralph Blair
'1n olden days-not so very olden either-this practice was painted as the blackest ofall possible sins. Anyone who practiced it was pretty sure ofhell. Our grandfathers, including our medical grandfathers, ifthey did not
avoid all reference to it, taught that it was not
only a dreadf ul sin, but that also it had physical
and mental consequences which were terrible;
these consequences being regarded as the just punishment ofGodfor human wickedness.
It was said that the victim ofthis habit invariably brought disease upon himselfand that ifhe did not speedily check it he would go mad.. .. The only hope ofcure held out
was said to lie in the exercise ofthe victim's will assisted by religious exercises ofprayer and Bible reading. "
-Leslie Weatherhead, The Mastery ofSex through Psychology and Religion, 1931
Rev. Leslie Weatherhead, a British Methodist
in a Congregationalist pulpit, was one of
the pioneers in attempting to integrate psychology
and religion. In his day, he was considered
a "liberal" or "enlightened" voice on matters relating sexuality to spirituality, as his above words on "Masturbation or Self-Abuse" might indicate. The Methodist Recorder predicted, "without fear of exaggeration it can be said that tens of thousands of young people will be deeply grateful" for Weatherhead's book.
In that essay, Weatherhead also stated: "Fortunately, most of what was held to be true in regard to masturbation, physically, psychologically, and theologically, we now know to be vulgar nonsense." He noted that a "psychologist says that 99 per cent. of those who have given him their confidence practice it, and he suspects the hundredth of concealing the truth."
We should by now, however, know better than to think that Weatherhead was particularly enlightened. He went on to claim that "some [men and women) achieve complete mastery [over masturbation] ... Quite recently I have had the joy of curing-apparently completely-a boy who masturbated several times a day for eight years and a girl in whom the practice had been a daily one for nearly fifteen years."
By what means did Weatherhead have such "joy of curing" masturbators? His recommendations ranged from the psychological (urging patients to recognize masturbation as "the misuse on selfish levels of an instinctive energy"), to the religious ("Simply soak the mind with thoughts of Christ"), to the physical (recommending circumcision of all uncircumcised masturbators, avoidance of "heavy meals late at night," and sleeping with coverings that were "as light as possible" in a bed that was "not too soft").
t should not be surprising how many parallels exist between
this approach to masturbation and the various, supposedly enlightened approaches to homosexuality popular today among evangelicals, fundamentalists, and charismatics.* As was the case with Weatherhead's "exmasturbator" process, many (though not all) leaders of what is commonly known as the "ex-gay movement" are attempting to move away from the really outlandish misinformation of previous generations. In both movements, we see a move from ignoring a taboo topic to a revolutionary recognition of it as a widespread phenomenon-even within the churches-requiring a change in perception. We see a seemingly greater compassion. But we see, too, simplistic solutions in the misuse of prayer and Bible reading. And we see the naive reporting of "cure" on the basis ofinstant evaluation ofalleged change, rather than on long-term follow-up studies. We see testimony of"ex-masturbators" and "ex-gays" as narrowly reported by their would-be deliverers. We see recommendations that the behavior be redefined, that thanks be given for a "freedom" not yet actually attained. We see recom(
continued on pg. 14)
*/n his own chapter on homosexuality, Weatherhead simply reje"ed his readers to his chapter on masturbation, though he did say that the sodomy laws were "both cruel and useless. "
Open Hands/I3
I loved life and all that it had to offer me each day. I loved my job and my clients.
Ma God I loved my friends and thank God for each one of them.
Have
er 'Y onM oul
Suicide is an all-too-common reaction of gay men and lesbians plagued by f eelings ofguilt over their sexual orientation. Below is the actual letter ofone man, who, convinced by an "exgay " organization that as a gay man he was not only sinful but worthless; took his life. He believed that God would forgive him/or killing himselfbut notfor being gay.
Originally printed as 'T he Ultimate Act of Violence" by Evangelicals Concerned, San Francisco. Reprinted by permission.
I loved my little house and would not have wanted to live anywhere else.
All this looks like the perfect life. Yet, I must not let this shadow the problem that I have in my life. At one time, not too long ago, that was all that really mattered in my life. What pleased me and how it affected me. Now that I have turned my life over to the Lord and the changes came one by one, the above statements mean much more to me. I am pleased that I can say those statements with all the truth and honesty that is within me.
However, to make this short, I must confess that there were things in my life that I could not gain control, no matter how much I prayed and tried to avoid the temptation, I continually failed.
It is this constant failure that has made me make the decision to terminate my life here on earth. I do this with the complete understanding that life is not mine to take. I know that it is against the teachings ofour Creator. But, my failure is also against the teaching of our Creator. No man is without sin, this I realize. I will cleanse myself of all sin as taught to me by His word. Yet, I must face my Lord with the sin of murder. I believe that Jesus died and paid the price for that sin, too. I know that I shall have everlasting life with Him by departing this world now, no matter how much I love it, my friends, my family. IfI remain it could possibly allow the devil the opportunity to lead me away from the Lord. I love life, but my
The Real Changes (continued)
mendations for avoidance and silly suggestions for distraction, repression, and denial.
Make no mistake about it-changes undoubtedly do occur in the "ex-gay" movement. But my extensive study of "ex-gay" phenomena over more than a decade convinces me that the changes are turnover in testimonies, personnel, promises, definitions, expectations, and claims, not changes in sexual orientation and behavior. As even "exgay" movement promoter Sharon Kuhn has admitted in Campus Crusade's Worldwide Challenge magazine, "most ["ex-gay"] ministries to Christian homosexuals soon die out."
The degree of "enlightenment" among modem-day evangelicals, fundamentalists, and charismatics varies widely. This is especially the case with many heterosexuals who desperately want to believe in the "ex-gay" movement. Some persons continue to propose "cures" that are downright stupid. Out of Dallas a "Chaplain Ray" has issued advice on "How Homosexuals Can Change." He says that homosexuals should "Keep active. Work Exercise. Involve yourself in as much wholesome group activities as possible." This Rambo-like prison chaplain also believes that homosexuals would have been "healthier emotionally and psychologically if they had been involved in the rough and tumble games and fights of the children on the playgrounds."
Some evangelicals continue to claim that complete change to heterosexuality is possible for the gay man or lesbian. For example, Kenneth Gangel, of Dallas Theological Seminary, claims that the "propensity can be changed by the power ofJesus Christ." He says that those Christian leaders who do not promise complete change "stop short ofthe real power ofthe gospel." (He cites as his evidence the testimony of a man who has now left the "exgay" movement and who, in the testimony cited by Gangel, readily admitted that he continued to masturbate thinking of "fond wishes" for homosexual activity.)
And Leanne Payne, a heterosexual charismatic who runs Pastoral Care Ministries, calls all same-sex sexuality "a sexual neurosis" (contrary to the diagnostic classification of the American Psychiatric Association). She defines homosexuality as "a condition for God to heal" and says that, as such, "it is (in spite of the widespread belief to the contrary) remarkably simple."
Among other evangelicals, such views are waning. Five years ago, Christianity Today bannered across its cover: "Homosexuals CAN Change." Two years later, that magazine's editor, Kenneth Kantzer, admitted that "The evidence is clear that such a turn [from homosexuality to heterosexuality] is often not very successful," though he demanded that all lesbians and gay men "try to turn from your homosexual orientation" or at least "exercise selfcontrol ... refrain from homosexual practice ... and live lives of sexual continence."
Eastern College sociologist Tony Campolo admits that "ex-gay" claims "always fall through" on close examination. He even acknowledges the probability of a "biological base for homosexuality" and thus says that we "cannot expect such a person to change his orientation." But Campolo, too, advocates celibacy for men and women whose orientation is homosexual.
Increasingly, some evangelicals are moving all the way to the position espoused by Evangelicals Concerned, supporting a realistic integration of same-sex relationship and biblical faithing. As early as 1978, Richard Quebe.
THE
14/0pen Hands
• •
••
•----..-,. ••••••••••••••••••••• love for the Lord is so much greater, the choice is simple.
• • I am not asking you to sanction my actions. That is not the purpose of my writing this at all. It is for the express purpose of allowing each one who will read this to know how I weighed things in my own mind I don't want you to think that, "I alone," should have been the perfect person, without sin. That would be ridiculous! It is the continuing lack of strength and/or obedience and/or willpower to cast aside certain sins. To continually go before God and ask forgiveness and make promises you kno you can't keep is more than I can take. I feel it is making a mockery of God and all He stands for in my life.
Please know that I am extremely happy to be going to the Lord. He knows my heart and kno how much I love life and all that it has to offer. But, He knows that I love Him more. That is why I believe that 1will be with Him in Paradise.
I regret if I bring sorrow to those that are left behind. Ifyou get your heart in tune with the word of God you will be as happy about my "transfer" as I am. I also hope that this answers sufficiently the question, why?
May God Have Mercy On My Soul.
A Brother & A Friend,
JACK
the
sun [comes out] and the clothes [come] off, ['ex-gays' have] a full blown problem." He admits that even "during love for the same sex." He says that such ambivalence (continued on pg. 16)
deaux observed in The Worldly Evangelicals, "Right and center evangelicals may continue to say 'no' to homosexual practice explicitly and homosexual orientation implicitly; but it seems likely that left evangelicals will finally come out closer to Ralph Blair than to Anita Bryant."
Nonetheless, perceived "causes" and "cures" of homosexuality are still quite confused and confusing among most evangelicals, fundamentalists, and charismatics. It does not, of course, take much beyond chutzpah to posture righteous indignation and promise "freedom from homosexuality," especially if the one who makes the promise is a heterosexual who says that it is really up to God to heal. It requires quite something else to offer an effective way out of homosexual orientation. And no matter what they claim, it is obvious that nobody is delivering on deliverance.
he claims of "ex-gays" themselves also vary considerably.
Many frankly admit that, contrary to Payne's claims, "healing" of homosexuality is not "remarkably simple." They know from their own experience what daily and even hourly struggles they are up against. In a recent interview in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, "ex-gay" leader Jeff Ford of Outpost says that he still wrestles with his own homosexual urges, admitting he is not "cured," and that he doubts that "anyone has shed their homosexual orientation" through the "ex-gay" process.
Similarly, Frank Worthen, the director of Love in Action, warns in a recent issue of his newsletter, "When the winter months," the "ex-gays" have only "a measure of victory." He confesses, "One of the most difficult battles ex-gay men and women face is working through attractions we often have to members of the same sex." He notes that "ex-gays" often are sexually attracted to persons they see while out shopping or at church but says that it is especially hard when "ex-gays" are sexually attracted to "someone we work with or are required to interact with on a regular basis." Worthen, who is now married to a woman, suggests that other "ex-gays" should, "if possible, cut down the number of times you are seeing the person. Using the telephone rather than visiting the person helps." He advises that "ex-gays" seek out "the physically unattractive." Finally, Worthen says that "ex-gays" "should not just beat yourself ... everytime you feel attracted to another."
Another "ex-gay" has this to confide to the readers of The Presbyterian Survey: "I have a hope that I will someday have a heterosexual orientation, or meet a woman who will help me find one. But my hardened, cynical side insists that the future for me will consist of celibacy, and a decreased sexual tension. Nonetheless, the tension will remain with me until death. That's what I think the future will be like."
Some "ex-gays," however, actually deny their experience. Daniel Roberts of Homosexuals Anonymous (also known as Quest) says that homosexuals are all mistaken in even thinking of themselves as "homosexuals." According to his pseudo-Freudian interpretation, homosexuality is really "an ambivalence toward the same sex rather than
Open Handsl15
The Real Changes (continued)
leads to genital behavior when it is "misinterpreted as erotic."
Other "ex-gays" redefine terms to suit themselves. Joanne Highley of L.I.F.E. Ministry says that Christians must "see homosexual orientation for what it is-a lie. We are," she insists, "truly heterosexual" in the first place. With such flip-flop argumentation she finds 1t easy to promise "a transformation of one's orientation" (though we might ask what the need is for such "transformation" ifthe homosexual orientation is really just "a lie" all along). At any rate, she says that such "transformation ofone's orientation" is done through a "change ofidentity-recognition of being a new creation."
o matter what they over-claim in promoting their
movement, careful examination ofmost ofthe claims of the "ex-gays" -at least in their fine-print disclaimersshows far more modest promises. Some of their stories of so-called deliverances don't even focus on sexual orientation or behavior, offering instead illogical "proofs" of change. For example, in an article entitled "Showing Homosexuals a Way Out" and published in the conservative United Methodist magazine, Good News, reporter James Robb relates the testimony ofa man who "was once a practicing homosexual. Now he's set up in ministry." How that man's change of career automatically proved any change in sexual orientation or behavior is never demonstrated. In another issue, Good News has printed the testimony of "A Former Homosexual," now a "musical evangelist." But a close reading of the testimony indicates that, however more musical he might have become, this "former" homosexual's homosexuality is continuing in the form of repeated homosexual temptations.
Another evangelical magazine, Message, has published the "ex-gay" testimony of Tim Youngblood. He claims, "After accepting Christ I began changing." But what began changing? "The way I moved my hands and arms changed. Even my walk changed. My voice lowered. My laugh changed." He doesn't say his desire for men changed. He doesn't say he now desires women instead of men, sexually. Youngblood advises other "ex-gay" men to "find a Spirit-filled man of God who is secure in his own self-image ... . You need someone to go to when things get difficult." How is this not a description of homosexual attraction? He warns the "ex-gay": "Allow yourself the freedom to fail. ... You're going to stumble."
Christian Life magazine has published an article, entitled "I Was Delivered from Lesbianism," about Darlene Bogle. Now a "leader of singles" at an Assembly of God center, Bogle says that she was "demonically in dwelt" by lesbianism but that when she "took authority over the spirits ofhomosexuality in the name ofJesus and served them their 'vacate-the-premises-immediately' papers they had to leave." Evidently, however, her lesbianism did not leave with the demons. She asks in the article: "Did all the struggles leave overnight? No."
While at first "ex-gays" may make outlandishly false claims about their own "change" experiences, they almost always soon become more honest and modest in their claims. All of the early movement leaders who claimed to be personally "ex-gay" have now dropped out: Guy Charles of LIBERATION in Jesus Christ, Roger Grindstaff (also known as Roger Dean) of Disciples Only and a consultant to Teen Challenge, John Evans of Love in Action, Jim Kasper and Mike Bussee of EXIT of Melodyland, Greg Reid of EAGLE, Rick Notch of Open Door, and many others. Alan Mediger, executive director of EXODUS, the "ex-gay" umbrella organization, acknowledges "that his group has had problems with ministry leaders who return to a gay lifestyle ...and that when an ex-gay is trying to help a struggling homosexual, the temptation to fall is great."
This "exodus" of "ex-gay" leaders does not, however, prevent some Christian publishers from continuing to distribute, and even advertise, these persons' previous testimonies of deliverance. Today, many of those who lead the "ex-gay" movement have never even been homosexual (e.g., Leanne Payne, Robbi Kenney of Outpost, and Ron Highley of L.I.F.E.).
And, apparently, those "ex-gay" persons who do continue to help lead the movement often still struggle with the conflict between their desire to purge themselves of homosexuality and their deep-felt need for same-sex relationships ofsome sort. Andy Comiskey, founder ofthe "ex-gay" Desert Stream at John Wimber's Vineyard asks in its newsletter, "How do we ["ex-gays"] sort out sinful desires from legitimate needs for same-sex friendship?" He continues: "Perhaps we're fearful of falling hopelessly in love with another of the same sex. We detach ourselves. On the other hand we can rush unwisely into friendship and find ourselves enmeshed in an emotional and sexual death grip." omiskey's concerns have been a constant battle in
the "ex-gay" movement, where the biggest worry at every "ex-gay" convention is that the "ex-gays" will "fall" during the convention. As ex-"ex-gay" leader Rick Notch has put it: "You pick a prayer partner the first night of the convention, you pray with him the second night, and by the third night your prayers are answered." Don Baker, in his recent book, Beyond Rejection: The Church, Homosexuality, and Hope, acknowledges that even after a prescribed Bible-memorization program, "deliverance from homosexuality is a slow, agonizing process with the everpresent fear of falling at any time" into protracted homosexual behavior. _ _
In short, leaders of the "ex-gay" movement seem to be scrambling to find any substantial proof of success in their efforts. For many, this has meant carefully defining (or redefining) very limited goals.
A couple of years before "ex-gay" leader Greg Reid dropped out of sight, abandoning his EAGLE (Ex-ActiveGay-Liberated-Eternally) ministry, he admitted, "There have been many ["ex-gay"] failures. ... Ex-gay testimonies are touted before they are ready, many, in fact,
16/ 0pen Hands
1
don't even have a genuine call. ... Evangelicals and gay Christians alike are looking for a 'perfect record'-and heterosexuality to boot. Ex-gays play right into that destructive game. The scriptural standard is NOT 'are they reoriented' or 'have they fallen.' "
Robbi Kenney has issued the following directive to other remaining leaders in the movement: "Know what you are offering .... You are NOT offering heterosexuality ... [but] the power to come into celibacy." She even advised, "avoid calling them ex-gays." Nonetheless, with the same mailing, she sent out a brochure attacking the American Psychiatric Association's position on homosexuality and declaring across the cover of the brochure: "There IS an ex-gay reality!" For herself, the never-lesbian Kenney has long lamented her loneliness and her hopelessness about finding a husband in the "ex-gay" movement. She proves that "ex-gays" are not really new heterosexuals-even when they marry heterosexuallywhen she explains: "Being in ex-gay ministry often has meant that I've only met and fallen in love with men from gay backgrounds, ... I finally asked God to bring a man into my life who could appreciate me as a woman."
This past year, leaders of various "ex-gay" groups, including Love in Action, Homosexuals Anonymous,
L.I.F.E. Ministries, and Mount Hope, conducted a winter conference in New York City. They repeatedly stressed that the "ex-gay" promise was not one of change from homosexual orientation to heterosexual orientation but rather one of either demanded celibacy or heterosexual marriage (which was recommended to be arranged by a third party and in which genital acts might or might not eventually be added to friendship with someone of the other sex).
In summer 1985, EXODUS held its ninth convention. Of 54 conference participants polled, 23 preferred not using a noun to describe someone "freed from homosexuality." Instead, they said that such a person was "struggling with homosexuality" -a"fallen angel." Phrases such as "set free" and "delivered" were said to be "theological terms [that] often misrepresented the process of change which most ministries teach." Ambiguous, nonsexual terms such as "new creation," "image of God," and "sanctified" were used to define what was meant by "being changed." To be "ex-gay," said Doug Houck, founder of the Christian Reformed-backed Metanoia Ministries, does not even mean "a complete elimination of homosexual behavior: homosexual contact, masturbation, buying! reading of pornography, etc."
But how was this convention covered in the evangelical press? According to a news feature in Christianity Today, there were at the convention "living testimonies that practicing homosexuals can become heterosexuals." Such backtracking from the editorial enlightenment shown three years ago at Christianity Today clearly points up the continuing ambivalence of evangelicals when faced with evidence they don't want to believe.
Conservative Presbyterian Richard Lovelace has also displayed this ambivalence. Not long ago he repeatedly referred to EXIT of Melodyland as the "ex-gay" organization that was "most successful in bringing persons out of the homosexual lifestyle." Now that the cofounders of EXIT have exited into "the homosexual lifestyle," however, he pushes Homosexuals Anonymous, calling the approach used by its leader, Colin Cook, "an authentic theological masterpiece ...a jewel ...a theological pearl . .. a silver bullet against evil." Interestingly, Lovelace neglects to mention that Cook is a Seventh-Day Adventist, a fact that many of his conservative Presbyterian readers might well dislike.
At any rate, the "masterpiece" Cook is said to have produced is based on the idea that God accounts the "ex-gay" to be "heterosexual" even though "God knows" that he or she still is not heterosexual. According to Cook, the "exgay" must claim the belief that "God charges to your account all of Christ's ...heterosexual wholeness." It's a "charge," not a "change." And so, of course, Cook must admit that the homosexual "feelings remain." But, without any evidence or explanation, Cook suddenly announces on the last page: "In time, 80 to 90 percent of the strength of homosexual feelings will pass away."
Where does he get these figures? And when will the "homosexual feelings ... pass away"? When the homosexuals themselves pass away? Cook admits in a recent interview in the Philadelphia Inquirer that he has no records by which he can speak of"success levels." Indeed, in Ministry, a Seventh-Day Adventist publication, he says, "Many Christians, battling with a homosexual problem, hope one day in the vague future finally to arrive at heterosexuality by the gradual process of God's righteousness working within them as they have faith." But, according to Cook, this "is a wistful hope" and "Biblically false." The Cook approach "focuses itself on a wholeness, a righteousness (and hence a heterosexuality) outside of itself and in the person of Another, namely Jesus Christ. This wholeness and heterosexuality of Christ the homosexual accepts as his own." Cook says that this, then, "ends the search for heterosexuality within himself." He says that "ex-gays" must then praise God "for our new unseen identity."
Such a "transformation" is hardly "a theological pearl . .. and a silver bullet." Rather, it's junk jewelry and a blank.
ra s is true today of the older approach to "self-abuse," ~the"ex-gay" approach would be comical ifit were not so tragic. In several more decades, the views of the Cooks and Lovelaces will be but amusing footnotes of a less enlightened generation. But those who, because of these unenlightened moralists, will have forfeited a rewarding intimacy for the true self-abuse of isolation, enforced celibacy, and even promiscuity will be beyond the ability to enjoy God's earthy gift of sexual closeness. Whether male or female now, they will then be where, like the angels, they "neither marry nor are given in marriage." •
Dr. Ralph Blair is a psychotherapist in private practice in New York City. He is the founder of the Homosexual Community Counseling Center and Evangelicals Concerned, Inc.
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Open Hands/ I 7
During the past eight years I have often been asked to write or talk on my experiences in counseling gay men and lesbians, especially through my work in LIBERATION in Jesus Christ. But I have been reluctant to comment publicly on those experiences because I have felt an obligation to those I counseled for five years. However, the growing anti-gay/lesbian conservative movement within the church now leads me to be more outspoken in challenging those who claim God calls all gay men and lesbians to renounce their homosexuality.
The youngest in the family of a Salvation Army bandmaster, I was brought up in an environment where God was the center of each individual's daily life; where we learned of God's love for all creatures, great and small. That love became apparent watching my father pray with and counsel the many drunks who followed the army band from open-air meetings to the corps for services. That love was more apparent when my parents, knowing of my homosexuality, declared, "God loves you as you are! He has merely taken away a bit ofyour masculinity to make up for the talents He has given you."
Each of my love relationships has been long-term: the first for 7 years, then 5 years, a marriage lasting 2 years, then 11 years, and the present going on 6 years. Mter my first breakup, I became a Roman Catholic and entered the novitiate of a monastery. Mter a serious physical illness made it impossible for me to continue in the religious life, I returned to my career in TV design, but a bankruptcy made me tum to prostitution as a means oflivelihood. My faith in God was all I had to keep me going against adversity.
I did meet someone finally and life seemed upbeat once again, especially when my employer moved the two of us to Chicago. Mter 11 years and another breakup, I was back in New York. The night of the Stonewall Riots in 1969 I stood in Sheridan Square watching with unbelief while saying to friends, "Those stupid queens! Don't they know when they have it good!" I never imagined I would become an activist-serving as press and media chair for New York's Gay Activists Alliance; being among the founders of the Metropolitan Community Church in New York; and working in New York and Washington as a political correspondent for The Advocate, a national gay/ lesbian newsmagazine.
While covering the two 1972 national political conventions as a reporter, I was tear-gassed, which had an adverse effect on my well-being. I went to Los Angeles following the conventions, and, in a memorial service for a young, murdered MCC member, I believed a voice was speaking to me asking, "What are you doing here?" I left the service immediately and flew to Kentucky, to the monastery where I had spent my novitiate.
Those few days spent in quietude and meditation seemed to renew me physically, spiritually, and mentally. Returning to D.C., I found my priorities beginning to change. I became involved in a local parish's activities and concerned for my less fortunate brothers and sisters who were impoverished, addicted to drugs, seemingly lost in a
i8/ 0pen Hands
One
"Ex-Gal"
Leaders
S
by Guy CIIarIes
time warp. Attending Catholic charismatic prayer meetings, I found a new release for my spiritual being and the impetus to turn my caring into a reality.
Sanctuary House was established as a "communal institute" based on the Rule of Taize, the famous Protestant monastic community in France. Its aim would be a communal sharing of property by lesbians and gay men, with some members going out to earn for the support of the community, while others maintained the house and took care of any needy persons taken in for aid.
Listening to various charismatic leaders, I began to believe that God had worked a "miracle" so I was no longer homosexual. Daily attendance at charismatic functions left me with little time to think of my own sexuality. In fact, I became sexually inactive.
I began to mail letters to those who placed "personals" ads in The Advocate, stating that I had found the answer to loneliness. The overwhelming response led Sanctuary House to depart from its original purpose of helping lesbians and gay men, to one of converting them.
Support came from Pat Robertson's "700 Club," Full
Gospel Business Men's Association affiliates, Teen Challenge groups, Assembly of God churches, and mainline church charismatics. Appearances on television and radio, before university Christian groups, at "Jesus rallies," and in Pentecostal and other churches happened with regularity, even though I spoke out supporting civil rights protection for gay men and lesbians.
In my travels, I met other "former" gays who had had similar experiences and had started similar ministries. Many of them commented on the loneliness they had experienced, which disappeared when they joined a "Jesus" group. Like me, most believed that a miracle had occurred and that they were no longer homosexual.
Some 20 of us gathered in Anaheim, California, in the late summer of 1975 and formed a national support network called EXODUS. The name was chosen to be indicative of the goal to lead lesbians and gay men to "freedom" from their lifetyle. Moments of tension occurred when I questioned the others' stand on gay/ lesbian rights and insisted that there was nothing wrong with a same-sex love relationship void of sex, even if that love was shown by holding or kissing the other person. The discussions that followed showed "cracks" in the "miracle" cures as confessions spoke of occasional reversions to the previous lifestyle.
After I returned to the Washington area, I changed the name of my ministry to LIBERATION in Jesus Christ, and a new board of directors was formed under the patronage of an Episcopal Church in Fairfax, Virginia. First an apartment in Arlington, then a house in Fairfax, were used as residences for those desiring counseling.
In counseling, I found many individuals with a deeprooted guilt because of their sexual preference or who assumed they were gay because of an experimental experience with homosexual behavior on one or two occasions under the influence of drugs or alcohol. When told experimentation is a part of sexual maturation, many lost their fears and guilt, with some going on to marry and have families. (
The ministry was active for fwe years, which formed an intense period for me. Participation in various church and group prayer meetings, counseling by mail and in person, maintenance of the residence, and lecturing in schools and churches left little time for me to even consider my own sexuality.
In 1977, while I was lecturing at Princeton, threats were made against me by a storefront pastor in a small New Jersey town. A teenager he was counseling had come to LIBERATION for help, even though he had been told not to come to Virginia. When he arrived on a Saturday afternoon, he said he felt tired and ill and spent the rest of the day in bed. He did not attend church with the group on Sunday, and, on our return, he told us his grandmother was extremely ill and he had to return home immediately. After he left, we discussed his strange behavior, agreeing his parents and another pastor should be notified of his decision to leave. We were informed that his grandmother was not ill and that no one had called him. He had called the pastor, claiming I had seduced him. We were shocked at the charge, since we were then sleeping in single beds, three in two bedrooms and three in the living room on cots and a sofa. The bedroom doors had never been closed except when he had been alone in the one room. Unfortunately, the storefront pastor would not let anyone confront the accuser face to face regarding the charges, insisting that, as a "man of God," he would not lie regarding the young man's confession.
The toll of refuting the charges put a tremendous strain on me, physically and mentally, and fatigue put me in the hospital. The board of directors decided to dissolve LIBERATION and turn all files and assets over to another "ex-gay" ministry. I enrolled at Elim Bible Institute in upstate New York to recover my physical, mental, and spiritual strength.
It was at Elim that I became aware of, and witnessed firsthand, the brainwashing methods some fundamentalist and evangelical sects use. It was also at Elim that God gave me insight into the divine word, while I was studying and translating from the Greek. The inconsistencies, the errors, the misinterpretations introduced into the scriptures by human beings became apparent to me. I soon realized that the God taught at Elim was one of retribution and condemnation, not the greater God of the love my parents had shown me.
I left Elim in October 1978, returning to Chicago, where I had many friends. I felt a peace within myself for the first time in many years. No longer burdened with the problems of others, able to assume an anonymity in my worship, I knew that God loved me in the fullness of my being. With determination, and in spite of my age, 55, I found employment and began a new life.
In retrospect, I now realize that the high we can acquire when turning to God within the structures of prayer groups, even fundamentalist or evangelical bodies, can be an opportunity for brainwashing, guilt trips, or denial of self, if it is misused or misdirected. The vilification and condemnation of lesbians and gay men we repeatedly have thrust at us on TV and radio and in print cannot come from true believers in God's word. As Christ said, we cannot love God unless we love one another. IfChrist did not come to judge or condemn, can we?
The basis of the love Christ spoke of comes from John 3:16-21. It cannot be abrogated by men and women building egos and seeking position. Each one of us must find God for herself or himself. Helping that to happen must always be the goal of any truly Christian movement aimed at counseling and ministering to gay men and lesbians in their search for emotional and spiritual fulfillment. •
Copyright 1986, Gideon A. Charleson
Guy Charles, a former T Vand commercial interior designer and editor, lives in Chicago and is active as a support person to individuals with AIDS at Chicago House.
Open Hands/19
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key offices in the church. No particular decision by the congregation seemed necessary; it followed from everything Edgehill stood for.
ealing through
When Affirmation: United Methodists for Lesbian/Gay Concerns was organized nationally and in Nashville, several of its members belonged
to Edgehill. Affirmation meetings were held at Edgehill. Since then,
Reconciliation
g Brokenness appears within an individual's g tion, publicly affinning the full participation of
members of Edgehill have been
g life and also within human relationships. 8 all persons in the life ofthe local congregation,
g Thus healing can take thefonn ofgrowing § can be divisive and requires acts and words of
part ofAffirmation's witness at
g wholeness within a person or reconciliation be-0 healing.
every recent General Conference of 8 tween individuals. g Ifyou are interested in how your local
the United Methodist Church.
8 Occurrences of brokenness and healing are 8 church can become a Reconciling CongregaWhen
the Reconciling Congrega8
evident in the following stories oftwo local § tion, these examples may stimulate your think§
churches becoming Reconciling Congregations. 8 ing about what steps are most appropriate for
tion Program was begun following 8 Confronting concerns that are deeply personal 8 your congregation. You might also consider
the 1984 General Conference, Edge8 (for example, human sexuality) and in which 8 using these two stories as case studies for dishill
was strongly supportive and in
g social nonns are in flux exacerbates divergent g cussing "healing" in a church school class or
October 1984 officially became a
8 feelings within and between individuals. The 8 study group. Questions for reflection are proReconciling
Congregation. This ac8
bold step ofbecoming a Reconciling Congrega-8 vided below. tion was taken very carefully, with
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mailings to the congregation and with racial issues or also with other
open discussion throughout the sum
§EDGEHILL UMe§
controversial issues, one of the
mer and early fall. The statement gdgehill UMC (Nashville,
members spoke for the congregaadopted
at that time emphasized 8 Tennessee) began in
tion when he said, "All oppression that this was in full continuity with
the congregation's history and everyis one."
§ 1966 in the midst of the
[E
o civil rights struggle. Edge-When the newly organized Metrothing
it stood for. hill was organized with a covenant
Yet, while this action was taken that committed the congregation to
politan Community Church of
Nashville was unable in 1971 to
unanimously by the Administrative a reconciling ministry. The church
find any other church building in
Council after being unanimously was located at an inner-city site
which to meet, they came to Edgerecommended
at a congregational with several neighborhoods of the
meeting, it became known that most diverse character within a
hill on unanimous invitation of its
several members opposed to the two-mile radius. Bill Barnes was
Administrative Council. For eight
years the MCC congregation woraction
had not felt free to speak up. appointed pastor and, after 20 years,
shiped on Sunday evenings in
In fact, over the years the congregacontinues as such. During this time
Edgehill's building, until they obtion
had not been as unanimous as it the congregation has incorporated
had appeared. So strong had been great diversity and carried on an
tained their own building. This
the perception of Edgehill's stand extremely wide variety of ministries
arrangement caused a controversy
that persons not in sympathy with it in its community. It has gradually
in the Tennessee Annual Conference,
and the Edgehill congregahad
either quietly left the church or grown to about 275 members, an
stayed and kept quiet. Clearly, recaverage attendance of 125, and an
tion held a series of meetings at
onciliation and healing with the annual budget of over $100,000.
which it developed both a written
several quiet dissenters were needAlthough racial issues dominaagreement
with the MCC coned.
As a member of Affirmation put ted Edgehill's beginnings, its foungregation
and a statement to the
it, "When I think how often in my ders realized from the start that
annual conference articulating its
life I've not dared to be honest, it other forms of reconciliation were
convictions. The latter statement
makes me feel terrible to think that also implied by its covenant and by
was unanimously affirmed at a conwe
have put others in that position." the nature of the gospel. Beginning
gregational meeting, with general
agreement that Edgehill's covenant
A plan of reconciliation was dewith a draft counseling center durclearly
called for such a reconcilveloped
and put into operation. ing the war in Vietnam, the conTwo
members who were not gay/ gregation has been heavily involved
ing stand.
lesbian sought out the several perto this day in the peace movement.
Meanwhile, several Edgehill
sons who were quietly unhappy Many justice issues have been
members had identified themabout
the Reconciling Congregaaddressed over the years. When the
tion Program and invited them to a question was raised as to whether
selves as lesbian or gay. Other lesshort-
term study group, meeting in the congregation should deal only
bians and gay men joined the
congregation. Some were elected to the homes of participants.
20/0pen Hands
he first two evenings were deT voted to study and discussion of what the Bible teaches about sexual orientation. Discussion of John Boswell's book Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality
formed the basis of the first evening's discussion. The second evening focused on conservative views. The aim of these two sessions was not to get everyone to agree with Boswell but to persuade those who thought that there was only one Christian view that this was a matter about which Christians could in good conscience disagree and respect one another's beliefs.
The third evening was devoted to study and discussion of what the Bible teaches about reconciliation when disputes arise among Christians. Invited to this meeting, by agreement of all present at the second meeting, were two members of Affirmation and the pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church. The evening ended in strong expressions of mutual love and an agreement that no further sessions were needed.
Would that we could say no one left the church as a result. That was not quite the case. One couple, whose views on many issues opposed those of Edgehill, left after making a very full and gracious witness to their convictions during a Sunday morning worship service and after the congregation expressed its continuing love for them.
Edgehill continues to be diligent about enabling reconciliation and healing in regard to its action. Matters relating to the Reconciling Congregation Program are reported to the congregation as they come up, and the orientation of new members includes presentation of the church's stand as a Reconciling Congregation. A banner on the church's wall declares for all to see that it is a Reconciling Congregation.
Reconciliation, Edgehill's members recognize, involves reaching out in many directions and must be a never-ending task. •
O
§WAIllNGFORD UMe§
od's spirit had been oooooonr~"'n~ring Wallingford
UMC (Seattle, Washington)
for what seemed to happen suddenly in November 1983. Several gay and lesbian United Methodists had been individually attracted to this local church by hearing a gospel of grace, healing, and justice preached. And the gay/ lesbian strangers had been made to feel at home variously by an accepting choir, a women's support group, and a struggling social action committee; though few of the church members had known the new members were gay.
Then, that autumn, some of the gay members who had come to believe in themselves, and to trust that their sexuality was the good gift of God, asked the other members of the church to share this assurance. A recently divorced father, Chuck, came out to the pastor, Rebecca Parker, and to one couple, Alan and Sue, who were not only friends but church officers. They were all supportive. Subsequently. Chuck stood before the Administrative Council and asked it to sponsor the creation of a Seattle chapter of Affirmation and publicly announce itself as a church that welcomed lesbians and gay men into its worshiping community. There was a moment of nervous silence.
Long-time members began speaking first. The lay leader, Cecil, a former policeman known for his strong opinions, rose. He had been converted to Christianity by Aimee Semple McPherson and shaped in this faith by the works of Paul Tournier. He stood and said: "I move that we do this. The New Testament is perfectly clear on this. Jesus said, 'Love your neighbor as yourself,' and he didn't put any restrictions on who my neighbor is. There are people who might get upset if we do this, and we might lose them. But if we don't do this, we will lose our relationship with God."
Another long-time member remembered her own alienation. She had been divorced in the 1950s and was subsequently shunned by many. Yet she refused to surrender her claim to standing among God's people, and she had stayed. Later she had watched the same members that shunned her oppose young men who came to worship in jeans, without a necktie, or wearing beards. "All of that was wrong. That rejection shouldn't have to happen to anybody."
Though some kept their silence for the time being, all the others who spoke that evening were in favor of the motion, puzzled only about the Book ofDiscipline's guidelines. Those voting agreed unanimously that the Administrative Council had the authority to make such a decision and that each member felt this affirmation of lesbian sisters and gay brothers in the faith was right. The pastor was asked to speak to the congregation interpreting what had occurred in the room that evening.
T hen the opposition began. One
council member had commented that the discusison was too long and should first be opened up to the entire congregation. His letter of resignation began circulating after Becky's sermon. A social worker and therapist who had worked with many homosexual patients, he wrote that homosexuality is maladaptive behavior for underlying problems. The church, he said, should admit into its fellowship only those who are in therapy actively fighting to overcome their homosexual behavior. He withdrew from the church with no further dialogue.
Others who left included a
couple in their eighties who had been in the church for over 40 years. Their departure occurred after several conversations with church friends. In her last talk with the pastor, Ida asked with warmth, "Do you think I am too old to make a new start?" She assured the
(continued)
O
__________________________ ~__________________________~___________________________
Open Hands/21
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
o Where is brokenness evident within an individual? Between individuals?
o Could this brokenness have been averted? Is something lost in avoiding brokenness or conflict?
o Are there conditions in which brokenness can or cannot be consistent with the will of God?
o Where did healing occur within an individual? Between individuals? In actions? In words?
o Where are instances in which healing did not occur? Give suggestions on how healing might have been reached in those instances.
o Must the will to be healed be present? Or can healing be serendipitous, by the grace of God? Give examples.
o Quentin Hand writes elsewhere in this issue (p. 7): "it is first the community or family of God that has the saving relationship and secondly the person." How is thi illumined in these stories? How do wounds within the community affect feelings of brokenness within an individual? Must healing within relationships occur before healing as an individual?
The story ofEdgehill UMC was written by Hoyt Hickman. The story of Wallingford UMC was a collaborative effort ofseveral church members.
O
Healing (continued)
pastor that she was still able to take on the adventure of new beginnings. A year later, the Men's Breakfast Group heard of this couple's need to replumb their home, and they donated their labor. This was a case of friendship and love that were not broken by the couple's decision to withdraw from the congregation.
At the next charge conference, the council decision was challenged and soon everyone who had voted earlier backed down. Alan fell silent as much of the criticism was directed at him as chairperson of the Administrative Council. Only Chuck voted against reconsideration. Talk-back sessions were held during coffee hours, articles pro and con were written for the newsletter, and evening discussion groups took place. Those in opposition seldom spoke out in these forums, where majority sentiment was favorable to a ministry with lesbian/gay United Methodists. The 12 lay deacons, a lay pastoral care committee, tried to maintain open conversations with individuals who talked of leaving. A second vote of the council a month later was once again unanimous to become a Reconciling Congregation.
Sometimes there is still pain and alienation expressed by those who chose to remain. At least two families
have brought up that decision
as a way to deter further "radical"
commitments.
One apparent supporter always expresses his support for Affirmation before reminding gay/lesbian church members how much the Reconciling Congregation program initially hurt the church or how gay members should be more active. And he stood before a charge conference three years later and argued against voting to become a sanctuary church because he didn't feel the church had done enough to help Affirmation, which wasn't yet what he felt it really should be.
,,"et there have been people to
.I. help us understand what is happening and how to dialogue about it. Rev. Morris Floyd, a gay United Methodist pastor, visited Wallingford in April 1985 as it celebrated its first annual Reconciliation Sunday. Speaking with the Adult Open Class, Floyd reminded the group that some people will criticize a process, when it's substance that really bothers them. Others will say that it's the loss of members they regret, though they wouldn't say that if the issue were racism or support of the Ku Klux Klan. And even those who say they want to help may criticize. This, he explained, is just a form of "blaming the victim."
Despite the departure from Wallingford of some, others have constantly stepped forward to fill in when needed. When the church's Sunday School Superintendents withdrew, another family, Robin and Carl, immediately volunteered and have held together Wallingford's education program for the past three years. The recently elected chair of the Administrative Council joined only after the second vote. "Since people were leaving in protest, I decided to join to express my support," David said.
Wallingford's lay delegate to the annual conference, Sue, first spoke on the floor of the conference on behalf of a resolution to include homosexuality in a conference study on human sexuality. She then personally authored a 1985 resolution that recommended the Reconciling Congregation Program to all local churches in the Pacific Northwest Annual Conference. In 1986 she was elected chair of the annual conference session's Church and Society Committee, where she skillfully and successfully managed discussion of resolutions on voluntary offerings of local churches for AIDS patients, as well as opposition to a statewide repeal of lesbian/ gay rights measures.
The faith community at Wallingford is a different one now. There are a handful of openly gay/ lesbian United Methodists, others known only to their close friends, and many new members who have said they first came to Wallingford out of respect for the rare commitment a local church made to offer God's unconditional love to everyone. The lesbians and gay men of the church acted on the knowledge that they were God's blessed people. Their faith made them well. Their healing called forth a new community. All in Wallingford are learning to trust in the gospel of God's grace, which heals us from fear and liberates us to be ever more bold in Jesus' name. •
O
______________________________________________________ ~__________________________
22/0pen Hands
fiJUJtaining tl}e fiJpirif
by Susan R. Beehler/Kathy Black :D"" G-r I cJ J 1 F J I J. I J. I=.:J. 1
CHORUS And we'll move, move, move be-yond our heal-ing,
i!..... 14...~ F' l>-G"
J ~ ~ I 1 d I
I~ di I d..... I;:J J ~ I J. 1 dl-d.
Mov-ing to-geth-er to greet the sun-rise. C £~~ F
~1$
~ J J I ~. I · I~ ~ I r ~ 1 ~. 1 tf). 1
Yes, we'll move, move, move be-yond our heal-ing, tI_ 1)...., C;., ,
~
I; J 1 J_ IJt 1 J J I J,-7L J 1 tiJ. 1 ~ I~ .... ~ ,,---,:e!. Fac-ing to-day to heal the world. Fine ~ R~ :Om'7 G.7
-1 I 1 ~ 1 I 1 ~ I -I
I¥ J J J J J :l :i 4t J. ~d,,-VERSE
I-The wound-ing of our souls you heard was pain-ful, 2-The lives of those sur-round-ing us are cry-ing. &.. ~m
1).. ~...T GT
F$__J ~ 1 ~ ~ I ~ ~ I~ J: 1 ;L :;L I ~. ~.I~
--------....-. -The
bru-tal past re-called to you and shared.
We try so hard to feel and un-der-stand.
F F:l G" C
~.
~ I d ~ ~ Ii ~ ~ I I g~. '-"0 I
I®_J I:n~ I r
But in com-mu-ni-ty we found re-demp-tion.
And as we bond to-geth-er, share our sto-ries,
a" F'"" G"
I~~~ I ~. (~ I ~ b~
-~ ~ ~ ~ t Ib~ I ~@. 1
We're a-ble to heal be-cause you cared. D.C. alfine You heal our souls and weave us hand to hand.
Copyright 1984 by Susan R. Beehler
This song is taken from a collection of music, Shared
Journey, written by Susan Beehler and Jan Powers Miller.
"Beyond our Healing" was written after the early fall This music has been created from the stories of women's 1984 meeting of the Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics, journeys, primarily in the Baltimore Conference of the and Ritual in Washington, D.C. during a time of its UMC. The music selVes as a vehicle for keeping alive the reorganization and moving ahead. The phrase "beyond our images from these stories. Shared Journey is available on healing" came from dialogue during that meeting. The cassette tape ($6.50) and in a book ($6.50) from: Rev. Linda second verse was written by Kathy Black after a Baltimore Coveleskie, 3939 Gamber Road, Finksburg, MD 21048. conference (UMC) clergy women's luncheon. Orders are prepaid; add $2.50 for shipping/handling.
Open Hands/23
I
By necessity, this issue of Open Hands presents only a small sampling of the varied images of healing. Those images cover many different spectrums-the Christian vs. non-Christian; scientific vs. spiritual; rational vs. emotional; traditional vs. occult. Although not comprehensive in its scope, the following bibliography does attempt to give a sense of the broad images surrounding healing. The listing of any book or article should be considered only as a suggested reading if one desires further understanding of a particular image, not as an endorsement of the publication's contents.
Healing and AIDS
"e/sa forum 123: The Church in the Midst of the AIDS Epidemic." engage/ social action. Vol. 14, no. 2 (February 1986). Collected articles discuss AIDS and what is appropriate Christian ministry to persons with AIDS.
"Living and Dying with AIDS." Manna for the Journey (now Open Hands). Vol. 1, no. 2 (Fall 1985). Assorted articles explain what AIDS is and how churches and individuals can minister to persons with AIDS and others affected by the disease.
Serinus, Jason, editor. Psychoimmunity and the Healing Process: Focus on Immunity and AIDS. Berkeley, Calif.: Celestial Arts, 1986. Explores alternative health approaches to immune dysfunction and AIDS, including centeredness and spiritual communication, meditation, and nutrition. Includes a chapter by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross on "My Experiences with People with AIDS."
Christian Images of Sp iritual and Psychological Healing
Day, Albert E. Letters on the Healing Ministry. Rev. ed. Nashville: The Upper Room, 1986. Discusses the need for the church to engage in holistic healing ministries. New edition includes study guide for group or individual use.
Fortunato, John. Embracing the Exile: Healing Journeys of Gay Christians. New York: Seabury Press, 1982. An Episcopalian gay male psychotherapist discusses spirituality and psychology and their relationships to the gay man's or lesbian's personal journey toward healing and wholeness.
Gee, Donald. Spiritual Gifts in the Work of Ministry Today. Springfield, Mo.: Gospel Publishing House, 1963. Explains Pentecostal principles for operating spiritual gifts, including healing, in both personal ministry and churches.
Ruether, Rosemary Radford. Women-Church: Theology and Practice of Feminist liturgical Communities. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1985. A leading Christian feminist theoretician discusses women's needs to create religious communities and systems liberated from sexism. One chapter, "Healing our Wounds: Overcoming the Violence of Patriarchy," briefly discusses the importance of healing throughout religious history, then presents rites for various healing services.
Melburg, Albert L. Sound Body/Sound Mind. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1984. Focuses on a holistic health program, rather than traditional illness-oriented medicine, to stress Christians' personal responsibility under God for their own physical and mental health.
Alternative Im ages of
Sp iritual and
Psychological Healing
Mariechild, Diane. Mother Wit: A Feminist Guide to Psychic Development Trymmsburg, N.Y.: Crossing Press, 1981. Proposes assorted exercises, affirmations, and other psychic tools for further healing and feminist growth. Material derived primarily from occult and Eastern religious traditions.
Vaughan, Frances. The Inward Arc: Healing Wholeness in Psychotherapy and Spirituality. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1986. Argues that physical, emotional, mental, existential, and healing awareness comes through one's consciousness identifying with one's "transpersonal self' (or "inner healer"), which is seen as compassionate, loving, intuitive, spontaneous, creative, open, connected, and peaceful.
Walker, Mitch. Visionary Love: A Spirit Book of Gay Mythology and Trans-Mutational Faerie. San Francisco: Treeroots Press, 1980. Out of print. Presents a "New Age" archetypal psychology of gay consciousness in which "gay-shamanic spirit energy" heals self and others.
The "Ex-Gay"
Movement
Blair, Ralph. Ex-Gay. New York: Homosexual Community Counseling Center, 1982. Analyzes the "ex-gay" movement-its history, deceitful claims, manipulation of psychological knowledge, and distortion of scripture.
Olson, Mark. Where to Turn: A Guide for Gay and Lesbian Christians." The Other Side Vol. 20, no. 2 (April 1984), pp. 16-20. Reprinted in "Christians and Homosexuality" (a collection ofarticles from The Other Side). 1984. Describes 36 Christian organizations that relate to gay men and lesbians, including both "ex-gay" groups and groups (such as Affirmation) that help gay men and lesbians to pOSitively integrate their sexuality and spirituality.
Congregational/
Community Healing
Garotto, Alfred. Christians Reconciling: A Process for Renewal. Minneapolis: Winston Press, 1982. Proposes a structured, yet informal, approach for groups to focus on reconciliation and the Christian call to live with others as God's children.
Personal Healing
Boyd, Malcolm. Take Off the Masks. Rev. ed. San Francisco: Gay Sunshine Press, 1984. The author of Are You Running with Me, Jesus? tells ofthe healing in his own life as he slowly came to reconcile his spiritual faith with his gayness.
O'Connor, Elizabeth. Our Many Selves: A Handbook for Self-Discovery. New York: Harper & Row, 1971. Presents practical exercises to help one toward continuing personal growth and self-realization.
Pennington, Sylvia. But Lord They're Gay. Hawthorne, Calif.: Lambda Christian Fellowship, 1982. A Pentecostal evangelist relates how she felt called to a ministry of helping "heal" (i.e., change) gay men and lesbians and then instead found herself healed as her prejudices were challenged.
Reconciling Congregations
Washington Square UMC Wheadon UMC c/o Cathie Lyons & c/o Carol Larson
Ed Weaver 2212 Ridge Avenue 135 W. 4th Street Evanston, IL 60201 New York, NY 10012
Sl Paul's UMC Park Slope UMC c/o George Christie c/o A. Finley Schaef 1615 Ogden Street 6th Avenue & 8th Street Denver, CO 80218 Brooklyn, NY 11215
Crescent Heights UMC Calvary UMC c/o Lyle Loder c/o Chip Coffman 1296 North Fairfax 815 S. 48th Street West Hollywood, CA 90046 Philadelphia, PA 19143
Wesley UMC Christ UMC c/o Patty Orlando c/o Kay Moore 1343 E. Barstow Avenue 4th & Eye Streets, SW Fresno, CA 93710 Washington, DC 20024
Bethany UMC Sl John's UMC c/o Kim Smith c/o Howard Nash 1268 Sanchez Street 2705 St. Paul Street San Francisco, CA 94114 Baltimore, MD 21218
Sunnyhills UMC Edgehill UMC c/o Martha Chow c/o Hoyt Hickman 335 Dixon Road 1502 Edgehill Avenue Milpitas, CA 95035 Nashville, TN 37212
Wallingford UMC Central UMC c/o Chuck Richards c/o Howard Abts 2115 N. 42nd Street 701 West Central at Seattle, WA 98103
Scottwood Toledo, OH 43610 Capitol Hill UMC
c/o Pat Dougherty University UMC 128 Sixteenth Street East c/o Steven Webster Seattle, WA 98112 1127 University Avenue Madison, WI 53715
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1986

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