Open Hands Vol 10 No 3 - Church on a Journey Toward Sexual Inclusivity

Open Hands Vol 10 No 3 - Church on a Journey Toward Sexual Inclusivity

10

3

1995

Winter

-More
Light CllUrc1les Network Open and Affirming Program Reconciled in Christ Program Reconciling Congregation Program Church & Military: Twins? Barriers to Inclusivity Personal Realities Healing Challenges
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Open Hands is a resource for congregations and individuals seeking to be in ministry with lesbian, bisexual, and gay persons. Each issue focuses on a specific area of concern within the church.
Open Hands is published quarterly by the Reconciling Congregation Program, Inc. (United Methodist) in conjunction with More Lig~t Churches Network (Presbyterian), Open and Affirming (United Church of Christ), and Reconciled in Christ (Lutheran) Programs. Each of these programs is a national network of local churches that publicly affirm their ministry with the whole family of God and welcome lesbian and gay persons and their families into their community of faith. These four programs -along with Open and Affirming (Disciples of Christ), Welcoming (Unitarian Universalist), Supportive Congregations (Brethren/ Mennonite), and Welcoming and Affirming (American Baptist) programs-offer hope that the church can be a reconciled community.
Open Hands is published quarterly. Subscription is $16 for four issues ($20 outside the U.S.). Single copies and back issues are $5. Quantities of 10 or more, $3 each. Subscriptions, letters to the editor, manuscripts, requests for advertising rates, and other correspondence should be sent to:
Open Hands
3801 N. Keeler Avenue Chicago, IL 60641 Phone: 312 / 736-5526 Fax: 312/ 736-5475
Member, The Associated Church Press
© 1995
Reconciling Congregation Program, Inc.
Open Hands is a registered trademark.
ISSN 0888-8833
@ Printed on recycled paper.
Resources for Ministries Affirming the Diversity ofHuman Sexuality
Winter 1995
CHURCH BEHIND US
Focus on Puzzles and Journeys JUDY BOND
Three puzzles inform our church journey.
"Don't Ask-Don't Tell" MARK BOWMAN
Uncanny parallels emerge between church and military. ~ Will Churches Take Next Steps? JEFFREY PULLING
Six barriers-and six steps-to full lesjbijgay inclusivity.
CHURCH AROUND US
Somebody Throw Me a Lifeline
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JAN GRIESINGER
Spiritual drowning occurs in Ohio .
"It Could Have Been a Church!"
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LISA LARGES
Two anecdotes identify church realities.
' J'l>urney Out of Half-Truth
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« PH IL KNUTSON
A closet door is opened with an Epiphany letter.
Phil's Family Responds Another closet door is opened.
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'And No One Will Snatch Them Qui ~fMY Hand "BARBARA tUNDBLAD
We
A memorial sermon for Phil explores the Go Shepherc{ image.
Youth at the Forefront BOB G IBELING
Youth lead the way to inclusivity.
Gay Pastoral Team" in Seattle 1S KIMBERLY GRIFFIN
A gay male couple is called 0 se'" c a
church.
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Open Hands
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Church on a Journey toward Sexual Inclusivity
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CHURCH AHEAD OF US
Healing Broken Institutions
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GEORGE D. MCCLArN
Seven healing steps a~f! offered for our so.Cial action ministrY: ,
Turning Walls into Arches 18
JEANNE KNEPPER
Here is a new metaphor for inclusive ministry and social change work.
Healing Broken People KENNETH H. ORTH We are called to heal the damage of unhealthy shame.
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To Be a Church Again
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'JACK HOFFMEISTER TJl€ Stonewall and sexual revolutions caN for the church
to
raise a new sexual moral standard.
Give a Cheer for our Evangelical Brothers and Sisters 22
TOM GRIFFITH
Evangelicals are finally being honest. Now it is our turn.
Ecumenical Challenges Ahead 23
ALICE O'DONOVAN
The struggle continues to open the doors of the National Council of Churches to the UFMCC.
SUSTAINING THE SPIRIT
For the Sake qf"lHealing 24 CHERYL D. HAR,RELL
V@ A responsive cpnfession and interqctive assurance mJflht form the core of a healing,:rituaj f or.xour shuroH:
ONE MORE
WORD
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WHAT DO
YOU THINK?
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MOVEMENT
NEWS
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WELCOMING
CHURCH LIST
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Editorial Advisory Committee
Peg Beissert, Rolling Hills Est., CA Lindsay Biddle, Minneapolis, MN Ann Marie Coleman, Chicago, IL Dan Hooper, Los Angeles, CA Derrick Kikuchi, Daly City, CA Samuel E. Loliger, Buffalo, NY Dick Poole, Oak Forest, IL Caroline Presnell, Evanston, IL Irma C. Romero, Chicago, IL Paul Santillan, Chicago, IL Martha Scott, Chicago, IL Stuart Wright, Chicago, IL
r.............~
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OPEN
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"'''.''.'''''
Program Coordinators
Mark Bowman
'.' Reconciling Congregation Program, Inc. 3801 N. Keeler Avenue Chicago, IL 60641 312/736-5526
Ann B. Day
Open and Affirming
Program
P.O. Box 403
Holden, MA 01520
508/856-9316
Judy Bond
o Reconciled in Christ Program 1722 Hollinwood Drive
"· Alexandria, VA 22307 703/768-4915
William Capel
t.. More Light Churches
Network 123R West Church Street Champaign, IL 61820-3510
217/355-9825
Publisher
Mark Bowman
Open Hands Editor
Mary Jo Osterman
Layout I Graphics I Typesetting
In Print -Jan Graves
3
Winter 1995
•
By Judy Bond
Reconciled in Christ Coordinator, LC/NA
HOW do v:e talk about the ~hur~h on a Journey engagIng In change? As a Lutheran baptized in infancy, I "teethed" on the big change-the Reformation. However, today I look for clues of re-formation in our denominations. It seems we have three church jigsaw puzzles stored in the same box-tradition, reformation, and transformation-and our mission (should we choose to accept it) is to sort out the pieces to assemble the puzzles. The pictures will reveal what we envision, hope for, or try to avoid in the future.
Tradition
The passing down of elements of a religious body from generation to generation.
One puzzle-making dilemma is whether or not our faith communities are ready to reexamine traditions. In my first college course in Old Testament, the professor challenged us to reexamine our "Sunday School" understandings of Scripture. Some of us survived by accepting the invitation to be curious, to revisit earlier learnings, and to examine the familiar from a new perspective. Others walked away muttering "blasphemy." Still others wouldn't pursue the questions, fearful of ending up with gaping holes in their faith.
Another problem is that the tradition pieces of the puzzle may seem to link together quickly. We must be careful not to force pieces into place. When Bishop John Shelby Spong was asked about his motivation for writing, he answered that his children encouraged him when they asked, "Dad, why is the church continuing to give us the same answers to questions we no longer ask?" I believe our welcoming movement is articulating some of the new questions. We have to be ready to look at our traditions.
Reformation
The improving of something by alteration correction of error, or removal of defects; the abolishing ofabuse.
Many of our denominations have engaged in ongoing study of same gender unions and ordination ofopenly gay and lesbian persons in relationshipswithout resolution. This is one puzzle that defies easy assembly. Our churches are engaged in the abuse of disowning the spiritual gifts of the les/bi/gay community. We are not moving quickly to correct that abuse. For example, in November 1991 in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, a study document titled Human Sexuality and the Christian Faith: A Lutheran Perspective was distributed for study, reflection, and comment. The overwhelmingly negative response resulted in a rewritten document titled Human Sexuality: Working Draft-A Possible Social Statement of the
E.L. c.A. with Accompanying Documents.
The shift in perspective was distinct! Many church people were not ready to reexamine tradition or to look for new answers to new questions. They took the puzzles apart and mixed up the pieces again.
Transformation
The drastic changing ofthe nature, form, function, or appearance ofsomething.
The transforming border of our church puzzle is becoming visible. \Are see it in the increasing numbers of congregations who are adopting affirmations of welcome after meeting resistance and conflict in their first attempts. We see it in the new worship resources created by our les/bi/gay community in the openness to discuss issues of justice, and as individuals network in new and prophetic ways.
As the pictures of our three puzzles emerge, we see that they really are one big puzzle being assembled by three dynamic and interlocking processes: reexamination of our traditions, reformation of our non-inclusive and abusive ways, and transformation of our creative edges. As we engage in these processes, the journey continues. T
Open Hands 4
ClCIDON~T
A
DON~T
TtLL~~
By Mark Bowman od and U.S. military service were both worshipped in my hometown church when I visited last Memorial Day. Memories of my youth flooded back: some of my most heated clashes about the ethics of the Vietnam War had occurred in that church. I sat pondering the seemingly inextricable link between many churches and the military. Why is the
U.S. flag so often displayed within our sacred space? Why do so many Christians assume that all U.S. military action is ordained by God? Why is military service so often viewed as a supreme form of Christian service?
My conclusion-to my chagrin-was that church and military playa common role in our society. They are the two key institutions for preserving U.S. social order. Both are expected to instill society's values into the hearts and minds of emerging American adults. Both are expected to mold nonconformists into socially acceptable persons. Both are steeped in tradition and slow to change.
My conclusion was confirmed as I later read Randy Shilts's Conduct Unbecoming: Gays and Lesbians in the U.S. Military.l Parallels between the experiences of les/bi/gay persons in the military and in the church are uncanny. We can draw valuable insights for our work in the church from Shilts's investigation into the military.
What Military and Church Do bservations we can make from Shilts's stories about how the military has dealt with lesbians and gay men are also generally true for the church:
1. The highest priority of the institution is self-preservation, well above concern for the individual member. Individuals are subjected to persecution, even
Winter 1995
loss of life, for the sake of preserving the institution.
2.
The institution is more concerned with maintaining the perception that gay men and lesbians are expelled than with acknowledging the reality of their presence. Everyone knows gay men and lesbians are present. No one seems interested in ferreting out the many who exist quietly. However, institutional leaders do publicly pronounce the policy banning gay men and lesbians and pursue high-profile cases to expel them.
3.
When the institution perceives itself to be threatened by gay men and lesbians, it will go to extreme lengths, even illegal actions, to protect itself. Thus arise undercover surveillances, illegal searches and seizures, and threats of recrimination and blackmail.
4.
The institution's policy on gay men and lesbians has deep roots in the institution's culture and cannot be supported by logic. Successive rationales for excluding lesbians and gay men have been proven false, only to be replaced by new ones.
S. Even though many institutionalleaders express their personal disagreement with the discriminatory policy, they enforce it in their actions. Leaders wring their hands and perceive no choice but to "follow the rules."
How Gay Men and Lesbians React
The ways gay men and lesbians react within the military are also hauntingly familiar to us in the church:
1.
Gay men and lesbians often undergo great personal sacrifice in order to serve the institution. Their deep love for the institution allows them to endure much pain and suffering.
2.
Gay men and lesbians strive to excel within the institution, believing their valued service will prevent their eventual expUlsion. However, they learn that the institution has no qualms about discarding even its most highly regarded members.
3. When confronted with threats of exposure, most gay men and lesbians withdraw from the institution quietly.
Most do not challenge the institution or even request due process.
Parallels in church and military:
Replace "institution" with "military."
Then replace it with "church."
What do you think?
4. Les/bi/gay political leaders ignore the plight of gay men and lesbians within the institution until it becomes politically expedient to focus on them. Politicalleaders' skepticism about why gay men and lesbians choose to serve a homophobic institution is only overcome by the possibility of using their struggle with such an institution to further the larger les/bi/gay political movement.
Future Directions
Observations about the military inform not only our understanding and analysis of the current situation of gay men and lesbians in the church but also future directions:
1. As change in the institution's policy appears to be imminent, the institution enforces the ban with even greater vigor.
We can expect that conflict and resistance to change will escalate as the discriminatory policies of the institution begin to crumble.
2. Gay men and lesbians seeking to challenge expUlsion do not generally succeed by using the institution's internal processes and structu res. Success is more often brought about by using external forces-the public media and the civil courts. What do all of these parallels mean?
My faith leads me to expect more from the church. Yet my love for the church does cloud my vision of reality on a dayto-day basis. Stepping back and viewing the church through a different lens can sometimes better equip us for the journey ahead . ...
Note lRandy Shilts, Conduct Unbecoming: Gays and Lesbians in the U.S. Military (New York:
Ballantine Books, 1994).
Mark Bowman serves as national coordinator oftheReconciling Congregation Program and publisher of Open Hands.
5
WILL
CHURCHES TAKE NEXT STEPS? By Jeffrey Pulling
As we reflect on the welcoming church movement within mainstream Protestantism, we not only need to celebrate the progress made but we also need to examine what keeps U.S. Protestant churches from fully embracing lesbian, bisexual, and gay people. Why are our families of faith not moving boldly ahead?
I write from the perspective of a relative outsider, having left the United Church of Christ of my upbringing over twenty years ago in order to do gay /lesbian ministry within the Metropolitan Community Church. I have stayed in close touch with mainstream Protestantism over the years through friends and family, periodicals, and ecumenical work. I do not hold out much hope that mainline churches will move to full affirmation of the presence, gifts, and ministries of les/bi/gay persons within my lifetime. I have come to this sad conclusion for six interlocking reasons. These reasons suggest six positive steps which must be taken by mainline Protestantism if it is to become fully inclusive.
1. Teach Biblical Interpretation Skills
I see very little teaching of lay people in mainline Protestant churches about biblical interpretation. The resulting biblical ignorance abandons the biblical high ground to the religious right. Their assertions that the Bible condemns
6
homosexuality leave many mainline Protestants feeling that they have to give up all notion of biblical authority if they are to welcome self-affirming homosexual persons into the church.
Protestant pastors could be doing much more to model biblical interpretation when they publicly read SCripture passages and when they preach. How will lay people experience the excitement of discovering the possible meaning(s) of a scriptural passage or story in its historical context and then applying those meanings to their present situation unless their pastor models that excitement and process? Instead, the favorite sermon topiC for the past decade has been finding strength, hope, and inspiration for daily living and life crises. As needed as this sermon topic is for the spiritual and emotional health of lay members, a steady diet of it reinforces the idea that the Bible should be used as a recipe book of wisdom and inspiration.
Largely missing is any sense of challenge for looking at life differently and/ or living our lives differently. When /Ichallenge" sermons are preached, they usually draw on the inspiration and insight of a contemporary or extra-biblical source. As a result, many lay members never hear the radical visionary ideas in the Bible. They never begin to understand the nuances of interpreting scriptural passages that deal with sexuality. Virtually none of the superb biblical scholarship of the past twenty years dealing with homosexuality has been shared with the people in the pews. Why does it have to be a big secret? Why is the literalist view allowed to hold sway by default?
2. Expand Common Lectionary
The advantages to using the Common Lectionary are obvious and have been well articulated, but there are drawbacks as well. John's Gospel is not given its full due. Stories of strong, influential women such as Miriam, Huldah, and Esther are edited out. Sexuality concerns such as Song of Songs, David and Jonathan, the eunuch prophecy of Isaiah .56, and the Matthew 19 teaching of Jesus about eunuchs are expunged. Even passages that have been used to condemn homosexuality are excluded from the lectionary, prohibiting the lectionar.· preacher from sharing a non-homophobic understanding of these passages. For churches attempting to articulate a sexpositive theology and proclaim a message of God's universal love, the Common Lectionary is not adequate. A three-year cycle of readings is not extensive enough to be inclusive of all the dhTf'fse voices in the Bible.
3. Open Up an Inclusive Gospel
While mainstream Protestants have made great strides in affirming
Open Hands
enabling the ministries of women, see little evidence of willingness to re. , Christian faith in light ofwomen's experience and insight. Ifthe Scriptures Christian tradition as we have rece;'!;ed them are indeed the spiritual ecords of only the male half of the hun race, then Christian faith needs the spiritual experience and insight of omen as well in order to be whole and complete. Unfortunately, attempts to do such re-imagining of Christian faith
ave been met with great resistance, as :if the traditional male interpretations of Christian faith are eternally true and universally valid.
Mainline churches are even less will.ng to incorporate the experience and ~lSights of gay and lesbian people. Yet,
ay and lesbian Christians are called to open up a fuller gospel, a more inclus~"e flgood news"-and they are doing so, even though their contributions are often seen as threats rather than as gifts.
arn from History
merican Protestantism has always tended to ignore church history and radition after New Testament times nUl the Reformation. This ahistorical ent has become even more prolou nced in the last two decades. I see ?'ery little evidence of Protestant open..ess to learning the lessons of Protesant and American history, let alone openness to learning a broader view of ~jstory that encompasses other times and cultures, or activities and views of
'omen, people of color, and sexual minorities. The result is a fairly myopic stance that assumes that our contemporary Western worldview is universal and timeless.
This ahistorical environment within American Protestantism provides a less than hospitable reception for the historical scholarship ofJohn Boswell and others. History is notseen as "real." The
i ews and behaviors of Christ's followers in other times and places are not seen as valid. What then does it matter that homosexuality was widely tolerated for the first millennium of Christianity and that there were Christian bonding ceremonies for two men and two women? \'\fhat does it matter that persecution of homosexuals arose within Christianity at roughly the same time as anti-Semitism and witchcraft purges? These historical insights are being ignored as if they are of no consequence.
s. Address Sexuality as Irrational Issue
Sexuality is not rational; it involves our passions. As long as we continue to address sexuality ,issues in purely rational, intellectual ways · through studies, lectures, and debates, we will never move beyond a certain point. Those involved in welcoming congregations can testify that rational discussion alone did not change minds and hearts in their churches. It is personal contact and life witness that changes people's views about sexuality.
To address sexuality as the irrational issue it is means that many more les/bi/ gay persons have to be "out." It also means that Protestant churches have to give up their favorite technique for conflict-aVOidance, namely "studying the issue of homosexuality."
6. Confront Idolatry of Marriage/Family
Since American Protestantism has so closely identified itself with heterosexual marriage and family, confronting the idolatry of marriage and family may be the hardest nut of all to crack. In actuality, the nuclear family has never been the norm of Christianity. Holding up heterosexual marriage and family as the Christian lifestyle is diabolical because it excludes those whom Christ's ministry included: the unmarried and those who are sexually different (eunuchs). In primitive Christianity, women were able to enter the New Covenant on their own, not because they were attached to a man. The New Covenant community was open to all. Gender, relationship stat us, class, and nationality were not important. Jesus redefined what family means (Mk 3:3135). Our blood-ties are not as important as our God-ties. Jesus taught that nothing should take precedence over our relationship with God, not even marriage and family (Mt 10:34-39).
I do not hear mainline churches proclaiming Jesus' teaching and example about marriage and family. Until this idolatry is identified for what it is and expunged from the heart of Protestant Christianity, gay and lesbian Christians will always be viewed as flawed and second-best (or worse).
Why Bother with Renewal?
The six steps above can lead to full affirmation of les/bi/gay persons within mainline Protestant churches. However, most churches' unwillingness to take these next steps turns them into six blocks to full inclusivity.
Given the seriousness of these six blocks, why should we bother trying to open our families of faith to a more inclusive gospel? Each reader will have to answer that question. I persist because I strongly believe that what les/bi/gay people have to offer Christianity is greatly needed. Eventually, we will be seen for the gift that we are. We may not see the new day of freedom and understanding ourselves, but as the last verse of the hymn "Lead On, 0 Cloud of Yahweh," states:
Lead on, 0 God of Freedom, Ourguiding spirit be; Though those who start the journey The promise may not see, We pray our sons and daughters May live to see that land Where justice rules with mercy And love is law's demand. 1
If we trust God enough to be God's partners in the opening up and renewal of Christianity, then those who come after us-gay and straight-will have a better life because ofwhat we have done.
•
Note
lRuth C. Duck, IILead On, 0 Cloud of Yahweh," Everflowing Streams, eds. Ruth C. Duck and Michael G. Bausch (New York: Pilgrim Press, 1981), p.77. Copyright 1974 by GIA Publications. All rights reserved.
Jeffrey Pulling, M.Div., Ph.D., has served the Metropolitan Community Church since 1972 in pastoral, educational, and
administrative capacities. He currently coordinates Adult Faith Development for the Northeast District (New England and New York state) of the MCC.
Winter 1995 7
By Jan Griesinger
"They fired my pastor today because ofme. "
his phrase has been repeating in
my head in the hours since the
firing occurred. I am long past thinking homophobia is my fault. However, when it strikes close to home, I take it personally. The other person who would have said, "It was because ofme," died of AIDS last November.
I belong to a small former E & R church, st. Paul UCC, in Marietta, Ohio. It is the closest one to me, about forty miles from my home. I have been a member for seventeen years but not a frequent attender. I generally felt unknown and unwelcome there until four years ago when Ralph Carr became the pastor.
After Ralph was called to the church, Marvin Becker (30 years old, baptized at st. Paul, and a lifelong member) told him he had AIDS and was gay and that there were several other gay and lesbian people in the congregation. Ralph was a graduate of a Bible college and had done his seminary work with Donald Bloesch (author of The Biblical Witness Fellowship Dubuque Declaration). Discovering this information about his new congregation was a shock to Ralph.
As a pastor, he felt called to do the pastoral thing. Marvin had given him our names, so he called on us one by one and asked to hear our stories. I remember his phone call to me: "I'm the new pastor. I understand you are gay. I don't know much about this and want to meet you and talk to you. II I thought to myself, "This is the most straight-forward approach I have ever had."
Over the years, Ralph provided tremendous support to me, to Marvin and his family, and to many others. He preached openly at Marvin's funeral, affirming the great love between Marvin and his partner Mark. He then proposed st. Paul's sponsor a workshop on "AIDS and the Church." It was defeated at a church annual meeting.
I hadn't been back to church since that vote six months ago and told Ralp why. He suggested I write a letter to the consistory, which I did, expressing m. pain and disappointment. He read this letter from the pulpit, unbeknownst t me. It apparently was the last straw fo some people.
Dissident members of the congreg tion circulated a recall petition. Churc members who had not attended in yea some since before Ralph came, \\'e rounded up. They forced a vote at a s cial congregational meeting within t. weeks and ended his pastorate wit . 37-28 vote.
When Ralph stood before the c gregation this morning, he told story of Marvin's approach to him, visits with me, and with others who closeted. He explained that he and ers in his former conference though him as conservative, that he was t astounded by the charge in the peti that he was "too liberal for this chur He asked the congregation, II Do . think it was easy for me to wrestle the homosexual issue? Do you t that I, a man who has slept with one woman, my wife, found it si to come to grips with gay/lesbian and the values they represented?'
Nevertheless, he took his stan explained, "When my wife was i hospital, Jan called and asked why could do to help, offered to prea me, etc. Of the three ordained f!"': ters in our church, she was the on . to offer. This bonded me to her. you attack her, you hurt me."
Of course, there were other iss there always are-his abilities, s ministry, performance-but Ralp certain that homophobia was t
Open 8
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,e of the dissidents said at the meet\
Vhat have homosexuals ever done
our country? It's our brave boys who
ght in W.W.II who have made this country great. We come to church to feel good, not to hear about sex, drugs, and AIDS."
This is a sad enough tale at St. Paul's, ut it doesn't stop there. It is being relayed in hundreds of churches. My friend Linda, pastoring a small rural church, faces the same vote six weeks rom now. Can we really question that this is the church-splitting issue of our
ime?
When I say this,. I think of racism and poverty and other serious life-threatening concerns. White VCC churches by and large do not really deal with these concerns except in a superficial, serviceproject way. At least, churches don't seem to be self-destructing over them. However, all oppression is related. The radical right attacks welfare, people of color, lesbians, gays, bisexuals, AIDS-it is all one ball of wax for them. In Protestant churches, they have targeted us. The dissidents' rhetoric at my church came right off Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell
TV.
Many of the twenty-eight of us who voted to retain Ralph will leave the church when his Sixty days are up. Somebody throw me a lifeline. The closest Open and Affirming church is 200 miles away. " Note
This article is reprinted from WAVES, December 1994.
Jan Griesinger, an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, has served as director ofUnited Campus
Ministry at Ohio University in Athens since 1976 and as national coordinator for the United Church Coalition for Lesbian/Gay Concerns since 1984.
By Lisa Larges
Those of us who attended a recent More Light Presbyterian Conference saw a play Coming Out, Coming Home, created by Spirit of the Lakes (ONA) in Minneapolis. One section of the play was a story of a young gay man's coming out experience. He speaks of going to a gay bar for the first time and having that deep experience of coming home. As he walked into that bar, he felt that he was at last among friends who understood him. Finally, he was in a place, a community, where he could know and be known. At the end of his story, he reflects that this experience of "coming home" didn't have to have happened in a bar. "It could have been anywhere," he says. IIItcould have been a church." Then he pauses-"but it wasn't."
I find that story and that conclusion haunting, especially as we look back across twenty-five years of the gay rights movement which began at a Mafia-run, New York City bar. "It didn't have to be a bar. It could have been a church-but it wasn't."
I am grateful to the women and men in that bar that night twenty-five years ago. I find it in keeping with the spirit of the gospel that our movement began this way. Jesus found the field for his radical message in the more disreputable parts of the town, with some disreputable folks. He was easily frustrated in the temple.
I think of a second anecdote about the theologian Paul Lehman. He was once asked to deliver the convocation speech at the dedication ceremonies for the opening of a grand new church building. "00 you know what you have built here?" he asked rhetOrically. "A resplendent mausoleum. Itstands incandescent in the glow of its own irrelevancy as the dynamics of history rush by it." (It wasn't the speech the organizers of the celebration had anticipated!) Then he added, "But it needn't be so."
What we are about in these three years of dialogue in the Presbyterian Church, USA, is more than the work of deciding whether or not to ordain lesbian, bi, and gay Presbyterians. It is more than the work of talking together seriously and deeply about the nature of the good gift of human sexuality. It is about reclaiming the relevancy of the church for our time.
lilt could have been the church." It could have been a church, a Presbyterian church, which held us as lesbian, bi, gay, and trans people as we came out. It could have been a Presbyterian church which helped us to grow with integrity and faithfulness. Itcould have been the Presbyterian Church which said to a sinning world, liThe injustice perpetrated against gay men and lesbians by our culture is sin and we must repent." It could have been the church which led the way to freedom and liberation for all of us-but it wasn't.
Many of us-in the Presbyterian Church and in other denominationsare calling the church to take hold of its rightful place, to do the work that it is called to do.
"It could be the church. II ..
Note
These two anecdotes are adapted from a speech at a fund-raising event on June 24, 1994, for the We Are All Children of Godvideo project being developed by Rutgers Presbyterian Church, the Presbytery of New York City's Unit for Lesbian & Gay Concerns, and the PLGC.
Lisa Larges is a massage therapist in San Francisco, and a Presbyterian candidate for ministry as an open lesbian although the permanent judicial commission has barred her from seeking a call to ordained ministry.
Winter 1995 9
Journelf Out of Holf-Truth
An Epiphany Letter from Phil
January 4, 1994
Dear Mark and Jan [and 400 other family members and friends]:
I trust that your Christmas was fulfilling in remembering the great gift of promise which the Christ child brings. Now, with the season of Epiphany at hand, we all look forward to the promise of hope which the light brings to each of us.
Amidst the light is often the darkness of some past memories and even present realities. Darkness has occurred in my life with a recent diagnosis of my physical condition. The reality is that I have AIDS. I have been diagnosed with the cancer called Kaposi's Sarcoma. It is not a complete shock to me, as I have been HIV positive for the past seven years. When I discovered that fact, I decided to keep it to myself until the time came when I actually was diagnosed with an AIDS-related disease. That time has come. My blood counts are very low and I walk around with a constant temperature. For the first time in my life, any stress causes immense physical reactions to the point where I have had to be on pain-killers. When I am not working, those symptoms disappear. My doctor insists that I go on disability and has signed the papers. All I need now is the approval of my employers for disability to become a fact. I plan to spend the next few days organizing my work for someone else to do. Then I will take accumulated vacation time and sick days until the disability can begin. All my appointments and meetings are canceled from here on out.
I am too realistic to even think of valiantly fighting this terminal illness. I only hope and pray for a relatively painless death, the time of which no one can prophesy. In the meantime, I plan to stay in my home in Chicago and when the times come that I require more assistance I will arrange for home care-and perhaps, finally, enter a hospice.
It is somewhat a relief to have the seven years of waiting over and the secret out. But that relief is minor compared to the relief that finally living a lifetime of half-truths about my lifestyle is coming to a close. The darkness of my journey as a gay ordained clergyperson is almost indescribable. Nevertheless, I want to try to share it.
The first half of my life was spent denying my attraction to my own sex. I dated women, came close to marriage twice, thought I would be "OK" and straight if I was married, fought against my fantasies and my dreams. All because SOciety-and especially the church -said that kind of sexual identity was wrong. So I tried to obey! But it didn't work. Certainly, I did not choose the gay lifestyle, for it meant being a social outcast in many instances, it meant no sharing one-half of my life with frie n and family for fear of rejections, and.' certainly meant losing my job if I \\~ ever discovered.
So, I did not tell anyone. I firmly be
·lieved that if anyone ever heard the a mission that I was gay from my lips, the' might tell someone that they knew for a fact. That person might tell someone in the church who held a positio of authority, and I would lose my job. thought about quitting on many occasions, but felt called to the varieties c work in the church which I have don over the past thirty years.
I assumed the position that anyor. who met me suspected that I was ga, That way there could be no surprises fc~ me. But, I tell you, it was a dark an lonely journey. There was no one to ta . with about the grief of a broken relationship; there was no daring on my pa to risk talking back to people who spo . hatefully about my lifestyle (and me in front of me; I did not dare to adY cate publicly for the equal treatment gay and lesbian people; I suffered wit
the predecessor church body statements on sexuality which placed m in the same category with "murderers and fornicators"; most recently a few days after the draft on hurna sexuality came out-I sat with som bishops and their staffs and had . listen to them denounce the statement as something that should no even be published, much less studie They were talking about ME sittir. in their midst. They were talkin about not allowing conversatio about human sexuality (and especially homosexuality) because : might harm the "structure" of th church. I wanted to say, "but wha
Open Hands 10
e. ut me and my kind of people? my name involved. Now, at on't you even allow converlast, they are reon to occur about us who
leased from e up the structure?" But I
that promise. I not because I only talk
am forever blicly about one-half of grateful to them "life.
for the openness, I trust that many of you acceptance, love, "1 study the draft on huand
support they n sexuality, if for no have given me the her reason than it is past six years. utme-and you! All The relief of waitask is for some open ing for AIDS to finally honest conversation so
strike is over-the relief last few weeks or months or years of knowing that the seot
my life we can talk about ALL of my
Through the years, I have realized
0';" many people have intuitively
wn that I am gay-how they have
'etly supported me, gently affirmed
e and some have even protected me. :For this, I am more grateful than you can imagine.
A few years ago, I told a handful of
,,' best friends and my two brothers,
e sister, and their families. I could bear'
.e silence no longer. But I swore all of
se people to secrecy. They kept their promise and joined in my dark journey of half-truth. They could not seek or give counselor comfort on this issue with
cret of my lifestyle and its dark journey is almost over. The light of the resurrection looms brightly for me at the end of the journey.
So now, in closing, I share this passage from Mark with you which came alive to me in church one Sunday recently:
Therefore, keep awake-for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find youasleep when he comes suddenly.And what Isay to you Isay to all: Keep awake!
(Mk 13:35-37)
I realize that you may have concerns, questions, or comments about what I have written here. I am open to all, and only ask that you contact me directly at my office for the next few days and/or at my home.
Love,
If, for any reason you would like to reprint this text, I ask only that it be printed in its entirety and not excerpted. Thank you for your consideration.
Phil Knutson, who ended his struggle with AIDS on April 24, 1994, was an ordained Lutheran pastor who served as assistant director for campus ministry at the ELCA headquarters in Chicago from 1988-1994. For ten years he also served as advisor to the Lutheran Student Movement.
~~~....:~··.,~.Jfi~lti)l;!m.;~~:~~~_, ~~fiI~~~~~~
..
1ftlftl1~ t t, , , .
.~,.,~::;~;:~;W!flltlil4JA:::~:L~,":
Phil's Fomil4 Responds
Mid-March 1994
Dear Family and Friends, all that he can to relieve some of the
Many of you have heard the news or stress in his life. have received the letter from our broThis letter is written to you to indither, Phil Knutson, regarding the fact cate our support for Phil and others in that he has recently been diagnosed with his situation. It is really a kind ofl/comthe AIDS virus. Phil has lived a life of ing out" letter from us as his family. secrecy because of the fact that he is gay We recently had a chance to gather and has found himself in a world that around Phil at a family reunion with his simply cannot seem to tolerate that fact siblings and their spouses. Three full about someone. Because of his illness, days and nights at the ocean in Califorhe has gone on disability from his job nia enabled us to surround Phil with our in the ELCA headquarters and is doing love and support. We shared our pain,
morel..'"
Winter 1995 11
Photo: Knutson family
FAMILY REUNION: A few days at the beach are healing.
our anger, our sadness, our joy, and our delight in each other. Words cannot describe what a healing time it was for us as we settle in to anticipating the grief that is yet to come.
Phil shared the hundreds of letters that he has received from around the country from family members, friends, former parishioners, and even from many people he does not know. We all read everyone of them and it provided us with the opportunity to renew our commitment among ourselves and to cooperatively embrace new commitments as a result of his pain which brought us together this time.
The most common question among us, which seemed to be a thread through all of the responses, was "What can we do?" Being part of a church that we love and feel called to support and participate in and yet which perpetuates so much pain through the oppression of gay and lesbian people, results in a mixed bag of feelings that gets too heavy to bear alone at times. Such oppression violates the spirit of the Gospel which, in our understanding, is summarized in the words of the Great Commandment which simply asks us to love one another as God has loved us.
Many of us rejoiced when the ELCA (our church body) came out with the long awaited sexuality statement. For those of you who are in other church bodies, you know that sexuality is always a difficult topic to discuss. And yet many of us stood·by as people responded to it so negatively. We did not let our voices of support be heard very loudly, although we affirm the statement. So those in positions of authority are hearing mostly the negative responses. As a result of our being together, we decided that the one, concrete thing we can do is to let our bishop hear another response. And so, as Phil's family, we each have committed ourselves to writing a letter to Bishop Chilstrom including these two items:
1.
We support gay and lesbian people as being full participants in the Kingdom of God, who should no longer be oppressed.
2.
We encourage the bishop to do whatever he can to continue to promote open dialogue within the ELCA on issues of sexuality.
It is time for us to be proactive an no longer reactive. It is our hope tha' you might consider lending your voiceJ to ours by writing your own letters c support to:
Bishop Herbert Chilstrom
Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America
8765 W. Higgins Rd.
Chicago, Illinois 60631
and to
Edgar Trexler
The Lutheran
8765 W. Higgins Rd.
Chicago, Illinois 60631.
You might also consider sending a cop: ofyour letter to your own bishop as we as to your pastor.
We offer you our prayers and su port as we continue to ask for yours.
Peace to you all, Signed by Mary and Nels Olson, Ann Arbor, MI Mark and Jan Knutson, Thousand Oaks, CA Paul and Marsha Knutson, Milwaukee, WI
Mark Knutson, ordained Lutheran past and campus minister at California LutJze an University, has graciously provided with Phil's letter and the family's resp01 .
Photo: Jan Kn uts STANDING IN SOLIDARITY: Brothers Mark (left) and Paul and sister Mary Olson join Phil (right) on his journey out of half-truth.
Open Hands 12
And No One ill Snatch Them Out of Mlf liand
By Barbara Lundblad hen I was baptized not see, or even imagine. As a
at Zion Lutheran
child, I did not hear the surprise
Church in Gowrie,
or feel the tension of this gospel.
the good shepherd looked
We weren't ready for the fullness
. gently upon my family and
of surprise: "I have other sheep ,efore I could speak, before
that do not belong to this fold. I
.eet could touch the floor bemust
bring them also ... "
the pew, before I knew the
Phil came to know both the
IIGod" or "Jesus," I looked
surprise and the tension of this
and saw the wondrous stained
gospel. From earliest childhood,
s window above the altar at
he trusted the promise that he beon.
There were deep blues,
longed to this shepherd. He was in
ed by tall green trees, with
the window, carried and cared for
and loved. It was the church that
cs and shrubs in the foreground
~ the bottom. In the center was
gave him this promise, that told
him the stories of the shepherd.
shepherd, carrying aJamb like
Later, far from home, far from
mother carrying her baby. On
childhood, other voices told him
nny mornings, the light
reamed through the window
it was not quite so. Not really. Not
shing us all with blues and
fully. The church which gave him
eellS, rocks and trees. The people
the pictures on Sunday School
:!Zion were gathered up in the colleaflets
put conditions on the
ors of the window.-We were all one
promise: it was a promise for Phil
.g picture, all of a piece.
only if he could be someone other
I don't know if Phil grew up
than who he was. "I know my
i th such a window in Albert Lea.
own"-but my own are not gay.
Still, Phil moved on ahead where
~o doubt, he carried home pictures
he believed Jesus was going: "I
f the good shepherd on his Sunhave
other sheep. I must bring
ay School leaflets. Perhaps he
fashioned the leaflet into a paper
them also." He hoped it might be
true someday, for the church and
airplane-pastor's children were
often tempted to do this-and
for him.
when he did, it was the shepherd who was flying! Phil heard this same gospel from John 10, and it merged with the parable about the shepherd looking for the one lost sheep. The stories all got gathered up in that picture of the shepherd even as the people in the congregation were drawn into the picture.
"I am the good shepherd," said Jesus. "I know my own and my own know me." Perhaps Phil counted them-the people in the sanctuary-even as I did. I
Winter 1995
wonder if he noticed that everybody always sat in the same spot, as though aSSigned.
While we were counting, the gospel went on: "I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd." While I was counting the flock within Zion, Jesus was moving ahead of me, looking for other sheep, the ones I could He lived in the tension of the
gospel's surprise-and in the hope that the church would change. It was a tension hard to bear for much of a lifetime, harder than most of us knew until we read Phil's letter. Yet today, even after hearing that pain, some of usboth family and friends-are wondering, questioning why Phil chose to end his life when his doctors had told him he had time ahead ofhim. Was it a longing to be in control? (Oh, we know Phil
more"·...
13
liked to be in control!) Perhaps, it had something to do with control, the need to make a decision while he still could. But life is more complicated than one right answer on a multiple choice test. Perhaps, more than control, it was compassion, compassion for himself and for those he loved. For he knew the course of AIDS. He had already felt in his body and soul the anguish of this illness. We will not find easy answers. Even as we acknowledge the deep despair which could overwhelm Phil, we have also sat in his home-vibrant paintings on every wall, antiques attached to warm memories, colors and radiant hope in every room. It was not the home of someone who disdained life. If I had to choose one word to gather up all these pieces, it would be compassion.
However, I would also leave room for anger! Phil was angry at the church he loved, the church he served for some thirty years. He wanted the church to change-to believe the gospel's surprise. He thought his letter would so move people that they would insist that the church become a different place. (I h~ve had similar fantasies-going to a microphone at a church assembly and giving a speech so powerful that everyone in the assembly hall rises to their feet and follows me out into the light of day!) But I don't expect such a thing to happen. It didn't happen for Phil either. The church did not change, not soon enough. He was angry. We must not take his anger away. Some of us are angry, too, angry at him for leaving as he did. Can we say that? We must, or we will dismiss Phil and all he meant to us. We will dismiss his feelings, his passion, his rage. I think he would agree with Dorothy Day when she said, "Don't call me a saint. I won't be dismissed that easily." And some of us are angry at ourselves. Why didn't we see? What more could we have done? Those of us who have known for several years that Phil was gay, couldn't we have given him more hope?
Phil died with drama, even as he had lived. He died on Sunday morning while people in some 11,000 congregations of the ELCA listened to this gospel: "I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me. I have other sheep
YOUTH AT THE FOREFRONT
By Bob Gibeling
In July 1994, the Evangelical Lutheran
Church of America (ElCA) brought
35,000 people to a triennial youth gathering
in Atlanta. During the official convention
of the lutheran Youth Organiza,
tion (lYO), the elected delegates from all ElCA synods passed two remarkable measures. One was a goal (one of nineteen):
To contInue to include youth in the LYO regardless of sexual orientation; this means that the LYO will strive to make all of its expressions wsaf~ spaces-where gay, lesbian, ,and bisexual persons can be supported and affirmed, and will continue to dialogue about th~ issues surrounding sexual orientation.
Th~ second was a' resolution on "Gay,
l esbian and Bisexual Youth," which
passed with a 93.96 percent favorable
vote:
Resolved that the board of the Lutheran Youth .organization stromgly encourage every synod to "establish an open, non-judgmental ,communication link between themselves and the gay, lesbian, and bisexual community of the
ELCA
11 VaQce Robbins, 'President of LYO com-~ ment~d: " I tis very exciting to see the face of the church charlging. The paradigm is sHifting. The youth of this church are at the forefront of ihclusivity in terms of ethqicitY" gender, and sexual orientation." The courage of Lutheran youth gives us
\ope for th~ future. '
Bob ~ibeling is program director of
Lutherans Concerned/North America.
that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also ..." How many of us were surprised by that gospel word? How many of us felt its tension? Peter Gomes, chaplain at Harvard University, says that the gospel must change us:
Once we acknowledge the inclusivity of God, nothing else remains exactly the way it was, and
that is both the glory and terror
of an encounter with the living
God, who is zealous to call all into
service and to be deprived of the
witness and gifts of no one.
The foolish, the weak, and the despised
are God's chosen vessels, and th is what frightens so furiously the wi the powerful, and the well connect In. the light of an inclusive God, hom sexuality and holy orders must be tered in the same breath, for I am co vinced that here is where the chure will be tested greatly. It is in this iss of homosexual Christians and horr. phobic churches where God is m likely to be found in oUJ day, and inclusive God will not allow any of to avoid the issue.
"The glory and the terror of an e counter with the living God" -the s' prise and the tension of the gospel! us not tame this living Word or dom ticate this Holy God. Just when we set into certainty -"I know my own and ~ own know me"-Jesus is off talkir. about other sheep. Surprise!
The opening of the Gospel of Jo . celebrates the cosmic logos whie brought the world into being: /lIn tl beginning was the Word, and the War was with God and the Word was God. All the philosophers nodded their hea for they were schooled in this cosm design-until, surprise! "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full a grace and truth ... " Flesh-did you hear Flesh. Body. Arms. Legs. Hands and fee' Walking, dancing, sweating, weepin making love. Passionate. Sexual. Flesh. No, it could not be. Surprise!
At the end ofJohn, it happens agai . This Gospel "ends" with 20:30-31: /I •
Jesus did many other signs in the pr ence of his disciples which are not '''''n ten in this book. But these are writte so that you may come to believe th Jesus is the Messiah, the Beloved of G and that through believing you rna,
have life in Jesus' name."
Close the book. The end. But-sl {prise! Chapter 21 begins all aye again-the disciples are a~ the sea fis ing and Jesus appears. Do you remember? They have caught nothing a night, and Jesus tells them to cast t net to the right. Shouldn't this star
Open Hands 14
·
>;;;i.ffu'@ >
rlse I
logetically supportive of gay and would want us to do this work for an. an people. He lived with the chasother reason, the same reason that carment and criticism which such deried and sustained him all his life. He . ns brought. Knowing he could not would bid us do this work because we aithful to God's calling AND the have met Jesus. We have heard the es of the church, he chose to be faithshepherd's voice above all else-above o God's calling. And he lived with the rules, above the fears, above the de\ild hope that someday he could spair. Jesus, the shepherd, not only carboth in the same church. ries us but leads us toward a new place, But that was not to be, not in his lifea place we could not have imagined be.
ne. Someday, perhaps, we who are the fore. We will do this work because we .urch will gather to confess our sin in believe the surprising grace of the gos,'s deeper than generalities: pel. And we must live with the tension of promises not yet realized rather than
"For blocking the gospel's good surdeny
God's surprise.
prise;
The light of hope is breaking in upon
for not receiving the gifts of gay men
us-the light at the end of the long, dim
and lesbian women;
hallway in the painting Phil loved so
for pre-empting the Spirit's anointmuch. Living in the gospel hope, we ing power for the sake of unity and look around every sanctuary across our good order; church. We see faces bathed in colored
light, faces the church refused to see
Lord, in your mercy, Hear ourprayer. "
before. The stained glass gathers them
For now, many of us will carry on the
all: gay men and lesbians, straight men
',\'ork where our brother Phil left off. We
and women, children and teenagers and
,ill carry in our hearts, as he did, the
college students-all singing together in
,'ords of the prophet Micah. We will ask
the full light of day, gathered up in the
the question Phil no doubt asked a thou-
colors of the window, in the arms of the
sand, thousand times: "With what shall
shepherd-all in the same picture, all of
I come before the Lord? What can I
one piece.
Winter 1995
GAY
PASTORAl:TEAM IN SEATTLE,,," By Kimberly Griffin
'tha[1 1J>O ret
Two years and more jection letiers l~ter, an openly;qay Chi-, cago couple hasifinally real,ized their dream; a c ongre'gatioJL,officiaily called the ppirl,..to share"a posJtiof) as issociate p?~tors, ,[Y1arking the !i[st time~a.!:n.?inl ine church has done 'sQ. The pa?i~rs, Peter IIgenfr!,tz, } z, and David Shull,'as, were calleQ(to serve th~; 1200-member UQiversity Congl~lt+ gati'Ona,1 Church {UG:C} in Seattle,,,"
:;:;:::0.' '~'"
Washingt~m,
The stq,nding ovafion thePslr re-Mceived from the t~hgregation after
the Vsot~ was "the fnostincr~dible experieike
I' dd,~v~r had in myJife" said
Shull. "It was" an utterly holy moment,"
agreed Ilgenfritz. Both said
that members of the congregation
were tHelMtqnes Who deserved the ~standing ovation~
/I!i~ rtainly, 24 percent of th e
church didn't think if was a good
idea," UgenJ'Htz said. '~But tne~jf:t'as
isuch energ y ... Thj~f@is the kin,d+of
church}.'i~ want to .&elong to."
@ @:
-Excerpted and,a'aapted from a mUch,
lon~er artide in~,the ~hJ:cago Wind' ;
City Ti'Jle~,.fJune 1994. Used with
perm
isslonJ~b
As Jesus said, in verses which follow today's gospel in the 10th chapter of John: "My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal Hfe, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand" On 10:27-28).
No one. Not even the church. "Come, Philip, come and have breakfast." Amen. ~
Note
This sermon was first published in the Rocky Mountain Synod (ELCA) newsletter.
Barbara Lundblad is pastor ofOur Savior Atonement Lutheran Church, the Bronx, New York. he beginning? Yes, it should, or we thought it did. But here 'er resurrection. They cast their once more and haul the heavy
o shore, all 153 fish. (Who h em all?) Then Jesus said to
"Come and have breakfast." t is the end, but it is also the
~Ulll.~lg.
the glory and the terror of an eorou::ter with the living God! Oh, the "--"-~.se and the tension of the gospel!
. 'ed with both the surprise of
race and the tension of the
s denial. He wanted always to do
han he felt he could and he
to speak in this own voice. He
d articles in Entree which were bring to make it right? What will ever be enough?" Then Phil heard the voice of the Holy One: God has told you, Philip, what is good: " ... what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?"
Some will speak of justice for gay and lesbian people for the first time in their lives because of Phil. For when he wrote to them, it was the first time someone they knew, someone they loved, had ever said "I'm gay. I have AIDS." Some of us will do God's justice work more passionately because of Phil. We will do this work to honor and remember him. And surely part of Phil would be very pleased about that. But the larger part of Phil
15
Healing dJroken lnstitutions
By George D. McClain
Walter Wink has performed a great service in describing how institutions (in biblical language, "powers") have both an outer structure and an inner life. This is represented by the formula: p (powers) =0 (outer manifestation) + i (inner life).
p = 0 + i
For a local congregation (p), the outer manifestation (0) includes its building, membership roll, elected leaders, pastor, budget, bank account, schedule of events and services, etc. The congregation's inner life (i) consists of its institutional history of traumas and blessings, its view of itself and the world, its unwritten assumptions, hopes, and disagreements, and its inner stance of openness or resistance to the Spirit of God.l
Institutions, as well as individuals, are imperfect, broken, and in need of pastoral care. Our knowledge of the inner life can serve us well in healing these broken institutions, addressing those behaviors which contradict the institutions' God-given purposes. I would like to describe a seven-step process which is often experienced as persons perform their social action ministry to heal broken institutions.
1. Consternation
The initial concern usually arises in the experience of consternation or puzzlement about an institution which has direct effect on us. For example, you may observe that good people are acting in destructive ways, that positive initiatives somehow get sabotaged, that genuine potential does not get realized. In a particular church I know in New York state, the predominate mood was one of hopelessness and disinterestedness, with personal bitterness and strife among key church leaders. In another case, an Illinois church recently voted on whether to become a Reconciling Congregation. With a number of gay and lesbian persons active and welcorned and with some of them in high places of leadership, there was good reason to be optimistic about the vote. . failed, however, causing deep consternation and disappointment.
2. Collision
The next step is to identify the fu . . damental impasse in the life of institution. One senses a colli sic course between the Spirit of God a something negative at work in the co gregation. Usually the cause of the ne tivity lies deep in the "personality' 0 the institution. Frequently there h been a trauma or series of traumas . the life of the institution, creating \-nerabilities into which negative spirit force enters. The New York congregatio mentioned above was forced deca . ago to leave its original site when area was taken by the city to build a r . ervoir. The original church building been IIdrowned." It seemed that the co gregation had ever since been dive from its mission by its collec . memory of loss and by its sense of feat, negativism, and bitterness. In case of the Illinois church, the nega . vote is an opportunity to pray to cover the fundamental block which to its unloving action. Spiritual disce ment is called for. What is the woun blockage in the collective life experie of this seemingly loving congreg . that is preventing it from acting loving way?
3. Collusion
The third critical step is to ack edge how we are in collusion the brokenness of the given institu Whatever is "eating at" the instit is also likely to be preying upo vulnerabilities. We may be using th tics of the oppressor in trying to the oppression, such as returnin for hate, or succumbing to despa sentment, and hopelessness. In the York church, the pastor was able ognize how she too shared i church's negative attitudes. Membe
16 Open H
IUinois church may want to reflect 'erfully on how they may be ing with the Spirit of Fear, or other ve spirits which besiege it.
essential for us as healers to con.
5S and receive the forgiveness of for our collusion with ungodly ates and forces. In the New York ch, the pastor and those of us who athered to pray with her confessed .':e too fall prey to hopelessness and mess in aspects of our lives. We
received the pronouncement of S forgiveness and empowerment . each other. Those who feel called ray for the healing of the Illinois rch might do well to join in a time onfession and forgiveness together. confession is critically important, diminishes the ever-present danof
self-righteousness.
onfrontation
e are now ready, in reliance upon the power of God, to confront the .. 'hich is at work in the inner life of nstitution and which steers it away om God's work of humanization. ny of us are fairly well schooled in political" care of institutions (Le., ,"vjng with its outer manifestations: ing new officers, shifting the power introducing new programs). These e important and essential. But we are called to address the inner spiritu,. (the i) of institutions and to con(,!1t the evil which besets them with cind of spiritual care uniquely ensted to us as Christians. We engage this confrontation in the confidence
God is already at work nudging the rch or institution toward greater filty to its godly purpose.
eansing
t this stage, we enact the phrase from the Prayer ofJesus, "Deliver us from ':~." We courageously assume the rge]esus gave to the disciples to "cure sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lep" cast out demons" (Mt 10:8; italics !1e) and we do this in bold ritual form.
the name and power of Christ," we mmanded the Spirits of Fear, Patriar,. and so forth to depart from the owned church.
'inter 1995
At another New York church, Chenango Street United Methodist Church in Binghamton, lay leaders were justifiably concerned about a forthcoming vote on whether the church should declare itself a Reconciling Congregation, They were not sure what was going to happen, or whether the timing was right. At the initiative of some laity, they went into the room where the meeting was to be held and prayed prayers of cleansing, asking that the space and those entering it would be freed of the Spirits of Homophobia, Fear, Arrogance, or Ignorance.
7. Claiming
The final step is very closely related to cleansing. After praying for cleansing, the people at Chenango Street expressly claimed the about-to-be-held meeting for God's yearning, invoking God's blessing at the placeswhere people would be sitting, speaking, and making decisions. IIThis opened our spirits," pastor Gary Doupe reported, "making all of us more open to the creative work of God's Spirit, and helping us feel more serene concerning the outcome." The congregation voted overwhelmingly to become a Reconciling Congregation. liThe outcome," Gary added, "was very positive indeed, on more than a surface level.11
In the case of the drowned church, we prayed that the fear of the drowning waters be replaced by an embracing of the healing waters of baptism. We prayed for a renewal of baptismal vows for the members of the congregation and then went throughout the church building sprinkling it with water to claim the entire space for Christ's purposes. The pastor subsequently began to notice a change in key people and in the worship climate.
I invite you to gather a small group of concerned persons to pray for the healing of a broken institution you care deeply about. The form of the healing is not always what you expect or want; we do not, after all, manipulate God. But almost universally, such intentionality in healing prayer yields a deep sense of peace. May your ministry of healing institutions be fruitful. T
GUIDELINES FOR PRAYER OF
CLEANSING AND CLAIMING
By George D. McClain
1.
Approach the prayer in humility and openness to God's grace and power to be manifest.
2.
Specifically pray for God to cleanse th~" following of any spirit not of God:
a.
Yourselves-your mind, hearts"and bodies;
b.
The physical space of the'meeting or event;
c.
Those participating in the eventone by one if possible, andby name;
d.'The intangibles':":the, agenda, the worship service to take place, the leadership, the discussion, the decisions.
3. Then pray positively that God fill each of the above (a-d) with the spirit of Christ, that Christ may be "all in all" (EpK 1:2~).
4: Move around the room physically (or in your imagination). Offer these prayers in specific locations and at the seats or tables of specific decisionmakers.
5.
If fe~,ls right, sprinkle water around the room as a tangible claiming of God's cleansing, liberating power.
6.
Thank God for working with you and through you and for God's staggering promise to reveal to the powers and authorities ':the wisdom of God in'its rich variety" and "to gather up ali things in [Christ]" (Eph 3':10, 1:10).
7.
Continue in a general intercessory stance even as the meeting or event transpires.
Note
lWalter Wink, Engaging the Powers: Discernment
and Resistance in a World of Domination
(Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992).
George D. McClain is national executive director oftheMethodist Federation for Social
Action which devotes considerable time to workingon les/bi/gay rights in the United Methodist Church.
17
CURN1NG
W ~LLS.,> lNCO ~~--... Jeanne Knepper
By
I must begin with story. I had been aware of a double call for many years. Called both into ministry and into family life with my partner and our two daughters, I felt blocked from ministry by a wall of church rules that repudiated my gift of family. Over and over, I heard the call; over and over, it led to the wall.
First, the Wall
How do you go forward with a wall before you? I watched others as they tried to go over, under, or around the wall. I watched as they skirted, hid, switched denominations, or veered off in other work. I watched some who battered their hearts and spirits trying to go through the wall. With many others, I worked through my denomination's General Conference trying to dismantle the wall. Still, there was a wall. Still, a holy call to keep walking forward. Still, the wrenching question: but how, oh God, do I walk through a wall?
Then, the Gift
A new image appeared in my mind. Walls, so seemingly solid, are made up_of atoms, each a nucleus surrounded by the standing energy patterns of electrons. Atoms move and shift in response to each other's energy. IfI expanded the wall in my mind into its constituent atoms, I could present myself before them, one by one, and invite them to shift over.
One by one, atoms in the wall could turn to create a pathway. They could reshape to build an arch through which many could travel. One by one, but working together in a dance of invitation and response, we would refashion wall into gateway.
Refashioning Walls
Our metaphors equip us for the work of change. We can coax practical and spiritual insights for the work ahead out of this image of refashioning walls into archways.
Our work is spirit-filled and spiritcentered work. Spiritual centering enables us to meet each person on a spirituallevel, I to Thou, concerned that we each stay true to our calling to be the people of God.
It is a work of invitation, not confrontation. We are not conquering enemies or over-coming obstacles (such a dehumanizing word for our brothers and sisters on the journey). We are inviting people to align themselves with a vision that includes their own good. To invite well, we must listen well, taking seriously the core-intent of others, being willing to shift and counter-shift as we move. We proceed by invitation, not ultimatum, always allowing room for respectful movement, always guided by a long vision.
It is work of a life-time and will take a radical, insistent patience. To be successful, we must believe that the effort is worth our life's work. Then we can afford the patience that will not be dissuaded and will not treat others as means to an end. Then also we can see that the many small steps and turns are part of a persistent process of change.
To stay focused, we must stay balanced. Like a wooden top, we will spin longer and truer if we sand away the personal burrs that would throw us off. Fear, anger, fatigue, impatience, cynicism-all these will hinder the work and block our ability to be truly inviting.
When they surface, it is time to step aside and do the personal spiritual tending necessary to refit us for the task. Perhaps we will need to step off the leading edge while we invite others to go on.
What makes all of this possible is the knowledge-the sure and deep conviction-thatwe will be about God's work. Our God, who delights in diversity and insists upon inclusion, has called us to walk through walls if necessary on OUf journey toward justice. We go forward in a radically aware trust, knowing that we do not work alone. We are turning this wall into arches together. No one of us will do this work alone. Working together, we can move forward on man; fronts. We can also sto'p, pause, let others take the lead, and tend those who are tired.
Sustained by prayer and belie\"in that we are about God's work, we ca engage in this process so that people 0 the church will look back on this ti of change and say to each other, at what we did together. By the gra God, we turned a wall of excIusio an arch of openness." T
Jeanne Knepper, an ordained prob ary member of the Oregon-Idaho An 1 Conference of the United Met/wdi Church, is appointed to co-direct 5110/0 Ministries in Portland, Oregon. She also serves on the national council of Affirmation: United Methodists for Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Concerns.
Open Hands 18
/I
which
are often shamed by religious groups. Persons who bear this burden ofshame are our scapegoats, those upon whom we unload our own unwanted parts. We project on others that which we find too painful to bear within our shared humanity and then view the ! " .\ . --\ .>1·· the places where the hearts of those excluded and unwanted have been broken. As we name those places where the shaming of our God-created selves has lnds ofShame
ne kind ofshame is healthy shame that puts me in touch with my lima human being. This shame tells I am not God, but am created by I t allows me to know that I stand eed of a lOving and forgiving One is the author of all creation. I need healthy shame to function in sociand to keep in balance a sense of
portion and a sense of my place in
universe.
:1 contrast, unhealthy shame undermy
self-esteem and promotes my ings of worthlessness. This shame
s me that who I am is bad and that I beyond the help of God. Unhealthy me is to be contrasted with guilt. ilt is the feeling that what I have done
d. Unhealthy shame is the feeling who I am is bad. lith unhealthy shame comes a loss
hope. My belief that I am fundamen-' unworthy prevents me from joinorganizations in which I could be y known and causes me to hide the nacceptable" aspects of my being rom others. Unless I am healed of unalthy shame, I will not be able to feel .f-esteem. I will not be able to be a
ly functioning member ofa commuity of hope.
ming Brings Healing
ace, gender, sexual orientation, age, class, and differences of physical nd mental abilities are conditions
..'inter 1995 shamed ones as IIdifferent" and IIother."
Christ calls us to understand that in his reality, in his life and ministry, in his death and resurrection, God has lifted up the scapegoat and vindicated the One whom we blamed, shamed, humiliated, and ultimately tried to destroy. In raising Christ, God has reconciled for all time the scapegoated One as a full member of us. Christ's healing presence among us shows us the way to love and join hands, rather than cast any out, that we may all be One On 17).
Gay men and lesbians, who have been traditionally cast out of churches, have experienced over and over the damaging message that our very beings as sexual creatures are flawed, evil, defective, and, consequently, shameful. Our identity, which God gave us to celebrate life, has been turned against us as a thing of shame to be hidden for fear of punishment and ostracism. One has only to look as far as the st. Patrick's Day Parade in Boston where people held placards saying IIGod says kill fags" and IIGod hates gays" to understand the kind of pain and brokenness gay men and lesbians feel daily.
The community of faith is called to be an agency of healing, restoring the trust and self-esteem that have been lost by most gay men and lesbians when unhealthy shame was bound to our
~ sexual identity. It is called to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, and to let the oppressed go free (Is 61; Lk 4). It is called to name taken place, the healing process begins. In the naming, we can be restored to our place in the community of faithand restored to God. Only with this healing process underway can we demonstrate true empathy for others and for ourselves and understand the dignity and humor inherent in the human condition.
James Carroll, writing in the Boston Globe in April 1993, said: liThe true mission of the Church is to work not for its own welfare or even for that of its own members but for what Jesus called 'the Kingdom of God' by which he meant simply the welfare of everyone." Carved into the portico of Old South Church is the scriptural invitation, IIBehold I have set before thee an open door." I give gratitude daily for this place which has offered an open door to me and to so many others. It is my prayer that we may be able together to discern how the Spirit is calling us to be an agency of healing for the welfare of all people. T
Kenneth H. Orth, D.Min., is an ordained United Church ofChrist minister who offers pastoral psychotherapy and spiritual direction through Horizons Pastoral Counseling Associates in Arlington, Massachusetts.
He serves on the Massachusetts Open and Affirming Task Force and is a member ofOld South Church in Boston, which recently becameONA.
19
To Be a Church Again
By Jack Hoffmeister
In the Stonewall Revolution of the sixties, gay men and lesbians learned that itis all right to be homosexual. We learned that sexual orientation is not our choice-it is given to us-but that what we do about it is our choice. We must decide whether we are going to suppress it, or hide it, or live it openly. The most revolutionary thing we learned was that living as an openly gay person is a viable choice, and that for many, ifnot all, it is the healthy choice, the self-fulfilling choice, the right choice.
In the.sixties another revolution-the sexual revolution-was equally important to us. The sexual revolution told us that it is all right to have sex, that sex is a healthy and natural form of expression and of recreation, that taboos are wrong, that sex should not be held captive to old rules about propriety, marriage, age, gender, or love.
Both revolutions produced muchneeded correctives to the attitudes and values of the past, as necessary as the changes in attitudes towards African Americans, women, and war. These revolutions have, however, left many unresolved questions and problems, particularly questions about sexual behavior. Although we are learning how the new attitudes and patterns of behavior affect us, we are making little progress in the equally important underside of those questions, the moral side. We know how sex works, but we do not know what sex
means.
Caught on a Snag
As a result of the sexual revolution, sexual morality in America has been set adrift. Moral questions, because they are essentially religiOUS, have always been the province of the church. However, the church has failed to come up with the spiritual or intellectual reWhat
happened in the Presbyterian Church is typical: we got caught on a snag. The entire field of sexual morality has been hooked on the question of the ordination of gays and lesbians. While we face a massive crisis over the meaning of sex and love which affects all our relationships and most institutions, this one peripheral, and indeed artificial, issue has put up a barrier that must be overcome before the Presbyterians can begin to function like a church again.
Why did this happen? I think it happened because most of the church leadership is still not ready or willing to come to grips with the changes that occurred in the sexual revolution. Some, a remnant from my generation, were raising their families during the sixties, struggling to keep their values intact, and have never accepted the changes in thinking. Others are products of the conservative backlash of the seventies and eighties who hearken back to a romanticized notion of the morality of the "good old days." Still others belong to a small but aggressive, vocal, and united minority who approach moral issues from a fundamentalist stance. When openly gay people sought ordination fundamentalists objected, and instead of quickly overriding them, a majority allowed this relatively simple doctrinal dispute to excuse them from confronting their own confusion and fear over sex, with what it means in their professional and personal life. They have not budged for nearly fifteen years!
Experiencing a Moral Crisis
Ina very practical sense, this impasse is a disaster. People are not getting the
sources (much less the strength of leadGay
ordination is a snag in the struggle to
ership) which we need to pOint us towards
a new moral imperative. define sexual morality.
Open Hands 20
s:7:mtuaI and moral guidance they need
most intimate part of their lives.
,;\'hat they are hearing is out-ofconflicted,
naive, or simply wrong.
" and lesbian people are especially
of that guidance. With a new
ity and a new role in society, we
a much clearer sense of the imporof
sex in relationships as an ex'
on of love and as a statement of
.1itment. It is a cruel irony that the
.. should choose to exclude us.
other factor compounds our sepafrom the church: the whole hisand intensity of the struggle of gay and lesbians for acceptance in so", The process of political polarizahas required gay men, lesbians, and gay people" to unite, to gloss over !' diversity and the problems that in what is a new arena of social uring. In the face of an opposition is not only immoral, but at times -threatening, to admit that gays are ,:thing less than "gentle, angry pIe" has been regarded as impolitic. However, gay men and lesbians are more saintly than anyone else . ere sex is concerned, we must adess some very disturbing realities. Gays have been using sex to make ".ends and to demonstrate prowess mong their peers. They have been us. g sex to make statements about themselves as unfettered, self-affirming indi.duals. They have been using sex to make political statements, spit-in-theeye-of-society statements. Many have quired habits of sexual behavior that are socially inappropriate. They have eveloped obsessions that amount to euroses. Those gay men and lesbians
',':ho have not accepted their identity":ho are struggling to hide it or suppress t -are suffering from the denial, the fear of exposure, the self-loathing that drive so many to suicide.
Notice that while some of these probems
and questions relate specifically to gay men and lesbians, they are all rooted in moral issues that are universal. A reluctance to treat sex respectfully or reverently pervades all of society. Promiscuity, sexual prowess and peer pressure, sexual obsession, and failure to make commitments are everybody's plagues and the results are universally devastating. The battle over ordination of gays
Winter 1995
and lesbians has prevented the Presbyterian Church from helping not only gay men and lesbians but all of its people in this moral crisis. That is tragic. That it should allow an anachronistic doctrinal dispute to stand in its way is a disgrace.
Working toward Moral Clarity
I t is tempting to simply give up on the church and look elsewhere. That is what most gay men and lesbians have done, as has nearly everyone else where questions of sex are concerned. Where have they gone? To the movies? To the TV talk shows? To the schools, where that same anachronistic element has put up the same barriers? The fact is there is no substitute for the church to meet our need for moral insight and authority. Only the church can tell us why any part of our life is of importance or value beyond the self-contained system of pragmatism.
Crippled as the church is, I believe we must stick with it. For those of us who value our church, who continue to call ourselves Christians, there is no other choice.
The church needs us ifit is to start acting like a church again.
As I see it, we have two jobs here. One is the ongoing effort to get rid of the ban on ordination of gay men and lesbians. The other job is more inclusive-and more important: we have to do what we can to see that the church once again serves as a moral standard bearer.
The commissioners at the last Presbyterian General Assembly gave up. They said in effect, "There's nothing we can do; deal with it yourselves." I think we should answer 1/All right, we will!" However, we should not interpret it as an invitation simply to continue fighting the definitive guidance. The ban on ordination must be removed; it is a cancer. While it is not yet cured, we should treat it as if it were in remission until a cure is found. We owe it to ourselves and to our faith to not let the ban on ordination stop us from participating in the whole life of the church, from behaving like the Christians we know we are.
We who are gay and lesbian can contribute a special insight into the moral needs and realities of sex in the 1990s. The last sexuality study was a good start. That it tripped up on the gay issue merely demonstrates how important honest, open participation from gay men and lesbians is. The church needs us if it is to start acting like a church again. What we have to do is to behave as if the ban on gay men and lesbians didn't exist. We have to work towards moral clarity unhindered by the nagging feeling that we are not wanted here. We have to reach out to gays and lesbians and to all others who need understanding, whose lives are being torn apart by the seeming incompatibility of sex and love. We have to reach out as if we had something to give them. For indeed we do.
A new sexual morality will be realized only as an integral part of the entire scope of the church's impact on our lives. Sex raises the most fundamental questions about love, honesty, responsibility, holiness. How are we to articulate the love we feel for one another? If life is holy, can the force that puts life into motion be anything less? All of us, regardless of our sexual orientations, bring these questions to the altar. Each of us, because of our sexual orientations, has answers to share. T
Note This article was first published in More Light
Update, October 1993, pp. 5-7.
Jack Hoffmeister was raised in Rochester, New York, and schooled at Swarthmore College, Union Seminary, and Columbia University. After a long career as a professional actor and model, he is now concentrating on writing, occasional
preaching, and serving as an elder in the Palisades Presbyterian Church in New York.
21
(~I'T1~ J\ (~1-l1~1~l:t I:' ()l:t ()lJl:t 1~'TJ\ N(~1~1..1(~J\I..
131:t()rl'1-l1~I:tS J\Nl) Slsrl'l~ltS
NO, that is not the first line of a joke! Evangelical Christians in mainline Protestantism have done something good for the church and for those of us who call for the acceptance of gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals. They have tlcome out of the closet."
For years, our evangelical brothers and sisters have been raising a theological issue in the guise of a social practice issue: homosexuality. Homosexuality is not, and never was, their real issue. Their real issue was, and is, the authority of the Scriptures.
A necessary prerequisite for faith for many evangelical Christians is a belief that Scripture is authoritative, if not inerrant. Without a tangible, touchable set of words as a foundation for their faith, many feel their entire faith can crumble. Mter lOO-plus years of exposure to higher criticism and other evolving methods of interpretation of Scrip-r ture, they correctly felt that too many biblical interpretations had become tlmoving targets." One issue they felt could be biblically supported was opposition to homosexuality. Recent studies in most denominations have confirmed that the few words in the Bible which refer to same-gender sexual practice are negative-a fact we cannot deny. Condemnation of homosexuality became the symbolic stand-in for evangelical Christians' real issue: erosion of the authority of Scripture.
The Evangelical Quantum Shift
Most of that disguised, symbolic opposition changed in November 1993 with the Re-Imagining Conference. The wide variety of expressions of faith at that conference sent a shock wave through the evangelical camp. The evangelicals' belief in the authority of Scripture was directly questioned, along with their belief that salvation comes through Christ alone.
By Tom Griffith
They are challenging us where we need to be challenged.
After that conference, evangelicals finally began raising theological issues under their own colors. Using phrases such as "belief in the SCriptures and the normative creeds and confessions of faith of our church," they began to challenge us to define our beliefs. They are opposed to the explorational theological pOSitions of many in our churches. Though they still "wave the flag" on the issue of homosexuality, evangelicals are now talking about their real issues. They are no longer in their "anti-homosexuality" closet!
As Christians who seek to be in supportive ministry to and with lesbian, bisexual, and gay persons, the best thing we can do is to cheer for our evangelical brothers and sisters who are making this quantum shift in thinking and tactics. They are doing us and the churchat-large a major favor. They are challenging us where we need to be challenged.
A Call to Liberal Honesty
Now it is our turn to get honest. Although the creeds of our denominations pay lip service to the idea that Scripture is "authoritative" and "sufficient both for faith and for practice," many of us have moved far beyond that notion in our theological thinking. We are only deceiving ourselves-and lying to our evangelical brothers and sisterswhen we deny the shift we have made.
We have moved beyond Luther's sola Scriptura (only Scripture) for the same reason the Catholic Church moved beyond the canonized Scriptures after the fourth century. We recognize that understandings of the intervention of the Holy into the lives of the faithful change as living situations change. "New occasions teach new duties." We have moved far beyond the idea that the Bible is exclusively normative and literally authoritative for our faith. To my thinking, that is good! What is bad is that we have tried to con ourselves and others by saying "we haven't changed our position."
Furthermore, few of us retain belief in Christ as the sole way to salvation. We trust that God can work under many other names and in many other forms to save people. Our views have changed over the years and evangelicals know it. At least, they have the honesty to call us to honesty.
Can we admit that we find it helpful to explore the logical consequences of our faith, even if it moves us in directions which our churches have not affirmed in the past? I believe that if we can, we will end up being both surprised and pleased. Evangelical persons I know care greatly about having both their beliefs and themselves treated with seriousness and acceptance. They do not want to be treated as if their faith is unimportant. Our denial about changes in our faith feels to them like a casual dismissal of their faith, and of them.
Ifwe can be mutually honest, maybe we can finally move beyond the issue of acceptance of gay men and lesbians as part of God's creation. We have far more in common with evangelical Christians than we have differences. Wouldn't it be nice if we could all join in opening church doors to all who profess faith in Jesus as the Christ, regardless of orientation? If that could happen, we would probably all be a little bit closer to the realm of God's love.
I thank my evangelical brothers and sisters for calling us to honesty. I cheer what they are dOing. I hope you will too! 'Y
Tom Griffith is pastor of Crescent Heights United Methodist Church (a Reconciling Congregation) in West Hollywood, California.
Open Hands 22
Jl\~l~~I(~J\IJ (~1~J\IJIJ1~~(~1~~ J\l~l~J\I)
By Alice O'Donovan
fter a recent worship service, a woman asked, with tears in her eyes, liDo you ever talk with e about baptism? I have never been
lzed." Of course I talk with people baptism. I am the ordained pasa small congregation.
bat this woman needs to hear-and s to believe-is that God loves her lesses her in her love for a woman. stands at the door of the church ering if she dares to come in. She .e reason that we have welcoming rches. We will make her welcome.
~n she enters the waters of baptism sits at table in my church, love will . again.
'ke this woman, the Universal Fel" 'ship of Metropolitan Community .urches (UFMCC) has been knocking e door of the church-the National uncH of Churches of Christ in the The UFMCC has been waiting over ecade for a welcome. The reality of sacred dream of the reign of God, ere all creation celebrates its being ove, is yet to come. The bitterly anpnistic division of the Church into urches and the exclusion of the lesbifaithful are but two signs that we e not yet living the fullness of God's
e. How do we open the doors of our urches and the doors of the NCC so at those who long for healing love 'ght come in to sit at table and share
the breaking of bread?
,.-Ancient Foe Persists
he force behind the closed doors and the unwelcome table is our ancient heterosexism/homophobia. It is that .. emy which has permitted the NCC ce 1983 to exclude the UFMCC from fullness of welcome and memberip. It is that enemy which holds local urches back in their welcoming pross, It is that enemy which is antithetito
the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let us be clear. So long as the UFMCC e.xcluded from the NCC, the witness
he National Council is a tainted wit~s. When the UFMCC is fully wel~e at the table ofJesus Christ as it is
"nter 1995
prepared in the NCC, love can claim another victory.
Present Realities
Using stark terms to describe present realities, Rev. John Thomas, chair of NCe's Counseling Committee, repoited to the General Board in November
1994: Some member communions feel that questions related to homosexuality must be seen as settled ... They have little interest in continued conversation.. . Other communions believe that questions surrounding homosexuality must be addressed ecumenically in the Council... However, the inability or the unwillingness of member communions to talk with each other about these questions will not help us preserve unity ... Our choice is between dialogue and further conflict/confrontation, and this confrontation will come from among the member communions as well as from outside the Council.
Thomas acknowledged that there are
things we do not know, at least not yet.
We don't know how to move this
Council to address the tough
questions that loom over us like a
cloud that neither indifference nor
denial can dispel. We don't know
how to move our member communions
to risk encountering
each other in ways that honor perspective
on how we attend to
scripture and tradition and to the
changing requirements of hospitality
in our time. We don't know
how to establish a climate where
those whose faith understanding
make the fullness of hospitality
to gay and lesbian persons impossible
and those whose faith commitments
make such inclusion a
requirement can gather together
at a common table of dialogue
without suspicion, caricature or
stereotype. We don't know how to
do this. So we must wait... So we
Finding a "Way~Out oJ'.j~p Way" wel~oming congregations carth~ip N€C find a "way oll! of no ~y." ,. iff'
~~t; :~, c .-U\~ ._.. ' .,,< ,,:J%
Engag~1.in ministry wi~!i. IOGaL7purnenicai partners wtr~1 :sha~e the visiqnAand.,!he
work. ". \ . "1t
• Joiriwidcal,istate, and regiobal coun~ils of
?n 9penlyH h Board U~MCC churches arid particip9tein their miJ!istries
and th~i%governa·nce.
i'
•
Ask yorr;§16~al~lt,state, or regiomtl 'counG!1 to a~opt ana communicate resolution:sm sup~or~ 9,f ..;til.~mbership forU~ry1CCjn the National C61:JncitwWfJili ;; • Ask'1y.our genomination to{.@eat.lesbian otgay m~'mber as either prO)(yor f' regular aelE~gat~itoJhe(~eneral the National Council ot~tnurch,~s.
1
•
Ad?pt and forwar,dJq~he ~e~~ra1 Sesre.tar¥. of the NCC resofution~... ?r statements of sl.lpporti~or the inclusion t%t~~ as a member of Eb~NCe.
will wait. Not disband. Not quit. But wait. Wait to find a way out of no way.!
What Next?
Clearly, there is work to be done in the national ecumenical setting. We must:
•
Bring the UFMCC into full membership of the NCC;
•
Continue to place lesbigay concerns into the work and ministry of the NCC;
•
Insist that the NCC itself become fully inclusive of lesbian and gay persons
in its staff, personnel policies,
and practices.
Welcoming congregations in every tradition are opening their doors, setting more places at the table. The doors of the National Council of Churches are still closed. Surely, the One who stands at the door and knocks will gUide and strengthen us until all the doors are open. T
Note IExcerpted from the Report ofthe Counseling Committee, NCC, November 1994.
Alice O'Donovan, pastor of First Congregational
Church of South Windham, Connecticut, is a United Church of Christ proxy delegate to the General Board of the National Council of Churches.
23
~
~f4ft"'f"f"S
t~C:' ~"f'ft
~
1=OR 'Cn€' SA.R.€'
01= n€'A.L1NCj
A. Responsive
Confession n-nd A.ssu-rCl.-nce
Created by Cheryl D. Harrell
[Ifpossible, invite people to gather in a circle for this confession and assurance.}
LEFf: We confess that we are afraid of the unknown ... the stranger ... the other.
RIGHT: We confess that we are afraid of the feminine ... the sexual. ..the body.
LEFf: We confess that we are afraid of the power of emotions ... passion ... desire.
RIGHT: We have cut ourselves off from the earth and from our own bodies.
LEFf: How shall we ever heal? How shall we ever know wholeness again?
RIGHT: We have forgotten your charge to receive the stranger. We have missed opportunities to see the Christ in your created diversity.
LEFf: We have forgotten your invitation to be responsible, creative, and playful. We have missed the Spirit of Christ.
RIGHT: We are broken in heart, broken in body, broken in spirit.
ALL: o GOD, as a church we ask your help in casting off our collective guilt so we do not repeat the fears and mistakes of the past. Forgive us. Restore us to wholeness in your Creative Love for our bodies, our sexuality, and our amazing diversity. Give us all courage to be fully who we are. Bring us into right relationship with you and with each other. Bind our hearts with love, so that we may commit ourselves to seeing. the Christ within ourselves and within our neighbor.
[The leader now turns to a neighbor, takes their hand and, looking into their eyes, asks, "Do] have your permission to see the Christ within you?" When a reply is made, the leader then says, "] do see the Christ within you. When you know this is true, pass it on."Allow time for each person in turn to ask the question and share this interactive assurance around the circle.} *
LEADER: In allowing the Christ to be seen within us and in seeing the Christ within each other, we are made whole.
ALL:
Rejoicing in the grace of seeing the Holy, we are moved to create hospitality
for all, recognizing that we are all One and there is no Other.
Note
*This can be a vulnerable but very healing ritual ifyour congregation is ready for it.
Cheryl D. Harrell is a clinical social worker and pastoral counselor who also serves on the Open and Affirming task Force for the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church ofChrist.
Open Hands 24
GAY/LESBIAN INTEREST
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Paper $14,99
Kittredge Cherry and January Zalmon Sherwood, editors
Equal Rites is a much-needed collection of worship services, ceremonies, and celebrations that is attuned to the unique needs of sexual minorities. The selections, written primarily by lesbians and gay men, include rites of spiritual beginnings, healing, blessings, holy communion, and pride and empowerment. Also included are funeral and memorial services, seasonal and holiday rites, and covenant rites for couples. More than a collection, Equal Rites can also serve as a reference book for creating unique and meaningful worship services that address significant aspects of lesbian and gay spirituality. Contributors include Malcolm Boyd, Chris Glaser, Carter Heyward, Diann L. Neu, and Troy D. Perry.
Know My Name
A Gay Liberation Theology
Richard Cleaver Paper $15,99 April
The place of gay men and women in the community of faith has become one of the most divisive debates in the church today. Roman Catholic writer and activist Richard Cleaver takes a fresh approach to this issue by examining the struggles of gay men and lesbians in the church, specifically the Roman Catholic Church, through the lens of liberation theology. He offers not simply a "gay" reading of scripture, however, but one that is spiritually challenging.
Coming Out to God Prayers for Lesbians and Gay Men, Their Families and Friends
Chris Glaser Paper $9,99 Now available
"A wonderful collection of compassionate prayers." -The Other Side ""'i'i""iii""iiiii I iiiil1111
Sl"'\Sl"'\el"'\e~el"'\'
'~'",'~~,-l-,I
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iii iii
Winter 1995
WESTMINSTER
JOHN KNOX PRESS
At your bookstore, or call toll... free 1..800..672.. 1789 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, KY 40202... 1396
25
On Change
The church is on a journey, moving from a place of sexual exclusivity to one of sexual inclusivity. Whether we are conservative, moderate or liberal, radical right or radical left, our journey is arduous and often painful. It is filled with partial breakthroughs that seem to evaporate in the midst of continued fears, gross misunderstandings, stony silences, and new rejections. Yet, our journey is also full of profound faith, new insights, life-giving dialogue, and outstretched hands.
Church-transforming change is like that!
We do not all view needed changes in the same way. Like women described in Defecting in Place, some of us in the welcoming church movement may be transformists.1 We see our role as promoting IIsystemic change throughout the church in leadership, liturgy, and theology." Others of us may be reformists. We believe our role in the welcoming movement is to work for some changes, but we . prefer to keep the basic structures of the church as they are. Mter all, reformists say, we are making small gains toward sexual inclusivity! Still others of us in the movement are probably conformists, not really interested in changing the church as church. We focus instead on personal relationships with God and Christ and on welcoming individual persons whom we meet.
We are all trying to respond to the Christian mandate to be the inclusive church of God. Our approaches remain very different. We are challenged to acknowledge the differences and affirm each others' work by understanding where our approach fits into the larger picture.
As the church on a journey, we live simultaneously in the rooted traditions of the past, the shifting sands of the present, and the flickering traces of God's II new earth." Our welcoming movement is part of a much larger journey, for the church as a whole is moving out of one paradigm which has informed its life and mission for centuries into another that has only a vague form and shape. We live, as Loren Mead puts it, in lithe time between paradigms."
Paradigm: An overarching model
or pattern with a particular set of
coherent traditions, customs, beliefs,
and ways of living.
Mead, an Episcopal priest, writer, and founder of the Alban Institute, lays out a bigger picture for us in The Once and Future Church.2 He identifies two paradigm shifts that occurred in prior centuries in the church. Jesus called forth the first one-from our Jewish and Greco-Roman roots to the Apostolic Paradigm. During the few generations it took to make this first paradigm shift, much turmoil occurred, new roles emerged, and new ways. of doing things were developed. Arguments abounded for doing things the old, established way. The second paradigm shift, which Mead calls the Christendom Paradigm, began during the fourth century with the conversion of Constantine and continued until Christianity became the official religion of the Empire. This paradigm guided us into the twentieth century. Under this paradigm, the life and mission of the church again changed in drastic ways. Now, says Mead, we live in a time between paradigms.
Our welcoming movement has emerged in this time between paradigms. We raise sexual inclusivity and affirmation of diversity as necessary foundations for the paradigm under which the church will live in future centuries.
Participating in such a shift is never smooth or easy. At times our roles will conflict. Pain on all sides will prevail. Just keep remembering:
Paradigm shift occurring!
God's new earth emerging!
It's a big enough image to sustain!
Notes
1Winter, Lummis, and Stokes,. Defecting in Place.
(Crossroad, 1994), pp. 32-33.
2Loren B. Mead, The Once and Future Church. (The
Alban Institute, 1991), pp. 8-29.
"
W oming"Tb.; ;emes for Deadline
1995 Roots ofPrejudice: Confronting the Conflict Apr 11995 1996 Gender and Transgender: Exploring the Issues Jun 11995 19% Intimacy: Redefining Relqtionships Sep 11995. 1996 Airing Out Closets: Individual, Family, Congregation, Denomination Dec 11995 1966 "J![l1,lOfing Divetsities...Reiarej,less ofRace, GentJe~,orSexual Ori~t(lt!vqd. . Mar 1 1~
.< •••••••,,':'..~. »> %...:>;:>,, :=:::-«-: ~"~'i!>.>i.w:'¥1Ji0 ~=~~::::::, J::...iI 0-'::'%.
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Ifyou would like to write an article, contact Editor, RCp, 3801 N. Keeler, Chicago, IL 60641
Open Hands 26
ments &Letters
os ,\Tote: This first letter is excerpted and adapted from a longer letter as originally addressed to pastors ofthe Southeastern Synod, ELeA. er to Pastors came to the Southeastern Synod of the Lutheran Church in rica about the time the civil rights movement began on the ory of the synod. The movement was one of the consequences hat epic struggle we call World War II. Itwas destined to change nation and a lot of us along with it. As I look back on this half tury, it gives me satisfaction to know that I was on the right e of the civil rights issue. I am not boasting. I was pushed into mg on the right side when the synod made me chairman of .lat was then the Social Missions Committee. Faced with the ice of supporting the leadership of the national church or reing it, I deemed it my responsibility to support the position of church, a decision which broadened my horizons and led me see how wrong I had been to support discrimination against ack people by not playing an active role in ending that discrimiiion. When I began my ministry, a Black person might be found rutting the grass or cleaning the church. He or she could not have been found inside at worship, and certainly not in the pulpit. _k>w at the synod I see Black people as delegates and as pastors. And I think most of us now agree that this is the way things should be in the Christian church. I take satisfaction in knowing that I did something to diminish racial discrimination in the churches. The civil rights movement gave new impetus to women to push open doors previously closed to them. We can be grateful for this change. Some of us may be apprehensive about the kind of competition women will give us, but I don't think we would defend an all-male clergy in a church where all are said to be one in Christ. The civil rights movement stirred the gay and lesbian community to step forth and claim the rights promised to all citizens of this country. This movement did not begin on the territory of the Southeastern Synod as the civil rights movement did, but it appears that some crucial battles in this struggle against discrimination will be won or lost on our territory. These people have always been a part of our congregations. We have taught them to hide their identity, to be ashamed of what they are. We have driven most of them out of our congregations by our judgmental attitude toward them. In the church, where we all are by the grace of God, these people should have the respect and the acceptance we now offer Blacks and women. The struggle against injustice manifested toward Black people was the big issue of my time. The struggle against injustice for gay and lesbian people is a big issue at this time. Where do you come down in this struggle? As a Christian, can you justify discrimination against these people?
Winter 1995
To those who would justify discrimination against gay people by pointing to Bible texts, I would say more is said specifically about divorce by the Bible-and by better authorities than Moses or Paul. Jesus himself has some very plain words to say condemning divorce. Yet we have found a way to accept divorce among our people and even among our clergy. Can we not find the way to be accepting and loving toward those persons whose IIcrime" is loving another person like them?
I write to you with the hope that you will be engaged in helping the church accept these persons-this despised minority who are always with us. Ifyou will do this, I believe you will look back on your ministry in years to come and be proud that you helped bring down another barrier within the church. May God bless your ministry. .
Rufus B. Cuthbertson, Dahlonega, Georgza
About our Magazine
Dear Editor:
I have subscribed to Open Hands for some time now and eagerly look forward to each new copy. I have enjoyed reading the articles for my own growth and for use as teaching material in educational classes. My interest in your publication was originally sparked by the fact that I have a son who is gay. When he was first coming to grips with his homosexual identity, he felt deserted by the church. Open Hands is instrumental in showing that doesn't have to happen.
I will have a book published in late March-early April titled Geaning Closets: A Mother's Story. It is the story of my faith journey from the discovery that I have a gay son to the acceptance of that son. Writing the book was not as difficult as having the courage to have it published and put on a public bookshelf. I was concerned about the consequences to my family and inevitable conflict that would follow its publication. More than once, I opened my new copy of Open Hands to find something that encouraged me to keep going. Thanks!
Beverly Cole, Salina, KS
Dear RCP:
Sometimes.l feel very much alone in the United Methodist Church. Wearing a button that says IIAnother Straight Person for Gay & Lesbian Rights" to my first annual conference, Idiscovered quickly who was of like spirit and mind. Reading Open Hands reminds me, when the process toward ordination seems most frightening and futile, that there are many who are not afraid to share God's love. .
Chnstopher Buckley, Menlo Park, CA
About Campus Ministries
Dear Mark: The new issue, Campus Ministries with Sexual Minorities, is wonderful. How do you keep turning out such a quality product?! Bill Johnson, minister for AIDS Program & Ministries Coordination, UCC Board for Homeland Ministries
Readers IQvi:fedloRespond Send us your CQll'lfl'Ients on past themes and articles Or your concerns about
,':::= :>.. ' ' y. '
particular struggles in the welcoming church community. Write ashort pe.rsqnal reflection piece on one of the themes for upcoming issues (see box on page 26). Send to Editor, 3801 N. Keeler, Chicago, ILS0641.fax: 3121736-5475.
27
New Churches in Our Welcoming Movement
We welcome these congregations which have joined our growing grassroots movement in recent months.
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OPEN AND AFFIRMING
Community Church of Chesterland
Chesterland, Ohio
"A beacon of social awareness and activity," this diverse ISO-member congregation recently celebrated its 17Sth anniversary. Committed to the nurture of its members, the church's Called to Care Board organizes lay visitation within the congregation. The church is equally interested in outreach to the community, especially in surrounding Geauga County where it has a strong history of activity. The Church Growth Board is looking at future directions for the church and asking for ideas from all its members. The congregation maintains an active interest in issues affecting gay, lesbian, and bisexual people. Members are helping plan an AIDS Testing Center to serve their area.
Crombje Street UCC
Salem, Massachusetts
A small church with a big mission, the 30 members of Crombie Street have for many years provided a soup kitchen, food pantry, and shelter for homeless adults. The church is part of a regional group of UCC churches called the Essex Association. Recently, the Association took on a two-year mission project of raising funds to rehabilitate flooring, bathrooms, etc. in the Crombie Street building so that it may continue its vital ministries in the community. The congregation is considering more active ways to advertise its presence as an ONA church, as well.
First Church of Christ
Glastonbury, Connecticut
A suburban congregation of 1400 members, First Church emphasizes worship, educational ministries for all ages, and community involvement. Its strong youth program will include a trip to Tennessee where 40 young people and their advisors will participate in a mission work project. Members of the church also participate in area groups dealing with affordable housing and diversity issues in education. The church is reflecting on its ONA process and anticipates further ONA planning in the coming year.
Mt. Sinai Congregational Church, UCC
Mt. Sinai, New York
Located in one of the villages of Long Island, this 77S-member congregation has a very active mission program which includes involvement in Habitat for Humanity, Heifer Project, an Interfaith Nutrition Network, and a food pantry. It offers strong Christian education and youth programs, with 2S young people attending Sunday School. The church continues to wrestle with some issues raised in its ONA process and to explore what its ONA commitment can mean in its life and witness.
Sixth Avenue United Church
Denver, Colorado
This very diverse, urban congregation of 7S members is excited about the growth it is experiencing! New folks are coming to a church characterized by a sense of intimacy and offering novel, spirited worship. Sixth Avenue also has a dynamic music program (contemporary, traditional, and jazz). The congregation has been part of the Capitol Hill United Ministries, an ecumenical group which opposed Colorado's antigay Amendment 2. Its pastor is involved in the interfaith Voices of Faith which is planning a summer conference on the religious community's role in advocacy for gay, lesbian, and bisexual persons.
Broadway UMC
Chicago, Illinois
Founded more than a century ago, Broadway experienced a renaissance in the mid-1980s when its building was destroyed by fire and a new facility constructed. As one of the only handicapped accessible public buildings in its North Side neighborhood, its building is used by many community groups. Located in a neighborhood whose population has changed dramatically about every decade in the past half-century, the Broadway congregation has learned to adapt and be in ministry with new groups of persons. Gay and lesbian persons are one of the more recent neighborhood groups to be welcomed. The Broadway congregation has grown dramatically to 21S members in the past three and a half years as it has received 148 new members.
Open Hands 28
FOURTH NATIONAL CONVOCATION OF RECONCILING CONGREGATIONS
I
I
..1.-... --BIBLE STUDY led by Bishop Roy Sano
special performance of HOME: The Parable of Beatrice and Neal
BOUND for the
l WORSHIP FORUMS
PROMISED LAND Preaching: Rev. William Bouton Ms. M. Garlinda Burton
.. .. . Rev. Dr. Annette Jones Bishop William Dew
...a spirit-filled gathenng of the whole family of God Rev. Jeanne Audrey Powers Rev. George McClain
July 13-16, 1995 Rev. Andrew Robinson-Gaither Dr. Mel White
Augsburg College, Minneapolis WORKSHOPS • COVENANT GROUPS • CHILDREN & YOUTH PROGRAMS
For registration information, contact: Reconciling Congregation Program, 3801 N. Keeler Avenue, Chicago, IL 60641. 312/736-5536; fax: 312/736-5475
Winter 1995 29 Widely-acclaimed original musical drama inviting lesbians & gay men to come "home" to church...
HOME:
The Parable of Beatrice and Neal
OrIGinal Cast Recording (40 mins.) Compact Disc ................. '........................................ $15 Cassette Tape ..........:;............................................. $10
'E Video (105 min;.) ............................... ':: ........ '; .... $25 edited live recording of final tour performance.
10th Anniversary Video (25 mins.) ...................... $30 'ghlights from show and interViews with company.
Add $3 s/Jipping to your order.
ER FROM: Recopc!ling Congregation Program 3801 N.'Keeler Avenue ,Cl)ica~;';;i1.60641 , 3121736=5536 fax: 3121736-5475'
Published music and score will be available in early 1995. act Tim McGinley, 622N. Riley, Indianapolis, IN 46201. 317/356-2215.
tenary UMC
I..ouis, Missouri
.. historic downtown congregation, Centenary was founded 839 and has met in its building since 1869. Its 300 memrs live throughout the metropolitan area. Aggressive outh through newspapers and radio (with TV ads in 1995) has ught in newer, younger members over four years. Cente:y is well known for its music program. Its ministries inde an independent, nonsectarian elementary school, ser.
ces for retired persons, and participation in Habitat for umanity and Project Hope. A chapter of Parents and Friends . Lesbians and Gays is now being organized.
Chenango Street UMC B,nghamton, New York
Located in what was the most prosperous neighborhood in :he city earlier this century, Chenango Street's membership peaked at 950 in the 1950s and has stabilized now at 200. Being
vital, open congregation is key to Chenango Street's identity. -everal community arts and 12-step groups use the building. The Chenango Street Players present dramatic interpretations
n Sunday worship. The congregation has attracted younger amilies and children in recent years. Newer members spurred the interest in becoming a Reconciling Congregation.
Trinity UMC Kansas City, Missouri
Located in a gentrified neighborhood in midtown Kansas City, Trinity has traditionally been a welcoming community. That tradition, along with a progreSSive perspective, has attracted many new, younger persons to the 300-member congregation in recent years. Many of these newer members are also gay. Trinity's mission is carried out through its support of several multi-church agencies in the community. The congregation is quite proud of its outstanding music program.
[
RECO~HRISTJ
Grace Lutheran Church Washington, D.C.
Undaunted, this 260-member urban congregation revisited the decision to be a Reconciled in Christ congregation-and succeeded on its second try. The interlude brought kairos and chronos together. Grace celebrates being a multicultural faith community with membership representing nine African countries. Pastor Dean Moe commented that welcoming churches and the larger church need to be more intentional in outreach ministry celebrating diversity and more sensitive to multiethnic understandings about sexuality.
Mark Your Calendars ...
More Light Annual Conference, Seeking God's Song in a New Land, Baltimore, April 28-30, 1995. Contact: Bill Capel, 217/ 355-9825; Dick Hasbany, 503/345-4720.
National Mfirmation 20th Anniversary Gathering, Capturing the Tradition-Responding to the Challenge, Dallas, April 2123, 1995. Contact: Affirmation, PO Box 1021, Evanston, IL 60204.
Open and Mfirming Exultation, Gathered In Spirit-Gaining in Strength, Cleveland, October 13-15, 1995. Contact Ann Day, 508/856-9316.
OUR WELCOMING MOVEMENT GROWS
Since 1978,420 More Light (Presbyterian), Open and Affirming (Disciples of Christ and United Church of Christ), Reconciled in Christ (Lutheran), Reconciling (United Methodist), and Welcoming & Affirming (Baptist) congregations and nineteen campus ministries have publicly declared that they welcome all persons, including lesbians and gay men. This is an increase of18% over one year ago! These "welcoming" communjties are in forty-one states, the District of Columbia, and Canada.
Following is a complete list of congregations, alphabetically by state and city, followed by a list of campus ministries and judicatories. The affiliation of each is designated by the following
codes:
ML
More Light (Presbyterian)
aNA
Open and Affirming (UCC)
O&A
Open and Affirming (Disciples)
RIC
Reconciled in Christ (Lutheran)
RC
Reconciling Congregation (United Methodist)
W&A
Welcoming & Affirming (Baptist)
CONGREGATIONS
ALASKA
Palmer
Church of the Covenant ~&A)
ARIZONA
Tucson
St. Francis in the Foothills UMC (RC)
ARKANSAS
LittleRock
Pulaski Heights Christian (O&A)
CALIFORNIA
Alameda
First Christian (O&A)
First Congregational (ONA)
Albany
Albany UMC (RC)
Altadena
Altadena Congregational (ONA)
Christ the Good Shepherd Lutheran (RIC)
Baldwin Park
First Presbyterian (ML)
Belmont
Congregational Church UCC (ONA)
Benicia
Community Congregational (ONA)
Berkeley
Berkeley & Richmond Intercity Ministry (O&A) First Baptist ~&A) St. John's Presbyterian (ML) Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran (RIC) Trinity UMC (RC) Univers~ Lutheran Chapel (RIC) University Church (O&A)
Car/sbad
Pilgrim Congregational (ONA)
Claremont
Claremont UMC (RC)
Claremont UCC, Congregational (ONA)
Concord
First Christian (O&A)
Danville
Peace Lutheran (RIC)
EICerrito
Mira Vista UCC (ONA)
Eureka
First Congregational (ONA)
Fair Oaks
Fair Oaks UMC (RC)
Fairfax
Fairfax Community (ONA)
Fremont
Niles Congregational UCC (ONA)
Fresno
Wesley UMC (RC)
Hollywood
First UMC (RC)
Irvine
Irvine UCC (ONA)
Lafayette
Lafayette Christian (O&A)
Larkspur
Redwoods Presbyterian (ML)
Long Beach
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
Trin~ Lutheran (RIC)
Los Angeles
Mt. Hollywood Congregational UCC (ONA)
Un~ed Univers~ (ML, RC)
Wilshire UMC (RC)
Marin City
St. Andrews Presbyterian (ML)
Milpitas
Sunnyhills UMC (RC)
Modesto
College Avenup, Congregational (ONA)
Newark
Holy Redeemer Lutheran(RIC)
North Hollywood
St. Matthew's Lutheran (RIC)
Toluca Lake UMC (RC)
Oakland
Fa~Lutheran (RIC)
Lake Merritt UMC (RC)
Lakeshore Avenue Baptist (W&A)
Lutheran Peace Fellowship (RIC)
Montclair Presbyterian (ML)
Plymouth UCC (ONA)
St. Paul Lutheran (RIC)
Palo Alto
Covenant Presbyterian (ML)
First Evangelical Lutheran (RIC)
First Presbyterian (ML)
University Lutheran (RIC)
Pasadena
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
Richmond
Grace Lutheran (RIC)
Sacramento
Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer (RIC)
San Diego
First Lutheran (RIC)
San Francisco
Bethany UMC (RC)
Calvary UMC (RC)
Christ Lutheran (RIC)
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
First St. John's UMC (RC)
First Un~ed Lutheran (RIC)
Glide Memorial UMC (RC)
HamiHon UMC (RC)
Noe Valley Ministry (ML)
Pine UMC (RC)
Seventh Avenue Presbyterian (ML)
St. Francis Lutheran (RIC)
St. John's UCC (ONA)
St. Mark's Lutheran (RIC)
St. Paulus Lutheran (RIC)
Trinity UMC (RC)
San Jose
Christ the Good Shepherd Lutheran (RIC)
First Christian Church (O&A)
New Community of Faith (W&A)
St. Paul's UMC (RC)
San Leandro
San Leandro Community (W&A)
San Mateo
College Heights UCC (ONA)
San Rafael
Faith Lutheran (RIC)
First UMC (RC)
Santa Barbara
La Mesa Community (ONA)
Santa Cruz
Grace UMC (RC)
Santa Monica
The Church in Ocean Park (RC)
Sausalito
First Presbyterian (ML)
Stockton
First Christian (O&A)
Sunnyvale
Congregational Community (ONA)
Raynor Park Christian (O&A)
St. John's Lutheran (RIC)
Terra Linda
Christ in Terra Linda (ML)
Tiburon
Community Congregational (ONA) Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran (RIC) Westminster Presbyterian (ML)
Vacaville
St. Paul's UMC (RC)
Vallejo
First Christian (O&A)
Walnut Creek
Walnut Creek UMC (RC)
West Hollywood
Crescent Heights UMC (RC)
West Hollywood Presbyterian (ML)
Yucaipa
Faith Lutheran (RIC)
COLORADO
Aurora
Parkview Congregational UCC (ONA)
Boulder
First Congregational (ONA)
Denver
Cap~ol Heights Presbyterian (ML)
Park Hill Congregational UCC (ONA)
Sixth Avenue United (ONA)
St. Paul's UMC (RC)
Washington Park UCC (ONA)
Evergreen
Wild Rose UCC (ONA)
Fort Collins
St. Thomas University Lutheran (RIC)
CONNECTICUT
Coventry
Second Congregational (ONA)
Fairfield
First Congregational (ONA)
Glastonbury
First Church of Christ (ONA)
Hartford
Central Baptist (W&A)
First Church of Christ, UCC (ONA)
Mansfield Center
First Church of Christ (ONA)
Middletown
First Church of Christ ONA)
New Haven
Church of Christ in Yale Univ. (ONA) First &Summerfield UMC (RC) United Church on the Green (ONA)
Noank
Noank Baptist (W&A)
South Glastonbury
Congregational (ONA)
Stamford
St. John Lutheran (RIC)
Storrs
Storrs Congregational (ONA)
Waterbury
South Congregational (ONA)
Windsor
First Church UCC (ONA)
DELAWARE
Newark
New Ark UCC (ONA)
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Washington, D. C.
Augustana Lutheran (RIC)
Christ Lutheran (RIC)
Christ UMC (RC)
Church of the Reformation (RIC)
Community of Christ Lutheran (RIC)
Open Hands 30
UMC(RC) -~ Congregational (ONA) . Trility Lutheran (RIC) own Lutheran (RIC) Lutheran (RIC) -~ ":ulsLutheran (RIC) . ter Presbyterian (ML)
-•United Church (ONA) Calvin Presbyterian (ML) -. Tmothy Lutheran (RIC)
Presbyterian (ML) rant Park-Aldersgate UMC (RC)
Church of the Crossroads (ONA) HonoluluLutheran (RIC)
S
lpaign
McKinley Memorial Presbyterian (ML) St. Andrew's Lutheran (RIC)
1Cago
Albany Park UMC (RC)
Augustana Lutheran (RIC)
Broadway UMC (RC)
Christ the King Lutheran (RIC)
Christ the Mediator Lutheran (RIC)
Ebenezer Lutheran (RIC)
Grace Baptist (W&A)
Grace UMC (RC)
Holy Covenant UMC (RC)
Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran (RIC)
Immanuel Lutheran (RIC)
Irving Park Christian (O&A)
Irving Park UMC (RC)
Lake View Lutheran (RIC)
UncolnPark Presbyterian (ML)
Mayfair UMC (RC)
Peoples Church (ONA)
Resurrection Lutheran (RIC)
SI. Mark's Lutheran (RIC)
SI. Paul's UCC (ONA)
Trinity Lutheran (RIC)
Unned Church of Rogers Park (RC)
' ersity Church (ONA, O&A) 00 Avenue UCC (ONA)
Evanston
First Baptist (W&A)
HemenwayUMC (RC)
Wheadon UMC (RC)
Maywood
Maywood House Church (RIC)
OakPark
Euclid Avenue UMC (RC) Good Shepherd Lutheran (RIC)
Wilmette
Winter 1995
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
Winfield
Winfield Community (RC)
INDIANA
Indianapolis
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
Northeast UCC (ONA)
-South Bend
Southside Christian (O&A)
West Lafayette
Shalom UCC (ONA)
IOWA
Ames
Lord of Lffe Lutheran (RIC)
University Lutheran (RIC)
Cedar Rapids
Faith UMC (RC)
Clinton
Clinton-Camanche Subgroup of Iowa MFSA (RC)
Des Moines
Plymouth Congregational UCC (ONA)
Trinity UMC (RC)
Urbandale UCC (ONA)
Iowa City
Faith UCC (ONA)
KANSAS
Kansas City
ecumenikos (ML,ONA, O&A, RC)
Olathe
SI. Andrews Christian (O&A)
Topeka
Central Congregational UCC (ONA)
KENTUCKY
Henderson
Zion UCC (ONA)
Louisville
Central Presbyterian (ML)
LOUISIANA
New Orleans
St. Mark's UMC (RC)
MARYLAND
Baltimore
First &Franklin Presbyterian (ML)
SI. John's UMC (RC)
SI. Mark's Lutheran (RIC)
Gaithersburg
Christ the Servant Lutheran (RIC)
Lanham
Good Samaritan Lutheran (RIC)
Rockville
Rockville Presbyterian (ML)
Takoma Park
Takoma Park Presbyterian (ML)
~ -~--~~
Amherst
First CongregatiooaJ UCC (ONA)
South CongregatiooaJ (ONA)
AOOover
BaIIardvaIe United (ONA,RC)
Aubum
Pakachoag (ONA)
Boston
Church of the Covenant (ONA, ML) Church of the United Community (ONA, O&A) Old South Church (ONA)
Cambridge
First Church, Congregational (ONA)
Old Cambridge Baptist (W&A) University Lutheran (RIC)
Danvers
Holy Trinity UMC (RC)
Framingham
Grace UCC (ONA)
Greenfield
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
Holliston
First Congregational (ONA)
Newburyport
Belleville Congregational (ONA)
Osterville
United Methodist (RC)
Salem
Crombie Street UCC (ONA)
Shrewsbury
Mt. Olivet Lutheran(RIC)
Wellesley
Wellesley Congregational (ONA)
Wendell
Wendell Congregational (ONA)
West Newton
Second Churchin Newton UCC (ONA)
Williamstown
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
First UMC (RC)
Worcester
First Baptist (W&A)
United Congregational (ONA)
MICHIGAN
Ann Arbor
Church of the Good Shepherd (ONA)
Lord of Light Lutheran (RIC)
Memorial Christian (O&A)
Northside Presbyterian (ML)
Detroit
Truth Evangelical Lutheran (RIC)
Douglas
Douglas Congregational UCC (ONA)
Kalamazoo
Phoenix Community UCC (ONA)
Ypsilanti
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
MINNESOTA
Edina
Edina Community Lutheran (RIC)
Mankato
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
Maple Grove
Pilgrims United (ONA)
Minneapolis
Community of St. Martin (RIC)
First Congregational (ONA)
Grace University Lutheran (RIC)
Hennepin Avenue UMC (RC)
Holy Trinity Lutheran (RIC)
JudsonMemorial Baptist (W&A)
Lyndale UCC (ONA)
Mayflower Community Congregational UCC
(ONA)
Our Savior'sLutheran (RIC)
Prospect Park UMC (RC)
Spirit of the Lakes (ONA)
Temple Baptist (W&A)
University Baptist (W&A)
Walker Community (RC)
Wesley UMC (RC)
New Brighton
United Church of Christ (ONA)
Northfield
First UCC (ONA)
Robbinsdale
Robbinsdale UCC (ONA)
St. Paul
St. Paul-Reformation Lutheran (RIC)
Wayzatta
St. Luke Presbyterian (ML)
MISSOURI
Kansas City
Abiding Peace Lutheran (RIC)
Fountain of Hope Lutheran (RIC)
Kairos UMC (RC)
St. Mark's Lutheran (RIC)
Trinity UMC (RC)
Van Brunt Blvd. Presbyterian (ML)
St. Louis
Centenary UMC (RC)
Gibson Heights United (ML)
St. Marcus Evangelical UCC (ONA)
University City
Bethel Lutheran(RIC)
MONTANA
Missoula
University Congregational UCC (ONA)
NEBRASKA
Omaha
First Lutheran (RIC)
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Hanover
Our Savior Lutheran (RIC)
Jaffrey
United Church(ONA)
Plymouth
PlymouthCongregational (ONA)
NEW JERSEY
South Orange
First Presbyterian &Trinity (ML)
NEW MEXICO
Santa Fe
Christ Lutheran (RIC) United Church (ONA) NEW YORK
A!bany
Emmanuel Baptist (W&A)
Binghamton
Chenango Street UMC (RC)
Brookhaven
Old SouthHaven Presbyterian (ML)
Brooklyn
Church of Gethsemane (ML)
Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian (ML)
Park Slope UMC (RC)
St. John-St. Matthew-Emmanuel Lutheran
(RIC)
Buffalo
Amherst Community (ONA;O&A) Westminster Presbyterian (ML)
Churchville
Union Congregational (ONA)
Copake
CraryvilleUMC (RC)
Dobbs Ferry
South Presbyterian (ML)
Gloversville
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
Grand Island
Riverside Salem (ONA)
Henrietta
John Calvin Presbyterian (ML)
Marcel/us
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First Presbyterian (ML)
Mt.Sinai
MI. Sinai Congregational UCC (ONA)
New York
Broadway UCC (ONA)
Central Presbyterian (ML)
Church of SI. Paul &SI. Andrew (RC)
Good Shepherd-Faith Presbyterian (ML)
Grace &SI. Paul's Lutheran (RIC)
Jan Hus Presbyterian (ML)
Judson Memorial (ONA, W&A)
Madison Avenue Baptist (W&A)
Metropolitan-Duane UMC (RC)
Our Savior's Atonement Lutheran(RIC)
Park Avenue Christian (O&A)
Riverside (ONA; W&A)
Rutgers Presbyterian (ML)
SI. Peter's Lutheran (RIC)
Trinity Evangelical Lutheran (RIC)
Washington Square UMC (RC)
West-Park Presbyterian (ML)
Oneonta
First UMC (RC)
Palisades
Palisades Presbyterian (ML)
Rochester
Calvary SI. Andrews (ML) Downtown Presbyterian (ML) The House Church (ONA) Third Presbyterian (ML) Westminster Presbyterian (ML)
Sayville
Sayville Congregational UCC (ONA)
Yorktown Heights
First Presbyterian (ML)
NORTH CAROLINA
Chapel Hill
Church of the Reconciliation (ML) United Church (ONA)
Raleigh
Community UCC (ONA) Pullen Memorial Baptist (W&A)
Winston-Salem
First Christian (O&A)
OHIO
Brecksville
United Church of Christ (ONA)
Chesterland
Community Church (ONA)
Cincinnati
MI. Auburn Presbyterian (ML)
Cleveland
Archwood UCC (ONA)
Liberation UCC (ONA)
Pilgrim Congregational UCC (ONA)
Cleveland Heights
Church of the Redeemer (RC)
Noble Road Presbyterian (ML)
Columbus
Calvary Lutheran (RIC) Redeemer Lutheran (RIC) Third Avenue Community (RC)
Dayton
Congregation for Reconciliation (ONA)
Granville
First Baptist (W&A)
Norton
Grace UCC (ONA)
. Toledo
Central UMC (RC)
OKLAHOMA
Tulsa
UM Community of Hope (RC)
OREGON
Ashland
United Church of Christ (ONA)
Corvallis
First UMC (RC)
Estacada
Estacada UMC (RC)
Lake Oswego
Lake Oswego UCC (ONA)
Milwaukie
Milwaukie UCC (ONA)
Portland
First Congregational (ONA)
First UMC (RC)
Metanoia Peace Community (RC)
Southwest United (ONA)
SI. James Lutheran (RIC)
University Park UMC (RC)
Salem
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia
Calvary UMC (RC)
First UMC of Germantown (RC)
SI. Michael's Lutheran (RIC)
Tabernacle United (ONA, ML)
University Lutheran of Incamation (RIC)
Wayne
Central Baptist (W&A)
RHODE ISLAND
Newport
Newport Congregational (ONA)
SOUTH CAROLINA
Columbia
Gethsemane Lutheran (RIC)
SOUTH DAKOTA
Erwin
Erwin UCC (ONA)
TENNESSEE
Memphis
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
Nashville
Brookmeade Congregational UCC (ONA) Edgehill UMC (RC)
TEXAS
Austin
First English Lutheran (RIC)
Trinity UMC (RC)
Dallas
Bethany Presbyterian (ML)
Midway Hills Christian (O&A)
Fort Worth
SI. Matthew's Lutheran (RIC)
Houston
Bering Memorial UMC (RC)
Community of the ReconcilingServant (ML)
VERMONT
Bennington
Second Congregational (ONA)
Burlington
Christ Presbyterian(ML)
College Street Congregational (ONA)
Middlebury
Congregational UCC (ONA)
Rutland
Rutland UMC (RC)
VIRGINIA
Alexandria
Peace Lutheran (RIC)
Harrisonburg
Sanctuary UCC (ONA)
WASHINGTON
Chelan
Fullness of God Lutheran (RIC)
Federal Way
Wayside UCC (ONA)
Leavenworth
Faith Lutheran (RIC)
Medical Lake
Shalom UCC (ONA)
Mountlake Terrace
Terrace View Presbyterian (ML)
Olympia
Community for Christian Celebration (ONA)
Pullman
Community Congregational UCC (ONA)
Richland
Shalom UCC (ONA)
Seattle
Broadview Community UCC (ONA)
Central Lutheran (RIC)
Findlay Street Christian (O&A)
First Baptist (W&A)
Pilgrim Congregational (ONA)
Plymouth Congregational (ONA)
Prospect UCC (ONA)
Ravenna UMC (RC)
Richmond Beach Congregational UCC
(ONA)
University Baptist (W&A)
University Christian (O&A)
University Congregational (ONA)
Wallingford UMC (RC)
Vancouver
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
WISCONSIN
EauClaire
University Lutheran (RIC)
Madison
First Baptist (W&A)
First Congregational UCC (ONA)
Orchard Ridge UCC (ONA)
University (RC)
Milwaukee
Church of the Reformation (RIC)
Cross Lutheran (RIC)
Plymouth UCC (ONA)
Village Lutheran (RIC)
Racine
Our Savior'S Lutheran (RIC)
Sheboygan
Wesley UMC (RC)
CANADA/SASKATCHEWAN
Saskatoon
King of Glory Lutheran (RIC)
CAMPUS MINISTRIES
CALIFORNIA
Chapman University Pride Alliance (O&A) Wesley Foundation at UCLA (RC)
DELAWARE
Wesley Foundation at University of Delaware (RC)
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
UM Student Fellowship at American University (RC)
ILLINOIS
UM Student Fellowship at Illinois Wesleyan (RC) United Campus Ministry at Northern Illinois (RC)
INDIANA
Lutheran Campus Ministry at Indiana University (RIC)
IOWA
Lutheran Campus Ministry at University of Iowa (RIC)
MICHIGAN
Ecclesia at Michigan State University (O&A) Guild House at University of Michigan (O&A)
MINNESOTA
Lutheran Campus Ministry in Minneapolis (RIC) Lutheran Campus Ministry at SI. Cloud State (RIC) Student Congregation at SI. Olaf College (RIC)
NORTH DAKOTA
University Lutheran Center in Fargo (RIC)
OREGON
Lutheran Campus Ministry in Portland (RIC)
PENNSYLVANIA
. Lutheran Campus Ministry at Kutztown (RIC)
WISCONSIN
Lutheran Campus Ministry in LaCrosse (RIC) Metro Milwaukee Campus Ministry (RIC)
CANADA/SASKATCHEWAN
Saskatoon
Lutheran Student Movement (RIC)
JUDICATORIES
More Light Synods
Synod of the Northeast
Open and Affirming Conferences Connecticut Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota New Hampshire Northern California/Nevada Ohio Rocky Mountain Southern California
Open and Affirming Regions
Northern California/Nevada
Reconciled in Christ Synods Eastern North Dakota Eastern WaShington-Idaho Greater Milwaukee Metro Chicago Metro Washington, D.C. Pacifica Rocky Mountain Sierra-Pacific Southeast Michigan
Reconciling Conferences
California-Nevada
NewYork
Northern Illinois
Troy
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