Keep the door open to gays

Keep the door open to gays

Centre Daily Times

Because of a gay man, I became a United Methodist.

I didn’t know at the time he was gay. He was just a friendly older gentleman who greeted me with such genuine warmth the first Sunday I visited his church that I returned the next week. I was church-shopping at the time, and were it not for him, I might have moved on.

That man has since moved away, but he has been on my mind this week. The church’s high court, called the Judicial Council, is meeting in Overland Park. I’m hoping it will reverse a ruling that allowed a pastor to deny church membership to a man solely because he is gay.

Methodist doctrine is hazy on the subject of homosexuality. Its doctrine says homosexuals are “people of sacred worth,” but also declares that homosexuality is “incompatible with Christian teaching.” It’s an ambiguous stance, but one that so far has allowed the church to hold an uneasy umbrella over liberal and conservative congregations worldwide.

I believe sexual orientation is a core part of a person’s being, and it makes no sense to me that God would create human beings in a certain way and then reject them. So I was pleased to find a congregation that leans toward the “sacred worth” portion of the doctrine. Gay and lesbian people are welcome at my church, and many of them hold leadership positions.

Many of us are disappointed by the church’s prohibitions against the ordination of openly gay pastors and the blessing of same-sex unions. But we remain within the umbrella, understanding the church’s struggle to keep its worldwide flock from shattering into pieces over the incendiary issue of gay rights.

Blatant rejection of a gay person, however, is another matter.

In October, the Judicial Council ruled in favor of a pastor named Ed Johnson, who had refused to allow an openly gay man to become a member of his Virginia church. Tackily, in my estimation, Johnson told the man that he was welcome to sing in the choir but that he couldn’t be a full member.

With its decision, the council overruled a decision by other ministers in Johnson’s district, who had voted to place him on an unpaid leave of absence. The ministers and Johnson’s bishop said he was violating the church doctrine, which states that “all persons” may become “professing members in any local church in the connection.”

The council determined, however, that the local pastor had discretion to determine a person’s “readiness” to join the church.

What is that supposed to mean?

Not to mix religion with politics, but if a pastor gets to be the “decider,” as President Bush would say, why stop with homosexuality? Depending on the minister’s biases, infidelity, obesity or failure to complete homework on time might also speak badly of someone’s readiness.

This is a big change in direction for a church whose advertising campaign is “Open Hearts. Open Minds. Open Doors.”

Jon Gray, a judge on the Jackson County Circuit Court, is a member of the nine-member Judicial Council. In a masterful dissenting opinion, he wrote that “the decision eviscerates our statement that God’s grace is available to all and reduces it to an empty platitude.”

Gray also pointed out that the council’s decision overrode rulings by the conference of ministers that serves as the church’s legislative body.

“Although the General Conference has clearly prohibited self-avowed practicing homosexuals from becoming ordained clergy, it has never determined that being a self-avowed practicing homosexual constitutes a bar to membership,” he wrote. “As a Judicial Council, the better angels of our nature require that we restrain ourselves from making up rules that do not exist.”

Two days after the ruling, the church’s bishops denounced it in a letter to Methodists. Homosexuality, they said, is not a barrier to church membership.

“’We implore families and churches not to reject or condemn lesbian and gay members and friends,” the bishops said. “We commit ourselves to be in ministry for and with all persons.”

That’s the message I received when I joined the United Methodist church some 20 years ago. The Judicial Council’s ruling is out of step with the clergy, the church doctrine and its emphasis on reconciliation and grace.

Churches, at their best, are places where people can overcome fears and find common ground despite deep-seated differences. The Judicial Council’s ruling eroded that potential, but it has a chance today in Overland Park to set matters right.