Drops of Water

Published Daily During GC 2004 by Affirmation: United Methodists for
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns

May 5, 2004 GC 2004 Issue 6

Reflections On Session Actions

By Ken Rowe

The United Methodist Church had a moment yesterday to tell the truth
that Christians are not of one mind on homosexuality. It is ironic.
On the day we focus on ecumenical worship, and witness to unity
within diversity, the General Conference would turn around and
continue the lie - that we are of one opinion and that Christian
teaching on the subject is also of one mind.

Tuesday we had the opportunity for another type of truth telling as
delegates processed through a number of petitions. The votes didn't
go particularly well, but I am confident that our diversity of
opinion will continue to be expressed no matter what the General
Conference passes.

I'm generally optimistic about the next 4 years and the rest of
General Conference. I'm also optimistic that 3 out of 4 new members
of the Judicial Council are moderate to progressive. The current
conservative activist Judicial Council is not likely to continue
without clear dissent.

The issues around lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender concerns
will continue as long as bishops, pastors, and members continue to
have lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender children. We are here
in the United Methodist Church.


It's not debatable.

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Prayer Witness Continues


At the start of the morning, afternoon, and evening plenary sessions
Tuesday volunteers for Common Witness partners Affirmation, MFSA and
Reconciling Ministries Network lined the east and west lobby
entrances to the convention center as well as the sky bridge from the
Westin.

The morning witness lasted 90 minutes. The afternoon and evening
witnesses lasted 30 minutes each.

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It's All About Choices

By Diane DeLap

I've been thinking more & more the last weeks about the choices that
we all make in our lives. From the moment we hear the alarm go off
in the morning and decide to rise to "seize the day" or hit the
snooze bar, we make decisions. Big, life changing ones, and little,
insignificant ones. Who our life partner will be. What socks to
wear. What school or college to go to. Pizza or yogurt for lunch.
To vote for full LGBT inclusion in the UMC - or not. To push the yes
button or the no button. To come out and live as our authentic
selves. To put on a skirt or slacks for work. Those last two were
both big decisions for me. As a transsexual, coming out and
having the freedom to decide to wear a skirt to work were two of the
biggest decisions I have made.

This morning I stood in Smithfield United Church in Pittsburgh and
listened as people from our Common Witness coalition were given
instructions about protest activities that were to take place
today. I could see the concern as people made personal choices about
the level of their involvement in those activities and I thought of
those activities and I thought of those delegates who at the same
time were making choices about their votes.

My thoughts about the choices we make began several weeks ago, when my
partner told me that a relative, one who I have loved as a mother for
most of my life, was having difficulties struggling with my gender
transition. She couldn't understand why I would "choose" this
lifestyle. Why couldn't I just be satisfied with living my life the
way God created me. Her struggles sadden me and I wish I could help
her to understand that the choice is not to be transgender or not. I
wish that she and others who talk about the choice GLBT folks make to
come out could understand that it is not a choice of how to live our
lives but rather if we will live our lives or not.

It may sound melodramatic to some - but for many - if not most of us -
the choice is not if we will live lives as our authentic selves, but
if we can survive the criticism and hate that those in our lifestyles
receive or if we will simply succumb to the despair that comes with
the realization that most of society doesn't care to understand our
pain and would just prefer that we go away. Far too many of us
oblige by deciding to terminate our time in this life. It quite
literally is the life or death decision to live authentically or give
up our lives in despair that we cannot be accepted by those who we
care most for. For many of us that search for acceptance includes
our church family and is why the choices that the current UMC
General Conference makes are so important.

I know that many conservative United Methodists would prefer that the
issue of homosexuality would go away, but it will not until the
church recognizes that simply saying that "homosexual persons are of
sacred worth" is not enough. Part of being a Christian is the
desire to serve the Lord in whom our faith is placed. For many in
the GLBT community, that desire to serve is heightened by the sense
of gratitude we feel for the love and acceptance that comes with the
decision to accept the grace that Christ offers.

The sense of self-criticism and doubt melts away as we feel God's
grace in our lives and is replaced with an overwhelming desire to
serve the one whose love we feel. When Christ's church rejects us
and tells us that we are not permitted to serve because, what is a
part of our very nature, is "incompatible" with Christian service it
is devastating.

The Church is supposed to love us as Christ does. How dare people
who claim to represent Him say that another part of the body
is "incompatible"? Some of us make the choice to fight back in
anger and frustration. Others leave the church in anger and distrust
rejecting the faith. Still others find comfort in other Church
traditions that are more accepting.

Finally, the choices that we make have been weighing on my mind the
past few weeks since I led the last week of our Adult Lenten study at
the church we attend. We were studying Marcus Borg's book "Reading
the Bible Again for the First Time" and I had volunteered to lead the
discussion of the last chapter on Revelation. Revelation has always
been one of my favorite books. Perhaps because its message is one of
hope to oppressed Christians of the late first century, its message
is particularly meaningful to me as part of an oppressed community
within the Church today. To many, who seek to make its message a
literal one, Revelation can be confusing. But to me the
beautiful and powerful imagery of the end times and the message of
hope that it brings is one of the most comforting of the Bible. In
contrast to the message of the fall in Genesis stands the message of
triumph of glory in Revelation.

However, one of the themes of Revelation is the message of the
consequences of our choices. There will come for all of us the
opportunity to stand before the throne of God and account for the
choices of our lives. What that will consist of, I have no idea. The
effect of the application of the all-encompassing grace of Jesus to
those who claim him as Lord and Master, is unclear. I do know that
even Jesus spoke of this judgment and the effect of the treatment of
the outcasts of society on that judgment (Mt. 25). Clearly, our
choices today will be accounted for at some point.

To the delegates of General Conference I would suggest that you think
carefully about your selections. The time is coming when you will
stand before the Master and Creator of all and will answer the
question "What have you done for these, the least of mine?" Will
you be able to answer with assurance that you have stood firm for the
inclusion of all Christ's children, or will your decisions and the
voices of those to whom they have brought pain and despair come
flooding in to convict you?

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Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors

Seeing Is Believing

Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors: We'll believe it when we see it!

Tuesday was a very hard day for the Drops of Water GC daily newsletter
editors to sit in the plenary session.

Once again the church has upheld the lie that we choose to be
different.

Once again the church has upheld the lie that "it's just a behavior
that we could change if we wanted to."

Once again the church has ignored our stories of faith, pain, and
suffering, of who we are, and how our different-ness has impacted our
faith journeys.

Once again the church has failed to minister to people struggling
with the sexual orientation and gender identity they were born with.

Once again many progressives will give up on the church and go
elsewhere. And the decline in member-ship numbers will be blamed, by
conservatives, on lack of clarity, lack of doctrine, and lack of
adherence to their definition of purity.

As one delegate put it Tuesday, the Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open
Doors campaign is a waste of money because it just isn't true.

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If We Have No Peace, It is Because We Have Forgotten that We Belong
to Each Other. -Mother Theresa

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Love Makes A Family

2004-05-06 Love Makes A Family Gone

Love Makes A Family. It's Gone!

We had planned on displaying Love Makes A Family until the meet-
here.com space closed Thursday night. That's when we needed to pack
it up and ship it to its next display location Friday. Unfortunately
we only had provisional use of the display space, and we had to take
down it down Wednesday.

Keep an eye out for other displays of Love Makes A Family.

We know at least 60 people had signed the guest book for the display
as of Wednesday morning. There were a lot of positive comments.

If you'd like to arrange for the display of Love Makes A Family,
contact:

Family Diversity Projects
PO Box 1246
Amherst MA 01004-1246
413-256-0502
info@...

Their web site is www.familydiv.org

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Daily Events at GC


Hospitality Room at Smithfield United is open 6 a.m. - 11 p.m.
weekdays through Thursday, May 6.

Weekday Breakfast and Legislative Briefing For Delegates (Volunteers
and Visitors welcome) 7 - 8 a.m. Smithfield United.

Weekday Common Witness Delicious and Affordable Lunches for delegates,
volunteers and visitors at Smithfield Church, 620 Smithfield St.,
between 12 noon and 1:30 p.m.


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Drops of Water

Drops of Water is published each day the conference is in session
during General Conference 2004 by Affirmation: United Methodists for
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns, PO Box 1021,
Evanston IL 60204-1021. Email: UMAffirmation@.... Web:
www.umaffirm.org

(c) 2004 Affirmation: United Methodists for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
and Transgender Concerns

Only Affirmation's spokespersons, Peggy Gaylord and Ken Ian Rowe, may
represent the official positions of the organizations. All articles
in Drops of Water reflect the opinions of the individual authors and
are not necessarily the official position of Affirmation: United
Methodist.

Coeditors:
Judy WestLee
Gary Shephard



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Affirmation's Mission Statement

Affirmation: United Methodist is an activist caucus of lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender people, our families, and friends,
organized to speak for ourselves. Together we:

-Proclaim a gospel of respect, love, and justice;
-Relentlessly pursue policies and processes that support full
participation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in
all areas and levels of The United Methodist Church;
-Overcome the barriers that diminish our common humanity by excluding
or judging people because of their race, gender, class, or physical
abilities;
-Empower people to undertake works of inclusion and justice where
they are.



Drops of Water Issue 6, May 5, 2004