April 11, 2008
Commentary: Avoiding sexuality issue is not true peace
A UMNS Commentary
By Steven E. Webster*

Many voices from across The United Methodist Church are suggesting
there is no way forward in the 36-year-long dialogue about the role
and status of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in
the church. Declaring an impasse, these voices call for an end to this
dialogue in the name of peace and unity.

Forty-five years ago, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a
now-famous letter from a jail cell in Birmingham, Ala., to a group of
white clergy (including two Methodist bishops) who--in the name of
"unity" and "peace"--had publicly called on King and his allies to
cease their disturbing nonviolent protests against racial segregation.

King wrote that the "great stumbling block" in the African-American
struggle for equality was not blatant bigotry, "but the white
moderate, who is more devoted to 'order' than to justice, who prefers
a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace
which is the presence of justice."

I embrace our Wesleyan Christian vision of "making disciples of Jesus
Christ for the transformation of the world" and applaud the General
Conference for seeking to build unity around four focus areas: 1)
developing principled Christian leaders for the church and the world;
2) reaching new people in new places by starting new congregations and
renewing existing ones; 3) engaging in ministry with the poor; and 4)
stamping out killer diseases by improving health globally.

Yet we undercut these same goals when we continue to: 1) reject the
gifts and graces of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons and
their allies; 2) turn off a younger generation that views the
Christian faith as "anti-homosexual;" 3) push LGBT youth into poverty
and homelessness as families reject them because church and society
stigmatizes LGBT persons; and 4) fail to address the role that
ignorance and stigmatization of homosexuality (and other sexualities)
play in the global AIDS epidemic.

Biblical peace

The United Methodist Church cannot enjoy true peace and unity while it
engages in injustice and spiritual violence against some of its
members. Biblical peace does not refer to the apparent absence of
conflict, and still less to the suppression of dialogue. In the Bible,
"peace" ("shalom" in Hebrew) is a holistic concept that includes
justice and total well-being.

To fail to address the issue of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
people in the church now would leave in place the status quo in church
law that includes Judicial Council Decision 1032, which normalizes the
exclusion of LGBT persons from membership in the church. Decision 1032
has never yet been the subject of discussion at a General Conference
and runs counter to a (non-binding) plea in our Social Principles that
"we implore families and churches not to reject or condemn lesbian and
gay members and friends."

Even if lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are allowed to
attend or join the membership of The United Methodist Church, Decision
1032 further legitimates the widespread practice of "shunning" such
persons as unworthy to serve in any of the ministries of the local
church. This is spiritual violence, the misuse of religious authority
to demean and diminish LGBT Christians.

I know LGBT persons who have been denied the opportunity to serve in
the church as leaders of adult education classes, choir members,
committee members, or readers of Scripture in worship. It is not
unheard of for committed same-gender couples to be denied baptism for
their babies and gay youth to be shunned from youth groups in The
United Methodist Church.

These acts, justified by labeling LGBT people as "unrepentant sinners"
inferior to all the "repentant sinners" in the church, are acts of
spiritual violence, harming the souls of lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender persons. It is tragic that being from a devout Christian
family has been identified as a risk factor for suicide among LGBT youths.

A thorn in the flesh

Some have described the church's long dialogue over these issues as "a
thorn in the flesh." Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 that he
endured a painful "thorn in the flesh" that would not leave him even
though he pleaded with God to remove it. God's answer to Paul applies
to us: "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in
weakness."

We feel weary and weakened by this long dialogue over homosexuality, a
dialogue in which I have actively participated in many ways these past
36 years. The faith that sustains me is that God intends to perfect us
through these trials, and we, the people of The United Methodist
Church, look forward to a real peace which is, in King's words, the
presence of justice and not merely the absence of tension.

*Webster is chair of the church council of University United Methodist
Church in Madison, Wis., and has attended the 2000 and 2004 General
Conferences as a volunteer with Soulforce, an organization that
describes itself as working for freedom for lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender people from religious and political oppression. He legally
married Jim Dietrich, his partner of 27 years, in a civil ceremony in
Toronto in 2006.

Note: Archbishop's statement is pasted below the press release from
Integrity.

--------------------

April 9, 2008
Integrity Thanks Archbishop Of Canterbury For Condemning Violence

Integrity thanks Archbishop Rowan Williams for his statement
today-which condemned recent violence and the treats of violence
against LGBT Anglicans.  The Rev. Susan Russell, President of
Integrity, said, "In too many provinces of the Anglican Communion, the
LGBT faithful life in fear of violence and even death because of who
they are and whom they love.  More often than not, Anglican bishops
have been silent about-and sometimes complicit in-bullying and
brutality directed at the LGBT children of God."

Russell concluded, "Members of Integrity USA, along with other LGBT
Anglicans from other provinces, will be in Canterbury this summer to
offer our testimonies to the bishops gathered for the Lambeth
Conference.  We look forward to sharing our lives and our stories with
all of them who will listen."

PRESS CONTACT
The Rev. Susan Russell, President
revsusanrussell@...
714-356-5718

---------------------------------------------------------------

Archbishop of Canterbury condemns recent violence against lesbian and
gay people
Posted On : April 9, 2008 5:26 PM | Posted By : Admin ACO
Related Categories: Lambeth

ACNS 4386: http://www.aco.org/acns/news.cfm/2008/4/9/ACNS4386

In response to reports of violence and threats towards Christians
involved in the debate on human sexuality, the Archbishop of
Canterbury has given the following statement:

"The threats recently made against the leaders of Changing Attitudes
are disgraceful. The Anglican Communion has repeatedly, through the
Lambeth Conference and the statements from its Primates' Meetings,
unequivocally condemned violence and the threat of violence against
gay and lesbian people. I hope that this latest round of unchristian
bullying will likewise be universally condemned."

Ends

During the United Methodist quadrennial General Conference, which
takes place in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 23-May 2, 2008, Affirmation
will post a daily newsletter.

Out #1:  Affirmation's Daily General Conference Newsletter

The newsletter is available in PDF format at:
http://www.umaffirm.org

Out #1, April 23, 2008 (PDF, 4 pp, 220K)
http://www.umaffirm.org/pdf/gc080423.pdf

Contents: Standing Outside of the Church, We're Still Here, I Don't
Wanna Talk About It, Avoiding Sexuality Issue Is Not True Peace

How to Contact Us:
Affirmation email: umaffirmation@...
Affirmation web: http://www.umaffirm.org
Snail-Mail: Affirmation, P.O. Box 1021, Evanston, IL 60204.

During the United Methodist quadrennial General Conference, which
takes place in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 23-May 2, 2008, Affirmation
will post a daily newsletter.

The newsletter is available in PDF format at:
http://www.umaffirm.org

Out #2, April 24, 2008 (PDF, 4 pp, 520K)
http://www.umaffirm.org/pdf/gc080424.pdf

Contents: It's Not Easy..., We're Your Active Members, A Brief History
Of Affirmation and the Reconciling Movement, Pastoral Care Hotline

How to Contact Us:
Affirmation email: umaffirmation@...
Affirmation web: http://www.umaffirm.org
Snail-Mail: Affirmation, P.O. Box 1021, Evanston, IL 60204.

During the United Methodist quadrennial General Conference, which
takes place in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 23-May 2, 2008, Affirmation
will post a daily newsletter.

The newsletter is available in PDF format at:
http://www.umaffirm.org

Out #3, April 25, 2008 (PDF, 4 pp, 560K)
http://www.umaffirm.org/pdf/gc080424.pdf

Contents: Make Everyone a Disciple?!, Ordained But Disconnected, A
Prayer, National Day of Silence, Informal Transgender Mixer Slated

From the Newsletter:

GENERAL CONFERENCE UPCOMING EVENTS
Pastoral Care Support
Line 612-353-7445 thru end of GC

Soulforce Picnic In The Park with Transgender
People of Faith Today 12:30 PM General Worth Square,
9th and Main.

Soulforce Street Theatre
Sat 4/26 5:00 PM outside convention center.

Affirmation Out Awards
Press Conference Sat 4/26 5:30 PM Intermodal Transportation Center

Affirmation Out Awards
Banquet Sat 4/26 6:00 – 8:00 PM
Intermodal Transportation Center (tickets available at door $20.00)
Soulforce presents the documentary "For the Bible Tells Me So" 4/26 at
dusk in General Worth Square, 9th and Main (Intermodal Transportation
Center if it rains)

Soulforce Panel On History of Discrimination – Central Jurisdiction
and LGBT Methodists Sun 4/27 12:30 PM General Worth Square

RMN Worship Sun 4/27 2:00 PM at First UMC Fort Worth, 800 W 5th St
Breakfast – Every day from 7:30 – 8:30 AM except Sun, First Christian
Church. Last breakfast Sat 5/3.

Lunch – Every day from 12:00 – 2:30 PM except Sun, First Christian
Church. Last lunch Fri 5/2.

MFSA Speaker series start Fri 4/25 1:15 – 2:00 PM except Sunday,
First Christian Church Reconciling Closing Communion
Fri 5/2 after GC ends. Late.


How to Contact Us:
Affirmation email: umaffirmation@...
Affirmation web: http://www.umaffirm.org
Snail-Mail: Affirmation, P.O. Box 1021, Evanston, IL 60204.

Transgender United Methodists share stories
April 24, 2008

By Robin Russell*

FORT WORTH, Texas (UMNS)—For three decades, United Methodists have
debated at General Conference gatherings whether gay Christians can
participate fully in the denomination, including being ordained as clergy.

This year, persons who have changed their gender are adding a new
angle to that debate.

The Rev. Drew Phoenix, pastor of St. John's United Methodist Church in
Baltimore, said he took "steps toward wholeness" two years ago when he
switched his gender to male.

"I can say that I have come home to the child that God created me to
me, and I'm very joyful, whole and peaceful," he said at an April 24
press conference sponsored by a pro-gay advocacy group.

Phoenix had been minister at St. John's for five years as the Rev. Ann
Gordon. Following surgery and hormone therapy, he changed his gender
and adopted a new name.

The press conference was sponsored by Affirmation, an unofficial
caucus of United Methodists that are among advocacy groups hoping to
gain support during the 2008 General Conference for gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgender people through prayer vigils, rallies and
speeches. The event was held near the Fort Worth Convention Center,
where General Conference is meeting through May 2.

Other groups that organized public-witness activities on issues of
sexuality and sexual identity were Reconciling Ministries Network,
Methodist Federation for Social Action and Soulforce.

Gay-rights proponents hope this General Conference will elect a more
"moderate" Judicial Council, the church's supreme court, so that
practicing gays and lesbians will not be barred from church
membership; include a statement in the Book of Discipline that not all
United Methodists are of one mind on homosexuality; and allow gay and
transgender people to be ordained as clergy, said the Rev. Troy G.
Plummer, executive director for Reconciling Ministries Network.

Emerging issue

The issue of transgender clergy came to the forefront in 2007 when
Bishop John R. Schol reappointed Phoenix as pastor of St. John's.
Schol said the 2004 Book of Discipline did not prevent transgender
clergy from serving in an appointment. The denomination's highest
court affirmed that decision last October, agreeing that gender change
is not addressed in the United Methodist constitution.

While church policy does not permit self-avowed practicing gay clergy
to be appointed and bans gay unions, it says nothing about transgender
clergy.

Some United Methodists are hoping that will change.

The Rev. Karen Booth is executive director of Transforming
Congregations, an organization she says ministers to "sexually
confused, sinful and broken people." She believes transgender people
exhibit a "deep, psychological conflict." While the church should
minister to them, she says, leadership should not be an option.

"We recognize that there are, in fact, people who are unfortunately
born with a chromosomal blueprint that is ambiguous. That is a valid
medical condition that needs to be addressed," she said. "Most of what
we see is more of a psychological state where a person says, 'I don't
feel like I'm in the right body.' We believe that's a blurring of the
distinct way God created us as male and female."

When transgender people describe a difference between how they feel
inside and what their body looks like, Booth said it reflects the
Gnostic heresy that "assumes an anti-body dualism—if inner feelings
are at odds with physical reality, the latter is insignificant and
expendable."

She also finds it ironic, she added, that "gays and lesbians say, 'God
created me this way,' whereas transgender people say, 'God made a
mistake.' There's a real inconsistency there."

Booth has submitted petitions to the 2008 General Conference that
would spell out church policy by stating that neither transgenderism
nor transsexuality "reflects God's best intentions for humankind."

Seeking acceptance

Phoenix, however, believes transgenderism is compatible with Christian
teaching because "it was in the context of my faith in Christ, led by
the Spirit, that I made the transition (of gender)." What's more, he
added, his church is thriving in its mission of disciple-making and
mission.

"Seeing me become more transparent, honest and authentic in the
transition gives them permission to be honest in a way that they
couldn't have before," he said of his congregation. "We want to be
known as the children God created us to be. That's been my experience
with my church, across the board."

Panelists at the press conference also included:

Tina Seitz, a United Methodist from the Detroit area who considered
suicide to spare her children embarrassment of having a transgender
parent, but who says making the transition to a woman makes her feel
"whole in a way I never did before." She said a United Methodist
church gave her the spiritual guidance she needed "as never before."

Sean Delmore, a doctoral student at Boston University's School of
Theology and a transgender man who is pursuing ordination as a deacon
in the New England Annual (regional) Conference. He came to faith at
seminary and found "radical hospitality" through a United Methodist
bishop who asked him, "How can we help?" "That is the history and
tradition of The United Methodist Church," he said.

Diane DeLap, Affirmation spokesperson and a transgender woman who
called on General Conference delegates "to reject any attempt to
discriminate against transgender persons in ministry and membership.
One of the things that concerns me is that the church is interfering
in what is a medical decision. When a doctor concludes that medical
treatment is needed, it is the church's position to support people
through those decisions." She added, "Jesus welcomed the outcast of
his day. If he were here today, he would be welcoming us into the
church, too."


*Russell is managing editor of the United Methodist Reporter.

Wrap up: Legislative work begins, follows day of speeches
April 24, 2008


By J. Richard Peck*

FORT WORTH, Texas (UMNS)––Delegates to the United Methodist General
Conference began to sink their teeth into some 1,500 petitions during
the evening of April 24.

The 992 delegates gathered in 13 legislative committees following a
day of speeches, presentations and reports.

The morning began with the traditional Episcopal Address, delivered by
Illinois Area Bishop Sharon Brown Christopher. The Laity Address was
delivered by Lyn Powell, lay leader of the North Georgia Annual
(regional) Conference, and the first-ever Young People's Address was
presented by six youth and young adults.

Most of the speeches tried to help delegates guide the 11.5-million
member denomination to "A Future with Hope," the theme of the 10-day
gathering.

Speakers lamented the loss of members in U.S. churches and celebrated
the growth of churches in Africa and Southeast Asia. They called upon
United Methodists in this nation to set aside their differences and to
follow Wesley's three rules: Do no harm, do good and stay in love with
God.

Episcopal Address

Christopher's message on behalf of the Council of Bishops was filled
with songs and multimedia and multi-sensory images about how people
received and experienced hope, gave hope, and were transformed by
encounters with Christ.

"All around this world there is physical, mental and spiritual hunger
for the bread of life," she said.

There are various types of hunger--food, education, freedom, meaning
and purpose, and a relationship with God.  But, "in the midst of the
world's hunger pangs we--gathered here and connected around the
world--are the church of Jesus Christ," she said.

She attributed some of the membership decline in U.S. churches to
"ruptures in our United Methodist relationships. Left or right,
conservative or liberal, we treat our baptized brothers and sisters as
if they are our enemies" and seek to destroy those who have a
different viewpoint or perspective, she said.

"Our fervent pursuit of being right takes priority over right
relationship," she said. The disarray of the table, the fractured and
ruptured United Methodist relationships, and "carefully calculated
formulas of theology" make church members unable to hear and listen to
the cries of a neighbor. "Our own need deafens us to the needs of
others," she said.

Young People's Address

The first-ever Young People's Address to General Conference was given
by Becca Farnum, 17, of Mount Pleasant, Mich.; Kira Volkova, 24, of
Kirov, Russia; the Rev. Annie Arnoldy, 29, of Grand Junction, Colo.;
Andrew Craig, 16, of Denver; Matt Lockett, 20, of Seattle; and Jason
Rathod, 24, of Hastings, Neb. They were chosen by the Division on
Ministries with Young People, Board of Discipleship. The presentation
included videos, photos, drumming and singing.

"We have shared stories of persecution, homelessness, and what it
means to be a young person in a world desperately in need of Jesus,"
said Lockett. "What you do with what you have heard is really up to you."

"On the local level, we've started believing that we're so far apart
on the major issues of the day that we can only find common ground in
hosting potlucks and singing praise songs," Rathod said.

"What I know about the church is that it yearns for young people,"
Arnoldy said. "What I know about young adults is that they yearn for a
place to belong. This seems like a pretty fruitful situation."

The six concluded their presentation side by side on the stage and
said, "Believe in us. Believe that the future of the church is in good
hands. We're ready. The time is now. Let us begin."

Laity Address

Powell challenged lay members of the denomination to assume
responsibility for reaching the unchurched. She said it is
unreasonable for clergy, with their myriad responsibilities, to spend
time engaging the unchurched. "But the laity are already there," she
said. They encounter unchurched people in all walks of daily life.

She asked why 80 percent of the residents in most U.S. counties are
not meaningfully connected to a church. Why did 42 percent of the
denomination's 34,398 U.S churches not have a person join by
profession of faith? she asked, citing a church statistic for 2006.

Powell said laity have become complacent and think it is their calling
to receive ministry from clergy rather than be equipped by the clergy
to go out into the world and offer Christ.

She suggested each lay person might claim one area of personal
ministry that could be centered around one of the denomination's four
areas of focus.

Four Areas of Focus

Four staff executives of United Methodist boards explained areas of
focus that will guide the future work of the denomination's 13 general
agencies.

The four areas of focus area are:

1) Developing principled Christian leaders for the church and the world.
2) Creating new places for new people and renewing existing congregations.
3) Stamping out diseases of poverty by improving health globally.
4) Engaging in ministry with the poor.

"Somehow, in our 40 years, poverty became acceptable to us," said
Bishop Felton May, interim top executive for the United Methodist
Board of Global Ministries. "We permitted ourselves to join the rest
of the world in complacency. But here -- at our 40-year anniversary --
for the love of God, the United Methodist Church declares, no more!"

The Rev. Jerome King Del Pino, chief executive, United Methodist Board
of Higher Education and Ministry, admitted that stamping out disease
is an "ambitious" notion. But, he said, church leaders "believe that
by interconnecting the resources, capacities and skills of the entire
United Methodist community, we can help to significantly reduce deaths
caused by the diseases of poverty."

Such work can be accomplished by creating and renewing congregations,
according to the Rev. Karen Greenwaldt, chief executive, United
Methodist Board of Discipleship. "Jesus calls us to bring more people
to follow Christ to the cross … to give their very lives for the
gospel," she said.

Principled Christian leaders also are needed. "This focus area is not
about recruiting pastors to occupy pulpits on Sundays -- while that
would be a critical and needed result," Hollon explained. "Instead, it
is about cultivating a whole new paradigm of leadership that can
engage a culture that has evolved in its color, complexity and global
interconnectivity . . . and is no longer hospitable to the message of
Christ."

Seven Pathways

The four areas of focus were derived from "seven pathways" established
by the Council of Bishops.

Ohio West Area Bishop Bruce Ough explained that early in the
quadrennium, the Council of Bishops "looked across the landscape of
United Methodism to seek out the best qualities of who we are and the
most fruitful practices of our discipleship."

He said that search found churches that follow seven basic pathways:

1) Teaching the Wesleyan model of reaching and forming disciples of
Jesus Christ.
2) Strengthening clergy and lay leadership.
3) Developing new congregations.
4) Transforming existing congregations.
5) Ending racism as the church authentically expands racial and ethnic
ministries.
6) Reaching and transforming the lives of new generations of children.
7) Eliminating poverty in community with the poor.

The bishop explained, "The seven pathways are embedded in these four
focus areas."

Budget plans

The General Council on Finance and Administration, the church's
finance agency, works with the 60-member Connectional Table to balance
the mission needs of the denomination with the ability of local
churches to fund the programs.

Delegates learned that the two units are proposing a quadrennial
budget of $642 million. The spending plan is developed around the four
Areas of Focus.

The budget is based on a formula in which, for every $1,000 that is
received in a congregation, $854 remains in the local church, $124
supports district and annual conference ministries, and $22 goes to
denominational ministries.

Using the analogy of the church as a cup, Los Angeles Area Bishop Mary
Ann Swenson, president of the finance agency, said God's life-giving
love and grace should overflow and pour out into a thirsty world in
need of spiritual transformation. However, "too often we are living as
if we have just one small cup."

When used faithfully, however, the cup becomes Christ's vessel for
mission and ministry. "When it is empty, its purpose is to be filled;
when it is filled, its purpose is to be emptied. It gives what it
receives; it receives only so that it can pour out," she said.

Second-day activities also included:

A lunchtime rally near the Fort Worth Convention Center by some 300
United Methodists who oppose H.R. 4088, a bill focused on strict
enforcement of immigration laws. The group also backs General
Conference resolutions that seek immigration reform.

A report from the Judicial Council saying two paragraphs of the Book
of Discipline dealing with the complex process of nominating and
electing members of general agencies are in conflict and should be
reconciled at this session of the General Conference. The Discipline
is the denomination's book of law.

A celebration of Katherine Commale, who at age 5 learned that a child
dies of mosquito-borne malaria every 30 seconds. She launched an
effort that raised $40,000 for mosquito nets. The 7-year-old was part
of a presentation by the Connectional Table.

A late-afternoon press conference featuring the Rev. Drew Phoenix,
pastor of St. John's United Methodist Church in Baltimore. He said he
took "steps toward wholeness" two years ago when he underwent surgery
and hormone therapy to switch his gender from female to male. He was
reappointed when Bishop John R. Schol said the 2004 Book of Discipline
does not prohibit a transgender pastor from being appointed. General
Conference will act on resolutions declaring that neither
transgenderism nor transsexuality "reflects God's best intentions for
humankind."

*Peck is a retired United Methodist clergyman serving as an editor for
United Methodist News Service during General Conference.

April 25, 2008
PC(USA)'s top court reviews same-sex wedding case
Spahr's lawyers: There's no constitutional ban on same-sex weddings
by Evan Silverstein, Presbyterian News Service

LOUISVILLE - Lawyers for the Rev. Jane Adams Spahr, who is facing
charges for performing weddings for two lesbian couples, told members
of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s highest court on Friday (April
25) that there is no language in the denomination's constitution that
prohibits same-gender couples from marrying.

Spahr, in a reversal of an earlier decision, was found guilty last
year of violating the PC(USA)'s constitutional ban on performing
same-sex marriages.

The Permanent Judicial Commission of the General Assembly convened at
the Presbyterian Center here to take up an appeal by Spahr of that
ruling by the Synod of the Pacific's Permanent Judicial Commission (PJC).

Sara Taylor of San Francisco, one of Spahr's lawyers, said the
65-year-old retired minister and lesbian activist acted within her
rights and did not violate church law by performing the weddings.

"We will agree that there is descriptive language regarding the
definition of marriage in the Book of Order, we do not deny that, but
unlike ordination or other things there are no mandatory
prohibitions," Taylor told the General Assembly PJC in her opening
remarks. "There is no language in the constitution of this church that
prohibits same-gender couples from marrying. Disciplinary actions are
under the purview of the presbytery."

In August, the synod PJC ruled 6-2 that while Spahr, who lives in San
Rafael, CA, "acted with conscience and conviction," her actions were
still at odds with the church's constitution when she married the
couples in 2004 and 2005.

The synod ruling reversed a March 2006 decision by the Presbytery of
the Redwoods' PJC that found Spahr  acted within her rights as an
ordained minister when she married the two couples.

The PC(USA) Book of Order defines marriage as between a man and a
woman, and church courts have ruled that Presbyterian ministers may
not utilize the marriage liturgy in same-sex ceremonies.

The synod court recommended that Spahr receive the mildest penalty — a
rebuke — which amounts to a warning not to repeat the violation. She
could have been removed from ordained ministry.

Spahr, who retired last year, then appealed the decision to the
General Assembly PJC.

"Her presbytery voted and agreed, having known her for 30 years,
having watched her ministry and having supported her ministry, that
she was doing the call to which the church had asked her," Taylor said
during the proceedings. "In their ruling [the presbytery] held that
the descriptive language in W.49001 [in the Book of Order] does not
constitute a prohibition, it is definitional rather than directive."
Photo of Connie Valois and Barbara Jean Douglass

Spahr has acknowledged that she'd married Annie Senechal to Sherrill
Figuera on May 27, 2005, outside Guerneville, CA, near San Francisco.
She also acknowledged marrying the other couple, Barbara Jean Douglass
and Connie Valois, on Aug. 21, 2004, in Rochester, NY. Neither state
allows civil marriages of same-sex couples, but Spahr said she
considered the ceremonies to be "ecclesiastical" marriages. Both
couples were present at the hearing.

In his opening statement, Stephen L. Taber, a San Francisco attorney
prosecuting Spahr for Redwoods Presbytery, said no one is above the law.

He said the PC(USA)'s constitution defines marriage as being between
one man and one woman, and a 2000 decision by the GA Permanent
Judicial Commission held that Presbyterian ministers could conduct
services blessing same-sex relationships but could not present them as
marriages, and that the services of blessing should not resemble weddings.

Taber said that while many Presbyterians may want to change church
policy and allow same-sex marriages, many others do not. He said
someone disagreeing with those standards can protest or seek to change
them but is bound not to disobey them.

"We have a constitution in this church that attempts to hold us
together in a form of order and allows us to act as a community of
faith. And when one individual says, 'Well I disagree with that on
very deeply held principles, that is an issue we have to deal with on
a constitutional basis," Taber said in his opening remarks. "As a
community no one in this church is above the law, above the
constitution of this church. That's the way we have organized ourselves."

Taber said while many Presbyterians want to change church policy and
allow same-sex marriages, many others do not.  He described the case
as a difficult one because "we are dealing with an individual who is
highly respected in the church," Taber said of Spahr.

Before retiring, Spahr was founding-minister director of That All May
Freely Serve (TAMFS), which works for the full inclusion of lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgendered Presbyterians in the life of the
church, including their ordination as officers.

Spahr, who acknowledged that she has performed many same-sex marriages
in more than 30 years as a Presbyterian minister, said the hearing is
"about people wanting to be recognized for all the love that they
have. No more second-class. No more 'less than' words. We're here to
stop the violence. When people are told they are less than or
second-class we become complicit to violence against them for it
perpetuates stereotypes and prejudice and we want it to stop."

General Assembly PJC members will deliberate and then issue a written
decision on Monday (April 28), which is to be released the following
day online at www.pcusa.org/gapjc/decisions after confirmation that
both parties have received the ruling.

But the ruling probably will be no secret by then since Spahr has
scheduled a Monday press conference in Tiburon, CA, to respond to the
ruling.

Spahr has organized several events surrounding the appeal hearing,
such as a silent witness at the Presbyterian Center before the PJC
hearing, and a worship service and reception following the hearing at
Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati.

Before Friday's hearing, Spahr and a group of supporters from around
the country held a prayer vigil in front of the Presbyterian Center.
Some waved signs, one of which said: "Justice for All,"
"Discrimination Hurts Us All," and "It's Not A Choice! We Are Chosen!"

"As someone studying and training to enter the ministry I think it's
important to be witness to God's love and God's grace that God's love
is for everyone and that as people of faith we have to fight for those
who are oppressed," said Sandra Moon, a 25-year-old seminary student
at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

Figuera, one of the members of the two couples Spahr married, said
before the hearing: "Things are never going to change if they don't
stand together and speak truth, and that's what we're here to do.
We're here to speak truth and truth is as the Bible says in John 3:16,
'For God to love the world.' And we are part of that world, and the
church is trying to close the door and say 'no,' and we're here to say
'yes' because God says 'yes.'"

See online videos of this event at:
http://www.generalconference2008.org/2008/04/videoaudio-tran.html

Transgender Christians Tell Their Story
Press Release:  April 24, 2008

Affirmation: United Methodists for LGBTQ Concerns
PO Box 1021 Evanston, IL 60204.
(978) 884-7401
www.umaffirm.org
umaffirmation@...

Transgender Christians told their stories to press and delegates at
the United Methodist General Conference in Fort Worth, Texas, on
Thursday, April 24. Compelling stories of "coming home" and "saving
their life" by living as a transgender person provided listeners with
insights into their lives.

The future of transgender participation hangs in the balance of
pending legislation as United Methodists, who meet once every four
years to pass legislation, consider resolutions that ban transgender
persons in and those that affirm inclusion regardless of gender
identity or expression.

The event was opened with introductions by Diane DeLap, National
Spokesperson of Affirmation, which is the United Methodists for
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Concerns group
Panelists included Rev. Drew Phoenix pastor of St. John's United
Methodist Church of Baltimore City, MD, Tina Seitz, a United Methodist
from the Detroit area and Sean Delmore, a doctoral student of
sociology at Boston University's School of Theology and Program
Director of MIT's LBGT Center.

Ms. DeLap said, "For over 30 years, United Methodists have ignored the
Wesleyan tradition of inclusion and are now considering adding
transgender Christians to the list of those who are excluded from full
participation in the church. It's time for the Church to abandon the
politics of exclusion and to start following Jesus again.  Jesus
reached out to include anyone who heard the good news, and began to
love God and neighbor.  The church follows the teachings of Jesus when
it accepts the service of transgender people like Rev. Phoenix, who
clearly have the gifts and graces for ministry."

Rev Phoenix, transgender pastor in good standing from the
Baltimore-Washington United Methodist conference, said, "It is my hope
that my presence and my story will be an occasion for our church to
sit down together and explore the complexity and diversity of gender
identity and expression and that out of that process, we will open our
hearts and church doors to transgender persons.  Jesus' central
message is that God's love and grace extend unconditionally to all of
us, not because we look a certain way or have a particular identity,
but because we are all children of God created in God's image.  Each
of us is a beloved child of God.  No exceptions."

"I am SO proud to be a member of denomination that recognized a long
time ago that gender discrimination is wrong," said Sean Delmore.  "In
my church, the pastor and the two lay leaders are women.  50 years
ago, we granted full ordination rights to women.  We decided that
stereotypes about the "proper" role and place for women were outdated,
were divisive, and – most importantly – ran counter to God's work on
earth.  We decided that God does not discriminate on the basis of gender."

Tina Seitz said "During transition, I needed spiritual guidance more
than ever before, yet the church I attended at the time rejected me. I
found another church with an accepting pastor, and things went well.
Within a few months though, that pastor was replaced by one that was
non-accepting. The last service I went to at that church was when the
pastor, speaking about me, delivered a sermon about "good people who
defile the church". Thankfully, I have now found a home within the
United Methodist Church. I am now working to help bring an end to the
misunderstanding so many people have about transgender people. We only
wish to be allowed to live our lives like everybody else."

Doubts Arise Following Gifts of Cell Phones
By Linda Green*
April 25, 2008 | FORT WORTH, Texas (UMNS)

Delegates and church officials attending General Conference are
wondering if democratic processes have been compromised because a
renewal group provided some African and some Filipino delegates with
cell phones.

The Renewal and Reform Coalition created myriad conversations among
delegates, church leaders and visitors after they learned that the
Confessing Movement, Good News/Renew, Transforming Congregations and
UMAction provided free cell phones to more than 150 African delegates
to use during the General Conference.

Some delegates and officials expressed concern that the coalition is
trying to sway the votes of African delegates who are typically more
conservative than their U.S. counterparts. They fear the coalition
might use the phones to offer suggestions on how to vote on particular
issues.

An April 23 letter from the coalition announces the cell phone
give-away as a service "that might be helpful to delegates." That
letter also invites the delegates to a "free breakfast" where they can
have "fellowship with other like-minded delegates," and receive
"information about the important issues that are coming before the
conference." The letter concludes with a request that they consider
voting for a slate of members for Judicial Council.

"It is very important that we elect people who will be fair and who
will uphold the Book of Discipline," said the letter. "The coalition
is supporting a great group of persons who are diverse in terms of
culture, ethnicity and gender. But all of them are united in the
belief that the Bible is God's word and that we must maintain biblical
standards for theology and morality."

Bishop Felton May, interim top executive of the United Methodist Board
of Global Ministries, found the cell phone gifts "surprising and
puzzling. I would like to have an answer to the rationale. The last
paragraph (of the letter) intrigued me in that there was direction
given in relationship to the election of Judicial Council."

Rob Renfroe, a member of the Confessing Movement and a coalition
member, said the cell phones were provided to give the central
conference delegates the same access to communications and material
that U.S. delegates have. "We thought the gift of a cell phone would
be beneficial."


Crosses the boundaries

  The provision of cell phones "crosses the boundaries of what is
appropriate in this kind of community, and I hope that it would
cease," said Bishop Kenneth Carder, a professor at Duke Divinity
School, Durham, N.C. Everyone, he said, needs to trust the integrity
and the autonomy of a democratic process. "This seems to be an undue
influence and violates the very essence of what it means to be
Christian community."

A joint monitoring team from the Commission on the Status and Role of
Women and the Commission on Religion and Race said the giveaway "is
inappropriate behavior and it destroys community. We have gathered for
Christian conferencing, which requires trust, honesty, openness and
respect. Whenever there is an imbalance of power relationships with
the expectation of reciprocity, this behavior gives the appearance of
paternalism, manipulation, exploitation and of course, racism."

Jim Winkler, top executive at the United Methodist Board of Church and
Society, said some renewal groups have journeyed across Africa
"providing deliberately distorted and inaccurate information to
African United Methodists." He views the distribution of cell phones
"in the context of a pattern of manipulation of the African delegates,
and that is what really, really troubles me."

However, Renfroe said it is "demeaning to the African delegates to
think that a gift of a cell phone would change their vote." He said
the coalition is showing hospitality to many people who have traveled
a great distance to attend General Conference. "They are highly
educated, aware of the issues and supremely principled in their
beliefs, and to think that the gift of a cell phone would change their
view is demeaning to them."

'No strings attached'

The Rev. Tom Lambrecht, chair of the Renewal and Reform Coalition,
said his group was "deeply disturbed by the charges that are leveled
by the various church leaders."

"We find the charges to be totally outrageous, and we lament the fact
that no one who is making these charges contacted us to share their
concerns or to ask for an explanation," he said. "We find this to be a
violation of the covenant of holy conferencing."

Rose-Marie Jalloh and other delegates from Sierra Leone received cell
phones. "There were no strings attached to the cell phone," she said.
"We appreciated it because it was a gift for us while we are here. We
will use it to call friends in the United States. I do not know if it
will work when General Conference is over."

"The African delegates are mature people who make value judgments,"
said Liberian Bishop John Innis. He wants General Conference delegates
to know that the African bishops have not encouraged the cell phone
gifts for their delegates. "We want to be very clear about that. The
delegates are mature people who have read all of the material sent to
them regarding General Conference and read all petitions and will vote
their conscience."

James Harris of the Liberia Annual Conference found the receipt of a
cell phone helpful in communicating with his colleagues and committee
members. "It is a great help for me." He asserted that there were no
conditions related to receiving the phone. "We were told that the
phones are to be used for local connections in the United States and
to contact my fellow delegates."

"They did not give us conditions. It was free," said Rosen Mwenze, a
delegate from North Katanga. "We were given cell phones to use for the
time we are here."

But Abraham Sellu, an East African delegate, declined a cell phone
because he did not want to be lobbied. "Coming here, you see a lot of
people outside giving you papers with agendas up their sleeves." He
said he was told during April 23 orientation that there are strings
attached to gifts given during General Conference. "Not knowing much
about who was giving me this gift, I refused to go for one," he said.

Gifts raise concerns

The giving of cell phones exclusively to people of color outside the
United States raises some concerns about racial paternalism. Early
colonialists used the same sorts of tactics -- giving of gifts with
intention for self-profit or gain in some sort of way, said Erin
Hawkins, top executive of the church's Commission on Religion and Race.

"My hope is that the white leadership of the church would be mindful
of the actions in light of the history of exploitation of people of
color in this church. I hope they would not willingly engage in any
sort of behavior that would undermine the humanity of people of color
whether they are in the United States or other countries," she said.
"This action of giving cell phones to buy or manipulate people can be
interpreted as a return to that sort of racist behavior."

Lambrecht said that was a misconception. "The cell phones were not
given exclusively to people of color; they were to be given to any
central conference delegate who had a need," he said. "It just so
happens that out of financial necessity and technological situation,
most of the recipients were people of color. And we felt like we were
doing an act of kindness to people to make them feel welcome" and to
enable them to participate on a more equal basis.

The Rev. Alex Vergara, president of the National Association of
Filipino-American United Methodists, described the gift of cell phones
as "vote-buying" and "bribery."

"We believe everyone has the right to advocate (his or her) position
to other people to gain the latter's favor. But this giving of gifts
is nothing but vote-buying, which is a perversion and abuse of a
democratic and sacred act," said Vergara.

However, Lambrecht said the gifts were given with "no expectation on
our part. . . . No questions were asked on our part, and we find no
difference between our giving of these gifts and the gifts that are
given by general boards and agencies and other groups to the delegates
of General Conference."

He said the implications leveled by the church leaders were
"completely untrue," as well as "hurtful and destructive to the
building of community."

Bishop Gregory Palmer, president-elect of the Council of Bishops, said
he was saddened if any group is attempting to influence the votes of
delegates in "an unhealthy and manipulative manner. That grieves me
for the whole church." He said people have a right to their own
opinions and perspectives and they may share how they will cast their
vote; however, the sharing should be done in a way that makes it clear
the gift is not given in exchange for a vote.

"The hospitality that we offer should be the hospitality that is
offered to everyone," said M. Garlinda Burton, top executive of the
Commission on Status and Role of Women.

*Green is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in
Nashville, Tenn.

During the United Methodist quadrennial General Conference, which
takes place in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 23-May 2, 2008, Affirmation
will post a daily newsletter.

The newsletter is available in PDF format at:
http://www.umaffirm.org

Out #4, April 26, 2008 (PDF, 4 pp, 280K)
http://www.umaffirm.org/pdf/gc080426.pdf

Contents: Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin, Come to OUT! Awards Banquet,
Black Clergy Allies Support LGBT United Methodists, Transgender Press
Conference Held, Free Outdoor Screening of For The Bible Tells Me So.

How to Contact Us:
Affirmation email: umaffirmation@...
Affirmation web: http://www.umaffirm.org
Snail-Mail: Affirmation, P.O. Box 1021, Evanston, IL 60204.

During the United Methodist quadrennial General Conference, which
takes place in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 23-May 2, 2008, Affirmation
will post a daily newsletter.

Contents (plain text stories pasted below):
Taking the Bible Seriously, Is It Time For "Homosexuals" To Go Away?,
It's OUR Bible, Too!, A Poem: "Mother Love."

The complete, illustrated newsletter is available in PDF format at:
http://www.umaffirm.org

Out #5, April 27, 2008 (PDF, 4 pp, 210K)
http://www.umaffirm.org/pdf/gc080427.pdf

------------------------

Taking the Bible Seriously
by Victor Paul Furnish

United Methodists are committed to taking the Bible seriously, but are
sometimes unsure what this involves. What does it mean, for example,
to take the Bible seriously in the matter of human sexuality,
including homosexuality? We do not take the Bible seriously if we
suppose it to have disclosed God's Word and will for all times and
places, and for every particular situation. If we try to use it as a
religious database that can be "Googled" for specific answers about
right and wrong, we are actually exploiting Scripture, presuming to
find there what we think it should offer. But in the 21st century we
face moral issues that could not have been anticipated or imagined in
the ancient world (among the most urgent issues: nuclear energy and
weapons, global warming, overpopulation, and new biomedical
technologies). We do take the Bible seriously when we recognize and
focus on what is truly definitive of the biblical witness and how that
witness can shape and inform the ongoing task of moral discernment.
For the distinctiveness of the Bible is not found in what it states or
presupposes about the physical universe, human cultures, sex,
statecraft, economics, etc. Its distinctiveness is found in what it
attests about God's acting for the welfare ("salvation") of humankind,
and about living as God's faithful people. John Wesley said the same
when he identified "faith and salvation" as constituting "the
substance of all the Bible, the marrow, as it were, of the whole
Scripture."

What Scripture portrays and states about sex is not part of its
"marrow." Indeed, many of the presuppositions about human sexuality
that underlie the Biblical narratives and pronouncements are no longer
even credible, given advances in knowledge that continue to be made in
many fields of scientific research. This is especially true of the
texts tediously cited to "prove" that same-sex relationships are
always and absolutely sinful. In accord with views that prevailed in
ancient societies generally—which had no conception of sexual
orientation as we have come to understand it—these texts presuppose
that all same-sex relationships are "unnatural" and immoral, because:

- Human beings are naturally attracted only to the opposite sex for
the purpose of procreation, which is the only proper reason for sexual
intercourse;
- Same-sex relationships violate the male's supposedly superior role
in relation to females (in a male relationship, one partner was viewed
as abandoning this role; a female relationship was viewed as totally
usurping it);
  - People are driven into samesex relationships when they let their
sexual desires get completely out of control and off track—so all such
relationships are inherently lustful and degrading.

We are not taking the Bible seriously if we allow passages that
reflect discredited presuppositions like these to distract us from the
"marrow" of Scripture. The "good news" of the Bible is that human
beings exist and flourish as creatures of a just, loving, and faithful
God, by whose grace and power the whole of creation is being redeemed,
renewed, and restored. Jesus proclaimed both the absolute justice and
mercy of God, and that God is absolutely impartial in administering
justice and showing mercy. And Paul commended with special emphasis
the baptismal declaration that "in Christ Jesus [we] are all children
of God," whereby we have been liberated from the world's way of
defining people only or principally with reference to ethnic and
religious heritage, social position or sexual category.

------------------------

Is It Time For "Homosexuals" To Go Away?
by Diane DeLap Affirmation Spokesperson

For the past 36 years the United Methodist Book of Discipline has
contained some form of a statement declaring "homosexuality"
incompatible with Christian doctrine. The 2004 Book of Discipline
Paragraph 161.G states: ". . .Although we do not condone the practice
of homosexuality and consider this practice incompatible with
Christian teaching. . ."

No civil or religious legislative body would today attempt to pass
civil rights legislation referring to "colored people." (The term
"colored people" is demeaning and inappropriate. I hesitated to use it
in this article.) While it was in use at one time, it rightly became
recognized that it was a hurtful term to the very people for whom
rights were being sought. In the same way the term "homosexuality" is
being more recognized as having a negative connotation, particularly
because of the use of the epithet "homo" in gay bashing. All current
nondiscriminatory legislation at the local, state, and federal levels
uses the more accurate language "sexual orientation."

There has been increasing recognition that "sexual orientation"
language by itself is discriminatory. The recent Federal Employment
Non-Discrimination legislation considered by the US House of
Representatives originally added the inclusive terminology "gender
identity and expression" to cover the transgender community as well as
others who do not conform to traditional gender roles. The removal of
this language by the House leadership caused a significant rift in the
LGBT community as many felt that rights for all minorities were being
abandoned to win rights for one significant minority.

It is time to remove the word "homosexuality" from all legislation. To
say that this word is "what the people in the churches understand" is
demeaning of the intelligence of our members. It is a pejorative term
that should be replaced with the fully inclusive language "sexual
orientation, gender identity and expression." If this General
Conference truly wants to move forward in the dialog to heal the
United Methodist Church we must begin the process by using words of
healing. Words have connotations. Let's move from the hurtful words in
our legislation.

------------------------

It's OUR Bible, Too!
by Gary Shephard

"You should try reading our Bible!" a well meaning woman shouts at
someone handing out Affirmation newsletters. I have a news flash for
that very righteous woman. It's our Bible too. We've read it. We've
studied it in seminary. We can quote it. We have the 23rd Psalm
memorized (King James translation, of course!) And judging from some
of the extremely silly things we've heard, sometimes I think we're the
only ones that have read it.

For example, we know you're not paying much attention to Deuteronomy
21:18-21 where fathers and mothers are instructed to go to the town
elders to have their disobedient sons stoned to death.

While we're in Deuteronomy, let's look at 21:15-17 for some text about
that Biblical standard of marriage we hear so much about. A man is
instructed to give the first born birthright to the first born son
even if the firstborn son is born to the wife he doesn't love.

And cooking instruction! How many of you knew that you're not supposed
to cook a kid by boiling it in milk from its own mother? That's in
various locations in Exodus and Deuteronomy.

And women! There's a problem for you. We can't trust them. "For they
are of Eve who was deceived." That comes from 1st Timothy 2:11-15.
We're going to have a heck of a time finding male finance secretaries
and treasurers and administrative assistants.

And what of our women pastors? We're in big trouble there. That next
VBS should be interesting. And the 1st Timothy 3 instructions on
marriage seem intended only for bishops and deacons, not for the
general church population. Dang, thought I might finally have a bead
on that "marriage is one man, one woman" thing. And the 1st Timothy
5:23 instructions to have a little wine instead of just water, well,
I'm not going to be the one to bring that up at the AA meeting.

And yes, we've read the Sodom and Gomorrah bit. And we've read Ezekiel
16:48-50 too. I'll leave it to your imagination who that bit of
scripture brings to mind. If we keep reading after Sodom and Gomorrah
are destroyed we have that lovely little bit about Lot's daughters
getting him drunk and well. . .it's all there in black and white in
Genesis 19:30-38. (You do have your Bible with you, don't you?) That's
a lovely little Old Testament reading we don't get to hear every Sunday.

Truth to tell, we have read this Bible of yours, of ours, of our
common Christian heritage. Let's be honest. There's a lot in there
that we don't pay attention to any more because it was intended for
another time, another place, another society, another understanding.

Instead, let us focus on our common places and move forward.

------------------------

A Poem: "Mother Love"
by Rev. Dr. Jeanne Knepper  March 26, 1999

Why don't you leave!
They shout,
murmur,
demand,
whimper.
Why not go where you're welcome,
which isn't here.
Don't you know about majority rule,
about rule of law,
about discipline and order?

O God, I know.
And I know about
living,
scared and faithful,
to another rule:
do not abandon the babies.

And so I stay,
dancing,
arguing,
weeping,
loving—
refusing to leave,
so long as you have babies
and
some of them are gay.


How to Contact Us:
Affirmation email: umaffirmation@...
Affirmation web: http://www.umaffirm.org
Snail-Mail: Affirmation, P.O. Box 1021, Evanston, IL 60204.

Out! is available in PDF format at: http://www.umaffirm.org

Below are the direct (and correct!) links to the first five issues.

Out #1, April 23, 2008 (PDF, 4 pp, 220K)
http://www.umaffirm.org/pdf/gc080423.pdf
Standing Outside of the Church, We're Still Here, I Don't Wanna Talk
About It, Avoiding Sexuality Issue Is Not True Peace

Out #2, April 24, 2008 (PDF, 4 pp, 520K)
http://www.umaffirm.org/pdf/gc080424.pdf
It's Not Easy..., We're Your Active Members, A Brief History Of
Affirmation and the Reconciling Movement, Pastoral Care Hotline

Out #3, April 25, 2008 (PDF, 4 pp, 560K)
http://www.umaffirm.org/pdf/gc080425.pdf
Make Everyone a Disciple?!, Ordained But Disconnected, A Prayer,
National Day of Silence, Informal Transgender Mixer Slated

Out #4, April 26, 2008 (PDF, 4 pp, 280K)
http://www.umaffirm.org/pdf/gc080426.pdf
Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin, Come to OUT! Awards Banquet, Black
Clergy Allies Support LGBT United Methodists, Transgender Press
Conference Held, Free Outdoor Screening of For The Bible Tells Me So.

Out #5, April 27, 2008 (PDF, 4 pp, 210K)
http://www.umaffirm.org/pdf/gc080427.pdf
Taking the Bible Seriously, Is It Time For "Homosexuals" To Go Away?,
It's OUR Bible, Too!, A Poem: "Mother Love."

Rally Urges Inclusion Regardless of Sexual Identity
April 26, 2008

By Kathy L. Gilbert*

FORT WORTH, Texas (UMNS)-"Change is coming," says one young adult
leader who says The United Methodist Church is getting closer to
welcoming everyone regardless of their sexual identity.

"Don't worry; it will happen because nothing can stop the force of
this generation," said Rachel Birkhahn-Rommelfanger, chairperson of
the United Methodist Student Movement.

Birkhahn-Rommelfanger was among speakers who addressed more than 200
people gathered for a noon rally on April 26 to support inclusion of
gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons in the denomination.

The rally took place outside of the Fort Worth Convention Center,
where the 2008 United Methodist General Conference is meeting April
23-May 2. The church's top legislative body will decide policy for the
denomination for the next four years and is expected to vote on
legislation dealing with membership and ordination of homosexuals.

The church's law book states "the practice of homosexuality is
incompatible with Christian teaching. Therefore self-avowed practicing
homosexuals are not to be certified as candidates, ordained as
ministers, or appointed to serve in The United Methodist Church."

The Division on Young People, United Methodist Board of Discipleship,
is sponsoring one resolution that asks the denomination to offer
membership "to all who have been baptized and those who have professed
their faith regardless of age, class, ethnicity, gender, race, and
sexual orientation."

"We are offering bold pieces of legislation," said Theon Johnson III,
co-chair of the division. "We are not called to do church but to be
the church."

Shalom Agtarap, a member of Young Adult Seminarians Network, Board of
Higher Education and Ministry, asked the young people to remember that
General Conference is a "family meeting."

"How would you speak to your mother or your father?" she asked. "In
our discussion, remember you are talking to members of the same family."


"We all have a special interest in God's justice," said Bryan
Schlemmer, coordinator of On Fire, a young adult group within the
Methodist Federation for Social Action. "My salvation depends on your
salvation."


Young people drummed for 24 hours leading up to the noon rally. After
the event, participants went inside the convention center and prayed
outside of conference rooms as delegates worked on legislation.


*Gilbert is a news writer for United Methodist News Service.

Wrap-up: Delegates Renew Baptism, Celebrate Rural Churches
April 26, 2008

By J. Richard Peck*

FORT WORTH, Texas (UMNS)-Delegates to the United Methodist General
Conference renewed their baptism, celebrated rural churches, and spent
most of April 26 in committees perfecting legislation to be considered
by the entire 992-member assembly.

The Texas sky was clear when delegates to the top legislative body of
the denomination entered the Fort Worth Convention Center. However,
they would soon be sprinkled with water as young confirmands moved
throughout the meeting hall, wetting branches and shaking them over
worshippers.

Those present made signs of acceptance and renewed their baptismal
commitment as musicians sang, "Rain down, rain down, rain down your
love on your people."


Hutchinson sermon

In the morning sermon, Louisiana Area Bishop William W. Hutchinson
recalled the biblical story of Nicodemus, a man of stature and wealth,
who asked Jesus for counsel for his soul.

"Unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the
Kingdom of God," Jesus responded. "That which is born of the flesh is
flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."

"In other words," said the bishop, "Jesus is saying we have to be born
from above – out of this world – so to speak. We have to be inhabited
by that spirit of the living God, bringing life to our otherwise
plodding souls, and lifting us from the ashes of life around us into
the splendor of life in the living God."

Hutchinson asked the crowd, "Have we been baptized into form, but not
yet into power?  Have we been born from above as well as from below?
Have we been baptized with water and the Spirit?  To use two phrases
spoken frequently by one of our district superintendents in Louisiana,
have we moved from the `my my my' state of baptism to the 'yes indeed'
state?"

Planting seeds

Later in the morning, some 100 representatives of 25,000 rural United
Methodist churches processed down the assembly hall aisles with
colorful banners covered with 25,000 paper butterflies. Senior
citizens in the Redbird Missionary Conference spent three months
cutting out the butterflies.

Members of the procession also passed out packets of "Seeds of Hope"
to grow zinnias, long-stemmed flowers that come in several colors.

Bishop Kenneth L. Carder described rural congregations as one of "our
greatest assets for evangelical and missional renewal." However, he
warned that "forces within and outside the church are choking the life
from the fragile plants."

The bishop said negative forces within the rural church include a loss
of identity as a center of evangelism and mission. "Rather than seeing
the church as a mission station and themselves as missionaries and
evangelists, they see the church as a family chapel and themselves as
merely mutual comforters or perhaps hospice volunteers for a dying
institution," Carder said.

The bishop said negative forces outside the rural church include
demoralizing rhetoric that devalues small-member congregations,
pastoral attitudes that consider rural and small-member congregations
as career stepping stones, and marginalizing small-member
congregations by omitting their voice from denominational structures.

Other events

After concerns were registered about a coalition giving cell phones to
some 150 African and Filipino delegates to use during General
Conference, delegates asked the 2009-2012 Commission on General
Conference to create an ethics committee to review such matters.

Some delegates and visitors attended a Nothing But Nets basketball
tournament held by the Central Texas and North Texas conferences at
First United Methodist Church in Fort Worth. The tournament between
the conferences began at the local church level last June. The
tournament and offerings raised $300,000 for the campaign to provide
insecticide-treated mosquito nets to African families.

An effort to raise retirement funds for pastors serving outside the
United States has raised $7.8 million, but, in a video, Barbara A.
Boigegrain, chief executive of the church's Board of Pension and
Health Benefits, said it would require an additional $20 million to
fully fund the program. Liberian Bishop John Innis said Liberia
started receiving quarterly pension payments in 2007.

Some 200 people attended a noon rally asking the assembly to adopt
legislation that welcomes everyone regardless of sexual identity.
"Don't worry, it will happen because nothing can stop the force of
this generation," said Rachel Birkhahn-Rommelfanger, chairperson of
the United Methodist Student Movement. Supporters drummed for 24 hours
leading up to the noon rally. After the event, participants went in
the convention center and prayed outside conference rooms as delegates
worked on legislation.

A study committee is offering several recommendations designed to
establish closer ties with autonomous Methodist Churches in Latin
America and the Caribbean. Among the recommendations is a suggestion
that U.S. churches and conferences establish relationships. The study
group also wants all General Conference documents translated into Spanish.


*Peck is a retired United Methodist clergyman and four-time editor of
the Daily Christian Advocate now serving as an editor for United
Methodist News Service during General Conference.

During the United Methodist quadrennial General Conference, which
takes place in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 23-May 2, 2008, Affirmation
will post a daily newsletter.

Contents (plain text stories pasted below):
That Face, That Spirit, That Mary; Faith Journey Leads to Unexpected
Destination; Debate Is So 20th Century; A Social Principles Quiz.

The complete, illustrated newsletter is available in PDF format at:
http://www.umaffirm.org

Out #6, April 28, 2008 (PDF, 4 pp, 220K)
http://www.umaffirm.org/pdf/gc080428.pdf

------------------------

That Face, That Spirit, That Mary
by Judy Cayot

The day I met Mary Gaddis in October of 1982, she was a presenter at a
"Workshop on Homosexuality" (later renamed – Workshop on Homophobia.)
At the introductory session she wore jeans and leather – her best
imitation of a bull dyke. For the second half of the event, she was
dressed in an elegant three-piece gray suit, panty hose, dress shoes
and bra. Her intention was to shake people's assumptions – make them
think.

That evening, Mary told me about Affirmation and invited me to the
next gathering in Los Angeles. We went together, two of four women
among 60 men, where we laid plans for General Conference 1984. A year
later, we were in Baltimore handing out Affirmation newsletters,
singing in the hallways, putting on ties for "dress-up" day (one of
the many street theater stunts Affirmation volunteers organized that
year), and Mary appeared in white face – doing her "Coming Out" mime.

Street theater, mime in particular, was a favorite of Mary's. At
General Conference 1980 she dressed as a mime for several days – never
speaking, opening doors for folks, offering in her cupped hands either
kernels of corn or bullets (your choice). When she finally spoke at a
news conference, several people were stunned – they thought she was
mute. So completely did she embody the mime.

The challenge for Mary was never whether or how to be "out" in the
church. The challenge was how to manage her outrage at the injustices
within a church that raised her in the knowledge that she was a
beloved child of God - how to make change and stay whole in the
process. Before General Conference 2000, Mary shipped some tools and
copper to Cleveland. To maintain sanity and an even keel, she spent
time on the sidewalk across the street from the Convention Center,
soldering candlesticks and making necklaces out of copper pipe. We
sold them to raise money for the progressive coalition.

In the on-going work of the church – Commission on Status and Role of
Women, Conference Trustees, District United Methodist Women, local
church committees – Mary was always a vocal presence. Though a dynamic
off-the-cuff speaker, at General Conference Mary often used her body
and / or her clothes to speak for her, to embody the fight for
justice. Her mime allowed her to play with people in an anonymous way.
The white face was a paradox of self-protection and vulnerability.
Silent yet powerful. That face is missing this year.

After Mary died, I wrote in an email to friends, "Mary's great heart
gave out, but her spirit is indomitable. Watch out! It may come along
to nudge you when you least expect it." You may see in the halls of
General Conference someone wearing a vest or jacket with the words,
Justice – not Just Us painted on the back - clothes that Mary
decorated and wore. She is among us. Her spirit informs our work. I
say again, watch out. Mary Gaddis (August 13, 1949--March 27, 2006)
was cospokesperson for National Affirmation from 1976-88. As a member
of Affirmation and later MFSA, she attended General Conference in
1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 2000, and 2004. Mary and Judy were partners
for 23 years.

-----------

Faith Journey Leads to Unexpected Destination
by Jeff Miller

It took God many years to finally convince me that God's good creation
was affirmed within my gay orientation. I had spent years in
depressive warfare against the reality of that creation. Finally, I
was able to stop the denial and accept me openly as I was, a gay man,
a gay United Methodist Pastor. At that point I was completing 30 years
of full-time service in the Western Pennsylvania Conference. Thirty
years as pastor, as Conference Coordinator of Youth and Young Adult
Ministries, as Jurisdictional Youth Coordinator and as one who served
on General Church Agencies. Thirty years of faithful and effective
service– and I was always and continue to this day to be the same
person, called by God into ministry…but no longer deemed worthy by the
UMC.

I thank God for my children, my parents and extended family that has
loved me and has recognized the joy that integrity and honesty has
brought to my life. I thank God for the First UMC of Pittsburgh
because they provided me sanctuary and a place where my gifts could
still be used, now as a lay person.

I found no support during the coming out process from any of my
"friends" and associates in the conference. My wife, who was also a DS
was unable to be supportive. The Bishop never contacted me, and my DS
never spoke with me about what was happening. I was left alone and
hurting. As one of my pastors at First Church said, "The church is one
of the few places where they shoot their wounded." How truly sad, yet
how true to my experience!

I know that the Love of God in Jesus Christ my Lord continues to bless
me and I know that although rejected by the Church that nurtured me, I
am nurtured and enlivened by the breath of God whom I believe is
moving to bring holy change to the church where pain and misery is
perpetuated by homophobia and abuse of the Holy Scriptures. So may it
come quickly.

-----------
Debate Is So 20th Century
by Gary Shephard

In the past we've tried to make progress by having discussions on
lesbian, or gay, or bisexual, or transgender issues.

That's all so 20th century though, don't you know? At one point I was
willing to participate in such a discussion because I thought it might
move us forward a little bit.

Been there, done that, it's about as much fun as being the frog the
tenth grade biology class dissected last week. Not only would I let
myself be taken apart and criticized at a microscopic level (by people
who, truth to tell, had little room to talk) I usually didn't even get
a "thank you" afterwards.

Who in this (semi) enlightened day and age would put a black man or
woman at the front of the room and discuss them? Or a Jewish person?
Muslim? Downs Syndrome? A person with physical challenges? A person
with mental challenges? But let that person be lesbian, gay, bisexual,
or transgender, well, it's open season.

I mean, really, lesbians are all sickos. And gays are all perverts.
Those bisexuals – well, they just can't make up their minds, can they?
And those transgender persons, they're just not content to live in the
body God gave them. They have to go hacking it up, making it a
travesty of what they were born with.

Of course that's not true. And you know what? We've been telling the
truth about ourselves ever since the organization was founded in 1975.
And still you close your ears.

Let us know when you're ready to open your doors and listen with open
hearts and open minds. We'll be here to tell you our stories of
painful self discovery, and coming to terms with how we were born, of
coming to the truth as God revealed it to us. But we're not going to
"discuss" or "debate" or "study" it. This is our lives. This is our
truth. This is our line in the sand. When you're ready to accept that,
let us know. We'll be here waiting.

-----------

A Social Principles Quiz
By Rev. Dr. Jeanne Knepper
How well do you know our social principles? Can you match behaviors
with their descriptions? Warning: some behaviors have multiple
descriptions.

1. An ordering of life that perpetuates injustice
2. War
3. National policies of enforced military service
4. Violence and war
5. The death penalty
6. The practice of homosexuality
7. Gambling
8. Our economic life
9. Constructing or perpetuating barriers to physical or mental
wholeness or full participation in community.
10. Current media preoccupation with dehumanizing portrayals
11. Racism
12. Exploitive, abusive or promiscuous sexual relations
13. Commercialization and exploitation of sex
14. Family violence
15. Sexual harassment

A. Beyond the parameters of acceptable Christian behavior
B. Incompatible with the gospel.
C. Frustrates God's loving purposes for humankind
D. A menace to society
E. Interferes with the moral mission of the Church.
F. Antithetical to the gospel itself.
G. The selfish spirit
H. Deadly to the best interests of moral, social, economic, and
spiritual life
I. Destructive of good government
J. Denies the power of Christ to redeem, restore and transform all
human beings
K. Immoral
L. Cheapens and degrades human personality
M. Incompatible with Christian teaching.
N. Detrimental to the covenant of human community
O. Contrary to the nurturing community P. Degrade humankind and
violate the teachings of Christ and the Bible.
Q. Unjust
R. Plagues and cripples our growth in Christ
S. Sin
T. Incompatible with the teachings and example of Christ.

Three of these behaviors are listed as chargable offenses. Do you know
which ones they are? Can you name one of them?

For 36 years, the church has focused a whole lot of time and energy on
one behavior. Even if you agree with the Social Principles in its
evaluation of our lives, don't you think this is a bit out of balance?

How to Contact Us:
Affirmation email: umaffirmation@...
Affirmation web: http://www.umaffirm.org
Snail-Mail: Affirmation, P.O. Box 1021, Evanston, IL 60204.

Spahr Found Innocent in Same-Sex Marriage Case

GAPJC: by definition, same-sex 'marriage' cannot be performed

by Evan Silverstein and Jerry Van Marter

Presbyterian News Service

LOUISVILLE – In a reversal of a lower church court ruling, the Rev.
Jane Adams Spahr has been found not guilty of violating the
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s constitution by performing same-sex
'marriages' for two lesbian couples.

The complicated verdict
[ http://www.pcusa.org/gapjc/decisions/pjc21812withconcurrences.pdf ]
  of the Permanent Judicial Commission of the General Assembly (GAPJC)
[ http://www.pcusa.org/gapjc ] — the church's highest court — was
released on Monday (April 29).

It found that Spahr, who conducted two same-gender  marriages in 2004
and 2005, could not be "found guilty of doing that which, by
definition, cannot be done."

The ruling reverses a decision by the PJC of the Synod of the Pacific,
which on appeal had ordered the PJC of Redwoods Presbytery to "rebuke"
Spahr for conducting the ceremonies after the presbytery's court had
found her "not guilty."

"The ceremonies that are the subject of this case were not marriages
as the term is defined by W-4.9001" [of the church's constitution],
the court held. That provision defines marriage as between a man and a
woman.

"One cannot characterize same sex ceremonies as marriages for the
purpose of disciplining a minister," the GAPJC ruled, "and at the same
time declare that such ceremonies are not marriages for legal or
ecclesiastical purposes."

The GAPJC was careful to distinguish between the two types of
services. "We do hold that the liturgy should be kept distinct," it
said. "We further hold that officers of the PC(USA) authorized to
perform marriages shall not state, imply, or represent that a same sex
ceremony is a marriage."

The court noted that Spahr "reported regularly to her presbytery about
the same sex unions and 'weddings' she performed" but "these services
were not described as marriages in her reports as found in the record
of the case."

But church courts have previously ruled that there is no
constitutional prohibition against performing same-sex ceremonies, as
long as they are not "represented" as a marriage.

"The PJC's decision reaffirms what our directory of worship says, that
marriage is between a man and woman and that no officer should present
a same-sex union as a marriage," said the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick,
stated clerk of the PC(USA)'s General Assembly. "At the same time the
decision recognizes the importance of pastoral care and the
appropriateness of same-sex blessing services as long as they are not
presented as marriage ceremonies."

The GAPJC said that it had been acknowledged by those who heard the
case at every level that Spahr had acted in light of her call and the
church's call to participate in a caring and compassionate ministry to
persons who have been marginalized, who are faithful Christians and
who wished to be accepted in every way as full members of the body of
Christ.

As such the high church court said that Spahr may consider herself to
be acting in the role of a "prophet" to the church, while others would
reject such a characterization.

"Prophecy contains risk and uncertainty both for those who would speak
and for those who listen," the ruling said. "The role of a prophet
carries consequences. It is the burden of a church officer to accept
the consequences of his or her actions that are the ecclesiastical
equivalent of civil disobedience."

The ruling noted that the PC(USA)'s General Assembly has affirmed
several times and in various ways its commitment to stand for the
"just and equal treatment of all persons regardless of sexual
orientation."

"While drawing a distinction between sexual orientation and sexual
practice, and maintaining behavioral standards for ordained office
that further limit sexual practice, the church has attempted to
minister to GLBT persons through the efforts of ministers like Spahr,"
the GAPJC ruling said. "The tension the church has created between
sexual orientation and sexual practice has led to turmoil and
dissension that will likely continue for some time. The difficulties
faced by this Commission in deciding this case reflect that tension."

The ruling said that while Spahr justified her actions in marrying the
two lesbian couples by claiming freedom of conscience as delineated in
the PC(USA)'s Book of Order, and a foundational principle of the
denomination, that repeated reliance on freedom of conscience to
justify her actions "ignores the thrust of this principle: freedom of
conscience must be exercised within bounds."

The court ruled that a church officer's conscience is "captive to the
Word of God as interpreted in the standards of the church" so long as
he or she continues to seek or hold office in that body.

Out #7 and #8: Affirmation's Daily General Conference Newsletter

During the United Methodist quadrennial General Conference, which
takes place in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 23-May 2, 2008, Affirmation
will post a daily newsletter.

Out #7, April 29, 2008 (PDF, 2 p, 100K)
http://www.umaffirm.org/pdf/gc080429.pdf
Contents (plain text stories pasted below): We All Need To Work On
This - the newsletter had a different format (half-page) for one day
only. At General Conference a a rainbow colored eraser to was attached
to the lower right hand corner of the page.

Out #8, April 30, 2008 (PDF, 4 pp, 170K)
http://www.umaffirm.org/pdf/gc080430.pdf
Contents (plain text stories pasted below): Thinking Theologically Via
Quadrilateral, God's Truth Is Marching On..., Just Another Anonymous
Story, Bless This Day, Indeed.

The complete, illustrated newsletter is available in PDF format at:
http://www.umaffirm.org

--------------

Out #7, April 29, 2008

We All Need To Work On This
by Gary Shephard

I frequent a vegan eatery here in Fort Worth called Spiral Diner.

Yes, here in the heart of cows and cowboys and steak houses, we actually
have a vegan eatery. And yes, it's been here since 2002 and
just try getting into the place Sunday after church.

Recently at Spiral a t-shirt showed up for sale: "If You Want Something
Done Right...You Have To Do It Together".

That sums up how this church thing needs to work.

We don't want to decide anything by a vote, really. Voting implies a
winning side and a losing side. One side triumphant, one side
bruised and wounded.

That's not what we want. That's not church with a small "c", that's
parliamentary process King of the Hill.

We need to really listen to each other. We need to acknowledge the
truth of God's magnificent creation. That there are some things that
are still beyond explanation, amongst them why some people are
born lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, or queer. This isn't
something that's a matter of voting. It's a matter of listening with
our hearts instead of with our preconceived notions or a firm belief
in what someone told us 50 years ago.

We don't want to win votes here. We want to get to the point where
the vote really isn't necessary. We want it to just be a formality to
get the bad language out of and the good language into the Discipline.
We all have to work on that together. We're all in this together.

--------------

Out #8, April 30, 2008

Thinking Theologically Via Quadrilateral

by Rev. Tim Tennant-Jayne Affirmation Council Member
Affirmation Council Member How do United Methodists do theological
thinking? We use a process known as the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. What
is this quad ra-whatsit? It is four steps we use to develop our
beliefs, our decisions and our actions. What are these four parts?
They are scripture, tradition, reason and experience.
Scripture – This is one part of the process, yet also the bedrock. We
must ultimately base all of our actions, beliefs and decisions on the
words of the First and Second Covenants (aka Old and New Testaments)
of the Bible.

Tradition – We view and understand scriptural passages through this
lens. As part of the Protestant tradition, we understand certain
passages differently than do our Roman Catholic or Orthodox sisters
and brothers. Other traditions are not necessarily wrong, but
different. As Christians in the 21st Century, we seek to be aware of
the rich variety of traditions from 2,000 years of Christian practice
and beliefs, as well as the long-standing traditions of our Jewish
heritage.

Reason – Here things begin to get a bit trickier. Reason means we use
our minds toactively understand our scriptures and our traditions. We
understand the Bible as being a living document. We must interact with
God's Word to us to fully grasp its' meaning. For one thing,
translation is not an exact science. We are dealing with texts that
were written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek dialects from 2,000 to
4,000 years ago! The meanings of words change over time and concepts
represented by some words change from language to language. (Example:
1st Century Christians had three different words and understandings of
the one word 'love' that we use today.) We must study the original
meanings of these words and determine what their influence is on our
modern lives.

Experience – And this is when we bring our own personal coloring to
the mix. How does our personal relationship between God and ourselves
affect what we say and do? John Wesley's love of preaching, his
concern for the well-being of others, and his methodical nature led
him to bequeath us with a church that values evangelistic outreach,
ministry supporting the poor and marginalized, and is very
well-organized.

As an example, we technically use blends of four inks to create the
wonderful colors used in our brochures, fliers, and printing jobs.
[FYI: These are blue (cyan), magenta (reddish), yellow, and key
(black).] You can work without any one or two of these colors, but the
result will not be the same rich shades and hues we enjoy. Likewise,
we can think theologically without using all four steps of the Wesley
Quadrilateral. But then we aren't being Wesleyan.

--------------

God's Truth Is Marching On

"I'm tired of all this bickering and arguing about homosexuality.
United Methodists have constantly voted against change. Let's go on to
more important matters."

How often have we all heard that line (or variations of it) over the
last several years and decades? And it's true. The United Methodist
people have spoken. Yet perhaps the reason this issue keeps coming
back and coming back and coming back and coming back is because the
people who have spoken haven't really been listening to God's voice in
all of this. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer persons are
in our society and in our church. And we are out to stay.

Some folk will quote a few scriptural passages for condemnation. We
need to understand these verses in the light of God's redeeming love
and grace. God's Word doesn't change; however our human understanding
of God's Word does grow over time. In 1965 the Rev. Martin Luther
King, Jr., when talking about how long it would be for racism to
change in the United States, said:

"How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long,
but it bends toward justice. How long? Not long, because: `Mine eyes
have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the
vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; He has loosed the
fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword; His truth is marching on."

Indeed, God's truth continues to march on for equality of races,
equality of genders, and equality of sexual orientation and gender
identity.

Look at the changes many of us have seen already within United
Methodism. Once we considered the consumption of alcohol a critical
sin. Until recently, our ritual forbade wine even within the
celebration of Christ's Last Supper. Clergy were ordained or fired
over whether they used liquor. Yet today it can again be a part of our
worship, as it has been in Christianity for centuries. We do recognize
over-indulgence as a problem. But moderate use is rarely even
considered worth noting.

For many years, we denied ordination to women. Yet within just the
last 50 years, we have recognized that God calls both men and women to
special services. Has God's Word changed? No, our understanding of
that Word has changed. And for centuries, Christians considered usury
(the collecting of interest on financial loans) a major sin. Yet
today, what beginning congregation doesn't have a mortgage on their
building? How many professional church workers have credit cards with
which to make purchases for their congregations. And through numerous
credit unions United Methodists even provide loans with interest.

Likewise, the time has come to change our understanding of our
bisexual, queer, transgender, lesbian and gay brothers and sisters in
Christ. We are all God's children. We are created in the image of God.
Today the world is changing and recognizing this truth. United
Methodists also need to change. We have talked and talked. Now we need
to listen to God's word.

--------------

Just Another Anonymous Story

Anonymous "Just another anonymous story," you might say. Unfortunately
for untold people whose jobs depend on keeping their sexual
orientation secret, these stories within our community are all too
common.

My journey toward accepting my sexuality found a turning point when a
man I had never met wandered into church one Sunday wanting to talk.
He was beyond nervous. He trembled. He had been attending a group at a
nearby church for homosexual people who wanted to become heterosexual.
The process was not working for him and they told him it was because
he lacked faith. Without faith he was not saved and would burn in hell
forever.

It was the first time I found myself speaking words to a stranger that
I had often spoken to myself: "If God wanted you to be anyone else,
you would not be who you are. Anyone who says that you are beyond
grace is just wrong." I wish I knew that he really heard that. I tried
to speak it clearly, but a lifetime of other voices was speaking to
him too.

I began to wonder what would have happened if he had gone elsewhere.
Would he have met condemnation and stepped over into despair? Would he
have lost the genuine faith that kept telling him his judges were
wrong and that he truly is loved by God? I gave thanks that I was the
preacher he approached. At the same time I felt angry at what was
being done to him in Jesus' name.

The whole church is not as hateful as the people who "loved" him. As I
grew up, my home church was a place where I felt true affection among
members who disagreed on many issues. Faith, hope, and love: those
alone mattered. I had been built up in important ways so that I could
eventually say, "I will serve as I am called by God, regardless of the
church's view of my sexuality."

In return, being gay has saved me from the arrogance of equating my
views and opinions with God's. It has taught me to listen as I would
also be heard. People who lock out their homosexual sisters and
brothers have no idea of the high level of acceptance and humor one
meets among them or of the abiding friendships that grow from shared
desires for a just world. My vision of God's reign has been enriched
by moments of grief around a panel of the AIDS quilt, of defiance
after the murder of Matthew Shepard, of laughter at a cabaret, or of
joy at the baptism of a child welcomed into the life of its mothers. I
even doubt that without having had my own experiences of oppression I
would have learned the compassion necessary for effective pastoral
ministry.

Church policy enforces a silence that limits a wider awareness of
God's love. That I never lost a sense of God's love while I came to
terms with the church being just plain wrong about my sexuality was
itself an act of divine grace in my life. When I have shared that
struggle with other people trying to be faithful to God in their
sexuality they have experienced it as a message of hope. It is my
personal testimony but I cannot currently offer it to the church at
large.

The church also loses the gifts and graces of a partner who must
remain outside the picture. He has been patient with my ministry but
having been rejected firmly by his home church upon coming out, he
remains bitter toward the church as a whole. I get to experience the
joys of congregational life while he cannot share them with me. He, in
his own right, has amazing insight into spiritual matters and the
human soul; he is a talented musician; his cooking would overwhelm all
of the gelatin salads at all the covered dish dinners for counties
around. The church loses all of that by declaring that he and I cannot
be the couple that we are.

Only when the church lets people be who they truly are will the church
truly be itself. When that happens, who knows what the Spirit will
have in store?

--------------

Bless This Day, Indeed


Humility
     Patience
        Calling
             Integrity
This is my request, my God I Am
Please bless this day for your people
     Guide our choices
     Surprise us with a miracle
     Astound us with your showering grace
     Let our hands work for your new world
And finally, let laughter echo
    and dancing fill the aisles

And if it is not the anticipated miracle
     Then let the echoing agony of stones
     Set nerves and patterns on edge
     Shatter old controls and rigid structures
Into glittering confetti that announces a parade
Let all who would be the people of God
Join the parade
     Dancing away from these halls of power
Dancing into a waiting world
that knows and blesses our ministries.
Oh fine God of shining colors and soft touches
     Bless this day
        Bless this day
          Bless this day indeed.

Jeanne Knepper, 1992

During the United Methodist quadrennial General Conference, which
takes place in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 23-May 2, 2008, Affirmation
will post a daily newsletter.

Contents (plain text stories pasted below but not the poems):
No Progress On Human Sexuality Paragraph in Social Principles,
Observations From Someone New to General Conference, We're Not Your
Punching Bags, This 'n' that, Poems: INCARNATION, To The Chair and
From The Voiceless.

The complete, illustrated newsletter is available in PDF format at:
http://www.umaffirm.org

Out #9, May 1, 2008 (PDF, 4 pp, 180K)
http://www.umaffirm.org/pdf/gc080501.pdf


No Progress On Human Sexuality Paragraph in Social Principles
By Gary Shephard,  Affirmation Newsletter Staff

It was much like a root canal that went on longer than expected with
the anesthetic wearing off with no way to signal the dentist.
Amendments to the majority report. Amendments to the minority report.
Points of order. Arguments for. Arguments against. All afternoon it
dragged on.

As of the Affirmation newsletter deadline, the majority report on
161.G was replaced by the minority report, and the minority report was
approved.

While we had hoped that this indeed might be the year when this
paragraph might change, we find that the heart of the majority is not
yet with us. This, however, was not the major change we were looking
for at this GC. We did make a few improvements in other areas. As of
the April 30 press deadline we're still waiting on the church
membership decision, and we're still waiting on the transgender
issues. Unfortunately we can't hold the newsletter waiting for the
evening session. We'll have a full report in our Friday newsletter.

-----------------

Observations From Someone New to General Conference
by Tina Seitz

During the first few days of General Conference, I had the great honor
of working with a highly dedicated group of people trying to make our
church what it should be: a church that accepts everyone. I have
belonged to other denominations, but needed to leave because they
could not accept me as a transgender woman. I decided to investigate
the UMC because of the recent stories where the Rev. Drew Phoenix was
reaffirmed in his elder status after having transitioned into living
as the man he was always intended to be. Due to some of the activism I
was involved with in my home town near Detroit, I was given this
opportunity to work alongside all the dedicated people trying to make
a difference on everyone's behalf. I had only a short time that I
could spend with all of you, and my biggest regret is that I could not
stay longer to help in this great cause.

I have given speeches on what it means when a church is not fully
inclusive, what message that sends out to society. There are too many
youths living on the street because their parents' church said they
were sinners for being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual or queer.
There are beatings that happen every week, and already five murders in
our country this year of LGBTQ people just trying to be who they were
born to be. Why aren't they accepted? The church says they are
sinners. These beatings and murders rarely make the news because
society doesn't care about LGBTQ people. Society feels as if we don't
matter, that our lives are meaningless because of whom we are, because
this is the message the church tells society.

This is why your work in Fort Worth is so very important. It's time
for our church to say that we do matter, that we are of sacred worth.
It's time for the UMC to stand as one and tell society that the
harassment, the beatings, and the murders must end. It is time for the
UMC to be fully inclusive of all LGBTQ people at all levels.

Since I joined my church, I have been welcomed within my congregation.
In Fort Worth, I was again welcomed by all the people from the many
advocacy groups working together for full inclusion. I wrote this to
say thank you to all of you, because regardless of what happens for
the rest of General Conference, all of you changed my life forever,
and know that the work you do is truly the work of the Lord. Thank you
all.

-----------------

We're Not Your Punching Bags

[Editor's note – this article has to be anonymous to protect the
identity of one district's Board of Ordained Ministry.]

"The Opportunity to be threatened, humiliated and to live in fear of
being beaten to death is the only `special right' our culture bestows
on homosexuals." – Diane Carman, Denver Post (This quote comes from
the hate crime.org web site with Dennis Shepard's statement to the
court on 11/04/1999.)

The above quote just happened across my path one day. The most
interesting things wander by when you're living with someone in grad
school.

This grad student, for your information, is my partner of almost 23
years, a pre-96 deacon that severed his connection to the UMC when he
felt it was becoming increasingly hostile to us homosexuals. After an
interim career in social service and a long career in data processing,
however, the call to be helping people never left. When the district
Board of Ordained Ministry failed by one vote to reconnect him to his
conference, he decided to become a Licensed Professional Counselor.
With his age, course load, and vision challenges we have no idea how
long he'll get to counsel once he has his degree and his license.

That brings me back to the quote my favorite grad student brought
home. Stop using us for your verbal punching bags.

"But we're only speaking our beliefs," I hear you say.

Your beliefs hurt people. How Christian! No less than the pistol
whipping delivered to Matthew Shepard, your words cause injury,
depression and deep psychological wounds. You cause untold injury to
vulnerable people. Not to all of us, fortunately. Me personally? I
hear your language and I dismiss you as not worth my time. Hurt me?
Hurt my partner? You wish. Still, there are fragile people out there
and you're hurting them.

Give the language a rest. I won't tolerate it in my presence. I'll
tell you to keep your opinion to yourself because I've heard it, I've
heard it from better than you, and I doubt you have anything new to
add to the argument.

And for the other lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender and queer
persons here at GC If someone starts running us down in your presence,
with the utmost respect tell them you've heard it and it's time to
give it a rest. And for our supporters, and our friends, and our
parents, and yes, our children too, I urge you to step forward. Be
respectful but firm.

This is our reality. We were born lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,
queer. We're here. We're confident of our salvation. And we're not
your punching bags. Show a little respect to your fellow Christians.

-----------------

This 'n' that

Unfortunately we can't cover everything that happened Wednesday in the
Thursday newsletter. At some point we need to finalize this thing so
we can get on with production of the next day's newsletter. We hope to
have full coverage of the Wednesday sexual orientation, gender
identity, and gender expression issues in the Friday newsletter. That
will be our last newsletter produced at General Conference, and we
hope we can make everything fit.

Meanwhile, if you've been touched by a story in our daily GC
newsletter, you feel we've done something particularly well or we've
screwed up really badly, let us know. We really do appreciate
comments, written and verbal. Please send written comments to
AffirmationNewsletter_ at_yahoogroups.com. (Replace the _at_ with @,
of course.)

Judy WestLee
Gary Shephard
Co-Editors

Quote of the Day: "Human beings are perhaps never more frightening
than when they are convinced beyond doubt that they are right." -
Laurens van der Post, explorer and writer (1906-1996)

During the United Methodist quadrennial General Conference, which
takes place in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 23-May 2, 2008, Affirmation
will post a daily newsletter.

Contents (plain text stories pasted below but not the poems):
No Progress On Human Sexuality Paragraph in Social Principles,
Observations From Someone New to General Conference, We're Not Your
Punching Bags, This 'n' that, Poems: INCARNATION, To The Chair and
From The Voiceless.

The complete, illustrated newsletter is available in PDF format at:
http://www.umaffirm.org

Out #10, May 2, 2008 (PDF, 4 pp, 180K)
http://www.umaffirm.org/pdf/gc080502.pdf
Contents (plain text below): Spiritual Violence Sparks Protests, Those
Patronizing Cliches, Sexual Based Violence, Discrimination Condemned,
Legislative Miscellaneous, Fort Worth Witness Proclamation.


Spiritual Violence Sparks Protests
by Gary Shephard Newsletter Staff

Wednesday's vote to accept the minority report on Paragraph 161.G has
sparked multiple protests. This was partly in response to the
acceptance of the minority report. It was partly in response to the
ugliness of the arguments against the majority report and for the
minority report.

The first protest Wednesday evening consisted of the Common Witness
people who were able to, to stand at the door so that delegates would
have to walk past them on their way back from their dinner break.
Anyone with too much strong emotion was requested to care for
themselves rather than engage in the protest.

The second protest was before Thursday's session started. Body
outlines were chalked in various locations. Those who were able to
continued to lie in their chalk outlines as delegates walked past into
the convention center.

The third and by far largest protest happened during the morning
plenary. Under rule 3.3 the presiding bishop recessed the session for
15 minutes so that protesters, many of them dressed in black with
black scarves over their heads, filed in filling the area between the
four sections of delegates on the floor. Additional protesters and
supporters stood in the stands. As the protesters filed in and turned
to face the delegates they sang Were You There? Then a proclamation
was read. You can find that on page 4 of this newsletter as
Proclamation – Witness – General Conference 2008. People were then
invited, both protesters and delegates alike, to lay black cloth on
the communion table in the middle of the delegate area. At the end of
the 15 minutes the protesters left the floor. At that time 16 bishops
and representatives from the Common Witness coalition started meeting
in Holy Conferencing. As of Thursday afternoon we found out that the
Holy Conferencing would continue after General Conference.

-----------------

Those Patronizing Cliches
by Rev. Richard F. Burdon, Retired, Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference

Oh, those patronizing cliches: "Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin," "We
are all sinners so all are in need of forgiveness." "God loves
everybody so everybody is welcome here." "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Yet
for 36 years our church law proclaims: "the practice of homosexuality
is incompatible with Christian teaching."

They gloss over the harm done to those whom the church has denied full
participation as members. Every time a person leaves the church in
despair and hopelessness the church has failed to minister to those
begging for a ministry of understanding and welcome.

A committee coined the phrase "the practice of homosexuality is
incompatible with Christian teaching" but it is time to hit the delete
key on that old line of defense. Scripture does not support such
rhetoric, nor does tradition, nor experience, nor reason. The Church's
exclusionary pronouncement betrays the reality that the church has
failed to minister to a talented, loving minority. There are few
places in the Church where the homosexual minority can find true
welcome, comfort, understanding, council, and a place to be one's
self. The secular world has moved farther and faster toward
inclusiveness, thus leaving the church squabbling over a sin that does
not exist.

After 25 years of struggling to be a clergyperson and outwardly a
model family man, supposedly in love with a women, and producing two
lovely, intelligent children I arrived at an "outing" juncture which
left me adrift without the ministry of the church. There was no
alternative but to search outside my denomination for council and for
help to accept the truth about myself. I am a gay man.

I served the church as a missionary on two continents and as a parish
pastor for 10 years, all the while living a dual life. It was a life
of constant fear of discovery--always looking over my shoulder afraid
of potential attacks or revelations. I had encountered physical
brutality, verbal assaults, and heard demeaning categorizations.
Religious bigotry battered my personhood. I paid a heavy price for
pretending to be something other than what God intended for me. Those
clichés developed by an uninformed church had for years blocked my
route to self-discovery.

The movie Brokeback Mountain made it clear to me that my life had
parallels to that story. I was confused about my search for identity,
as they were. They tried to live an idealized life. They longed for
love they hoped to find in marriage, romance, and a home life with
children to raise. It is a sad story of a love and ideal that could
never be realized because of their denial of being gay. They sought in
vain to fulfill the marriage paradigm. The lives of these two
fictional characters are symbolic of millions of families facing the
dilemma of trying to deny their true nature while living a lie.

The LGBTQ world is in desperate need of a compassionate church that
understands its need for understanding, love, and acceptance.

-----------------

Sexual Based Violence, Discrimination Condemned
by Victoria Rebeck, edited by Gary Shephard

Violence and discrimination against gay, lesbians, transgender, and
bisexual people was firmly condemned Wednesday. The GC delegates
passed a resolution saying that "actions rooted in homophobia and
heterosexism, including violence, threats, ridicule, humiliation,
discrimination, isolations and rejection, is damaging to persons of
all sexual orientations and identities."

The resolution also calls the United Methodist Church to strengthen
its advocacy of the eradication of sexism by opposing all forms of
violence or discrimination based on gender, gender identity, sexual
practice or sexual orientation. Further, it directs the United
Methodist General Board of Church and Society, based in Washington,
D.C., to provide resources and materials "aimed at educating members
of the local churches about the reality, issues, and effects of
homophobia and heterosexism and the need for Christian witness against
these facts of marginalization."

The resolution did not make a statement about homosexuality. Its
purpose was to condemn violence and discrimination against people who
do not "appear to fit within the particular category defined as
appropriate for their gender."

To read the complete text, visit http://gc2008.umc.org and under
"Track legislation" enter petition 80845.

-----------------

Opportunity Missed On 161.G
by Diane DeLap Affirmation Spokesperson

By a vote of 501 to 417 the UMC General Conference voted to accept a
new version of Paragraph 161.G. However, instead of accepting the
majority report from the Church and Society 2 Legislative Committee
that would have removed the "incompatibility" language, the minority
report was accepted. The majority report stated in part that "We know
that all are God's children and of sacred worth; yet we have been, and
remain, divided regarding homosexual expressions of human sexuality.
Faithful, thoughtful people who have grappled with this issue deeply
disagree with one another; yet all seek a faithful witness. We
continue to reason and pray together with faith and hope that the Holy
Spirit will soon bring reconciliation to our community of faith." This
version offered the hope of breaking the logjam of painful conflict
that the UMC has endured for the past thirty years.

The new text of Paragraph 161.G can be found at
http://calms.umc.org/2008/Menu.aspx?type=Petition&mode=Single&Number=80449


-----------------

Legislative Miscellaneous

An attempt to change Paragraph 214 in Section V Church membership to
prevent an elder from preventing someone the elder feels unworthy of
church membership from joining failed to pass. This means that
Judicial Council ruling 1032 is still in effect and anyone can be
denied membership if the pastor determines the person is not ready for
membership for any reason.

An irregularity in the voting on this measure has come to light, but
it's unclear at this time whether the item will be voted on again.

Items barring transgender clergy were voted down.

-----------------

Fort Worth Witness Proclamation
Drafted by the Witness Team of Reconciling Ministries Network

We have heard Jesus say – to all persons without exception – "follow me."
We are part of God's living body in today's world, but our United
Methodist Church
    refuses to accept what God has done,
    refuses to keep covenant with its own words in the baptismal promise,
    refuses to honor God's call to professional ministry,
    refuses to do no harm,
    refuses to open its hearts, minds, and doors.

The unchurched notice. They notice the church cruelly scape goating
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people on the altar of
so-called unity.
The young notice. They notice the church denying, refusing,
threatening, removing, closeting the LGBT people who faithfully serve
the church.
The world notices.
We notice.
God notices.

The United Methodist baptismal liturgy calls all of us to
    accept the freedom and power God gives us
    to resist evil, injustice, and oppression
    in whatever forms they present themselves.

It is our duty – our baptismal covenant – to stand against the sin of
the church,
    to stand for God's freedom and power,
    to affirm God's entire body of Christ that is the church.

We are God's children, here . . . now.

Today we boldly declare by standing here
    that our church's doors and our ministries
will radically obey the Gospel
    that we defy bigotry and ignorance,
    that the anti-gay policies and practices of The United Methodist
Church are wrong.

By human means we cannot stand
    but by the grace of God we can.

By standing we reject the idea that homosexuality is a sin
By standing we affirm that sexuality is a good gift of God
By standing we affirm our intent to spread God's love and grace
By standing we bless and celebrate families, all families.

We do not stand alone.
We stand in solidarity with all those who are not here, who are not in
our congregations.
We stand with those who've been forced out
and who've never come in,
   who already affirm one another as beloved children of God,
   regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

We stand with holy boldness
    to welcome LGBT laity and clergy into our churches and pulpits, NOW;
    to keep baptismal promises for all, NOW;
    to affirm calls to ministries for all people, NOW;
    to bless covenant relationships in our churches by our clergy, NOW;
    to assure membership for all, NOW;
    to provide hospitality for all, NOW.

Join us. Stand now. Build our future with hope and trust in God.

Same-Sex Couple Says 'I Do' Outside Church Assembly
By Ciona D. Rouse*
May 2, 2008

FORT WORTH, Texas (UMNS)--Just days after their denomination
reaffirmed its position against same-sex unions, United Methodists
Julie Bruno, 47, and Sue Laurie, 52, held a marriage ceremony on
General Worth Square, across the street from the convention center
where the General Conference was meeting to pass official
denominational stances.

More than 200 guests--family, friends and delegates--attended the
outdoor ceremony on May 2. The couple are members of United Church of
Rogers Park, a United Methodist church in Chicago.

"We have talked for many years about the pros and cons of a wedding.
We decided to do it now while our church family is gathered," Bruno said.

Invitations were distributed on the evening of May 1 as delegates and
visitors left the convention center, but Bruno said the ceremony was
open to the entire church.

The couple exchanged vows, and the guests read a printed declaration
of marriage in unison.

Only one clergy person, the Rev. Julie Todd of the New England Annual
(regional) Conference, participated in the ceremony. Todd blessed and
consecrated communion elements that the couple served to their guests.

The United Methodist Book of Discipline prohibits the denomination's
clergy from conducting ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions.

Bruno and Laurie, who is the outreach coordinator for the Reconciling
Ministries Network, said other United Methodist clergy wanted to
participate in the ceremony. The couple wanted their ceremony,
however, to be "less about upsetting people and more about being role
models," showing that "ceremonies are going on regardless" of the
church's position on homosexual marriage. The Reconciling Ministries
Network advocates for full inclusion of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and
transgender people in the life of the church.

"This is about us today, not about clergy breaking rules," said Bruno.

Long relationship

Bruno, a lifelong United Methodist, and Laurie met during a Bible
study at a United Methodist church 25 years ago. They bought rings for
each other after 10 years, but the Fort Worth event was their only
formal ceremony.

Joan Bruno, Julie's sister, said the ceremony felt like an affirmation
of the couple's relationship and celebration of their church family
because she has considered them married for many years.

"It's been 25 years already. She's been my sister-in-law forever,"
said Joan.

"They've been together longer than my straight parents, so this is a
very powerful experience that, for me, speaks to what loving,
committed relationships are," said David Braden, a friend attending
General Conference as an alternate lay delegate from Northern Illinois.

Braden said he was still distraught over the April 30 legislative
decision retaining the church's stance that the practice of
homosexuality is "incompatible with Christian teaching." However, he
said he believes this ceremony was helping him to heal.

"I can go home from this conference feeling more fully human knowing
there are people in this church who affirm loving relationships and
are dedicated to God," Braden said.

Julie Bruno said that she and Laurie hoped the celebration would
provide healing for others hurt by the assembly's decisions. She
called their marriage an "Easter celebration after what felt like Good
Friday."

"This is our Easter gift to our church family," Bruno said.


*Rouse is a freelance writer in Nashville, Tenn

Online videos of the demonstration at General Conference are
available:

Witness (Complete)

Windows Media
http://media.umcom.org/gc2008/video_archives/20080501_protest/20080501
_Break_Holy_Witness_sm.asx
QuickTime
http://umcmedia.org/gc2008/video_archives/20080501_protest/20080501_Br
eak_Holy_Witness_sm.mov
MPEG
http://umcmedia.org/gc2008/video_archives/20080501_protest/20080501_Br
eak_Holy_Witness_sm.mpg

Holy Witness Floor Demonstration Excerpt

Windows Media
http://media.umcom.org/gc2008/video_archives/20080501_protest/20080501
_Excerpt_Protest_sm.asx
QuickTime
http://media.umcom.org/gc2008/video_archives/20080501_protest/20080501
_Excerpt_Protest_sm.mov

The direct link to "General Conference Sights and Sounds," which has
links the audio/video of the demonstration is:
http://www.umc.org/site/c.lwL4KnN1LtH/b.4047987/k.6384/General_Confere
nce_Sights_and_Sounds.htm


----------------------------
Demonstrators Call Church's 'Anti-Gay' Policies Sinful
May 1, 2008
By Linda Green*

FORT WORTH, Texas (UMNS)—In an act of witness in front of delegates
to the 2008 United Methodist General Conference, more than 200 people
declared that the denomination's policies and practices against
homosexuality are "sinful" and that "sexuality is a gift from God."

Primarily dressed in black, demonstrators walked onto the legislative
floor at the Fort Worth Convention Center, formed a two-lined cross
around the communion table located in the center aisle and draped it
in a black shroud to witness against the church's stance on
homosexual practice. They entered silently, but once all
demonstrators were in place, they sang, "Were You There When They
Crucified My Lord?"

The black shroud and the black worn by the demonstrators
to "recognize our brokenness" and "to acknowledge that the body is
broken," said Audrey Krumbach, who read a statement during the
witness.

The 15-minute demonstration was in reaction to the April 30 decision
to retain the denomination's decades-old proscription in the Social
Principles and other parts of the Discipline describing homosexual
practice as "incompatible with Christian teaching."

Delegates voted 501-417 to keep the stance and also passed a
resolution against homophobia and heterosexism, saying the church
opposes "all forms of violence or discrimination based on gender,
gender identity, sexual practice or sexual orientation."

One witness, speaking on behalf of the protesters, told the General
Conference that when The United Methodist Church refuses to accept
and honor everyone's call to professional ministry, it refuses to
abide by the rules of Methodism's founder John Wesley: do no harm, do
good and stay in love with God.

"We are part of God's living body in today's world, but our United
Methodist Church refuses to accept what God has already done; refuses
to keep covenant with its own words in the baptismal promise …
refuses to open its hearts, minds and doors," said Krumbach, formerly
a member of the North Georgia Conference and a student at Garrett
Evangelical Theological Seminary, Evanston, Ill.

She said those outside the church have noticed "the church truly
scapegoating" people "on the altar of so-called unity" and "the
closeting (of) the LGBTQ people who faithfully serve the church."

Krumbach declared that the "anti-gay policies of The United Methodist
Church are wrong and sinful in the sight of God" and in the act of
witnessing "we reject the lie that homosexuality is a sin and that by
standing, we affirm that sexuality is a good gift of God."

'Wrenching' decisions

The demonstration was a compromise between General Conference
officers, the Council of Bishops and leaders of groups advocating the
full inclusion of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people in
the church. There had been plans for a large-scale demonstration
reminiscent of those at the 2000 General Conference in Cleveland,
where people participated in acts of civil disobedience and were
arrested. At the 2004 conference in Pittsburgh, a demonstration was
held on the assembly floor.

Bishop Gregory Palmer, president of the Council of Bishops, said some
decisions made by General Conference delegates have been "more
wrenching than others to all the members of this body and the whole
church, including your bishops."

He read a statement to the conference to demonstrate that the
bishops, in a time of crisis, remain focused on their leadership
roles and their pastoral duties and to recall the messages of hope
offered throughout the General Conference.

"It was our conviction that being in holy conferencing means
listening deeply and sensitively to voices you might otherwise not
hear" and "identify ways in which the votes and the desire for a
witness was affecting the life of the council," he said.

The "sensitive listening" that the bishops have been involved in led
them to reaffirm their covenant to love, preach, serve, live by
Wesley's three rules and to lead all United Methodists, Palmer said.

During the witness, bishops who have different perspectives around
the issue of sexual identity moved within, around and outside the
demonstrators to live out their pastoral role among the body.

Twelve bishops, paralleling the 12 disciples, met with 12 of the
demonstrators to maintain the covenant of holy conferencing and keep
conversation going toward wholeness. The bishops who are meeting with
the demonstrators are not of one mind but are of one heart in seeking
the wholeness of the body of Christ and the denomination, Palmer said.

While the demonstration occurred, the presidents of the council –
Bishop Janice Riggle Huie, whose tenure ended during General
Conference; Palmer, the newly installed president; and Bishop Larry
Goodpaster, the president-designate – stood behind the altar table
with arms lifted and hands clasped together as they prayed for the
conference and for the activity taking place.

"This was a symbolic act of our praying for the whole body. It was
not intended to be a protest. It was a sign of leading a community in
prayer," Palmer said. "It was to say that these are people, we are
people and we are all trying to be disciples of Christ."

Comparisons to Central Jurisdiction

Retired Bishop Melvin Talbert, a former ecumenical officer of the
Council of Bishops, reminded the conference of the church's 1939
action, when the denomination segregated black Methodists into the
Central Jurisdiction.

"That action was wrong. That action was a sin against God," and in
making the decision on April 30, the General Conference "has taken an
action that is wrong," he said. The segregated jurisdiction was
dissolved in 1968.

Prior to asking the General Conference to reconsider its April 30
vote, Talbert said that those in the former Central Jurisdiction
lived within a structure and were able to repair broken relationships
with the church. That has not been the case with those with differing
sexual identities, he said.

"We have chosen to leave them out rather than invite them in to work
out our relationships. … I can do no other than to say what is on my
heart. General Conference, General Conference, this is wrong. I
invite you to reconsider."

Palmer found Talbert's statements surprising but said he could
understand the content. Comparisons of sexual rights, civil rights
and the Central Jurisdiction are nothing new, he said.

Some delegates stood in solidarity with the witnesses, and others
remained seated because they did not support the witness.

'I make no apology'

North Georgia Bishop Lindsey Davis expressed thanks for the way the
leadership team of the Council of Bishops allowed the witnesses to
voice their concerns and their hurts, but he refuted Talbert's
assertion that The United Methodist Church is wrong in upholding its
stance against homosexuality.

"I think the church is right. I think we are very much in sync with
historic Christianity and very much in sync with 99.9 percent of
Christians in the world," he said. "I make no apology for our
position. It is biblical, and it is in keeping with 2,000 years of
Christian tradition."

The church's stance is compassionate, he said, but those who
participated in the act of witness may not have that perspective and
use civil rights as an argument for inclusion.

"I definitely disagree with Bishop Talbert on that matter. … I do not
think it has anything to do with civil rights," Davis said. He added
that the church takes great strides to protect the civil rights of
all people.

"I will go to the mat to protect the civil rights of all of these
persons who protested today, but I don't think you can equate the
two," he said. "If you do, it is doing a disservice to the civil
rights movement of the 1960s and on."

'All children of God'

Eunice Musa Iliya, a delegate from Nigeria and a student at Claremont
(Calif.) School of Theology, stood in support of the witness, despite
being admonished by other members of the Nigerian delegation. "My
delegation remained seated because they believe that it is
incompatible with Christian teaching," she said.
Iliya found being the lone supporter "terrible" because "they are not
happy with what I did." She stood "to support my fellow brothers and
sisters who are a part of this body. . .. They are all children of
God, and we should support them and give them opportunity to be in
the same place where God has called us to be."

The show of support from General Conference delegates made
demonstrator Becca Cramer of Claremont, Calif., cry tears of joy. "To
see allies and all the delegates who were willing to stand with us
despite the reasons others were giving them to sit down, and despite
what may happen to them because of their solidarity, gives me so much
hope that the future of our church will live into Christ's vision and
will stop being the broken church that we are now."

Palmer advised Iliya and other delegates who are being chastised for
their display of solidarity to "hold to God's unchanging hand." He
also advised those who are marginalizing members of their delegations
for supporting the demonstration "to take great care to understand
the complexities of reasons as to why anyone stands."

'We were held captive'

The Rev. Chappell Temple of the Texas Conference said there were
numerous delegates who were "dismayed, saddened and outraged" at the
act of witness. People are questioning whether such action would have
occurred if the General Conference would have changed its stance on
homosexuality, he said.

Bishop J. Lawrence McCleskey, the presiding bishop prior to the
action, halted the legislative assembly and recessed the conference.
Chappell said, "He should have said those wishing to leave can do so.
We were held captive. The altar was desecrated; the singing was
presumptuous, self-righteous and accusatory."

While noting the pain resulting from the church's decision and
stance, Temple also said it was wrong to lay guilt on those trying to
follow Christ and listen to Christ. "I understand that the (act of
witness) was a compromise, and what was allowed was simply blackmail,
it was extortion" and was disrespectful to people of different
views.

"For a person to give a long, one-sided speech, and for a bishop to
speak and call for reconsideration, goes against everything that we
hold together and as holy covenant," he said.

During the witness, Krumbach said the voices of gay, lesbian,
bisexual, transgender and queer people have not been heard, but
Chappell disagrees. "They have made witness the entire week," he
said. "No one is happy about where we are, and their demonstration
implied that somehow we've heaped burning coals on them."

Delegates, he said, are trying to hold the church together "not for
artificial unity, but for a unity of heart that strikes at the very
root of Christian conference."

Some delegates and visitors questioned why the event was not streamed
live on the Web along with the General Conference business sessions.
McCleskey told delegates the witness event was not streamed because
it occurred during a recess, and normal procedure during the breaks
is for the streaming video to be replaced by an image of the
assembly's logo. However, he said, the witness event was recorded and
the video would be posted by United Methodist Communications on the
General Conference Web site, www.gc2008.umc.org.

*Green is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in
Nashville, Tenn.

'Christian Conferencing' Follows Demonstration
By Linda Bloom*
May 1, 2008

FORT WORTH, Texas (UMNS) — Relationships established before the 2008
United Methodist General Conference began helped temper a May 1
response to that body's decision not to change the denomination's
current positions on homosexuality, according to some participants.

During a press conference after a "witness" was made on the General
Conference floor by supporters of lesbian, bisexual, gay and
transgendered people, Bishop Gregory Palmer, president of the United
Methodist Council of Bishops, said he had a "deep sense of gratitude"
for both how the witness was handled and how delegates and bishops
responded.

The 15-minute demonstration was in reaction to the April 30 decision
to retain the denomination's decades-old proscription describing
homosexual practice as "incompatible with Christian teaching." One
protester, Audrey Krumbach, read a statement declaring that the
"anti-gay policies of The United Methodist Church are wrong and sinful
in the sight of God."

Afterward, 16 bishops met with the witnesses advocating for full
inclusion and created a table for Christian conferencing and
acknowledgement of the pain felt by some church members. "We went into
a time of discussion, speaking from our hearts as much as our heads,"
said Bishop Sally Dyck.

Team-building eased tension

The Rev. Troy Plummer, executive director of the Reconciling
Ministries Network, noted that "today was a better day than
yesterday." He thanked the team from JUSTPEACE, a mission of the
church for mediation and conflict transformation, for helping
participants in the discussion to "overcome some sticking points."

"In shock" over the outcome of the April 30 vote, Plummer said it was
only the team-building which occurred before General Conference that
prevented a response of civil disobedience.

Bishop Scott Jones said he had only joined those conversations today
as a volunteer for the Council of Bishops, but supported the effort
because he has "a ministry of bridge building."

On May 2, the last day of General Conference, those involved in the
conversations will focus on how to proceed, according to Dyck. "We do
want to build on relationships and trust so we can use this as an
opportunity for new hope to emerge," she said.

The Rev. Gail Murphy-Geiss, chair of the Commission on General
Conference, addressed the concern over the fact that the demonstration
appeared to be cut off from the live Internet feed of that plenary
session. "It was definitely an accident," she said. "The plug was not
pulled."

Even though it was not shown live, Murphy-Geiss said the event was
recorded and has since been uploaded to the General Conference Web
site, www.gc2008.umc.org.


Decision 1032 still troubles some


Plummer said that he was most troubled about the vote to let stand
language in the Book of Discipline regarding pastoral authority over
church membership, even though a majority report of a legislative
committee recommended the congregation change the language to make it
clear that pastors and congregations "are to faithfully receive all
persons who are willing to affirm our vows of membership."

Controversy has occurred over a 2005 decision by the United Methodist
Judicial Council – No. 1032 – supporting the Rev. Ed Johnson of
Virginia who denied membership to a man who was in an openly
homosexual relationship. The council reinstated Johnson after he had
been placed on involuntary leave by the Virginia Annual (regional)
Conference.

"It's very dismaying to leave this General Conference with 1032 still
in place. That's a grief for our people," Plummer said, adding that he
hoped the new Judicial Council "might somehow be asked to reconsider
1032 again."

Jones said that 1032 and a similar case cited "are in my experience,
isolated cases" and he believes that 99 percent of the church does not
discriminate in this way.


*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service writer based in New York.

California United Methodists react to same-sex ruling
Jul. 9, 2008
NOTE: Corrected version, original sent July 8
A UMNS Report
By Marta W. Aldrich*

On the heels of a California Supreme Court ruling that opened the door
to same-gender unions, two United Methodist legislative bodies in
California have approved gay-friendly statements that are stretching
the denominational promise of "open hearts, open minds, open doors."

The church's California-Pacific Annual Conference, convening June
18-22 in Redlands, approved three measures that support same-gender
couples entering into the marriage covenant. Each "encourages both
congregations and pastors to welcome, embrace and provide spiritual
nurture and pastoral care for these families," according to a June 27
letter to the conference from Bishop Mary Ann Swenson and other
conference leaders.

That same week in Sacramento, the California-Nevada Annual Conference
approved two measures on the same issue, including one that lists 67
retired United Methodist clergy in northern California who have
offered to conduct same-gender marriage ceremonies. The resolution
commends the pastors' work in offering continued ministry.

The statements are the strongest yet on the issue by California United
Methodists and have drawn cheers from gay rights advocates, who say
the church and its pastors should extend to same-sex couples the same
level of support it provides heterosexual couples.

Others say the conferences are on the verge of breaking a Scripturally
based covenant with the rest of the 11.5 million-member worldwide
denomination. The United Methodist Church, while affirming all people
as persons "of sacred worth," considers the practice of homosexuality
"incompatible with Christian teaching." Its policy book, called the
Book of Discipline, prohibits its pastors and churches from conducting
ceremonies celebrating homosexual unions.

The denominational statements were affirmed last spring during split
votes by General Conference, the church's top legislative body. The
assembly, which met April 23-May 2, convenes every four years and
represents United Methodists worldwide.

That same month, California's high court overturned a voter-approved
ban on same-sex marriage, making California and Massachusetts the only
U.S. states to allow gay couples to marry. California began to issue
licenses June 16.

Pastoral choices

The actions by United Methodist leaders in southern California reflect
the struggle by pastors and churches to minister to same-sex couples
in the wake of actions by both the General Conference and the state's
high court, according to the Rev. Frank Wulf, pastor of United
University Church, a United Methodist/Presbyterian congregation in Los
Angeles.

"This recognizes that our pastors and our churches are already
struggling with these decisions," said Wulf, who helped to author the
resolutions. "It's an attempt to honor the choices they make."

One resolution reads in part: "While we recognize that we are governed
by the Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church, we support
those pastors who conscientiously respond to the needs of their
parishes by celebrating same-gender marriages, and we envision
compassion and understanding in any resulting disciplinary actions."

The second resolution acknowledges the May 15 court decision, and the
third opposes a November ballot initiative in California that would
reverse the court ruling and amend the state constitution to bar gay
marriage.

In northern California, the California-Nevada Conference voted to
support both the court ruling and the pastoral alternative offered by
some retired clergy. "Some of our clergy will choose not to perform
same-gender marriages, for various reasons, but would like to keep a
continued ministry with families and loved ones of same-gender
couples," the resolution states. "…Retired clergy in our conference
are now available to perform the marriages as an aid to the
congregation and pastor. …"

Bishop Beverly Shamana, who presides over the conference, declined to
comment on the action. Responding to an elder's call, she has sent a
ruling to the denomination's top court on the question of how the
conference can authorize and commend its clergy to conduct an act that
might violate church law. The Judicial Council is expected to consider
her ruling when it convenes in October.

Ongoing conversation

The latest developments in the California conferences trouble United
Methodists who view such actions as a challenge to both Scriptural
authority and the church's covenant through its Book of Discipline.
They note that General Conference has repeatedly affirmed its stance
on homosexuality and homosexual unions.

"We've made it clear we adhere to biblical teaching and Christian
tradition," said the Rev. Eddie Fox, director of evangelism for the
World Methodist Council. "Ninety-eight percent of Christians around
the world believe marriage is between one man and one woman, so we're
not out of step in our ecumenical relationships with Christians around
the world."

At the most recent General Conference, Fox helped lead the effort to
keep the church's stance on homosexuality intact. He argued that "God
created the maleness and the femaleness" and that this "order of
creation is, at the very heart, one of those essential doctrines for
us in our church."

"If we don't have a clear, consistent statement on this, it will
result in confusion in our church," Fox said in a July 7 interview
with UMNS. "These are the Social Principles for the whole church, not
for one church." The Social Principles, contained in the Book of
Discipline, detail the church's position on homosexuality and other
social concerns.

The Rev. Maxie Dunnam urged all pastors and churches to act on the
church's definition of marriage instead of secular definitions. "The
church is called to be prophetic in opposing that in the culture that
is clearly out of step with what our United Methodist Church, the
church universal and the Christian faith affirms," said Dunnam,
chancellor of Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky.

"I would hope that people would recognize the pain that their action
will cause for the whole church, especially as we seek to be a global
church."

The Rev. John McFarland was among California-Pacific members who
questioned the wisdom of the body's decisions and the processes being
used to discern God's voice.

"This topic is not being debated based on Scripture," said McFarland,
pastor of Fountain Valley (Calif.) United Methodist Church. "It's
being debated primarily on experience without regard to tradition,
reason and Scripture." Scripture, tradition, experience and reason are
the four themes cited by Methodism's founder, John Wesley, as
illuminating the Christian faith.

"Even though wonderful and caring people practice same-sex behavior,
the discussion does not end there. What concerns me is how far we've
gone from trusting the Bible as the Word of God," said McFarland. He
noted that 2 Timothy 3:16 says "all Scripture is inspired by God and
profitable for teaching, reproof, correction and training in
righteousness."

Interpretation vs. authority

Proponents of conference actions suggest the issue is not biblical
authority, but biblical interpretation.

"It is our UM tradition to interpret Scripture with attention to its
context and purpose," said the Rev. Sharon Rhodes-Wickett, pastor of
Claremont (Calif.) United Methodist Church.

"We create misunderstandings when we choose some texts to be
understood as literal and others not," she said. "We once excluded
women as clergy based on Scriptural authority; we once justified
slave-holding based on Scripture. We're doing the same thing now with
regard to homosexuality."

Wulf said the church's unity does not necessarily lie in the unanimity
of practice in all things. "We are fallible human beings, and our
covenant is imperfect. We all know that because we get together every
four years to adjust it," he said of the church's General Conference.

"To those of us in the West who feel a calling to offer a different
kind of message to same-sex couples, there is a sense in which the
whole church wants to hem us in and prevent us from following that
calling," Wulf said.

"… We know the world is in flux, particularly on this issue," he said.
"So we do this--not as an act of disrespect to the people of Africa or
the people of (other parts of the United States)--but as a way of
speaking the Christian Gospel compassionately to a group of people who
deal with this every day."

*Aldrich is news editor of United Methodist News Service.

Bishop rules Cal-Nevada statement on same-sex unions 'void'
(Revised to include additional comments)
July 18, 2008
By Marta W. Aldrich

PORTLAND, Ore. (UMNS)-Retired United Methodist clergy in northern
California and Nevada could face disciplinary charges if they perform
same-gender marriage ceremonies in the wake of a California court
ruling that allows gay couples to marry, their bishop says.

While the church's California-Nevada legislative assembly approved a
resolution in June commending retired clergy who have offered to
perform such ceremonies, Bishop Beverly J. Shamana has issued a ruling
declaring the statement "void and of no effect."

"While the resolution is a commendable gesture to the congregations of
the conference in offering the pastoral counsel of a number of retired
clergy to persons contemplating same-gender marriage under the laws of
California, it steps over a disciplinary line when it commends these
clergy to the congregations for the purpose of 'performing same gender
marriages or holy unions,'" Shamana wrote in her ruling of law.

Meanwhile, an organizer of the retired clergy said the bishop's ruling
would not deter the pastors from performing the ceremonies.

"Nothing has changed by the bishop calling the resolution null and
void," said the Rev. Don Fado, a retired United Methodist pastor in
Sacramento. "As far as we're concerned, we're available, and the
conference knows we're available, and we've made our witness and will
continue to do so."

Ruling of law

The ruling of law was requested immediately after the church's
California-Nevada Annual (regional) Conference approved the resolution
on June 21. The ruling was sent July 2 to the United Methodist
Judicial Council, the church's top court, which will review the matter
at its October session. A copy of the ruling was obtained by United
Methodist News Service during the church's Western Jurisdictional
Conference, meeting July 16-19 in Portland, where a new bishop was
being elected to replace the retiring Shamana.

Sixty-seven retired clergy signed on to offer their services under the
original resolution. The list has since grown to 82, according to Fado.

The resolution lists the names of retired clergy wanting to
participate and states that the conference "commends its retired
clergy for offering continued ministry and will communicate to its
congregations the availability of the following retired pastors to
perform same gender marriages or holy unions."

In her ruling, Shamana says the denomination's Book of Discipline
declares that performing same-sex marriage ceremonies is a chargeable
offense.

"It is not within the power or prerogative of an annual conference to
offer the services of its clergy to perform acts which the General
Conference has declared to be chargeable offenses against the law of
The United Methodist Church," Shamana wrote.

The United Methodist Church, while affirming all people as persons "of
sacred worth," considers the practice of homosexuality "incompatible
with Christian teaching." Its law book prohibits its pastors and
churches from conducting ceremonies celebrating homosexual unions. The
denominational statements were affirmed in a split vote last spring by
General Conference, the church's top legislative body that meets once
every four years.

The Rev. Ronald Greilich, who asked Shamana for the ruling of law,
said he was pleased with the bishop's conclusion.

"The Discipline is very specific that United Methodist clergy are not
to do gay and lesbian weddings and they're not to be held in the
churches, and to do so is a chargeable offense," said Greilich, a
retired pastor in Clovis, Calif.

Greilich is writing a brief to submit to the Judicial Council in
support of Shamana's ruling. "This is what our book of rules says, and
if we're going to be United Methodists in covenant with one another,
we should do what we promised to do when we were ordained, which is to
support The United Methodist Church," he said.

Making a statement

Fado said many retired clergy in California-Nevada actually have been
"doing holy unions for three years"--under the radar. However, he
said, they felt compelled to make a statement about their availability
in the wake of last spring's ruling by the California Supreme Court,
overturning a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage.

The resolution "was a chance to make a witness on where we stand and
give courage to pastors in the connection that we're willing to do
it," Fado said. "… We're saying this is an act of collegiality to be
of support to pastors who feel for any reason they cannot perform the
ceremony."

Fado said retired clergy listed in the resolution are among the
leaders in the California-Nevada Conference, which includes northern
California and the state of Nevada. They include 15 former district
superintendents, 11 who have been delegates to General Conference and
10 who have served as conference staff.

The church's California-Pacific assembly also passed gay-friendly
statements in June in southern California, after the state began
issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on June 16.

Some denominational leaders have subsequently expressed concern that
the two conferences are on the verge of breaking a Scripturally based
covenant with the rest of the 11.5 million-member denomination, as
expressed through the Book of Discipline and actions of General
Conference, which is the only body that can speak for the entire
United Methodist Church.

They say the church's position is based on biblical teaching and
Christian tradition, which they note is often at odds with popular
culture.

Gay rights advocates say gay rights are God-given civil rights that
the church should support as a matter of conscience and that the
church, in its quest to be more inclusive, should extend to gay
couples the same levels of support it provides to heterosexual couples.

At the church's Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference meeting in
Harrisburg, Pa., delegates voted July 17 to support retired
California-Nevada clergy who perform the marriage ceremonies. The
resolution also asks for lenient disciplinary action against clergy
who disobey church law on the issue.

# # #

*Aldrich is news editor of United Methodist News Service.

Press Release from Integrity 19 July 2008

"ALONGSIDE LAMBETH" OFFERS PROGRAMME FOR ALL COMERS

  CANTERBURY, UK— Plans for this Lambeth Conference originally included
an Anglican Congress that would have drawn lay and ordained Anglicans
[not just bishops] from across the world to meet and learn together.
Those plans were changed but Lambeth still draws many people—some
coming as volunteers, others as visitors. IntegrityUSA is delighted
that Thinking Anglicans and Inclusive Church have joined forces to
offer a program "Alongside Lambeth" for those who are not
participating in the bishop's conference.

Each morning at 11am there will be a brief devotional time near the
Marketplace Café, followed by Bible studies in small groups. Many of
the Bible studies will come from "Signs on the Way"—which focuses on
St John's Gospel and complements the Bible studies in which the
bishops and their spouses will take part during the Lambeth
Conference. This has been prepared by the Lambeth Planning Team as a
way for Anglicans to be present in spirit with the bishops.

Later in the morning there will be an opportunity for discussions and
buzz groups. Each afternoon a variety of speakers will offer talks and
discussions on similar topics to the ones the bishops are considering.
Speakers include Sue Burns, Eric Beresford, Jenny TePaa, Giles
Goddard, Dianna Gwilliam, Andrew Wingate, and Rowan Smith.

The afternoon talks will take place at St Stephen's Church and will be
followed by Evening Prayer at 5pm. Clergy from St Stephen's are
available for prayer and spiritual counsel, as are several other
clergy. Chaplaincy services are available to anyone attending the
conference in whatever capacity and can be arranged by contacting the
Rev. Caro Hall, Inclusive Church Network chaplain, at 07503-681-408 or
through the Inclusive Church stall.

"Alongside Lambeth" is open to everyone at no charge. Unlike other
Fringe Events, no prior sign up is necessary. More information is
available at the Inclusive Church stall in the Marketplace.

END



Press contact in the UK:
Louise Brooks, Senior Press Officer, +44 (0)7503 695 579,
tvprod@...



Press contact in the USA:
Jan Adams, Field Organizer, +1-415-378-2050, jan@...

NEJ affirms Calif. clergy on same-gender marriages
July 18, 2008
By Maidstone Mulenga*

HARRISBURG, Pa. (UMNS)-In sharp contrast to the action taken at the
United Methodist General Conference last spring, delegates to the
denomination's Northeastern Jurisdiction Conference voted July 17 to
support clergy in California who choose to perform same-gender marriages.

The delegates approved a resolution expressing respect for pastors in
the California-Pacific and California-Nevada annual (regional)
conferences "who as a matter of Christian conscience, spiritual
discernment and prophetic witnessing" opt to participate in the
celebration of same-gender marriages that are not approved by the church.

The resolution also asks for lenient disciplinary action against
clergy who disobey church law on the issue.

The 2008 General Conference, the denomination's top legislative body,
voted to retain its ban on same-gender marriages and to bar clergy
from performing such marriages or consecrating them in the church.
Pastors who perform same-gender unions risk losing their clergy
credentials. The assembly met April 23-May 2 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Division among Northeastern Jurisdiction delegates over the resolution
prompted passionate debate from supporters and opponents. Bishop Jane
Allen Middleton of the Harrisburg Area, who was presiding over the
session, prayed for holy discernment before the delegates voted.

On May 15, the California Supreme Court struck down the state's ban on
same-gender marriage, ruling that the state constitution protects that
"right to marry."

The California-Pacific Annual Conference, which met in June, approved
measures that support same-gender couples entering into the marriage
covenant and encouraged congregations and pastors to "welcome, embrace
and provide spiritual nurture and pastoral care for these families."

The neighboring California-Nevada Annual Conference approved similar
measures,  including one that lists about 80 retired United Methodist
clergy who have offered to conduct same-gender marriage ceremonies on
behalf of those clergy who feel they cannot do it themselves.

After the Northeastern Jurisdiction Conference resolution was passed,
Bishop Mary Ann Swenson of the Los Angeles Area read it to the Western
Jurisdiction Conference in Portland, Ore. Delegates and guests greeted
it with a standing ovation.

The five U.S. jurisdictional conferences of The United Methodist
Church are meeting to elect and assign bishops for the next four years
and to handle other business. The Northeastern Jurisdiction is meeting
July 13-18.

*Mulenga is a reporter for the Rochester Democrat-Chronicle, the
communications committee chairperson for the Western New York Annual
Conference, and a delegate to the Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference.

Opinion: The path to discernment on homosexuality
By David Gushee
Associated Baptist Press
July 17, 2008

(ABP) -- I have sought to suggest in a handful of columns in recent
months that a rethinking of the church's stance on homosexuality is
needed.

Reading in the scholarly literature, one sees that some very fine
Christian minds are at work on this issue. Moving well beyond old
clichés and prejudices, these scholars, many of them quite
conservative both methodologically and theologically, are wrestling
with the idea that Christians may need to revise centuries-old
teaching about homosexuality.

Some of these thinkers are concluding that in fact a revision is
needed; others are not persuaded. It would be a significant
ethical-doctrinal change, though such change is not unprecedented in
Christian history (e.g., slavery, segregation, sexism, state killing
in the name of Christ, etc.).

In reflecting and dialoguing about this issue, certain things have
become clear to me.

It is clear that insofar as "Christianity" or "the church" is
primarily associated in people's minds with rejection of homosexuals,
as poll data shows, our mission as witnesses to the love of God in
Jesus Christ has been badly damaged. There are very good missional
reasons for Christian leaders to back off of public crusades against
gay rights, whatever one may think about the merits of the particular
issues under discussion. We must be known for what (who) we are for,
not what (who) we are against.

Secondly, it is clear that an uneasy "don't ask, don't tell" ethos
still pervades many (especially big city) churches when it comes to
the homosexuals in our midst. Most Christians have little taste for
outing and expelling folks who want to attend our churches that we
think may be homosexual. Most homosexuals have little interest in
provoking a confrontation and just want to attend a church that meets
their needs. Nobody asks, so nobody has to tell. Sometimes situations
will emerge in which "don't ask, don't tell" is not adequate. But the
issue is sufficiently explosive that most ministers will do all that
they can to avoid reaching that point.

It is clear that some Christian (and non-Christian) homosexuals, led
by a cadre of committed activists (as happens with any movement for
social change), will continue to ask the church to rethink its posture
on this issue. Some are okay with baby steps and incremental change;
others want much more, and want it now. Their strategies differ. Some
focus on legal issues and others on the internal teaching of the
church. Some appeal to basic values such as fairness and justice,
others to our compassion for the suffering of homosexuals, especially
young people driven by family and church into self-loathing. All are
asking us to offer within our churches a choice for gays other than
the closet, lifetime celibacy, change therapy, or finally rejection.

It is clear that our churches and their leaders are rarely prepared to
offer a serious discussion of the theological, biblical, scientific
and ethical issues that are at stake in the contemporary homosexuality
debate. That's because we are not prepared to offer serious discussion
of theological, biblical, scientific and ethical issues of any type.
We are not ready, for example, to discuss the normative significance
of male-female sexual complementarity, the relative importance of the
various "ends" of sexual intercourse, or the stubborn persistence of
creational sexual orientation diversity and how that relates to
cultural patterns and norms.

It's very clear that most of our churches are not getting the
intellectual and spiritual leadership they need from their pastors.
The leaders don't lead the people in thinking theologically. And as
for the Christian education program, let's just say that Sunday school
often is a profound waste of time. Some of the dumbest and meanest
things that anyone says about homosexuality-and a lot of other
issues-are said in church. This is truly scandalous.

In discussions recently with a number of pastors, it has become clear
to me that many of our churches are losing the will to fight the
abandonment of basic Christian sexual morality among our people.
Premarital sex among our youth is rampant. Cohabitation has become
routine. Our marriages are collapsing at an epic rate. Multiple
remarriages happen among us regularly and without reflection or
resistance. Children get swept along as the detritus of our
mix-and-match families. Ministers just try to be of some help amidst
the chaos, while hanging on to their always fragile jobs.

A church that is in the process of abandoning basic tenets of
Christian sexual morality has no credibility as a moral voice in
culture. And, ironically, it has no credibility if it decides to
abandon the church's traditional stance on homosexuality.

One can imagine a church in which the classic understanding of
Christian sexual morality has survived and even flourished. Ministers
teach that marriage remains normative and the only legitimate locus
for sexual expression, and the people still believe it. Celibacy is
understood to be both possible and expected for the unmarried, partly
because it is understood that sex is not life's highest good.
Faithfulness within marriage is strongly emphasized and rarely
violated. Divorce is treated as a rare, tragic exception to the
covenant of marriage, and not one in a hundred Christian marriages
ends in divorce.  Community life is strong and nurturing, contributing
greatly to the emotional well being of everyone in the church, both
single and married.

That kind of Christian community might one day be in a position to
consider the pleas of homosexual believers that have formed families
and seek inclusion into the community of those whose permanent,
covenanted relationships receive the church's recognition and support.
This kind of church might have the capacity to reflect on the idea
that even though God's design for sexuality in creation was
heterosexual, in our fallen world a tiny minority among us is,
mysteriously, is just not wired that way, and needs some structure in
which their relationships and families can be properly formed and
sustained (if they are not called to the celibate path).

But in churches and denominations in which classic Christian sexual
morality has officially or unofficially collapsed, the abandonment of
ancient moral convictions related to homosexuality offers no positive
way forward. It is just one more abandonment, one more surrender to
culture, which makes it nearly impossible for more conservative
churches (Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, charismatic/Pentecostal, black
and Hispanic, evangelical Protestant) to even consider the possibility
that the issue needs rethinking.

We need a careful, unhurried process of Christian discernment related
to scriptural teachings, our theological understanding of
homosexuality, and church practices in relation to homosexuals,
undertaken by those who are committed unequivocally to every (other)
dimension of the classic Christian sexual ethic -- in which sex
belongs within marriage (lifetime, exclusive, covenant partnerships),
marriage is for life, and the church is a disciplined countercultural
community in which these norms are both taught and lived.

The question on the table would be whether Christian homosexuals who
live according to these norms should be treated as faithful members of
the Christian community.

Future columns will offer some discussion of the basic tenets of
Christian sexual ethics, such as celibacy and lifetime marriage, and
what must be done to preserve them before they are entirely washed out
of church life by the waves of a sexually licentious culture. These
are actually the most important issues in sexual ethics - not
homosexuality - because they pertain mainly to the 98 percent of us
who are heterosexuals and who, on the whole, are not doing well in
this area at all.

  -- David Gushee is distinguished university professor of Christian
ethics at Mercer University. www.davidpgushee.com

Jefferts Schori removes Pittsburgh bishop from office
Duncan led effort to take diocese out of Episcopal Church

By Mary Frances Schjonberg

September 22, 2008 [Episcopal News Service] Robert Duncan has been
given a formal sentence of deposition from the ordained ministry of
the Episcopal Church and has been removed as the bishop of the Diocese
of Pittsburgh.

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori signed Duncan's sentence on
September 19, the day after the House of Bishops agreed by a vote of
88-35 to authorize the action. Bishop Richard S.O. Chang, vice
president of the house, and Bishop Kenneth Price, the secretary, also
signed as witnesses to the sentence.

The sentence and an accompanying letter from Jefferts Schori to Duncan
were sent to Pittsburgh diocesan offices on September 22 and later
released to the public.

The Rev. Dr. Charles Robertson, canon to the Presiding Bishop, told
ENS that the Presiding Bishop signed the deposition before leaving for
meetings with the Church of Sweden directly from the House of Bishops,
"but she chose not to release it out of consideration for Duncan until
he had been notified, which was done via his office [September 22]."

In the sentence Jefferts Schori declares that "from and after 12:01
a.m., Saturday, 20 September, 2008, Bishop Duncan shall be deprived of
the right to exercise the gifts and spiritual authority of God's word
and sacraments conferred at ordination in this Church and further
declare[s] that all ecclesiastical and related secular offices held by
Bishop Duncan shall be terminated and vacated at that time."

Robertson said that diocesan staff were contacted September 22 and
told that the sentence of deposition was on its way to their offices.
Robertson said he did not know if Duncan was aware of the effective
date of the deposition before he received the sentence.

The diocesan Standing Committee, now the ecclesiastical authority in
the diocese, will meet September 23 in a regularly scheduled
gathering, the Rev. David Wilson, committee president, told ENS.
Wilson said that Standing Committee members would discuss the details
of the diocesan convention, scheduled for October 4, at which the
deputies will be asked to approve resolutions (see resolutions one,
two and three here) re-aligning the diocese with the Anglican Province
of the Southern Cone of southern South America.

A September 18 news release posted on the diocese's website said that
"Bishop Duncan's own continuing status as a bishop in The Anglican
Communion has been secured by the Province of the Southern Cone" and
quoted Southern Cone Primate Gregory Venables as saying that
"effectively immediately" Duncan was a member of that House of Bishops.

"Neither the Presiding Bishop nor the House of Bishops of the
Episcopal Church has any further jurisdiction over his ministry,"
Venables claimed.

In a September 18 statement issued after the House of Bishops vote,
the Pittsburgh Standing Committee said that Duncan would "continue to
support the work of our diocese under the terms of his administrative
employment agreement and within the bounds of his deposition,
providing many of the services that he previously performed for the
diocese."

Meanwhile, a group called "Across the Aisle" issued a statement
September 22 saying that Jefferts Schori's office had informed the
group of the sentence of deposition via a phone call that afternoon.
"The direct communication is further evidence of the Presiding
Bishop's recognition that Across the Aisle is the primary group
working to maintain a diocese in Pittsburgh that is part of the
Episcopal Church, even if the existing diocese votes at its upcoming
convention to realign with an Anglican province in South America," the
statement said in part.

The Presiding Bishop had singled out the group during her September 19
remarks to reporters after the end of the House of Bishops meeting,
calling it "a remarkable example of cooperation across a variety of
differences of opinion."

Jefferts Schori said during the news conference that the Episcopal
Church would support efforts to reorganize the diocese should
delegates vote for re-alignment.

"The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh will not go away, even if their
convention makes a canonically inappropriate vote to secede" from The
Episcopal Church (TEC), she said during the news conference.

Robertson told ENS September 22 that "the Presiding Bishop's office is
communicating regularly with a group of leaders in the Diocese of
Pittsburgh who, despite holding diverse opinions and positions, are
committed to remaining in the Episcopal Church."

In the letter to Duncan which accompanied the sentence, Jefferts
Schori noted "the prayerful and thoughtful atmosphere of the
discussions" leading up to the bishops' authorization of the deposition.

"In their deliberations at the special session last week, the House of
Bishops was clear that this action is based on Robert Duncan's actions
and statements to facilitate the departure of congregations out of the
Episcopal Church," Robertson told ENS. "This was not based on Robert
Duncan's theological position." Duncan has taken a conservative stance
on such issues as church attitudes toward homosexuality.

The Title IV Review Committee had certified in December that Duncan
had abandoned the communion of the Episcopal Church under the terms of
Canon IV.9.1 "by an open renunciation of the Doctrine, Discipline, or
Worship of this Church."

The Presiding Bishop moved to inhibit Duncan (restrict his episcopal
acts) during the time between the certification and the time she
brought the matter to a meeting of the house. However, the House's
three senior bishops could not agree unanimously with Jefferts
Schori's request. The canon on abandonment does not call for a formal
trial, as do the disciplinary canons.

John H. Lewis, Duncan's attorney, said in a September 18 statement
that was posted on the diocese's website September 22, that Duncan
"was denied his fundamental right -- the right to a church trial …
because the Presiding Bishop believes that his 'deposition' will
assist her in her desire to seize the property of the Diocese of
Pittsburgh."

-- The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is Episcopal Life Media
correspondent for Episcopal Church governance, structure, and trends,
as well as news of the dioceses of Province II. She is based in
Neptune, New Jersey, and New York City.

Still Much to Do

For Immediate Release, November 14, 2008

By Affirmation Co-spokespersons Diane DeLap & Tim Tennant-Jayne

The 2008 elections are over.  On the one hand, we all breathe a sigh of
relief.  No more attack ads.  No more constant arguments over what candidate
said what.  Also, these elections do bring hope.  There is hope for the
future in the selection of a new President and in the ever-increasing number
of elected officials who are openly queer.  On the other hand, the 2008
elections gave us several setbacks in civil rights.

"Same-gender marriage" bans passed in Arizona, Florida, and most
disappointingly, California where the status of thousands of same-gender
marriages is now unknown.  We say "same-gender marriage" in quotes because
for us it's not "gay marriage" or "lesbian marriage."  Also, the use of the
term "one man and one woman" in most of the legislation ignores the many
transgender and intersex citizens who are forced, under these statutes, to
remain unmarried.  Civil marriage should simply be the life commitment of
one person to another.  This is something fundamental and taken for granted
by a large portion of our populace.  In addition, a ban on adoptions by gay
and lesbian couples and non-married heterosexual couples passed in Arkansas.
Our country has, since its beginning, rejected the influence of religious
opinions on civil law.  The laws passed this week reflect a broadening
influence of religious fundamentalism on governments that could lead to far
more serious issues in the future.

Even where marriage rights are achieved at the state level, same-gender
couples still have to spend thousands of dollars on legal documents to
achieve the over 1,000 federal protections any opposite-gender couple can
get with a marriage license and a simple ceremony, either religious or
civil.  We tire of paying first class taxes for second class citizenship in
a few states, third class citizenship in most of them.

There are those voices that claim this is just following biblical teachings.
Yet the fundamentals of those teachings are our equality before a God who
loves each of us as we are, wills the best for us, and urges us to treat one
another as we wish to be treated.  There are those voices that claim this is
not the same as racial struggles for equal rights.  The similarity is that
we can no more change our sexual orientation or gender identity than others
can change the color of their skin.

Affirmation will continue to work to open the hearts of The United Methodist
Church so that one day "Open Doors, Open Hearts, Open Minds" will become a
reality.  We will also work to rescind state and federal laws that relegate
us to second- and third-class citizenship.

We rejoice in the support of the United Methodist congregations,
conferences, pastors, members, and bishops in California who recognize the
basic human and civil right of two people legally uniting their lives.

There is, unfortunately, even in 2008, still much to do.

-30-

As an independent voice of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer
people, Affirmation radically reclaims the compassionate and transforming
gospel of Jesus Christ by relentlessly pursuing full inclusion in the Church
as we journey with the Spirit in creating God's beloved community.

Affirmation is an activist, all-volunteer, not-for-profit organization with
no official ties to The United Methodist Church.

How to Contact Us: email:
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/affirmation/post?postID=KyEJodZJKggrmaJ5YR3uN
WxFHoxcNSGyRIMDYE4PSWjlmXEi6AYcnW6mc3BeLiZE8NjxhECmkUuaacMrnLEP>
umaffirmation@... Affirmation web:  <http://www.umaffirm.org>
http://www.umaffirm.org





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