In June, I wrote about, and lamented, the decision of the United Methodist Church not to change its rules on the treatment of homosexuals. Apparently, I am not the only one lamenting; in the UMC dioceses in California, several retired clergy are taking a stand by marrying same-sex couples (which recently became legal in the State of California).
* More than 80 retired Northern California clergy from the United Methodist Church are offering to perform same-sex marriages, saying they want to help out active ministers who would risk more severe consequences for presiding over these ceremonies. [...]
"We're willing to challenge the injustice and contradictions of this," said the Reverend Don Fado, retired pastor of St Mark's United Methodist Church in Sacramento. [...]
If disciplined, the clergy could be defrocked, said Fado. He believes that is unlikely.
When same-sex marriages were legalized in Massachusetts in 2004, retired Methodist clergy there began performing weddings, Fado said. *
Retired clergy offer to perform gay marriages in California (The Guardian 25.6.08)
Not all, however, are retired. Those on active duty risk more, of course. But:
* "I'm tired of being part of a church that lacks integrity," said the Rev. Janet Gollery McKeithen of Santa Monica's Church in Ocean Park, who plans to conduct weddings for two gay couples in August and September.
"I love my church, and I don't want to leave it. But I can't be part of a church that is willing to portray a God that is so hateful. I would rather be forced out." *
Pastors defy United Methodist officials to conduct gay weddings (Los Angeles Times 17.7.08)
I know how she feels... As to how this isn't such a break with Scripture and tradition after all, a pastor tells a Texas newspaper:
* "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." *
California United Methodists make strong pro gay rights statements (The Dallas Morning News 9.7.08)
And a gay blogger concludes:
* The support of [California's] United Methodists is most welcome. As more houses of worship declare their opposition to exclusionary political efforts, this debate becomes less a battle between the Holy and the Profane and becomes better understood as an effort by a few to introduce discrimination into the state’s constitution. *
California United Methodists Support Marriage (Box Turtle Bulletin 10.7.08)
There's some truth in that, isn't there?
http://karlafhallstrom.blogspot.com/2008/08/california-methodists-perform-same-sex.html
