A year and a half ago, in Nashville Tennessee, I was present at my first Disciples of Christ General Assembly as a voting delegate (all ordained clergy with standing are automatically eligible to vote at GA). I was very happy to see that a resolution condemning youth and child bullying was up for passage, and as expected, it passed in a landslide.
There was one brief wrinkle, though—a colleague (though also a stranger to me at the time) got up in opposition of the resolution, claiming it was a thinly-veiled product of the GLBT-affirming wing of the Disciples (whatever that means…though it should be noted that I was wearing a t-shirt that said, “Make the DOC Gay Okay,” so, you know…maybe there is a machine after all=) ). His comments received mostly crickets in response, but I happened to run into him by happenstance not long after the vote. Not feeling like picking an argument at a sacred gathering, I instead blurted out the first thing that came into my head:
“Dude…I don’t agree with a single thing you just said, but damn, it took guts to say that.”
And it did. Being grossly unpopular is never easy—just ask anyone who has survived junior high. That doesn’t make what he said right. But taking a stand usually involves some degree of courage.
And today, I must say that I am very heartened by the courage being shown on the other side of this issue (aka, “the pro-gay wing”) in the run up to this year’s GA in Orlando, Florida. First Christian Church in Concord, California—the congregation I served for two years as their part-time student associate minister—is one of a number of Disciples congregations sponsoring a resolution to be voted on at the GA. And this resolution reads, in part:
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) declares itself to be a people of grace and welcome to all God’s children—inclusive of race, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, nationality, ethnicity, marital status, or physical ability;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) affirms the faith, baptism, and spiritual gifts of all Christians regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, and that neither are grounds for exclusion from fellowship or service within the church, but are a part of God’s good creation;
FINALLY, BE IT RESOLVED that all expressions of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), as a people of grace and welcome, are encouraged similarly to declare their support for the welcome and hospitality to all Christians, regardless of race, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, nationality, ethnicity, marital status, or physical ability.
(You can read the full version here.)
Mine will be a “yes” vote when this resolution comes to the floor of the GA.
Why?
Because while respecting the congregational autonomy the Disciples is built upon (with the term “are encouraged” in the final clause, rather than “are mandated”), this resolution essentially validates the ordination of GLBT clergy on a denominational level, which is something that needs to happen.
Why does this need to happen?
First and foremost, I believe it is Scriptural—not only does Scripture not prohibit gay and lesbian clergy (1 Timothy 3:1-13), but it also states that all are given spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:1-11). These two are not mutually exclusive…ergo, it is entirely possible to be gay or lesbian and have the spiritual gift of ministry.
And it is not only Scriptural—in accordance with the current ethos of inclusion both inside and outside the Disciples, it is, quite simply, the right thing to do. We have, for too long, allowed the church to remain a place where condemnation of a person based on their sexual orientation remains somehow acceptable. This resolution is one small part of righting that longtime wrong.
Finally, this can be a great boon to the ranks of the clergy. Yes, some congregations and pastors will get very upset if this passes. But much like how the ordination of women eventually created a brand-new wave of God’s servants (in a number of seminaries now, female students outnumber male students), I hope that so too might the universal ordination of gay and lesbian Disciples pastors, who might offer a new source of Christian ministry in the coming years and decades.
Indeed, I had a number of openly gay and lesbian classmates at seminary who I would consider to be (from my own human perspective) extraordinarily qualified to serve as ordained clergy.
And while this takes a step beyond simply saying “gay bullying is wrong and sinful,” we’re also not asking anyone to reinvent the wheel here.
We’re not trying to do rocket science or brain surgery.
We’re just trying to live the Gospel by, just as Jesus did, making the ranks of Disciples teachers open to all qualified persons.
It’s really not that complicated.
And I am both proud and eager to be a vote in support of that effort.
Yours in Christ,
Eric
No comments:
Post a Comment