Kindling a Light in the Darkness

When I retired, Nancy and I knew that it would be a while before we found our way back into the institutional church.  First off, we were busy moving, getting settled, traveling and then making room for Jessica, Sam, Hattie and Jude.  We still haven’t found our routine, but I know that it will come.  Second, we needed some time and space.  We (well at least me) felt betrayed by the institution, and even though I would not go back, I wasn’t completely ready for this next phase.  But what has been most challenging, has been finding a church.

Yes, we live in suburbia and we are surrounded by churches.  But I am unwilling to go to a church that thinks it has all the answers.  Or worse yet, that the Bible has all the answers.  So any church that says: 

We believe that both the Old and New Testaments are literally God's own words, recorded for us through the words of human authors. We believe that the Bible is without error in its original writings . The Bible is complete, and is not to be "added to or subtracted from." 

Is not for me.  Nor do I want to attend a church that is promoting (often subtly) white supremacy, replacement theory, or any form of homophobia.  Nor one that is still wrapped up in the culture wars of the UMC.  Get over it.

So what am I looking for?  A church that shares the love of Jesus Christ, is engaged actively in social justice, and full of hospitality for all.

Pipe dream?  I sure hope not.

We have attended two churches that we have some historical connection with.  One the church that I attended through seventh grade and was confirmed at (a picture of my confirmation class is on the wall).  And also the church that a friend was pastor at, and retired from.  In both cases, we made sure that the church had our contact information.  At one of them we spoke with the pastor and at the other we spoke with the person in charge of new members.  Have we heard from either one since?  Nope.  Not a thing.

We wonder why the church is dying across the land and fewer and fewer people are willing to call themselves followers of Jesus?  Young people have no interest in a church that is judgmental or self-centered.  Both of those qualities do not represent the Jesus I have come to know.  

It breaks my heart to watch the self-destruction of “United Methodism”.  Much like our current political climate, there are no “winners” as we try to destroy each other.  Any church that engages in the back and forth that has been going on, does not represent the love of Jesus.

Will we find a church?  To be honest, I do not know.  The local church has been central to my 62 years of life.  Yes I have seen many changes in that institution, some good and some, well, some not so good.  But it truly feels weird being on the outside.

Until we (you know that royal “we”) stop putting our own priorities ahead of Jesus.  Whatever, and however good intentioned those priorities may be; there will not be a church.  At least not a church that is in harmony with Jesus.   Carl Jung once said: “As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.”

 

Moving Forward with head held high

A few weeks ago the Central District Superintendent wrote to the district about the action St Luke’s UMC in Indianapolis took.  She wrote: 

St. Luke’s United Methodist Church’s Governance Board, has voted to “support St. Luke’s pastors who choose to perform same sex marriages and the utilization of St. Luke’s facilities for such marriages. We are doing these things with the same pastoral commitment to provide marriage preparation and other supports that we provide to all Christian marriages we perform.”

I appreciate her informing the churches of the district of this news, since it is important in these challenging days in the UMC to be as transparent as possible.  But it was the next part that I struggled with.  She continued:

I have been in communication with St. Luke’s leadership regarding this decision. I have reminded them about what it means to be in faithful covenant and connection as a United Methodist Church during these liminal times.

I also write to condemn any copycat congregations that believe this is an entreé to mimic such actions, as St. Luke’s has been in the process of prayerful discernment for years and have taken the diligent steps of engaging their congregation to arrive at this decision. 

She makes it sound like this is a unique and isolated experience, but it is far from it.  Numerous churches have adopted this stance, including Meridian Street in 2019 shortly after the UMC General Conference in St. Louis.  I have included the Statement of Inclusion and Welcome that Meridian Street adopted that spring after the General Conference session.  We did not adopt that statement lightly, or trying to “copy” anyone else.  We adopted it because we were convinced it is what Jesus would want us to do.

Following the General Conference, I rewrote my sermon for that week.  Actually I know I did not sleep much that week and none the night before I shared my thoughts.  While the church was, and had been wrestling with what would become the Statement of Inclusion and Welcome, I needed to draw my line in the sand.  You can find that sermon here: https://smconger.blogspot.com/2019/03/grace-upon-grace.html

I was deeply offended by the Superintendent's response to St. Luke’s but even more so to the implications to the children she seemed to be scolding. Like too many in the hierarchy of the UMC she has minimal local church pastoral experience, and in times like these, it shows.  Her “I know best attitude” and “don’t you dare do anything without my permission”, shows her lack of understanding the complexity and challenges the UMC faces in the days ahead.  

I applaud St. Luke’s UMC for the stand that they have taken, but I also applaud Roberts Park, North, Meridian Street and so many others who have done and said the same thing.

Statement of Inclusion and Welcome

At Meridian Street United Methodist Church, we are committed to the foundational principles that God’s grace extends to all people and all people are of sacred worth to God.  We celebrate the gospel message of God’s boundless love and all the ways in which God’s family is diverse and whole. 

We welcome and affirm persons of any age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, ethnic or cultural background, faith tradition, physical and mental ability, economic condition, marital status, family configuration or place on the spectrum of conservative, centrist or progressive.  

We affirm that all people are created in the image of God and that as beloved children of God, all are worthy of God’s love and grace. We welcome the full inclusion of all people in the life and ministry of Meridian Street United Methodist Church as we journey toward reconciliation through Christ.

We recognize the differences among us as wonderful gifts that teach us how to love alike even though we may not think alike.  We are confident that all of us, regardless of our views, can join arm in arm and heart in heart to build God’s kingdom.

We proclaim this statement of welcome to all who have known the pain of exclusion and discrimination in the church or in society and know that everyone’s participation in our ministries enriches us. We invite all people to join us in our faith journey toward greater love, understanding, and mutual respect.

You are loved and welcome here

You can lead and serve here

You can love and marry here

 

Expanded response to UMC GC 2019

The last few days have been very hard for me, and I know for many of you. I have learned through my journey with Jesus that God's unconditional love is available --- not just to me --- but to you --- all of you! NOTHING separates us from the love of God -- it is always present (see I am a good Methodist).

While the institution of which I am a part has broken my heart with much hurtful language to God's children that happen to be LGBTQI, I personally do not agree. To all my LGBTQI friends, and to those who call Meridian Street or any UMC church home --- I apologize. I promise, that I will do my utmost to stand with you and support you on your journey of life. I hope and pray that these last few days have not caused you to abandon God --- GOD HAS NOT ABANDONED YOU!

If God has called you to ministry, God has called you. End of statement. God called me; I have resisted repeatedly over the years, but the hounds of heaven would not let me run away. I believe that my call is not unique, God has called many others, some whom happen to have a different sexual orientation than I do, but if God calls, God calls!

As we try to figure out what all this means, do not lose heart. As I have matured in my faith, I have learned that to shy away from LGBTQI friends is not acceptable. But I confess that I have not always stood up like I should. At my baptism, confirmation and ordination as an Elder in the UMC, I promised to “accept the freedom and power God gives me to resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves.” I vow to do a better job living that promise. I also promised in my ordination vows to “in the exercise of your ministry, lead the people of God to faith in Jesus Christ, to participate in the life and work of the community, and to seek peace, justice, and freedom for all people”. I do not see an asterisk excluding anyone.

A friend may have captured the moment best when they wrote: “and Jesus wept.” I too am weeping, but it is time to dry my tears and to transform the world with the unconditional love of Jesus.

I do not believe that God asks us to choose between our faith in the Bible text and the compassion that Jesus has taught us.  If you listened to the debate this past week in St. Louis, you would have thought that it was all about one either believing the Bible or standing with compassion and social justice on the other.  Both sides made impassioned pleas for their positions.

But I believe it is a false dichotomy.  We do not need to choose between the two.  There is no need to discount the biblical text in order to accept equality and justice for our LGBTQ friends.  All that is required is reading those few passages where homosexuality appears to be mentioned in the same way we would read any other part of the biblical text.

There is no clearly stated directive in the bible that we should marginalize and ostracize people who have come to understand that God made them LGBTQ.  Certainly Jesus NEVER spoke of it.

The UMC currently states "The practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching" (304.3)), a statement that implies that we understand LGBTQ persons as not fully Christian. If we believe that, then based on what the church and what we believe the Bible has said, it seems easy for us to make the next leap that we have no choice but to exclude them from full inclusion in the life of the church.  It becomes easy to exclude them, and all non-repentant sinners, from full participation in the life of the church.

I have and will continue to assert, that without an explicit command from God to exclude LGBTQ people, that to do so is in violation of the very clear commandment from Jesus to love one's neighbor as ourselves.  I am also do not believe that a monogamous homosexual relationship is any more a sin than a monogamous heterosexual one.

The problem is that heterosexual Christians use a couple of passages from the bible to justify an standard of morality that they are not tempted to commit while at the same time living a standard of relative morality for sins that they do regularly commit.

Jesus never speaks of homosexuality, but constantly calls on us in regards to our wealth, treatment of the poor, widows and other marginalized who live on the edges of our society.

But when I think of the message of Jesus; one thing comes to mind LOVE.  Jesus lived, breathed, preached and embodied love.  As I have journeyed on this way called Christianity, I have become convinced that I am to err on the side of love.  I hope that Meridian Street as a congregation will throw open its doors and let the world know that we choose love.  And we will look at our own sins before we judge others for what we perceive to be their sins.

Sunday, I will share with you how the Holy Spirit has been wrestling with me these past few days.  While I have not sought out this conversation, I am convinced that God has put me here just for a time such as this.

I invited you to join me in this prayer by Rupert Bristow

Creator God,

bring us gently onto the true path,

through revelation,

through explanation,

through exploration.

But let us honour those on different paths,

praying that we all converge on you.

Let us not be sidetracked by condemning those others,

but help us to model your Son’s way,

challenging, asking for and practising

your Son’s love for humankind.

Amen.

Charge Conference

Last night we had our annual "Charge Conference". I put it in quotation marks because it was called a "Charge Conference" but it really wasn't. The "Charge Conference" is a mandated meeting by the United Methodist Book of Discipline to elect officers for the coming year, and adopted the appointed pastors salary. All of that was to have taken place prior to the meeting last night --- so what we were doing was not really a "Charge Conference." What it really took place was a cheer leading session as we move to a new structure that we are calling clusters.

What is a cluster?

In theory it is to be four or more United Methodist Churches that cluster together to share resources and ideas. How this is going to work is anybodies idea. I am not a fan of anything that is mandated from on high. For years I have had a group of clergy friends that get together regularly to support each other (sometimes just bitch and moan). This too is being mandated from on high, but hopefully what we do now will be sufficient to keep people happy.

I think the cluster idea has some real value if: you keep the clergy out of it for the most part, you have a clear sense of what you are wanting to accomplish, and you acknowledge that this is not a permanent reality, instead it is a temporary one that may morph and change over time. Without those, I am afraid at is destined to fail.

Regardless, it will be interesting as we see where this is going to lead us.

If there is anything I have learned in my almost 25 years as a United Methodist pastor is --- don't expect things to stay the same. There will be another new initiative to save the church and the world right around the corner.

New Generation anyone???