The Elephant in the Sanctuary

I am a person of both faith and science.  I consider myself a Christian, but I am not a Bible-pounder.  In political terms, I would be called a "moderate" Christian--neither conservative nor liberal.  I have been a Methodist for most of my life, with one foot in the faith of my grandparents (Church of Christ, not associated with Disciples of Christ) and one foot in Unitarian Universalism.  I am happy with my church--Plainfield United Methodist--largely because the issues that divide Christians are not expounded from the pulpit on Sundays.  Sometimes, we have to duke out the issues in adult Sunday School.  But the reality is that I have chosen to shelter myself from the broader political problems within the UMC as a denomination, but now things are coming to a head.  Now "they" are going to force me to face the reality of what I believe or don't believe, and I will have an internal conflict about whether or not to continue to support an organization that has been doing God's Work for centuries.  There is an elephant in each UMC sanctuary, and the time has come to do something about it.  Poop or get off the pot comes to mind...

I refer you to this article, written last summer.  It is mercifully short and succinct, and explains things well, in my opinion: 

https://religionnews.com/2018/06/04/united-methodist-annual-conferences-meet-with-denominations-future-in-flux/

To summarize, the real dividing issue is homosexuality; specifically, whether openly gay people can/should be ordained into the ministry, and whether ministers can/should perform same-sex marriages.  (A subordinate issue is whether these marriages can/should be performed on UMC premises.)

The conservative Christians are passionate about how the Bible calls homosexuality "an abomination to God".  (Old Testament.)  But the Bible also forbids eating pork and shellfish, getting tattoos, divorcing a spouse except under very specific circumstances, and women as teachers, and more.  We don't follow those admonitions.  Why are "we" so appalled by homosexuality?  Many people call it a choice.  Many, many others say it is genetically wired.  What are people so afraid of?  Homosexuality doesn't rub off on others.  If you are, you are.  If you aren't, you aren't.

I once had a student off-handedly say, "I hate gays".  I came unglued.  I asked him how many gays he knew personally.  He admitted none.  And so it goes.  Do I also have to face this in church??

My local church accepts everyone without prejudice, or so it seems.  (You can partake in our worship and make your tithes, but you can't be a leader??)  My local church has also employed a couple of openly-gay men in director positions.  I thought we were above the fray...but no.  One of my Sunday School friends stopped coming to church when one of these men was hired to be in charge of children's education programs.  It seems that he doesn't believe that a gay person should be around children.  Does he think gay people are predatory?  I wish I knew!  If Catholic priests and Protestant youth ministers can prey on young people, why should gays be singled out?

Some people very near and dear to me are LGBTQ.  They have God's grace, the same as every other human and animal in our universe.  To deny them is denying Christ.  I can't be a party to it.  I am an active member of my local church...one of the historians, adult Sunday School teacher, etc., but I am now afraid that the executive direction of the church is going to push me out, due to my conscience.  I'm not gay, but I stand up for those who have been persecuted for their realities.  I don't apologize for that.

I have always considered church as the House of God.  If any one of God's children is turned out of the shepherd's fold, I'll be upset because it challenges the church into which I have placed my faith for most of my life.  If there is an elephant in the sanctuary, everyone in the sanctuary needs to make room for it, accommodate it, and carry on.  Elephants are God's children, too!