Sometimes those denied justice, yet who finally win their cause, earnestly start again fighting for the rights and dignity of the next suppressed group prevented from the fullness of life. So we salute the group of United Methodist Clergywomen, meeting in Chicago this week, who are calling for full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the church.This marks the 50th anniversary of the United Methodist Churchs removing all gender barriers and permitting women the same rights as males to be pastors and enjoy all the privileges and responsibilities. As a dramatic way of marking that anniversary milestone and reminding the organization that change in 1956 came through relentless work, a group symbolically pounded doors of the church demanding their denomination drop its rules that keep gay people from full inclusion in church and society.
At the 2006 International United Methodist Clergywomens Consultation at the McCormick Place Convention Center, women repeatedly pounded on doors as participants arrived for Tuesdays morning session. Available to sign was a Blood Knuckle Petition, calling on signers to take six actions: 1) educate themselves and their congregations about the issues of LGBT persons; 2) pray communally and privately for those wounded and excluded by the churchs sin of homophobia; 3) offer tangible and vocal support to LGBT friends and family; 4) help elect delegates to future General Conferences who will do all in their power to ensure the full inclusion of LGBT persons in church and society; 5) talk to the same delegates about electing fair-minded, faithful Judicial Council members who may some day have to rule on whether LGBT pastors can stay in ministry; and 6) become familiar with and involved in justice ministries.
Activists displayed a banner that said, Closed doors, broken hearts. We mind. That parodies the denominations widely used motto: “Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors.
During the event Monday, retired United Methodist Judith Craig underscored the issue in a sermon, based on Luke 18:1-8 — the account of the widow who kept knocking on the judges door until justice was provided to her. Craig, who was a bishop 1984 to 2000, first in Michigan and then in Ohio, compared the early pioneers in the womens ordination movement to the widow in the Bible. Methodist women knocked without quitting until full ordination rights came a half-century ago. Sometimes, persistent people knock on doors until their knuckles are bloody but ultimately bring change, she said.
Led by the Reconciling Ministries Network (www.rmnetwork.org), advocates for the change are angry by the church’s judicial council ruled last Oct. 31 in Houston to strip the pastoral credentials of the Rev. Beth Stroud, associate pastor of First United Methodist Church in Germantown, Pa., who acknowledged she as a practicing lesbian. In time, of course, Stroud will be recognized as a pastor who sacrificed her career for a cause worth fighting and that will be won.
Advocates for change are calling on activists to get their concerns heard before the 2008 General Conference in Fort Worth, Texas.
United Methodists in the Western Jurisdiction have been especially bold in opening speaking out against bans on gay people. As long ago as the 2000 Western Conference, delegates have forthrightly spoken out. In July 2000, they adopted this statement: “We cannot accept discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender persons and, therefore, we will work toward their full participation at all levels in the life of the church and society. Six years later and the quest goes on.
God, I wish the Methodist Church in Dublin would be courageous enough to openly accept gay people!