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From the Pastor, Ted Pecot
On January 16, 1999, I will co-officiate with eighty other clergy members of this Annual Conference to bless the union of Jeanne Barnett, our Annual Conference Lay Leader, and her partner, Ellie Charlton. Jeanne and Ellie have been long time members of the United Methodist Church holding many key leadership positions in their church and in the Annual Conference. They have been in a faithful relationship for almost a decade. As of August 1998, the United Methodist church has dictated that their relationship cannot be blessed by their pastor or any United Methodist clergy because they are a lesbian couple.
This website, and other resources that we will be distributing in our congregation, I hope will help foster a process of discerning God's will within Morgan Hill United Methodist Church. It is my intention to present the situation as acurately as possible and to highlight the issues and some of the diverse "side" in this conflict. It is my hope that each member reading and studying these pages will not only become more clear about the complexity of this issue, but also open to the various views our congretation is certain to have. At the bottom of this page are links to study questions, bible study and many links to other resources, as well as links to my discernment process so you can see why I have come to the decisions I have.
| The recent prohibition strikes
many of the clergy of this Conference as critically
unjust.
After years of faithful service to the church which has been authorized and supported by members of the church and the Conference leadership, Ellie and Jeanne are told that they are second class members. Their pastor the Reverend Don Fado is threatened with administrative and legal action if he blesses key leaders in his church. So, he asked for other clergy in the conference to stand with him as he officiates this service of blessing. This is not just a holy union. This action is sparking intense debate not only within our Annual Conference, but nationally as well. Although performing a service blessing a homosexual couple ( holy union) has been contrary to the written social principles of the United Methodist Church, the prohibition has been advisory. The new Judicial decision makes the service a chargeable offence for clergy as disobedience. Using the Social Principles as rule of law in this way is unprecedented in United Methodism. Many clergy in this conference find their consciences at odds with the United Methodist judicial decision, and at odds with the leaders that uphold it. They see certain values esteemed in the United Methodist Church as at odds with this decision. Therefore, this holy union is an act of obedience to a higher authority than the judicial court. The holy union is not just a ritual blessing two faithful members of the church, is not just many clergy standing with a colleague who stands in peril, but is also an act of conscience, of freedom, and of grief, because it puts them at odd with their clergy brothers and sisters. This issues takes its place among a number of others that has caused a deep split within this Annual Conference and Conferences across the country and world. Earlier this year, seventy-four clergy within the Evangelical Renewal Fellowship voted to separate from the Annual Conference, some thirty signed a document to that end. The issue of holy unions for homosexual couples has become only a last straw in a conflict that has simmered over many issues. A number of critical issues arose in this controversy with good and faithful Christians and United Methodists on all the conflicting sides. It has become a very complex situation.
|
When I told our Administrative Team about my intention, they had a number of concerns, especially since the consequence of this action on the church is unclear. Participation in this holy union is by me the pastor and not by the church. But how will the pastoral decision reflect on the church itself especially if this event draws national media attention? How do we create room for members differing with a strong opinion held by the pastor? Since we are unsure of the consequences of this action on the church or the pastor, how do we prepare?
We know it is important to create an atmosphere of openness and discussion on this issue within our church. Although our church has not chosen to tackle this issue, it is clear from the national controversy that all churches will need to study the issue of homosexuality and the constellation of issues it evokes at some point, so why not begin now.
Therefore, the Administrative Team decided to take four steps now and see where those lead us:
- I have made an announcement to the congregation so they hear about this action from me, not the media.
- I send a letter to the congregation
at the beginning of the year that explains my stand and
describing some issues and differences represented
in the debate.
- On January 10, we will take time, either in worship or outside the worship time
to explore the issues as objectively as possible so
people can to study and discern God's path for
them.
- We ask the congregation to pray for Ted and others who are taking this action. Whether or not you agree with the action, Ted needs our prayers for guidance and strength to follow Christ's call.
Wer hope the this website will provide some of the issues and discussions to help members of the church reach a thoughful and prayerful understanding of the issues that face us. I am convinced there is great value in opinions that differ from mine. I hope this site adequately presents view points radically different from mine.
The site links directly to websites operated by coalitions supporting various views in this debate. Sadly, most represent groups with clear and uncompromising opinions. No sites express the vast confusion and struggle which probably represents the majority of United Methodists. There are few resource, as yet, helping people to discern their way through these issues. Nor are there many options proposed yet by those hoping to avoid conflict.
I am deeply saddened by the necessity of taking action on January 16 -- not because what this does to the church -- we have gone through worse struggles and this one could easily strengthen the work of Christ. I am sad because no couple, contemplating a blessing of their faithful relationship should have to have it become a media event or the ground of judgment. Too many have had to bear this. As a pastor I am heartsick to realize what Jeanne and Ellie will be put through in this. I am deeply convinced that homosexuals must be given full and equal ground within our membership.
However, I do not think that the way to achieve inclusion in this is by creating such a divisive event. In this I agree with my Bishop and my District Superintendent. In my experience, transformation occurs more completely and more gently when stories are told by gay and lesbian members, or their relatives. Prejudices and exclusions tend to melt in the face of these real life situations. The January 16th event will not help in this transformation, and it may highlight the polarization of the sides making transformation more difficult.
However, while transformation is occuring, this law may do incredible damage, as it now threatens one of my clergy friends. He is caught between his need to respond pastorally to members of his congregation and the legal consequences of that action and he asks for my help. It threatens the trust the conference places in its Elders and in me to make prayerful and pastoral decisions. It once again tells the gay and lesbian members of our parishes that they are not wanted -- it tells this to Jeanne and Ellie. I must resist such actions. Were it not for this new law, I would be content to let the discussion and the disagreement take its natural course, stand my ground in the discussion, and trust my colleagues, lay and clergy alike, to discern the Spirit in time.
Jesus stood with the outcasts of his day, perhaps even at the cost of his life. And they became the church and our ancestors in this faith. One of the first converts to the church, perhaps the one who started the Eithiopian church was a man who changed his gender so that he could serve his ruler. He thereby became an outcast to the Jewish people, yet was a valuable asset to the Christian church. Women, children, and people who were disabled were all treated in a way we call abuse now, "outcast", and yet we have grown by valuing what they have to give. If there is any question in this debate, and I believe our serious disagreements leads at least to that, then I feel we must err on the side of inclusion and suspend judgment. To do anything else seems to disobey Christ who stands waiting in the center of all our talking and disagreeing.
I also have a strong conviction that where we, or any community, face serious and difficult conflicts that no side has fully the right answer and that time open our eyes tio new perspectives, new research, new solutions or at least better answers. We are talking about the very nature of human sexuality, attraction, creation, and redemption. We are deeply in the heart of the mystery of life. In the last fifty years, science and psychology have openned up so many arenas of insight and questioning that I believe all sides of the dialogue, so vehement today, will seem foolish in twenty years. But God calls us to act on what we know and where we are, so we do the best we can.
Please enter this site with an open and seeking heart. Study and talk with other members of the congregation. Be fearless about sharing your point of view so we can talk honestly, but also be vigilant in accepting and hearing other points of view. Our community can be strengthened in a time when conflict threatens to divide us. We can choose to fight with one another and join a national battle that may divide us, or we can choose to listen and seek and trust one another's conscious choices until we gain a clearer view of the wisdom of God and are made whole by it. In history, the greatest and most difficult conflicts have led people of faith to violence or to the greatest insights and literature we now claim as our own. The choice will be ours.