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by Charles Austin ("The Record," May 14, 2000)
CLEVELAND -- "One-third of our family is wounded and bleeding," said the Rev. Linda Campbell-Marshall, a United Methodist district superintendent from Wisconsin, as the church's General Assembly closed Friday. "We are going to have a lot of pastoral work to do when we go home." Churches like to talk about being "family," evoking images of a happy, loving clan gathering for holidays and back-yard picnics, filled with laughter, hugs, and the taste of fried chicken and apple pie. All families are not like that, of course. Sometimes Aunt Martha and Uncle John are banned from the table; and the cousins from East Overshoe know they shouldn't show up on the Fourth of July. Sometimes there are divorces, lawsuits, and custody battles. The United Methodist Church held a family reunion last week that was more of a custody battle than a backyard barbecue. At stake were the rights of homosexuals in the denomination, and whether those who cannot accept the denomination's proscriptions against gay activities can continue as pastors and lay leaders. By a 2-1 ratio, the 1,000 delegates who make up the General Conference of the 8.4-million-member denomination reaffirmed its view that homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching, that non-celibate gay people cannot be ordained, and that pastors may not preside at same-sex unions. The Methodist meeting was the first round in a series of religious debates that will continue when the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) meets in Long Beach, Calif., in June and when the Episcopal Church gathers in Denver in July. The delegates on the losing side in Cleveland tried desperately to reach a compromise that would soften the language of the church regulations, establish a plan for peaceful discussion, and head off a series of embarrassing church trials. But a powerful and well-organized group of conservatives that has long thought the denomination too liberal rallied the delegates around the anti-gay banner. After losing the legislative battle, a less-powerful, but equally committed group on the other side took to the streets and aisles of the convention hall, staging acts of civil disobedience that resulted in hundreds of arrests and indicated the depth of the division in the Methodist Church body. Two Methodist bishops and several clergy were arrested in the protests. The Rev. Philip Wogaman of Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington, D.C., who favored changes in the church position, said the votes of the General Conference settled nothing. "The mind of the church is still open," he said, "We do not have a settled, deep consensus, this is not a matter of counting votes or taking polls; this is a matter for more and more serious discussion." Thirteen of the more than 50 Methodist bishops openly support the efforts to give gays and lesbians full rights in the church, including the right to ordination and the right to have their relationships solemnized in a service at the church. Some conservatives say they felt the pain of those on the other side of the issue but that there was no room for compromise in church doctrine or practice. The Rev. Tom Lamprecht of Greenville, Wis., said he believed that now is the time for those who do not agree with the results of the conference to leave the denomination. The Rev. Maxie Dunham, head of Asbury Theological Seminary in Wyemore, Ky., told a news conference that pastors who disobey "must be held accountable" for their ministries, even if it means trials and defrockings. That is likely to happen. Hundreds of pastors have already indicated that they are willing to preside at same-sex unions. However, some bishops have looked the other way as that aspect of church law is defied and some regional units of the church will try to exempt themselves from the rules, provoking more debates in church courts. The issue is deeper than disagreements over sexuality and -- for all the denominations involved -- touches on the nature of the "church family." Both pro-and anti-gay factions in the churches struggling with homosexuality call upon the same God, use the same doctrinal language, and claim to be walking in the tradition of their religious ancestors. Both cite the Bible, though the anti-gay faction argues that the Bible unequivocally condemns homosexuality, and the other side argues that Bible passages on sexuality can be re-interpreted, based on knowledge and experience gained after the words were set down in scripture. But Methodists have also based their fellowship -- they use the term "connection" -- on the Book of Discipline, a set of rules on church teaching and practice revised every four years at the General Conference. Can those who violate those rules continue as Methodists? "The problem," says Dunham, the seminary president, "is not those of us who follow the discipline, but people that do not want to live within the context that the church has taken." However, others contend that the Methodist discipline also prohibits the use of alcohol or participation in games of chance; and that clergy are not threatened with dismissal if they are seen drinking or in a casino. Episcopalians and Presbyterians also base their fellowship not only on doctrine, but on regulations as to how churches and clergy should function. Like the Methodists, people in those denominations differ on the issue of homosexuality. They must decide whether people who disagree on that issue can stay in the same church. Many -- even some who disapprove of homosexuality -- do not think the disagreements should divide the church. Said Campbell-Marshall, the Wisconsin clergywoman, "There is more to our baptism than our sexuality."
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