A Publication of the Reconciling Congregation Program at Trinity United Methodist Church
Volume 1, Number 4 -January/February 2000
A Publication of the Reconciling Congregation Program at Trinity United Methodist Church
Volume 1, Number 4 -January/February 2000
Two years after they postponed a contentious showdown over same-sex blessing rituals, the rabbis of Judaism's liberal Reform branch will face a decision on the issue at this year's convention. Leaders of the 200-member Women's Rabbinic Network have agreed to force the issue by submitting a resolution sanctioning such ceremonies to the Central Conference of American Rabbis, which holds its national convention March 26ñ29 in Greensboro, N.C. The co-leaders of the women's network, rabbis Shira Stern and Susan Stone, said the resolution agreed to Thursday will differ only slightly from a proposed text the same group published in January in the conference newsletter. That text reads: "The relationship of a Jewish, same-gender couple is worthy of affirmation through appropriate Jewish ritual and...each rabbi should decide about officiation according to his/her own rabbinic conscience." The conference's top two officials had signed a January declaration urging all American religions to normalize same-sex couples. And a conference sexuality study committee in 1998 endorsed recognition rituals for such couples. But there is division within Reform rabbinic ranks. The conference's "responsa committee" whose rulings guide the practices of Reform rabbis, opposed the change in a 7-2 decision. It said rabbis are so divided that "true conversation can no longer take place, and the continued existence of the community as a community...is imperiled."
Southern California bishops from three major mainline Protestant denominations joined rabbis and other clergy Sunday to denounce the anti-gay-marriage initiative on the March 7 California ballot, the Los Angeles Times reports. Speaking to an estimated 600 people who turned out for a teach-in that was part religious revival and part campaign rally, bishops from the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the United Methodist Church charged that Proposition 22--known as the Knight initiative--is the result of fear and bigotry.
"It is a tragedy that the good leaders of the Mormon Church and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese have allowed themselves to be hijacked by the forces of intolerance and bigotry that gave birth to this hate-filled initiative," said the Rev. J. Edwin Bacon Jr., rector of All Saints Church. Outside the church, half a dozen conservative Christians from Cornerstone Ministries in Los Angeles carried picket signs listing Bible verses decrying homosexuality and warning those at the meeting that "judgment is coming by God." Proposition 22 would prohibit California from recognizing same-sex marriages that may be allowed in other states. Although no other state currently permits same-sex marriages, the ballot measure is viewed as a preemptive strike.
Two weeks before a hearing that could put them on trial, a group of United Methodist ministers publicly reaffirmed their blessing of a lesbian couple a year ago, the San Francisco Examiner reports. The service, held in Sacramento's Memorial Auditorium, celebrated the anniversary of Jeanne Barnett and Ellie Charlton's union ceremony. It also cast a spotlight on the upcoming hearing and on the Knight initiative--which would ban legal recognition of gay marriages--on California's March ballot. "We are here to honor Jeanne and Ellie, who stuck their necks out last year and publicly proclaimed their love for each other in the midst of a homophobic society," said the Rev. Don Fado, the Sacramento pastor who led 67 other Methodist clergy in last year's ceremony. "We are also here...to make our statement to the world again,î added Fado, pastor at St. Mark's United Methodist Church. The union ceremony made waves nationally because of the number of ministers who put their jobs on the line in standing up against official Methodist policy banning such blessings for same-sex couples. Their action further divided the United Methodist Church on the issue of homosexuality. And it sparked a complaint against the 68 pastors, all active and retired clergy in the United Methodist Church's California-Nevada Conference. While both the Sacramento-based conference and its bishop, Melvin Talbert, are on record supporting full equality for gay and lesbian church members, the complaint launched legal proceedings within the church that could lead to a mass trial. A three-day public hearing, by the church's committee on investigation, starts February 1 to determine whether formal charges will be brought against the pastors, who now number 67 after the death of one last August. A similar trial in Omaha cost Methodist pastor Jimmy Creech his calling for violating a rule prohibiting the blessing of same-sex couples, which the Methodist Church passed in 1998. Until then, it was up to each minister. But Creech's trial took place in a different conference that, unlike the California-Nevada one, does not support equal treatment of gays.
The Spark, vol. 1, no. 1
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The Spark, vol. 1, no. 3
The Spark, vol. 1, no. 5
The Spark, vol. 1, no. 6
The Spark, vol. 2, no. 1
The Spark, vol. 2, no. 2
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This newsletter is an effort to bring to the public the stories of lesbian & gay Christians, their families & their allies. We look forward to a United Methodist Church that celebrates the full participation of all Christians in the Church.