No -isms Here

Galatians 3:28

In this election year, we have constantly heard mean, nasty, degrading speeches as part of the Republican debates and primary election ads. We have heard:

•  women reduced to human incubators by removing their ability to make decisions about their own bodies,
• candidates accused of infanticide because they believe a woman should be able to make their own decisions,
•  the poor defined as insignificant while bragging about driving two Cadillacs,
• personal religious beliefs slandered.
• a whole segment of society is prevented from having recognized loving relationships, and
• code words used in place of the ‘N’ word to denigrate and demean anyone who is not like them.

In my sixty-some years, I have never heard such language and disrespect for other people. For a country that professes to be a ‘Christian’ nation, what I see is about as far away from acting in the way Jesus taught as you could possibly get. It makes me ashamed – and appalled that those who truly follow Jesus’ teachings are so silent.

Aren’t we sending a message to those non-religious or unchurched a message that we ‘Christians’ are hypocrites at the highest level!

And in my humble opinion, at the root of all this . . . what is really the unspoken issue . . . what no one wants to say

Is RACISM!

And BIGOTRY.

Those people who are fundamentally opposed to an African-American president are using code words like ‘Food Stamp President’ to display their own hidden prejudice and bigotry.

But as we heard in the Scripture reading, Jesus taught that no one is better than another. This was very revolutionary at the time, because society was based on the ‘haves and have-nots’. There were distinct class differences: the upper class did not associate with the poor, servants were not recognized by their masters, people with illness or disabilities were abandoned on the streets.

Jesus’ proclamation that we are all equal in the eyes of God upset all the cultural boundaries of the day. . . and still does today.

But he said again and again, that we are all one in Jesus – equal in the eyes of God. That means that each one of us, no matter whether

Upper class, middle class or poor
Homeless or housed
Healthy or disabled
Educated or illiterate
Black or white
Straight or gay

Are equal in the eyes of God. . . are to be loved and respected as each of our brothers and sisters.

Did everyone forget the Golden Rule:

do unto others as you would have them do unto you? (Matthew 7:12)

And I have to say, that as much as we see all this in the public arena, I have also seen it in our own community. Lately, there has been an undercurrent which disturbs me – people are taking snipes at each other and making racial and sexual slurs.

I will tell you that is NOT the place for that. This is a house of God – where everyone is equal. We, as a community, should not and will not allow it to continue!

We all have our good points and the not-so-good sides of our personalities. At any time, we may be having a bad day, but that is NOT an excuse for treating our fellow brothers and sisters with disrespect. There is no place for any ‘–ism’ (racism, sexism, classism . . .) in this place. . . or in God’s kingdom!

When we are hurt, we want to hurt back, but often the one who hurts us is too powerful, so a safe substitute is found. We find someone that we tell ourselves is lesser than us and blame everything on them. So many riots and wars have been fueled by this anger and bigotry. In the period of a depressed economy, more and more people are jockeying for a position in society. . . which, if not recognized and controlled, can cause one group of people to purposely denigrate and defile another. It may be subtle, using code words so only those who feel that same way understand the ‘–ism’. Or it may be very obvious and blatant.

But this lack of love for our brothers and sisters is a SIN!

We are all equal in the eyes of God.

We have the responsibility to expose these hidden ‘–isms’ so that we can all walk together. . . any race, any creed, any background, any gender, any culture, any socio-economic level.

We need to:

• Acknowledge our own negative thoughts, feelings and attitudes of fear, anxiety, anger, guilt
• Acknowledge our thoughts, feeling and attitudes toward those who are different
• Acknowledge that we are all children of the same Creator
• Acknowledge that hate, bigotry and –isms prevent us from living into the fullness of a life in Christ And then we need to cleanse our hearts and minds of those things that feed the hatred and bigotry

Let us pray:

Dear God, help us to remember that when we see with bigoted hearts, who not only do we reject you but also close ourselves off from experiencing all of your children. Help us to overcome these negative feelings and embrace all wonders of the world you have created.
Amen

Delivered at In The Garden, Trinity Episcopal Church on Capitol Square, Columbus, OH: 26 February 2012

A Terrorist is a Terrorist – No Matter WHO It Is!

We are all reeling from yet another atrocity – the massacre at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland, Texas. The fact that someone chose to mow down people worshipping on a Sunday is an anathema of all this country professes to be. Unfortunately, we live in a world that is sadly marked by increasing violence and terrorism. It seems like very few days go by, if any at all, without some horrible act of terror or random violence. It has become such a ‘normal’ occurrence that some in the country hardly react any longer. There is surely something wrong in our society when the solution to a problem or reaction to anger is to not only kill the offender, but also massacre innocence people in the process.

But equally disturbing to me is that whenever there is a terror attack, the natural impulse is to blame a Muslim or ISIS. Are we so influenced by the national attitude that we can’t wait to immediately attach the nomer ‘Islam’ or ‘ISIS’ to the word ‘terrorist’? Perhaps it is easier to accept that a foreign element is responsible for our mounting atrocities than to accept the perpetrator may be the person next door, but clearly that is not so.

It is human nature to seek scapegoats for the causes of evil – it is far easier to look upon the things that come from without than the things from within. That chosen scapegoat suffices only until another deadly attack happens; then we repeat the blaming (mental health, access to guns, foreign agents).

If you look at the last six massacres, each one was perpetrated by a home-grown, All-American citizen – not some foreign boogey man. They may have had mental health issues, but they grew up and lived as a citizen of the United States. We are reluctant to admit that ‘we’ have spawned this monster.

We do not call their actions ‘terrorism’ . . . but terrorism is terrorism. . . – no matter who the person is. Whether they have a mental problem or are seeking revenge for a perceived slight, when one kills and maims dozens of innocent people, they are still ‘terrorists’. And until we accept that their actions are not solely, ‘mental health issues’, or ‘gun control issues’, but ‘acts of terror’, it will be nearly impossible to address these actions.

Living among us as law-abiding and patriotic Americans are thousands of Muslims. In a knee-jerk reaction, to continually label them as a group as being the cause each time we have an incidence of terror in our midst, is unfair, unjust, and weakens our ability to address the real causes behind the terrorist’s act.

We, as Christians, need to begin to address the causes of terrorism. We need to provide services for those who feel they have been a victim of injustice. And we need to be a strident, but loving voice against those who spout hatred against those who are not ‘like us’, whether ethnic, racial, gender, or religious. If we begin to ‘love one another as we love ourselves’, maybe we can begin to change the world.

We can pray this will be so – and put our prayers into action.
 

written for The Crossroads, Saint John’s Episcopal Church in Worthington & Parts Adjacent, OH; 12 November 2017

The Complicated Relationship Between The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion Strikes Again

You have all probably heard from multiple sources that when the Primates met at Canterbury last week they ‘suspended’ the Episcopal Church from fully participating in activities of the Anglican Communion for the next three years.

There is certainly more to this than the various headlines have presented, and more background is needed to fully understand what happened and what that means for the future of both The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion.

First of all, the Anglican Communion is NOT the governing body of all the Anglican (and Episcopal) churches in the world. When you research the word ‘communion’ you will find that the Anglican Communion is:

A group of Christian Churches derived from or related to the Church of England, including the Episcopal Church in the US and other national, provincial, and independent churches. The Anglican Communion has no official legal existence nor any governing structure which might exercise authority over the member churches.

The loose relationship in no way resembles the Roman Catholic church and its council of cardinals. We are bound by friendship and belief in following the teaching of Jesus. Therein lies the rub.

There are 44 different regional and national member churches in more than 160 countries within the Anglican Communion. Each of the regional and national churches have a primate (or in our case, Presiding Bishop) who represents their group within the Anglican Communion, there are 41 primates and Anglican Communion officials who attended the latest primates’ meeting. A complete list of all members can be found at Provinces of the Anglican Communion.

Archbishop Justin Welby called this unscheduled meeting of the primates (usually they meet every ten years) to try and defuse the animosity that exists between certain members of the Anglican Communion and The Episcopal Church. There have been rumblings of ‘schism’ ever since the 1970’s when The Episcopal Church issued a statement that gay men and lesbians “have a full and equal claim with all other persons upon the love, acceptance, and pastoral concern and care of the Church.” This was exacerbated by the consecration of Gene Robinson as the bishop of New Hampshire in 2003. The final straw for some members of the Anglican Communion was the development of an official rite for same-gender marriage developed in 2009 and approved in 2015.

Many of the African primates of the Anglican Communion have an interpretation of biblical scripture which suggests to them that The Episcopal Church is non-biblical and non-Christian. Benjamin Nzimbi, the former primate of the Anglican Church in Kenya, once said, “Our understanding of the Bible is different from them. We are two different churches.”

One must note that, Africa, as a whole, is oppressive to LGBT persons; in approximately 70 countries, persons can be imprisoned or even executed for being homosexual. In several cases, the Anglican Church has taken a position of support for these draconian laws and associated punishments.

Last week the majority of the Anglican Communion voted to ‘suspend’ The Episcopal Church from any activities that ‘represent us (The Anglican Communion) on ecumenical and interfaith bodies; in addition, The Episcopal Church cannot not be appointed or elected to an internal standing committee, and that while The Episcopal Church can participate in the internal bodies of the Anglican Communion, cannot take part in decision making on any issues pertaining to doctrine or polity’ for three years.

The total text of the communiqué can be found at: Statement from the Primates 2016.

Our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, told the Episcopal News Service that the Primates statement about TEC was “not the outcome we expected.”

Bishop Curry added: “While we are disappointed, it’s important to remember that the Anglican Communion is really not a matter of structure and organization. The Anglican Communion is a network of relationships that have been built on mission partnerships; relationships that are grounded in a common faith; relationships in companion diocese relationships; relationships with parish to parish across the world; relationships that are profoundly committed to serving and following the way of Jesus of Nazareth by helping the poorest of the poor, and helping this world to be a place where no child goes to bed hungry ever. “That’s what the Anglican Communion is, and that Communion continues and moves forward.”

He said: “This has been a disappointing time for many, and there will be heartache and pain for many, but it’s important to remember that we are still part of the Anglican Communion. We are the Episcopal Church, and we are part of the Jesus Movement, and that Movement goes on, and our work goes on.”

The President of the House of Deputies, Rev Gay Clark Jennings, emphasized that The Episcopal Church will not step back from its firm belief in the sanctity of all people, and striving ‘to make safe the road from Jericho to Jerusalem that is walked by everyone who strives for just and fair societies and full inclusion in the Body of Christ.’

The Episcopal Church will continue to work around the world to spread the good news of the Gospel, to

feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, and heal the sick (Matthew 25:35-36)

as we are directed by Jesus.

Although we may be suspended from decision-making in the Anglican Communion, The Episcopal Church will continue as it has in the past. It is anyone’s guess what will happen at the end of the three years.

It is our work now, while we hurt and are sad for the Anglican Communion and this misguided spirit that mocks the teaching of Jesus, to pray for the world, and all those that are persecuted as we move forward, following our belief in the sanctity and belovedness of all people of God.
 
 

Written for Saint John’s Episcopal Church Crossroads, Worthington, OH; 19 January 2016

NOTE: number of attendees at the meeting modified on 22 January 2016)

Being Gay Is A Gift From God

Keep, O Lord, your Church in your steadfast faith and love, that through your grace we may proclaim your truth with boldness and minister your justice with compassion. Amen.

Good morning!

I am here this morning to assert that those of us in the LGBTQ community are a lucky and blessed people, and we have more work to do!

Oh yes, I know we still hear that gay folks choose to be ‘that way’. We still hear people talk about the struggles and pain of growing up in a hostile world, a world still trying to deny us equal rights in the workplace, in the voting booth and in our churches. In fact, just this past week a major religious denomination met here in Columbus and spent the entire two days of their conference berating marriage equality, the worthiness of gay people as human beings, and using the Bible to justify their divisive and hateful stance.

We know that in more than half the states it is still legal to be fired for being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. Transgender persons, especially, have more limited options for employment and meaningful work. Transgender people, gay people of color, are subject to violence at alarming rates and teen suicide rates are alarming.

Whether it is immigration inequality, hate crimes, the rights of children of same-sex couples, or youth who are at a higher risk of suicide, we face struggles for total inclusion. There are still countless states, even today, where one can be fired solely on the basis of being LGBTQ. While coming out of the closet can be a source of pride for many, for others, openly stating that they are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender can have profoundly damaging personal and professional ramifications, causing some individuals to lose their families and their jobs.

Yes, we have many things to work on for ourselves. And I think that some in our LGBTQ community still argue ‘you must be kind to be kind to us because we have been oppressed, and because we can’t help being the way we are…’ Well, you know what? That’s not good enough. That line of reasoning is outdated and simplistic and worst of all, condescending. . . and it just isn’t true!

I’m here to let you in on a secret: For me, being a lesbian is a wonderful thing, and I wouldn’t change it if I could. I have always felt like being gay was a blessing. God made me this way and I am SO grateful! When discussions about gay rights in government and churches focus on the argument that we have no choice, they completely disregard the fact that we are whole, beautiful, blessed people. Those arguments serve to keep us in a state of victimhood, to make us feel like equal rights and opportunities would be benevolent gifts from people who were born somehow better than we, rather than what we merit as citizens and children of God.

When we say that being gay is a gift from God, at least I feel that way, we reject this fallacy. We take our place as equal members of a wonderful family of human beings and say we will not accept prejudice, or pity or demeaning comparisons.

Loving your neighbor as yourself requires you to love yourself first.

I am not a gay deacon in the Episcopal Church, but a deacon who happens to be gay. The fact that I am gay does not, and should not, and will not define my diaconate OR my being. Being gay is who I am as a person and how I witness and experience the world around me. My experience helps to inform how I understand the people in my congregations as well as the unique lives of the people in the LGBTQ community. I strive to bring this sensitivity to congregants of all sexual orientations and gender identities; indeed to all people in their diversity and uniqueness, whatever that may be.

You may hear complaints that we celebrate ‘Gay Pride’ – after all, they say, no one celebrates ‘Straight Pride’. Maybe they should!

For ‘pride’ is loving oneself, fully and completely. It is being unapologetic about any aspect our lives as God created us. It’s affirming that we are beloved children of God . . . each and every one of us in in the image of the Creator.

Gay pride or black pride or Latino pride or Islamic pride is about demanding that we be treated with the same dignity and respect as everyone else. Whether done subtly or with flamboyance and pizazz, pride is about us asserting our humanity in a society that so often treats others as people of lesser value, people who are wounded or are somehow rejects.

Pride is about saying ‘we want a world where there are no rejects’.

Many years ago I was asked to provide a testimony at a Methodist Church that was working toward becoming open and affirming. I related how the church had been so supportive of me as my lesbian partner of 27 years was dying of cancer. Nothing special. . . just thanks to a congregation that was struggling to become totally inclusive. I didn’t think anyone really paid much attention to me. But after the service, a young man came up to me, with tears in his eyes, thanking me for saying how much God and the church had loved and supported me. It seems that he had been rejected by family and friends and was going to go home and kill himself that very day! Because of my testimony, he now had a glimmer of hope that God created him as a gay man and there were those who accepted him as he was.

Our gay pride witnesses to others and changes lives.

The first officially recognized LGBT Pride Parade occurred in New York City in 1970 as a partial response to the Stonewall riots that occurred a year earlier; it was then known as “The Christopher Street Gay Liberation Day Parade.” Now some 45 years later, when cities across the nation and the world are filled to the brim on Pride Day with the entire spectrum of queer life, as well as their family, friends, and supporters. They (and we!) march on the streets and declare our unapologetic presence and our joy in our humanity as God created us.

So, let us spend this time with immense pride and thanksgiving for how far we have come. An increasing number of states, as well Washington, D.C., legally recognize gay marriage. “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” has been overturned, and a sitting United States president has openly denounced the so-called “Defense of Marriage Act.” The speed with which change is occurring, to me, is breathtaking. I NEVER thought I would see this in my lifetime!

Of course, there is more work to be done. Religious leaders and faith communities have a unique platform to bring healing to all. The first step is to fight bigotry and discrimination with love and understanding. We have the ability to fight for our cause while still embodying the same values we are fighting for. The means for action may be different for each of us. For some of us, lobbying in our state capitals for our LGBTQ equality is the way we can influence; for others, it may be working for the political candidate of your choice; for some, it may simply be being loud and making noise for issues that are important to us – this our responsibility. We can’t overlook, standing for ourselves, the truth is that sometimes just standing as your true self (lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender), in our communities, is the most influential way to affect change.

We have the power to de-stigmatize the words “gay” and “transgender” just by our ability to speak them with ease. In a political environment where our society is bombarded with messages that God, religion, and the Bible denounce homosexuality, those of us who are spiritual people must teach that God is love, and that the world we believe in celebrates life and love. There is not an age too young or too old to know that our faith teaches that every person is made in the image of God, and is born with the same rights and deserve the same respect as everyone else.

And is it time to share our blessing! It is time to take our leadership, our indomitable spirits, and our insistence for inclusion of ALL in our society to helping other marginalized and persecuted people. It is impossible to stand here today in total joy and pride for what we have accomplished as LGBTQ people without remembering the tremendous hate, violence, and cruelty STILL visited upon our black brothers and sisters in every aspect of their lives. What happened this past week in Charleston, what has happened into so many cities to young black men, reveals, once again, an evil and meanness rampant in our society that belittles us all.

What we are doing to immigrants on our southern border is inhumane and evil. And we as gay people, are not fully free and fully included until all people are free and included. We MUST take our strength and our joy and our blessing and our sure knowledge of the love of God for all of us to not only work for own total inclusion, but for the well-being and safety and inclusion of ALL marginalized groups on this planet.

So this Gay Pride Day, as we see thousands of smiling people, cheering for us and with us, let us remember it is because we are standing up for justice, and love and pride for everyone. That is what we see during the Gay Pride parades held all over the world. We are gays, lesbians, transgenders and our allies marching hand-in-hand, marching in the Columbus Gay Pride Parade, under the banner of

‘Pride – Be The Change’!

Our family and friends join us with their love and pride of their LGBTQ kin. The religions represented here today stand up and say not only that they tolerate LGBTQ people, they love and respect them… they not only welcome the gay community, but that they are part of the gay community.

We will march today as family. Not as a biological family, though some such families are present here today; but as the human family united by love.

By marching in Pride, we are standing up to say that it’s not about loving the sinner while hating the sin—it’s about rejecting the idea that love is ever a sin! Even in a town that seems as open and accepting as Columbus, marching in a Pride Parade as a community of faith is a radical and important action. Even if just one person sees us, just one person who didn’t know there is a place that will love them, it will be worthwhile. We might be able to reach that one youth who has lost all hope and sees suicide as the only way out of the pain.

And I assert, that marching together in this Pride Parade today, means that we will not accept hatred or exclusion for any other human being, be they black, Latino, disabled, or of any religion. For us in the faith community, it means that we will not accept the bogus idea that any religion has the right to hurt and marginalize others. Marching today means that we are one with each other and with all humanity.

And so we march in pride, to celebrate who we are: clapping and shouting for joy, singing praises to God and saying to each other and to the world that who we are —who God made us to be —is beautiful, wonderful and holy and blessed.

AMEN!
 
 
Delivered at Integrity Pride Service, Trinity Episcopal Church on Capitol Square, Columbus, OH 20 June 2015

Southernism: Queer as a Three Dollar Bill (or LGBT in the Southland)

insightful, even if you don’t live in the South

progressiveredneckpreacher

In Southernisms, we look at common southern phrases, practices, foods, music, or culture, usually after allowing readers to comment using a hashtag.  This began as #youmightbegltbinthesouthif but I expanded it to help reference some of the ways LGBT life is changing in the south.  I hope to next talk about the “new south” and the fusion of traditional southern culture with new trends.  Post a description of something you think of as a fun, thought-provoking, or quirky example of the newsouth with #newsouth, and share it here on this blog post or on our facebook page.

This Easter Saturday, for the second year in a row, my wife Katharine and I were blessed to go to the home of two of our friends in the Triangle area of North Carolina for an old fashioned southern brunch with a twist.  As with any southern brunch, there is rich food.  There are…

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Religious Freedom Restoration?? Really!!

Ohio tried a bill like Indiana’s just before the Supreme Court decision on the Windsor case so they withdrew it. I expect to see it rear its ugly head in the near future.

We have always had the right to refuse to marry a couple; but to refuse to serve food, or provide gasoline or withhold medical care is not religious freedom – it is, pure and simple, discrimination. . . would someone withhold services because a woman in shorts came into a Muslim-owned business? or an Pentecostal with long hair and bonnet in a drugstore requesting necessary drugs? There’s a long list that these laws would allow – and could even affect those not targeted. LGBTs are not the only ones who could suffer under these laws.

Notice Ohio’s position on these draconian discrimination laws:

31 states have heightened religious freedom protections
By Juliet Eilperin March 1, 2014 

The recent flurry of state bills giving religious exemptions from certain laws — including the Arizona law that Gov. Jan Brewer (R) just vetoed — raises a question: How many states already provide heightened protection for the exercise of religion?

The answer? Thirty-one, 18 of which passed state laws based on the 1993 federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The protections in an additional 13 states came through court rulings. Here’s a map of which states have added protections and which do not:

“These state RFRAs were enacted in response to Supreme Court decisions that had nothing to do with gay rights or same-sex marriage,” explained University of Virginia law professor Douglas Laycock in an e-mail. “And the state court decisions interpreting their state constitutions arose in all sorts of contexts, mostly far removed from gay rights or same-sex marriage. There were cases about Amish buggies, hunting moose for native Alaskan funeral rituals, an attempt to take a church building by eminent domain, landmark laws that prohibited churches from modifying their buildings – all sorts of diverse conflicts between religious practice and pervasive regulation.”

A new political fight has emerged in part because some of these more recent proposals are shifting the definition of when citizens can opt out on religious grounds. The federal law says that the government may not pass a law that “substantially burdens a person’s exercise of religion.” But now some businesses — including the ones who are challenging the Affordable Care Act’s contraception coverage mandate in the Supreme Court — are arguing that they don’t have to meet this substantial-burden test.

Kansas, for example, already has the Kansas Preservation of Religious Freedom Act. But its state House passed a bill that would have allowed any individual to refuse to recognize same-sex couples or provide them with services on religious grounds, without having to show that such compliance would substantially burden their ability to exercise their faith.

This week the Kansas state Senate declined to take up the House bill. Laycock, who described that proposal as extreme, wrote that both advocates and opponents of these laws are poisoning Americans’ views of what religious freedom means.

“The conflicts over gay rights and contraception are polarizing the country and endangering religious liberty more generally,” he wrote. “Neither side in these fights seems to have any respect for the liberty of the other.”

Gov. Pence: Religious law ‘not about discrimination’(1:07) (http://wapo.st/1BPCSTY” title=”Governor Pence on RFRA)

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence vigorously defended the state’s new religious objections law. Businesses and organizations including the NCAA pressed concerns that it could open the door to legalizing discrimination against gay people. (AP)

Juliet Eilperin is The Washington Post’s White House bureau chief, covering domestic and foreign policy as well as the culture of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. She is the author of two books—one on sharks, and another on Congress, not to be confused with each other—and has worked for the Post since 1998.
 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/03/01/where-in-the-u-s-are-there-heightened-protections-for-religious-freedom”

6th Circuit Court Breaks From Unanimous Appellate Rulings, Upholds Discrimination

NOTE: my wife/spouse (of almost 17 year) and I chose to go to Greenwich Village, NYC in December 2013 to be legally married. We had intended to wait until marriage was legal in Ohio, but because of my position as a clergy and activist in Ohio and the United States Congress for the marginalized, disenfranchised and needy, we felt the time was right to make a statement by going out-of-state to receive the right of marriage equality that the State Of Ohio denied us.

After the fall of all the previously contested DOMA laws, we were fairly confident that the 6th Circuit Court would follow suit. . . alas, we were wrong. It is unconscionable to think that professed ‘progressive’ states would uphold the draconian restriction against marriage equality.

Many thanks to Adam Polaski for publishing this synopsis of the court rulings.

Although disheartened (and more than a little ashamed of our circuit court for being so out of step with the rest of the nation), we are not defeated. Our campaign to ensure ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness‘ for these four states is not over. . . to paraphrase a line from Martin Luther King, Jr. “until all are free, none are free“. We stand with John Paul Jones – We Have Just Begun to Fight!
 
 
By Adam Polaski, FreedomtoMarry.org
Nov 06, 2014 at 04:30 pm

Today, November 6, the United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit issued the first ruling in favor of upholding laws that discriminate against same-sex couples from a federal appellate court in the past several years. In doing so, the Court upheld marriage bans in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee and led to the continued discrimination of thousands of same-sex couples in these four states.

The plaintiffs and legal team in the case may now seek certiorari from the United States Supreme Court, or they could seek an en banc review before the full 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. On Monday, October 6, just one month ago, the Supreme Court indicated that it saw nothing wrong with the freedom to marry for same-sex couples by effectively allowing anti-marriage laws to be struck down in eleven states.

Learn more about the six cases from the four states here, at http://www.6thCircuit.org, and read the full ruling HERE..

Freedom to Marry Founder and President Evan Wolfson said today:

Today’s ruling is completely out of step with the Supreme Court’s clear signal last month, out of step with the constitutional command as recognized by nearly every state and federal court in the past year, and out of step with the majority of the American people. This anomalous ruling won’t stand the test of time or appeal. But with discrimination still burdening too many families, and now with this split in the circuits, Freedom to Marry calls on the Supreme Court to swiftly take these cases, affirm the freedom to marry, and bring national resolution once and for all. American couples and their families should no longer be forced to fight court by court, state by state, day by day for the freedom and dignity that our Constitution promises.

6th Circuit Judge Martha Craig Daughtrey dissented from the ruling. She wrote:

These plaintiffs are not political zealots trying to push reform on their fellow citizens; they are committed same-sex couples, many of them heading up de facto families, who want to achieve equal status — de jure status, if you will — with their married neighbors, friends, and coworkers, to be accepted as contributing members of their social and religious communities, and to be welcomed as fully legitimate parents at their children’s schools. They seek to do this by virtue of exercising a civil right that most of us take for granted – the right to marry.

For although my colleagues in the majority pay lip service to marriage as an institution conceived for the purpose of providing a stable family unit “within which children may flourish,” they ignore the destabilizing effect of its absence in the homes of tens of thousands of same-sex parents throughout the four states of the Sixth Circuit.

Instead of recognizing the plaintiffs as persons, suffering actual harm as a result of being denied the right to marry where they reside or the right to have their valid marriages recognized there, my colleagues view the plaintiffs as social activists who have somehow stumbled into federal court.

The 6th Circuit is the first federal appellate court this year to rule against the freedom to marry. Previous victories emerged this summer and fall in the 4th Circuit, 7th Circuit, and 10th Circuit. Those rulings added to nearly 40 additional wins in state and federal court.

In just the past month, same-sex couples have effectively won the freedom to marry in 16 different states: On Monday, October 6, the U.S. Supreme Court denied review in five marriage cases, clearing the way for the freedom to marry not only in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin – but also paving the path toward marriage in Colorado, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming, the other states in the 10th and 4th Circuits. Just one day later, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals also affirmed the freedom to marry in a case from Idaho and a case from Nevada, setting the stage for marriage in those two states, as well as Alaska, Arizona and Montana. So far, just four of these states – Montana, Wyoming, Kansas, and South Carolina – have not yet implemented the appellate orders.

With these victories, just 15 states will soon remain without the freedom to marry – and today’s out-of-step ruling from the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ensures that in four of these states, same-sex couples will for now continue to be denied the freedom to marry and real American families will continue to be hurt. As the prospective appeal in this ruling works its way to the 6th Circuit and, likely, the U.S. Supreme Court, it is more important than ever for the nation’s highest court to recognize that it is time to take up a case and rule for the freedom to marry nationwide. It is simply untenable for 15 states to deny same-sex couples the same fundamental freedoms that are available or soon will be available in 35 other states.

It is simply time for the freedom to marry nationwide.

Meet the real families – plaintiff couples and their childrenimpacted by today’s ruling. And Read the full ruling here.

http://bit.ly/1xaqPS8

Transgender priest preaches at Washington’s National Cathedral

(Reuters) – An Episcopal chaplain on Sunday became the first openly transgender priest to preach at the historic National Cathedral in Washington D.C.

The Reverend Dr. Cameron Partridge, one of seven openly transgender clergy in the Episcopal Church, spoke from the Canterbury Pulpit in honor of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community’s Pride Month, the Cathedral said.

Partridge told congregants in his guest appearance he was proud to be a part of a church that was pushing for acceptance of all people, regardless of sexual orientation or identity.

“As we behold one another in these days of celebration may we honor the way we sustain each other,” he said.

Partridge, who began transitioning to male from female over a decade ago, is the Episcopal Chaplain at Boston University and a lecturer and counselor at Harvard Divinity School.

Reverend Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Episcopal bishop, presided over the service on Sunday, which included readings and prayers by gay, lesbian and transgender church members.

The Episcopal Church, an independent U.S.-based institution affiliated with global Anglicanism, voted in 2012 to allow the ordination of transgender people and also approved same-sex marriage blessings.

Last week, a gathering of U.S. Presbyterian Church leaders followed suit, voting to allow their clergy to perform same-sex weddings.

The Episcopal Church approved its first openly gay bishop in 2003, when Reverend Robinson ascended to lead the diocese of New Hampshire.

The move was met with controversy. Hundreds of parishes opposed his consecration, saying the church was becoming too liberal.

(Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere in New York; Editing by Rosalind Russell)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/22/us-usa-washington-dc-cathedral-idUSKBN0EX0WH20140622

The Southern Baptist Convention Throws Transgender People Under The Bus

Yesterday delegates to the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention (the largest Protestant body in American, with around 16 million members) approved a resolution concerning transgender people. The points they affirmed about transgender people are below, each followed by the supporting text from the affirmed resolution. Following these points is the whole of the resolution from which this support is derived.

Transgender people are crazy. (“[Transgender people experience] a perceived conflict between their biological sex and their gender identity.”)

Transgender people are delusional. (“Gender identity should be determined by biological sex and not by one’s self-perception.”)

Transgender people are rejecting God’s will (“We affirm God’s original design to create two distinct and complementary sexes, male and female.” “We affirm distinctions in masculine and feminine roles as ordained by God.”)

Transgender people are rejecting God’s plan. (“We affirm that male and female designate the fundamental distinction that God has embedded in the very biology of the human race.”)

If transgender people would pray more they’d stop being transgender. (“We invite all transgender persons to trust in Christ and to experience renewal in the gospel.”)

Transgender people should not be protected by law. (“We call upon all judges and public officials to resist and oppose the efforts to treat gender identity as a protected class.” “We commit ourselves to pray for and support legislative and legal efforts to oppose the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and other legislation like it that would give gender identity the same legal protections as sex and race.”)

No law should ever in any way validate transgender people. (“We continue to oppose steadfastly all efforts by any court or state legislature to validate transgender identity as morally praiseworthy.”)

It’s immoral for a transgender person to alter their body to reflect their gender identity. (“We condemn efforts to alter one’s bodily identity [e.g., cross-sex hormone therapy, gender reassignment surgery] to bring it into line with one’s perceived gender identity.”)

Children need to be protected from the idea of transgender people being normal. (“We oppose all efforts by media and entertainment outlets and public schools to mainstream transgender identity in the eyes of our children.”)

Hate speech from the pulpit against transgender people should be practiced and protected. (“We call on Southern Baptist churches to commit to guard our religious liberty to teach and preach the Bible’s message about sex and gender.”)

All Christians should actively teach and preach against transgender people. (“Our love for the gospel and urgency for the Great Commission must include declaring what God’s word teaches about God’s design for us as male and female persons created in His image and for His glory.”)

Transgender people are welcome in church as long as they repent. (“We welcome them [transgender people] into our congregations as they repent and believe in Christ.”)

The Southern Baptist Convention loves transgender people. (“We love our transgender neighbors, [and] seek their good always …”)

People belonging to the Southern Baptist Convention aren’t transgender. (“We will teach and model for our own children the Bible’s message about manhood and womanhood.”)

It’s wrong for transgender people to be bullied. (“We condemn acts of abuse or bullying committed against [transgender people].”)

Before moving on to the whole of the resolution concerning transgender people ratified today by the Southern Baptist Convention, I would like to propose a resolution concerning the Southern Baptist Convention:

On the Southern Baptist Convention

WHEREAS, the Southern Baptist Convention continues to speak and act in ways that are profoundly contrary to the spirit and Gospel of Jesus Christ; and

WHEREAS, the Southern Baptist Convention continues to foster great pain and suffering in this world by codifying its condemnation of entire populations of human beings; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the Southern Baptist Convention is sad beyond expression and a tragically perverted version of Christianity that the march of time cannot soon enough trample into the dust.

Here is the whole childish mess of the SBC’s anti-transgender resolution:

On Transgender Identity

WHEREAS, about 700,000 Americans perceive their gender identity to be at variance with the physical reality of their biological birth sex; and

WHEREAS, the American Psychiatric Association removed this condition (aka, “gender identity disorder”) from its list of disorders in 2013, substituting “gender identity disorder” with “gender dysphoria”; and

WHEREAS, the American Psychiatric Association includes among its treatment options for gender dysphoria cross-sex hormone therapy, gender reassignment surgery, and social and legal transition to the desired gender; and

WHEREAS, news reports indicate that parents are allowing their children to undergo these “therapies”; and

WHEREAS, many LGBT activists have sought to normalize the transgender experience and to define gender according to one’s self-perception apart from biological anatomy; and

WHEREAS, the separation of one’s gender identity from the physical reality of their biological birth sex poses the harmful effect of engendering an understanding of sexuality and personhood that is fluid; and

WHEREAS, some public school systems are encouraging parents and teachers to affirm the feelings of children whose self-perception of their own gender is at variance with their biological sex; and

WHEREAS, some public school systems are allowing access to bathrooms and locker rooms according to a child’s self-perception of gender and not according to their biological sex; and

WHEREAS, the state of New Jersey prohibits licensed counselors from any attempt to change a child’s “gender expression”; and

WHEREAS, the United States Senate passed last year legislation titled the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would radically alter the idea of protected classes in American law, granting sexual orientation and gender identity the same employment protections as sex and race; and

WHEREAS, ENDA would make it illegal for certain businesses and organizations to fire or to refuse to hire or promote an employee because of his or her gender identity that is at variance with biological sex; and

WHEREAS, Although recent formulations of ENDA contain a religious exemption, they do not contain an exemption for rights of conscience or religious freedom to protect businesses with a religious character (such as religious bookstores, publishers, and parachurch ministries) and other businesses with religious owners or managers; and

WHEREAS, Such legislation jeopardizes our First Amendment freedoms by establishing in law the principle that disapproval of transgender behavior is a form of bigotry, equivalent to racism; and

WHEREAS, these cultural currents run counter to the biblical teaching that “Man is the special creation of God, made in His own image. He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. The gift of gender is thus part of the goodness of God’s creation” (BF&M 2000, “III. Man”); now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, June 10-12, 2014, recognize that all persons are created in God’s image and are made to glorify Him (Genesis 1:27; Isaiah 43:7); and be it further

RESOLVED, That we recognize that the Fall of man into sin and God’s subsequent curse have introduced brokenness and futility into God’s good creation (Genesis 3:1-24; Romans 8:20); and be it further

RESOLVED, That we extend love and compassion to those whose experience of this brokenness includes a perceived conflict between their biological sex and their gender identity (Romans 8:22-23); and be it further

RESOLVED, That we affirm God’s good design that gender identity should be determined by biological sex and not by one’s self-perception—a perception which is often influenced by fallen human nature in ways contrary to God’s design (Ephesians 4:17-18); and be it further

RESOLVED, That we affirm God’s original design to create two distinct and complementary sexes, male and female (Genesis 1:27; Matthew 19:4; Mark 10:6); and be it further

RESOLVED, That we affirm that male and female designate the fundamental distinction that God has embedded in the very biology of the human race; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we affirm distinctions in masculine and feminine roles as ordained by God as part of the created order, and that those distinctions should find an echo in every human heart (Genesis 2:18, 21-24; 1 Corinthians 11:7-9; Ephesians 5:22-33; 1 Timothy 2:12-14); and be it further

RESOLVED, That we invite all transgender persons to trust in Christ and to experience renewal in the gospel (1 Timothy 1:15-16); and be it further

RESOLVED, That we love our transgender neighbors, seek their good always, welcome them into our congregations as they repent and believe in Christ, and spur them on to love and good deeds in the name of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:18-20; Galatians 5:14; Hebrews 10:24); and be it further

RESOLVED, That we regard our transgender neighbors as image-bearers of almighty God and therefore that we condemn acts of abuse or bullying committed against them; and be if further

RESOLVED, That we condemn efforts to alter one’s bodily identity (e.g., cross-sex hormone therapy, gender reassignment surgery) to bring it into line with one’s perceived gender identity; and be if further

RESOLVED, That we continue to oppose steadfastly all efforts by any court or state legislature to validate transgender identity as morally praiseworthy (Isaiah 5:20); and be it further

RESOLVED, That we commit ourselves to pray for and support legislative and legal efforts to oppose the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and other legislation like it that would give gender identity the same legal protections as sex and race; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we call upon all judges and public officials to resist and oppose the efforts to treat gender identity as a protected class; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we oppose all efforts by media and entertainment outlets and public schools to mainstream transgender identity in the eyes of our children; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we call on Southern Baptist churches to commit to guard our religious liberty to teach and preach the Bible’s message about sex and gender; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we will to teach and model for our own children the Bible’s message about manhood and womanhood; and be it finally

RESOLVED, That our love for the gospel and urgency for the Great Commission must include declaring the whole counsel of God, including what God’s word teaches about God’s design for us as male and female persons created in His image and for His glory (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 20:27; Romans 11:36).

Read more: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/johnshore/2014/06/the-southern-baptist-convention-throws-transgender-people-under-the-bus/#ixzz34LKWYFcw

Openly Transgender Preacher Puts Church on Wrong Side of History

This article appeared in Charisma about Cameron Partridge preaching at the National Cathedral. I invite comments from readers or communications with Jennifer LeClaire at the contacts referenced. (deniray+)
 
The Rev. Cameron Partridge is the first-ever openly transgender priest to preach at the Washington National Cathedral.

In another first—a history-making moment that will forever serve as a signpost along the road to Christianity’s rapid decline in America—the Rev. Cameron Partridge will preach in the name of Jesus at the Washington National Cathedral on June 22.

It’s historic because Partridge is the first-ever openly transgender priest to step onto the platform. Of course, his preaching debut at the historic cathedral aims to honor LGBT Pride Month. It doesn’t surprise me when Lucky Charms marks LGBT Pride Month with a #LucktyToBe campaign or when Hilton Hotels invites travelers to take part in the gay celebration, but the Washington National Cathedral? Yes, it’s telling indeed.

The Washington National Cathedral considers itself a “spiritual resource for our nation.” But many may not know that it’s also “an indispensable ministry for all people of all faiths and perspectives.” The National Cathedral’s vision is to be a catalyst for spiritual harmony in our nation, renewal in churches, reconciliation among faiths and compassion in our world. The funerals of many presidents and the inaugurations of five presidents of the United States have been held there.

The fact that an openly transgender priest is preaching at this venue says plenty about the spiritual state of our nation just as the Rev. Gary Hall’s words did last October. Now, Hall is offering more heretical words:

“As an advocate both within the Church and wider community, Cameron’s presence in the pulpit, I hope, will also send a symbolic message in support of greater equality for the transgender community, which suffers from acts of violence, discrimination, unemployment, homelessness and financial inequality,” he told the Huffington Post.

“We at Washington National Cathedral are striving to send a message of love and affirmation, especially to LGBT youth who suffer daily because of their gender identity or sexual orientation. We want to proclaim to them as proudly and unequivocally as we can: Your gender identity is good and your sexual orientation is good because that’s the way that God made you.”

I don’t know what this Episcopal priest plans to preach. I imagine at least part of his message will affirm LGBT people in their Christian faith. However, doing so is not showing the love of Christ, who loves them and gave Himself for them (see Galatians 2:20). As Christ’s representative on the earth it is my responsibility to speak His truth in love (see Ephesians 4:15)—and the truth is the Father did not create people as lesbians, gays, bisexuals or transgenders. He created us all in His image, male and female He created them (Genesis 5:2).

I know this is a difficult topic and one that demands compassion. I also know that those who stand in the pulpit and preach God’s Word need to live, speak and breathe in line with His truth. And that’s the problem here. More and more, those who stand in the pulpit are compromising His Word. Just last week, a Baptist pastor whose son came out as gay changed his theology to accept homosexuality, stating, “I realized I no longer believed in the traditional teachings regarding homosexuality.” Now, an openly transgender priest will have his say.

Could Christians be more loving in the debate over gay marriage and other LGBT issues? Yes, I still cringe when I consider the damage cultish groups like the Westboro Baptist Church have done with their “God hates fags” demonstrations. God hates sin (any sin) but He loves sinners (all sinners). Whether we stand in the pulpit or sit in the pews, we need to love what God loves and hate what He hates (see Psalm 97:10; James 4:4).

Hear me: The pressure will continue increasing—and the lines will continue blurring—between right and wrong, between truth and lies, between black and white. But we must stand firm in our faith on the Word. If we compromise God’s Word—if we re-interpret Scriptures on homosexuality to suggest God is OK with same-sex romantic relationships—we will have the blood of lost souls on our hands in the end.

Will you join me in intercessory prayer for the preachers, pastors, prophets, priests and others with a platform who are diluting the gospel in any way? Will you stand in the gap with me for lost souls that are seeing assurance in Scripture that they can practice sin and still inherit the kingdom of God (see 1 Corinthians 6:9)? Will you weep between the porch and the altar for a nation that is rapidly embracing immorality on all fronts (see Joel 2:17)? Will you join hands with me in the spirit and cry out that mercy will triumph over judgment (see James 2:13)? If we unite in prayer, together I believe we can make an eternal difference.
 
 
Jennifer LeClaire is news editor at Charisma. She is also the author of several books, including The Making of a Prophet. You can email Jennifer at jennifer.leclaire@charismamedia.com or visit her website here. –

See more at: http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/watchman-on-the-wall/44186-openly-transgender-preacher-puts-church-on-wrong-side-of-history?tmpl=component&print=1&layout=default&page=#sthash.yuLh26iw.dpuf

Rev Dr Cameron Partridge Will Be First Transgender Priest to Preach at the National Cathedral

Rev. Dr. Cameron Partridge will make history on Sunday, June 22, as the first openly transgender priest to preach at the historic Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., in honor of Pride Month. The Rt. Rev Gene Robinson, known as the first openly gay priest to be elected a bishop, will preside at the service.

“Cameron Partridge is a priest of great intellect, pastoral presence, and possesses a deep passion for the Gospel. We are excited for him to preach at the Cathedral,” said The Very Rev. Gary Hall, the dean of Washington National Cathedral. In a statement sent to The Huffington Post, he said:

As an advocate both within the Church and wider community, Cameron’s presence in the pulpit, I hope, will also send a symbolic message in support of greater equality for the transgender community, which suffers from acts of violence, discrimination, unemployment, homelessness, and financial inequality. We at Washington National Cathedral are striving to send a message of love and affirmation, especially to LGBT youth who suffer daily because of their gender identity or sexual orientation. We want to proclaim to them as proudly and unequivocally as we can: Your gender identity is good and your sexual orientation is good because that’s the way that God made you.

Partridge is one of just seven openly trans clergy in the Episcopal Church. He became one of the first trans chaplains at a major university when he was appointed Boston University’s chaplain in 2011, according to Religion and Politics’ profile. In 2012, the Episcopal Church officially voted to change its “nondiscrimination canons” to include “gender identity and expression” so that transgender people could not be barred from becoming priests, under law.

Partridge was in the process of being ordained as a priest when he told his bishop, The Rt. Rev. M. Thomas Shaw, that he was transitioning from female to male in 2001. Shaw supported his decision and has gone on to become a dedicated advocate for trans issues within the diocese of Massachusetts. Boston’s Cathedral Church of St. Paul now hosts a memorial on the annual International Transgender Day of Remembrance, to mourn those who have died because they were trans. Shaw told Religion and Politics, “I stand up in front of them each year and say that the conception of God that judges you is not the conception of God in this diocese.”

Washington National Cathedral is one of the most high-profile Christian advocates for LGBT equality. In 2013, Hall announced a policy of blessing same-sex marriages, and held a service to celebrate the Supreme Court’s rejection of the Defense of Marriage Act.

However, policy does not always immediately translate into true acceptance, which is one reason why Partridge’s service at the Cathedral is so important. Chris Paige, a transgender activist who runs Transfaith, a nonprofit focusing on faith and spirituality issues, told The Huffington Post in 2013 that “The trans experience is still little-understood in the general community and even more so at times in churches and spiritual spaces. Most of the time when we go into a congregation, we have the experience of being the first one. Even in congregations that say they accept transgender people, it doesn’t mean they have ever met a trans person.”

The fact that Partridge is trans means that he has a wealth of experiences and struggles to share with his congregations. “In one sense, my being trans doesn’t matter,” he said to Religion and Politics about his role as chaplain for Boston University. “In another way, I’m able to have certain conversations about the complexities of human identity with college students, who are figuring out their own identities.”

Paige also feels that trans people have a lot to offer religion, and vice versa. “There is such an intersection between being trans and religious,” Paige told The Huffington Post. “Some of the fundamental religious questions — ‘Who am I? How do I fit into the world?’ — those are very familiar questions that people ask on a journey of gender exploration.”
 
 
NOTE: I first met Cameron at the 2003 Episcopal General Convention. He is one of the most spiritual and authentic people I know. His preaching at the National Cathedral will bring more attention to a segment of the population that is not understood and generally vilified. Blessings to him for being ‘out in front’.
 
 
SOURCE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/06/transgender-priest-national-cathedral-pride_n_5459762.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000051

The Whittington Family Story: Ryland

Each time a child is born, we never know what their true nature is. This is a moving example of parents who loved their child enough to allow him to embrace his gender identity.

Southern Baptist Pastor Accepts Gay Son, Changes His Church

This one incident provides some hope that eventually we will all realize we are children of a loving God and reach a loving and non-judgmental fellowship with each other. We need to pray for those who stay and those who feel called to leave. (deniray+)
 

May 29, 2014

Hi John,

I wanted to introduce myself to you. My name is Danny Cortez and I pastor a small Southern Baptist Church in La Mirada, CA. We’re about a mile from Biola University in a very conservative neighborhood.

Anyway, I recently became gay affirming after a 15-year journey of having multiple people in my congregation come out to me every year. I scoured through your whole website and read everything I could. And it was especially the testimony of my gay friends that helped me to see how they have been marginalized that my eyes became open to the injustice that the church has wrought.

In August of 2013, on a sunny day at the beach, I realized I no longer believed in the traditional teachings regarding homosexuality.

As I was trying to figure out what to tell my church, I was driving in the car with my 15-year-old son Drew when a song on the radio came on. I asked Drew who sang it, and he said, “Mackelmore.” And then he asked me why I was interested in it. I told him that I liked the song. He was startled and he asked me if I knew that the song’s message was gay affirming. I told him that I did know and that’s why I liked the song. I also told him that I no longer believed what I used to believe.

As we got out of the car, I could tell he was puzzled. so I asked him what he was thinking. In the parking lot, he told me in a nervous voice, “Dad, I’m gay.” My heart skipped a beat and I turned towards him and we gave one another the biggest and longest hug as we cried. And all I could tell him was that I loved him so much and that I accepted him just as he is.

I couldn’t help but think that my 15 year journey was in preparation for that moment. If it wasn’t for this 15 year journey and my change in theology, I may have destroyed my son through reparative therapy.

My son decided to make a coming out video on YouTube on Feb 7, 2014 which he posted on Facebook. [See Drew’s video below.] I then told my church on Feb 9 about my new position. [See Danny’s video below.] However, I expressed that my goal wasn’t about trying to convince everyone what I believe, but that we should allow room for grace in the midst of disagreement. I shared that the body of Christ is segregated every Sunday between gay affirming and non-gay affirming and that there must be unity and love.

Unfortunately, many weren’t pleased, so the church had to vote whether to terminate me or accept my proposition. On March 9, the church voted instead to prolong the period of prayer, study and discernment until May 18. We then invited teachers, both gay and straight, from both sides of the debate to speak to our church.

The church just voted two Sundays ago, on May 18, 2014, to not dismiss me, and to instead become a Third Way church (agree to disagree and not cast judgement on one another—see Ken Wilson’s book, “A Letter to my Congregation”). This is a huge step for a Southern Baptist Church!!

So now, we will accept the LGBT community even though they may be in a relationship. We will choose to remain the body of Christ and not cast judgement. We will work towards graceful dialogue in the midst of theological differences. We see that this is possible in the same way that our church holds different positions on the issue of divorce and remarriage. In this issue we are able to not cast judgement in our disagreement.

Unfortunately, many who voted to remain traditional will now separate from us in a couple of weeks. We are in the period of reconciliation and forgiveness. Please pray for us in this. Then on June 8, we will formally peacefully separate, restate our love for one another, and bless each other as we part ways. It has been a very tiring and difficult process.

All of this to say, I believe God is moving in beautiful ways. And I’m thankful that you were part of my journey through the many things I processed through your writings. I pray that you would be encouraged that a conservative evangelical church like ours has embraced the LGBT community.

I am now in conversation with other pastors who are now wondering what in the world we are doing. I’m thankful for these opportunities. I pray that the church will no longer be segregated. I pray that those who have been marginalized would feel safe in our churches. I pray that we as the church would set aside our difference and learn what it means to be the body of Christ. So please keep us in your prayers as the road ahead promises to be filled with difficulty. Thank you again for helping me through my journey.

Blessings
Danny Cortez
Pastor
New Heart Community Church

Bless you, pastor Cortez. And bless you, young Drew. You guys make me proud to call myself a Christian.

John Shore
 
 
Below is the coming out video made my Pastor Cortez’s son, Drew. Drew’s honesty, sincerity, kindness, strength and sensitivity are extraordinary.

 
And here is Pastor Danny Cortez, Drew’s father, speaking to his church on Feb. 9th:

 
 
About John Shore
John Shore (who is straight) is the author of UNFAIR: Christians and the LGBT Question, and three other books. He is founder of Unfundamentalist Christians (on Facebook), and executive editor of the Unfundamentalist Christians group blog. John is also co-founder of The NALT Christians Project, which was written about by TIME, The Washington Post, and others. His website is JohnShore.com. John is a pastor ordained by The Progressive Christian Alliance.
 

The Conundrum – What day do we celebrate as our anniversary?

Today is the first day of the conundrum – we have always celebrated our anniversary as 28 May (seventeen years ago); then we got legally married in New York on 13 December, and had a blessing of our lifelong covenant on 17 May. What date do we celebrate? (someone suggested that we celebrate all three).

Our dear friend Lurline Speer Dupree, who had never crocheted before, made us this wreath to celebrate the major events in our life – here is her explanation:

Green is the color of nature, fertility, life. Grass green is the most restful color. Green symbolizes self-respect and well being. Green is the color of balance. It also means learning, growth and harmony. Green is a safe color, if you don’t know what color to use anywhere use green.

Green is favored by well balanced people. Green symbolizes the master healer and the life force. It often symbolizes money. It was believed green was healing for the eyes. Egyptians wore green eyeliner. Green eyeshades are still used. You should eat raw green foods for good health. Friday is the day of green. Green jade is a sacred stone of Asia.

Light red represents joy, passion, sensitivity, and love.

Pink signifies romance, love, and friendship. It denotes feminine qualities and passiveness.

There are many types of jasper; it is one of the oldest known gemstones. It is mentioned in the Bible several times. All jaspers are strong securing, stability stones. It is a powerful protection against things that are not good for you and it eases emotional stresses, making it a wonderful gemstone to have in your home.

There are 17 hearts.
27 jasper beads
13 random blings including beads with your initials and a shell