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75 United Methodist Gay/Lesbian Pastors Come Out of the Closet

Orginally published on Thursday, April 20, 2006 at 1:20 PM
by Todd Rhoades

Man, I hate this... this is the third article TODAY about homosexuality and the church.  If you think this isn't a huge issue, then think again.  These are the headlines, folks... and I think it's important as church leaders that we keep up on what's going on...

[Gay.com]  Seventy-five LGBT United Methodist ministers from across the United States have signed a letter to their church leaders wading into the denomination's contentious debate about sexual orientation.

The letter released Tuesday was sent a week before the church's Judicial Council is scheduled to meet near Kansas City. Signatories hope to influence how the church interprets policy on sexual orientation.

Outing themselves with this letter, the ministers risk being defrocked, as happened to the Rev. Irene "Beth" Stroud less than a year ago. The United Methodist Church took away her right to be a minister when it ruled in October that she had violated the denomination's ban on "self-avowed, practicing homosexual" clergy.

Stroud, as an associate pastor at a church in Philadelphia, came out in 2003 because, she said, the closet held her back from her faith and she didn't like telling partial truths about herself. Someone filed a complaint when she came out, and the church defrocked her. Last year, moreover, the church's Judicial Council reinstated a Virginia pastor who had been suspended for forbidding a gay man from joining his congregation.

The pastors' letter mentions Stroud's struggle. It suggests that the church's action against her makes their lives as gay clergy very difficult. And it reminds gay clergy who do serve in silence that they are not alone.

"We serve our beloved United Methodist Church at great cost. We have experienced personally the church's power to harm as it rejects an elemental part of who we are," the letter said. "The UMC's official policy has pushed us, as well as our families, into closets of fear and isolation. We are not deceitful people, but the church has given us no choice. To deny God's calling in our lives would leave a void in the Body of Christ."

The signatures were collected by the Reconciling Ministries Network, a grassroots organization that works to enable full participation of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities in the life of the United Methodist Church.

The letter reminds the church that its current policy of homophobia hurts not just gay clergy; it is hurting the church itself.

"If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing."

The letter ends with a quote from church founder John Wesley and a call to action: "We call upon our UM sisters and brothers to break the silence and bear witness to these truths. We implore you to do all in your power to support LGBT people and their families so that we may live our lives as ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ with integrity and without fear."


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 TRACKBACKS: (0) There are 21 Comments:

  • Posted by

    We shake our heads and sigh. But this isn’t something new and improved in the church. Just as in society as a whole, we have seen the shift from the plight of the divorced woman, a fate worse than death, to the ‘no big thing attitude’ of today.

    The same with homosexuality, once viewed as a moral dilemma in society, we find that the highest ranking and most revered men and women are popping out all over. Most people, who have grown to accept the badgering of the left wing groups just sigh and let it be. The problem lies there with the right wing group who takes notice and makes a fuss.

    That should be US, boys and girls, that hold our church leaders to a godly standard, and not humanistic ones. The Bible is explicit about the treatment of the homosexual, even to the putting to death the entire communities of Sodom and Gomorrah. God has revealed Himself time and again that this kind of sin is of the raunchiest kind. Paul wrote about the sin and told us that they were depraved and loved their depravity, and wagged it in everyone’s face.

    I am becoming more and more understanding in the fact that if you don’t like the way things are going in your hometown, move. Taxes to high? Move. Gas prices to high? Go where they are less. Don’t like the state of affairs? See ya. Unfortunately you can’t do much since the hands of the politicians are covered with the blood of the innocents, and they have been sucked in hook, line and sinker (not to mention the millions of dollars these groups lobby them for) to the lie of man.

    South Carolina is looking better and better all the time.

  • Posted by

    One of my closest friends in ministry, part of my family one day at my kitchen table outted himself and he was part of the UMC. He allowed this orientation to be known and then went “back into the closet”. The pain it caused his family, his wife, and his friends was enormous. It was known but never to be spoken of. This was back in 1984. He has since then died because of illness. This issue is going to stir in the church for decades to come. It is going to test us and it is going to threaten to divide us. We have to know what the Bible says in all areas, sin, compassion, forgivenness, reconcilation, holiness, temptation, all of it. And then we have to live it, regardless of how people on either side react, we have to consistently live it.

  • Posted by

    Kent, That was very well put. I like that.

    There is nothing in this world that hurts me more than this subject here. I really have to say, what a difference 25-30 years makes.

  • Posted by

    The Kingdom of God is not a democracy. We can’t just change our bedrock beliefs because it makes us more comfortable. I so wish that I could believe that there is no hell, that anything you want to do is okay, and that all religions lead to God. I just can’t.

    We believe and learn to believe what we do not because of the comfort it gives us, but because it’s true.

    Reminds me of a conversation I once had with some non-believing friends. One said, “I have a real problem with the idea of hell.” I answered, “I have a real problem with the existence of Pol Pot, Chairman Mao, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin… but they’re still real...”

  • Posted by

    “To deny God’s calling in our lives would leave a void in the Body of Christ.” I don’t think we will miss these people as ministers.  I just don’t know how they can be a shepherd of God’s people when they don’t live out His word?

  • Posted by

    Sin or no sin, I admire these ministers for having the integrity to come out of the shadows.  What happens now, happens.

  • Posted by

    I would admire these ministers more for allowing God to transform their hearts then stand for what God calls sin.

  • Posted by

    Why should we be surprised of that such things like this will come up in denominations that deny the foundational truth of inerrancy of the Bible for decades now?  Once you take away the divine authority of the Word of God it becomes easier to pick and choose what God says as applicable or not and thus reason away truths so behavior is excusable.  I remember a wise man that once said that “all too often our morality dictates our theology, when it should be the other way around.”

  • Posted by

    I’ve been trying to decide whether to post on this and if so, which of today’s three gay/lesbian articles troubles me most.  I’m troubled by the lostness and brokenness of the world in which we minister, and these issues are glaring reminders.  I’m troubled because I think the lines drawn between the “Christian gay community” and the “mainstream evangelicals” are driving us farther apart.  I’m troubled because when I read these articles, I feel hopeless about even having dialogue much less restoration and reconciliation.

    Then today I felt some hope . . .

    I’m a seminary student at Bethel St. Paul, in a distance program (I live in California).  For months the seminary has been preparing us for the unsolicited visit from “Equity Ride,” a Christian gay/lesbian group planning visits and discussion forums to Christian colleges and universities who they feel are opposed to their position. 

    I wish I could have been there this week to observe faculty and fellow students, but I know I’d have been proud.  Below is a statement from president Brushaber describing the visit:

    ["I was proud of our campus,” commented President Brushaber. “Throughout the day, Bethel students treated the visitors in a congenial manner, walking them to classes, eating with them, and stopping for discussions on the issues that were both vigorous and civil. The visit from Equality Ride, though not solicited, served well our purpose to better prepare our students to be faithful Christ-followers in our broken, diverse, and pluralistic world, and allowed us to model to our community how to sustain one’s convictions but engage in constructive and civil discourse with those advocating conflicting positions."]

    And this is a short excerpt from a thoughtfully written, sensitive and also biblical position paper describing Bethel’s position on the issue of homosexuality which arrived in my mailbox today.

    The Churches response:
    [3. The Church must seek to meet the emotional needs of its homosexually oriented members.  Perhaps the greatest need for homosexuals – and for all of us – is for supportive and caring interpersonal relationships in the context of true Christian fellowship. The church must intentionally work toward creating authentic Christian community, both in small group ministries and in larger church gatherings, where those wrestling with homosexuality can experience Christ’s love and forgiveness in a nurturing environment with a goal toward spiritual growth and maturity.]

    I’m proud to be part of this fine institution.  And here’s what I pray for . . . more caring dialogue like happened this week at Bethel.  Christians who can hold to their biblical principles and have respectful conversations with people they believe are wrong and even in sin.  A willingness to walk away from a discussion with grace enough to understand that although the bible may be clear and uncomplicated, life is anything but.  People caught in this trap may have generations of sexual abuse, mental illness and dysfunction, layers of emotional and psychological pain we can’t begin to unravel by pointing out a couple of bible verses.  Sanctification is a life long process, and I’m sure the Holy Spirit will still be convicting me of sin on my last day on this earth. 

    Wendi

  • Posted by Matt

    Thanks Wendi.

    I really appreciated your comments.  Although I truly believe homosexual behavior to be sinful, I grow just as tired of hasty remarks given without thought or empathy, especially in regards to this subject.  Homosexuality is a pit that so many people find themselves in (sometimes through no choice of their own) and they feel like they can never escape.  It’s not that they are being rebellious...they just can’t fathom a way out...or even the possibility of such.

    Thanks for your thoughtfulness.  And you’re right to be proud of your school.

  • Posted by

    Speaking as one who’s still not sure exactly what I believe, I thank you all for the discussion and the points brought out.

    Scripture says one thing, but I’d like to be able to say that what a gay man or woman feels and who they see themselves as, is OK as long as their focus is their relationship with Jesus Christ, so I’m still conflicted on this issue.

    Having had a good friend and roommate in the Army and watching him struggle for years with what he felt versus what his Christian upbringing taught him, watching him leave the Army and go into the seminary and still struggle with who he was, and watching him not find peace until he accepted that he was gay and begin to seek a way to be both gay and a Christian minister, makes me want to believe he can indeed be both.

    And having had another Army friend from Guam who was born hermaphrodite and surgically “corrected” at birth, watching her frustration with being called “Tom-boy”, “butch”, and worse, while she struggled with homosexual feelings she had. Her parents never told her and she could never understand until a courageous female gynecologist ran some tests and sat her down to explain what had apparently occurred and that she had the genitalia of a female but had also retained “internal testes” which resulted in the testosterone levels of a male (which was why she was as big and strong as any of the guys, and apparently why she liked girls).  Watching her initial devastation (depression, calling herself a freak of nature, etc.) turn to understanding and then acceptance, and seeing her desire to just be OK and “normal”, makes me question whether God is really concerned with what gender she is or likes, as long as her relationship with Him is strong.

    Again, I thank you all for the discussion, whether anyone will change their minds or not, I think the continued discussion (not debate or argument) is important and enlightening.

  • Posted by

    Thanks for your input DanielR.  I think the situation of intersex people, like your ‘hermaphrodite’ friend, bring to light some of the most delicate issues in this whole homosexuality controversy.  There is a definite need to extreme pastoral sensitivity and wisdom.
    Cheers.

  • Posted by

    So many daniels, so little time…

    wink

    Seriously, this is a tender and delicate issue (and difficult, unless your name is Phelps) for sure. Thanks for all the insight, everybody.

  • Posted by

    The last bastion is the church, one of the two establishments that the Lord has provided for in society. The family being the other. Satan has been attacking the family from just about day one as you may recall in the Garden of Eden, Eve and Adam were duped by his sly lies.

    The church has also been under attack for some 2000 years, Satan wants us to fail and thus turning the offering of Jesus as our blood sacrifice (remember Easter) to naught. We however have the promise that Jesus Himself promised to all believers that the gates of Hell will NOT prevail.

    This most recent turn of events in the church, shows us that Satan is alive and well and living in the church. He has perpetrated the lies that this kind of life style is not sin, but a genetic disorder.

    It is one thing to be born with genes messed up, as evolution shows that these poor souls are tormented by the error in the way they are looked upon and that they are misguided into the only “alternative life style” that will accept them. This is not true with all these people, some have surgery and fix the events of the natural man and become productive, lovely people they were meant to be, not gay, but normal.

    Since this topic came out I have read with interest the posts here and find it amazingly sad that Christians don’t have any problem thinking that this is the way God meant it to be. Sodom and Gomorrah will have to be apologized to in another few generations if we are not careful.

    Hate the sin and love the sinner has always been my heart, but when the sinner refuses to repent and turn from the wickedness that Paul speaks about then we are just agreeing with the gays that want our freedoms boxed up and put in the closet too.

  • Posted by

    This saddens my heart, but does not surprise me in the least. I am enrolled in a UMC seminary which promotes acceptance of LGBT theology.  It is SO difficult for me.  I feel it is so wrong in God’s eyes that it simply breaks my heart.

    I’ve even been criticized that my “love the sinner, hate the sin” has no place in pastoral ministry, but what is one to do?  I agree w/Pastor Al & Peter on these posts.  In my experience, it seems that it all boils down to where individuals stand on the authority of the Bible.  I’ve heard the strangest interpretations of Sodom & Gomorrah & even from Romans 1.  They twist God’s Word & cut it into bits.  It’s so disheartening and I have trouble understanding WHY a seminary tolerates this kind of gross misinterpretation.  There is a difference between tolerance & acceptance.  There is a place for the sinner in church, but not in leadership and the shepherding of others.

  • Posted by

    If is funny how we’re so easy to “condemn” homosexuals to hell, yet these are the same pastors that prayed for people when they were going through something. Regardless of if one is in the “closet” or not, they are no different only happier being honest and out in the open. There are plenty of pastors living in “divorcality”, heterosexuality (lusting and not married), and maliciousness, lying, deceipt,harsh judgement and all these other things that God called sin. Being “Born Again” has nothing to do with one’s sexuality, but everything to do with one’s spirituality. Jesus himself said flesh is flesh and spirit is spirit. No man can enter into the kingdom of Heaven and see God with flesh. Because we are mortal, there is none perfect but the father, every living creature on this Earth has sinned, and even though in ministry, they still do. Not to say that it is right, it is only realistic. Until we can be honest, and say that God is God alone, we have to look at people and accept them for who they are and not for what our unrealisitic standards are. Just like you give someone the amount of respect and intelligence to know that their heterosexual, the same should be given to a homosexual, hermaphrodite, etc… No matter what we say, God sees people for who they are. We can try to portray something else to please people, but God knows and sees your heart. Yet, he still loves us. That’s why we praise him because power belongs to him. He did not look at the thief on the cross, and say wait a minute, I’ll grant you paradise if you.... Unlike us, He GRANTED paradise to a thief, because the Lord saw the heart, and God no matter how or what we say, or how we say people are suppose to look on the outside, he sees the spririt and knows the flesh.

  • Posted by

    Um isn’t a changed life evidence of a person’s New Birth Andrea?

    Suggesting that if it’s okay for the divorcee, envious, lustful, etc it should be okay for the homosexual is just flat out wrong.

    It’s not “okay” for ANY.  Conform to the likeness of Christ and FLEE evil (sin).  Perhaps, if their life has not or is not changed, they are not New.

  • Posted by

    Thank you so very much for responding...Let me answer as close as possible the questions mentioned…

    Um isn’t a changed life evidence of a person’s New Birth Andrea? Actually No, a changed spirit is...One’s life isn’t their sexuality, one’s life is the personal relationship with Christ, when you confess him as your savior, you have a new life… Some things people can change, some things God can change.. However sometimes he doesnt, because he wants to see how we as fellow Christians are going to treat one another..We are shown Christians by our love...If you are trying to condemn someone’s sexuality, that is saying that the flesh is greater than the spirit, which it will never, nor shall be? That’s why God said flesh is flesh, and spirit is spirit. He already knew this..When you confess Christ as your savior, there is no condemnation in him.... .. However, he already knew that many “pharisees” and “saducees” would do the same thing so many of us unintentionally do, turn people away from him....That’s why his whole army was surrounded by outcasts of his day.. Women (treated as second class) (gentiles, absolutely no way in that time...Some people will use the bible to degrade or use whatever means they can to treat people as second class. If you study who he was, the greatest commandment is not of how many sins you’ve never committed, but what type of love you give. Real or conditional?

    Suggesting that if it’s okay for the divorcee, envious, lustful, etc it should be okay for the homosexual is just flat out wrong…
    There is a difference here however...There is no need to have a debate about lust, divorce, enviousness, because Christians that exhibit these types of behaviors go on to lead ministries, no debate, no challenge of anything....They can lead productive healthy lives, out in the open.... Even those that exhibit heterosexual lusting..(Praised right in the church) There is no debate...However, if someone says they are hermaphrodite, homosexual,etc..They are discredited, discriminated against, attacked, and looked upon as being sinful.. Through every vessel Jesus chose, they each were mortal, none perfect but the Father. Their chosen appointment by God was never questioned because God chose them...God is greater than any sexuality..Whether we like it or not, we can stay ignorant if we want to, however people are going to honor God from every walk of life, whether if we like it or not. He’s going to get his glory, no matter “whosoever” it comes from..

    It’s not “okay” for ANY. Conform to the likeness of Christ and FLEE evil (sin). Perhaps, if their life has not or is not changed, they are not New. Only one spiritual God can save, that is the Father in Heaven. I cannot put one person in Heaven or Hell but our spiritual Father can..Show me one person on this Earth that is as perfect as our Father in Heaven, and you may have a case.

  • Posted by

    Andrea, I respectfully disagree with some of your comments.  You cannot separate a changed spirit from a changed life.  A changed spirit, the new birth, is internal but must have fruit...that fruit will lead to obedience to God’s way of life.

    Sexuality does matter to God. He gave us sexuality.  You are right that some churches do discriminate between the lusting heterosexual and the homosexual.  However, in my experience those heterosexual pastors that lusted did end up falling into trouble.  We have a huge diversity of churches in America where a person who would be biblically disciplined could run away to a “more loving church” and remain in a sinful lifestyle that does not glorify God.

    We have bantered the word “love” and it has become abused.  I love my sons but sometimes they do things or decide to do things that could lead to trouble.  Do I sit back lovingly say, “Well, boys will be boys.” NO!  The loving thing is for me to be involved to move them away from danger.

    The early church took great pains to lovingly discipline its membership.  Paul wrote about a man committing a sexual sin unheard of and demanded the church in Corinth to excommunicate him because of his unwillinglyness to change.  When the man repented, Paul had to rebuke the church again for failing to show love through forgiveness.

    Yes, Christians will sin but we are held to a higher standard.  I’m flat tired of the excuses some Christians and churches make for sinful behavior.  Love is not limited to accepting the human being as created in the image of God. It is actively helping the other to be in obedience to what Christ has commanded.  He did say, “If you love me you will do what I command.” He told several in the Gospels to “go and sin no more.” He was talking about behavior - behavior that was to reflect the transformed person.  I believe God saves more than the spirit - He saves the whole person and that includes sexuality.

  • Posted by Randy Ehle

    Andrea makes a good point about how easy it is for us in the church to condemn homosexuals to hell while tolerating (if only through ignorance) other sinful behavior.  Jesus said nothing about homosexuality, as far as I can recall, but spoke at length about idolatry (specifically, valuing money above God) and legalism.  Yet listen to conversations among Christians today and one would conclude that homosexuality is the most accursed of sins. 

    Can sinners minister?  Absolutely.  We (sinners) do it (minister) all the time.  The more important question, though, is whether unrepentant sinners are qualified to exercise spiritual leadership in the church.  Paul instructs both Timothy and Titus on the appointment of overseers, saying they should be “blameless” and “above reproach”.  That seems to rule out those who don’t repent of their sins, and certainly those who actively promote or even flaunt their sinful behavior.  (Comes back down to the authority of scripture and the “question” of whether homosexuality is truly condemned; of course I am writing from the conviction that it is.)

    Is a homosexual minister any worse than a pastor having an affair or an elder who abuses his wife or a single pastor having a sexual relationship?  No.  But the solution is not to accept the homosexual minister’s behavior, it is to condemn the sin of the others and to seek repentance and restoration. 

    By the way, I think one of the big problems in many churches that experience division is that we don’t pay enough attention to the rest of Paul’s counsel to his disciples.  We all too often appoint to leadership men who are “quick-tempered, given to drunkenness, not gentle but violent [in speech, perhaps], not self-controlled, undisciplined, not able to teach, quarrelsome, a lover of money….”

  • This is a tremendously huge issue in the church world today, and it will not allow itself to be ignored.

    The Catholics have pretty much accepted the “disordered” theory of homosexuality, and have a group called COURAGE (http://www.couragerc.net)for those seeking to live a “chaste life” in accordance with Roman Catholic teaching.

    Exodus International has been a great ministry to Christians of all persuasions, and continues to be just that.

    But the “local church” can be the most effective tool in ministering to those who struggle with same-sex attraction, and homosexuality---if only the local church would educate itself, and seek to minister and love those who most need their love and concern.

    I’m convinced that people who struggle with this particular sin and want to find freedom, can only do so within the boundaries of strong, godly, committed communities who love and minister to the entire local body, and wants to see God work marvelously and miraculously in people’s lives.

    It may not take a village to raise a child, but it REQUIRES a Church to raise a saint!

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