A letter to Reconciling Ministries Clergy

The following is a response to an "Open Letter" I received  from leaders of the Reconciling Ministries Clergy (RMC). It included 687 clergy signatures. For the full text, see page 3. For a lengthier response, go to the Good News web site.

Dear Revs. Meredith and Aslesen:
Greetings in the Name of Christ the Lord, who calls his Church "to be holy and blameless in his sight."

Your letter of July 15 came as an "Open Letter" to me, copied to United Methodist media. In it you "strongly disagree" with Good News' view that your "Hearts On Fire" conference should not be held at the Lake Junaluska (NC) Assembly over Labor Day. You make your case (to us and to the larger church) as to why the conference should go on. Your letter is gracious in tone and opens the door for a thoughtful exchange, which we welcome.

In my July/August editorial and June letter to supporters I expressed strong concern that the speakers at your conference-including UM bishops-will join others "to teach, support, encourage, and strategize how to further the acceptance" of a practice the church has determined to be "incompatible with Christian teaching." Participants will hear teachings that directly contradict Scriptural teaching and the clear, tested standards of The Book of Discipline. That should not happen at a United Methodist conference center. Neither should bishops speak. They are responsible for "carrying into effect the rules, regulations, and responsibilities prescribed and enjoined by the General Conference" (Par.47, Discipline). They are not to be dissenters.

With that background, allow me to respond.

First, you reduce the much-debated, critical issue about same-sex practice to being just a matter of "hospitality." But Scriptures come to mind. For example, Paul instructed the Corinthians "not to associate with sexually immoral people" (1 Corinthians 5:9). He said he did not mean those "in the world," but one "who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral" (vs. 11). He should be "put out of your fellowship," Paul said (vs. 2). This and other Scriptures show that "hospitality" is not always the primary virtue.

I mentioned the Reconciling Ministries Network (RMN) website because it states the RMN purpose: "to enable full participation of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities in the life of the United Methodist Church." What is implicit, but not stated, is that RMN views homosexual practice as normative, an acceptable alternative for Christians today. "Full participation," then, would include leadership in the church, ordination, and same-sex marriages. This issue is much, much more than just "hospitality."

Second, your letter says: "Advocacy for changing the church's position or teaching.has never been understood in United Methodism as grounds for withdrawing hospitality or breaking community." You say Good News exists "to reform, or change, the denomination," implying the RMN is really no different. But your attempt at equivalency doesn't work. From the start, Good News has reaffirmed our Wesleyan doctrinal heritage and urged fidelity to our church's teachings on marriage and Christian morality. On the other hand, the RMN advocates discontinuity with both Scripture and the Church's 2,000 year tradition. Following their lead would sever United Methodism from the world-wide church (Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans, and the Church in the Third World).

Third, you say that amidst our strong differences, you will "continue to engage in a difficult struggle to discern God's will in this area." This implies that God's will is not apparent, a view which rejects Scripture, two millennia of Church teaching, and 30 years of General Conferences.

Fourth, your concern about our church's unity rings hollow. The constant push by many clergy to force local churches to accept a new sexual ethic-affirming homosexual practice-is disturbing and demoralizing to those churches, and has even literally destroyed some.

Finally, we have carried before in these pages poignant words from the eminent German theologian, Wolfhart Pannenberg: "Those who urge the church to change the norm of its teaching on this matter must know that they are promoting schism. If a church were to let itself be pushed to the point where it ceased to treat homosexual activity as a departure from the biblical norm.such a church would stand no longer on biblical ground but against the unequivocal witness of Scripture. A church that took this step would cease to be the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church" (From Church Times in Britain).

In light of Pannenburg's powerful and prophetic words, I am amazed at how many RMClergy march steadily on, determined to reconstruct the Church's long-held teaching on human sexuality-with seemingly little or no awareness of traveling a schismatic path that could destroy the unity and apostolicity of our church. That is not what we elders promised to do when we were ordained.