Pain and protest

Protest at General Conference has become as commonplace as the cookie and coffee break. For first-time visitors, however, the experience can be overwhelming and quite dramatic. To Central Conference delegates, such as those from Africa, the gay protest is mind boggling.

There has been a different spirit and style to the demonstrations at each General Conference. For example, in Cleveland four years ago, it was marked with anger, frustration, and arrests. This year the protest was marked by a three-foot rainbow candle set upon the General Conference altar, water bottles given away outside the convention center, and a broken African communion chalice.

During a lunchtime communion service after the votes on homosexuality, a frustrated delegate broke a chalice that had been a gift from Africa to Barbara Day Miller, who was leading the music during the General Conference. In many ways, the shattered chalice was a symbol of the turmoil brewing within the denomination about homosexuality.

One does not need to be a sacramentalist to find it heartbreaking to see the sacraments politicized and a chalice vandalized. This is one of those painful manifestations that point to irreconciable differences between two contingents within the United Methodist Church.

Soulforce
Before arriving in Pittsburgh, delegates to the 2004 General Conference all received a letter from Soulforce introducing itself as a "national interfaith organization committed to ending spiritual violence perpetuated by religious policies and teachings against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) people."

Their letter went on to state that "Soulforce will publicly hold delegates of the UMC accountable in a non-violent act of civil disobedience" if they 1) refuse to replace the offensive and misleading language that makes homosexuality "incompatible with Christian teaching;" 2) support the Federal Marriage Amendment; 3) pass legislation discriminating against transgender persons in the church; 4) support any action that attempts to reverse the Karen Dammann decision or any attempt to punish or impose sanctions against the Pacific Northwest Conference.

Everyone had been alerted that the Rev. Mel White, leader of Soulforce and ordained minister with the pro-homosexual Metropolitan Community Churches, would be flying into Pittsburgh to lead a protest at the General Conference, as he had four years ago in Cleveland.

During the Soulforce training session the night before the demonstration, the Rev. Phil Lawson equated the struggle for African-American civil rights with gay activism. He stated that the intent of those who would deny full inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered persons is to completely destroy them.

In a fit of feverswamp reasoning, he continued by saying that after the gays and lesbians were gone, then people of color and women would be chased off. He then claimed that Central Conference delegates would be eliminated next.

Furthermore, Lawson told the protesters that those who support the UM stance on homosexuality are motivated by the same spirit that energized the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The drumbeat
Not long after their morning break on Thursday, May 6, General Conference delegates heard the thumping of a drum. "The drum signals us that there are guests among us," said Bishop Janice Huie of Arkansas, who was leading the morning session. "They come in peace as a witness among us. I invite you to embody God's love to these strangers and friends. I ask you to recall their baptism and our baptism."

Lead by a woman carrying a three-foot high rainbow candle, several hundred people entered the area of the convention center restricted to delegates. The candle was placed on the altar and others poured water into a baptismal font on the stage. "We have been holding water at the entrance to General Conference every morning and inviting people to remember their baptism," Marjory Carlson, a participant in the demonstration, told the UM News Service. "We brought that water here to remember what we bring to the church, that we are of one faith and baptized by one God."

The demonstrators circled the floor of the conference for 35 minutes as delegates and observers watched quietly or stood in solidarity. Some of them carried placards reading: "Baptized Lesbian," "Diversity is Good News," and "There Are Homosexuals Already In Heaven."

Some of the demonstrators entered the seating area for observers, encouraging others to wear a black armband with a pink triangle and join the disruption. Mark Miller, delegate from Greater New Jersey, took the stage and used the microphone to lead the group in singing songs such as "What Does the Lord Require of You?" and "Marching to Zion."

A demonstration such as this elicits so many different responses. For the protesters, they were welcomed by the presiding bishop who never asked permission of the delegates if they could come on to the floor. Demonstrators were able to make their point, being given unhindered time and space before delegates and guests. For others, however, the disruption was heartbreaking.

When we light a candle at the beginning of a service, it is meant to be a symbolic gesture to recognize the presence of God in our midst. When a rainbow candle that is intended to symbolize gay rights is placed on the altar, it becomes a political and polarizing act, rather than an act of worship or a recognition of God's presence.

When well-known, inspirational songs are sung as a means of promoting a homosexual agenda, delegates and observers were placed in the undeniably awkward position of singing along with a protest that they may not have supported or sitting silently as activists looked to see who were singing their songs. This was shrewd and offensive. In these egregious uses of imagery and worship, some felt it exceeded politicization and bordered on spiritual manipulation.

When United Methodists are accused of "spiritual violence" simply because we hold different views on the exceedingly controversial issue of homosexuality, it demeans the experience of true victims of spiritual violence. There are places on the globe such as Northern Ireland, Bosnia, and Rwanda where Christians are actually experiencing spiritual violence. We should not cheapen the heartbreaking experience of believers under persecution by utilizing rhetoric that alienates and marginalizes United Methodists simply because we disagree on controversial issues.

When the General Conference floor is handed over to protesters such as Mel White and his Soulforce contingent, one asks, who might be next? Will pro-life demonstrators who do not believe in our denomination's involvement in a radical abortion rights group such as the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice be given 35 minutes in Fort Worth in 2008? It only seems fair. But who expects for one moment that it would be allowed?

The day after the demonstration, the Rev. Norman H. Coleman, delegate from the West Ohio conference, attempted to express his frustration over the demonstration. Instead of the kind of gracious hospitality that was extended to the protesters, Coleman was told by the presiding bishop that he was not allowed to speak. Adding insult to injury, he was heckled by some of the delegates for attempting to share his point of view.

"I am ashamed, sad, and embarrassed by what happened on the floor of the General Conference yesterday morning," Coleman wanted to say. "Liturgy and sacraments were exploited to make a political point. Spiritual manipulation was used to shame and intimidate all of us. The permission given by our episcopal leaders may have been well intentioned, but was without the consent of the house and left many of us feeling betrayed.

"We are so focused on political strategies and procedural motions and getting our own way," he would have continued. "But we must admit what is before our eyes: We are broken. No political strategy can fix that. No vote can bring us the healing of the Holy Spirit. We are at a decision point. For the Lord requires us to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8).

"I don't know what the church is going to do," he would have said. "But choose we must. So I must say, in response to all efforts to make a show of unity, that our unity can only come from the unity given us in Christ: 'One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all.' Living in that unity is a choice each of us must make."

The pain of General Conference
It is grievous that General Conference has become a place of such pain and protest. The sorrow is profound and will not be healed easily. We know that the protesters and their supporters are hurt and angry at the direction taken by this global denomination. We do not rejoice in their pain.

The current wording of our holistic statement on homosexuality is both compassionate and redemptive. It is a balanced and nuanced position that affirms the "sacred worth" of all persons even while acknowledging that as Christians we cannot affirm every expression of human sexuality. After all, there are certain sexual practices that contradict biblical standards and as faithful disciples we must be willing to declare them to be incompatible with Christian teachings. The UM position does that with mercy and grace extended to all of God's children.

To a watching world and local churches at home, it is a statement of ethical stability in an age of murky morality. It is a statement of theological honesty in an age of religious ambiguity. It is a prophetic statement to a world that offers no boundaries to sexual expression. To young people, our statement offers the necessary guardrails to protect them from sexual brokenness.

The biblically prophetic message has always been more interested in truth and transformation than in consensus and conformity to the world's standard of morality. What the world often finds excusable and acceptable, the church does not and cannot.

Let us be diligent to offer an open hand of transformation to those practicing homosexuality-just as we would with any heterosexual violation of Scripture. Let us not clench our fist to the possibility of grace and mercy poured out from the mercy seat of God.

Methodism was birthed as a Holy Spirit movement that believed in the power of God to transform the lives of all those who struggle with sin-homosexual or heterosexual. Through a biblical ministry of mercy and grace, we must be a church that welcomes the sexually broken and confused. We must be a church that stands with those who seek healing, wholeness, and holiness in their sexuality.

-Good News Editorial Team

Hearing the global witness

Let's be honest. It is far easier to talk about being a global church than it is to actually be a global church. The floor debate concerning United Methodism's stance on homosexuality gave the General Conference the unique opportunity to truly engage the notion of our highly-valued global church. We were forced to ask ourselves if we are actually going to engage the voices from Africa where Methodism is growing and vibrant.

"We have received teaching from our missionaries on marriage.  Before Christianity arrived in Africa we practiced polygamy," said Kasap 'Owan from the North Katanga Province. "And the Christian teaching that we received taught that there should be marriage between one man and one woman. And this was Christian marriage. We Africans, we accepted this teaching and we became Christians.

"Now we are hearing another message in this General Conference, speaking of homosexuality," he continued.

"The Africans, here, are in confusion. We have no understanding, because of our culture," he said. "We respect our culture and the good things in our culture and we do not want to become drawn into this problem of homosexuality. I believe that we all, members of this General Conference, need to seek what will edify our church. We need to have respect for the culture of each person. And respect for the teaching missionaries brought to Africa. I thank you."

Another Central Conference delegate shared a similar message from the floor. "If the United Methodist Church today is passing through a time of confusion, our children will live through a time of destruction in the church," said the Rev. Muland Aying Kambol from South Congo. "A large church, as we are today, is it.permissible [for] us to waste so much time speaking about sin? And if this is our vision, as the United Methodist Church, our church will surely die..For me, I am discouraged when I see so much time being spent to talk about this sin, when to me, it is very clear that this is sin."