Archive: Thousands Endorse ‘Declaration’

By James V. Heidinger II

Nearly 9,500 United Methodist clergy, about 25 percent of the church’s total, have indicated their support of the “Houston Declaration.” That was the report in mid-April from the office of Dr. William H. Hinson, pastor of Houston’s First United Methodist Church. Responses to the initial mailing (sent to 55,000 persons including all pastors and local church lay leaders) had totaled 16,603 with 87 percent expressing support, the Houston office said.

Hinson served as chairman of the December 14-15 meeting in Houston which brought 48 pastors from some of United Methodism’s largest churches to express their concern over several issues facing the church. On December 15 the pastors released a carefully-prepared statement, now known as the “Houston Declaration,” which affirmed their support of three central issues before the church: the primacy of Scripture; the traditional language of the Holy Trinity as “Father, Son and Holy Spirit”; and the ban against the ordination of persons practicing homosexuality.

Of the clergy responding 86 percent were supportive of the declaration, 13 percent were negative and 1 percent indicated no opinion. Among the local church lay leaders, however, 94 percent were supportive with only 3 percent negative, and 3 percent offered no opinion. Among 850 pastors in the “appointment beyond the local church” category, 602 expressed support, while 220 were nonsupportive.

As a result of the Houston meeting, a group of laity met in Chicago in late February and produced “A Call To Action,” a statement in support of the “Houston Declaration.” The convenors placed an ad in the United Methodist Reporter in March urging persons to express their support. As of mid-May, June Goldman, who attended the Chicago meeting, reported the group has received more than 58,000 responses of which only 87 were negative.

Gus Gustafson, General Conference delegate from Griffin, Ga., and one of the convenors of the Chicago meeting, reported that from the mailing of “A Call To Action” to all General Conference delegates, 210 had responded with more than 91 percent being supportive. Gustafson said, “The ‘Houston Declaration’ has given courage to a lot of people who have been waiting on something to voice their opinions.”

The largest negative response came in a paid advertisement in the April issue of the Circuit Rider, the denominational journal sent to all United Methodist clergy.

In this full-page statement entitled “Perfect Love Casts Our Fear” a group of pastors centered mainly in the Los Angeles area were critical of the signers of the “Houston Declaration,” saying they present “truths as Wesleyan which are anathema to the spirit of Wesley and Methodism. They do not speak for us. They do not speak for women. They do not speak for persons of color. They do not speak for Wesley. We pray that they do not speak for the General Conference.”

Addressing the controversial homosexual issue the “Perfect Love” statement said: “As to the ‘Houston Declaration’s’ emphatic rejection of homosexuals [in the ordained ministry], we dissent The Bible does not have a great deal to say about homosexuality. … We believe that no matter how many declarations issue from Houston or, for that matter, St Louis, homosexual persons in the ministry and the laity will continue serving us more faithfully than we have served them.”

In addition to the twelve pastors who signed the “Perfect Love” advertisement, a full list of signers was noted as available upon request.

A further protest to the “Houston Declaration” came in mid-April from 16 clergymen and clergywomen in the Seattle area. Their statement, the “Pacific Confession,” validates the use of metaphors and descriptive language for deity other than the traditionally male words and rebukes a proposed official theological statement for the church that “elevates Scripture to a status of exclusive truth.”

The statement, affirmed by 60 other lay people, also challenges current church law banning homosexual persons from ministry: “We reject categorical exclusion of persons from Christian ministry and leadership based solely upon sexual orientation and practice. We acknowledge the gifts of many homosexual pastors and laypersons in our midst, whose ministry and service bear fruit for Christ.”

The Reverend Scott Cochrane, pastor of First United Methodist Church, Seattle, convened the gathering that produced the “Pacific Confession.”