VOICE OF THE TURTLE Online - March 1, 2005
ARTICLES
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Open Letter to Regional Executive
Ministers
December 10, 2004
An Open Letter to
Regional Executive Ministers
American Baptist
Churches, USA
Dear Sisters and
Brothers in Christ:
Grace and peace to you
from Jesus Christ who sets us all free and calls us to
unique and powerful ministry in this troubled world.
I am in receipt of a
pastoral letter approved by a majority of you at your
meeting of
November 22, 2004. Its stated intent is to preserve
unity in our denomination. I believe it does nothing of
the sort. I believe it represents a blatant disregard
for basic Baptist polity and practice, is a travesty to
justice-loving Christians and will do untold damage to
our American Baptist denomination.
I pastor a church that
welcomes all people regardless of all of the barriers we
might erect. I fear this statement calls us to be like
the gatekeepers at the doors of the church in the recent
United Church of Christ ad. This statement will not show
our denomination as one of racial diversity and radical
inclusion that it has been for decades. Instead, it
pulls us down into the abyss of factionalism and
exclusion. It also tells others who are looking for a
church home what they have too often feared—that they
are not truly welcome in an
American Baptist Church. With all of its language of
humility, it arrogantly excludes
people like me and
those in my church. It assumes that those who believe in
the acceptance of gay and lesbian people are not being
faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Nothing can be
further from the truth. I base my stand on acceptance
and inclusion directly from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I am writing this open letter as an attempt to speak the
truth in love to you and to a people desperately in need
of the saving
power of Jesus Christ.
I know you are
concerned by the way homosexuality has dominated our
discourse. It has certainly blurred our mission as
American Baptists. I pray for the day when we will find
the reconciliation in Christ where, to paraphrase Paul’s
letter to the Galatians, there is no male nor female, no
slave nor free, Jew nor Gentile, right nor left, red nor
blue and even gay nor straight for we are all one in
Christ Jesus.
I fear that your
statement will be seen by some of those opposed to the
acceptance of homosexuals as too little, too late. If it
is meant to appease them, I have little faith that it
will do so. For it seems that many in this group want
nothing short of a purge and pogrom of anyone who does
not interpret scripture as they do. This group is not
being true to our Baptist heritage and polity. But worse
than that, the teachings of this group, embraced by most
religious media, do severe damage to our gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgender (GLBT) sisters and brothers.
Let us be clear. This
is not simply about homosexuality. It is about people:
people that I love; people in whom I have seen the face
of Christ. Almost all of the gay and lesbian members of
the three churches I have served in my fifteen years of
ministry have been victims of hate crimes at one time or
another. Gay young people are seven times more likely to
commit suicide than non-gay teens. The
University of Minnesota says that hate crimes have
increased locally and ationally against the GLBT
community while it has decreased for other groups. I
believe this is a direct result of the teaching of too
many of our churches. Your pastoral letter does nothing
to stem the flow of this violence. If anything, it gives
it even more weight. By not decrying hate crimes, the
onus is on the oppressed to change, not the oppressors.
Your call to voluntarily refrain from accepting
homosexual people has no clear timeline for ending and
no apparent goal other than to simply not rock the boat.
The boat has been rocking for years and has thrown many
in my
community overboard. I
should hope that people like you would be the ones to
throw a life preserver to those in the deep water where
sharks and cold seek to wreak havoc. Instead, those in
the water see those in the boat turn their backs on us,
hoping that the sharks might make the problem go away.
Your pastoral letter hits those of us in the water like
a heavy anchor. And yet, we are your sisters and
brothers. I appeal to your Christianity and your
morality to throw a life preserver to those in the
water.
We have a sickness in
our denomination. It has a demonic portion to it. It is
the sin of exclusion. Until we exorcise this sin, we are
confounded by it, confined by it, defined by it, and
mobilized by it. The ongoing revelation of Jesus Christ
demands that we be vigilant against any who would
exclude. Homosexual people are not the problem.
Exclusion is the problem. Exclusion closes the doors of
the church and closes the eyes and ears of good people
who need to witness the life-changing power of Christ in
our homosexual sisters and brothers. I have seen this
spirit. I know that Jesus Christ exists and thrives in
the hearts of many of our GLBT sisters and brothers.
Whenever Jesus was
faced with an opportunity to exclude or to ostracize
someone, he chose not to do so. Instead he constantly
called upon us to welcome the outcast and the stranger.
His testimony to the Syrophoenician woman, the Gerasene
demoniac, blind Bartimaeus, the leprous, the religiously
excluded and the poor ought to give us pause as we seek
to further encircle the wagons around our crumbling
denominational structure.
I am encouraged by the
recent statement by our American Baptist Black Caucus
which calls us to refrain from excluding anyone.
Inclusion is at the heart of the Baptist tenet of soul
freedom and individual liberty. I am reminded of the
words of our ABC brother, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. His /Letter From the Birmingham Jail/,
includes some stinging words to the white clergy who
were telling him to not be so uppity in his quest for
civil rights. He wrote:
“History is the long
and tragic story of the fact that privileged groups
seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals
may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their
unjust posture; but as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us,
groups are more immoral than individuals. We know
through painful experience that freedom is never
voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded
by the oppressed. Frankly, I have never yet engaged in a
direct action movement that was ‘well-timed,’ according
to the timetable of those who have not suffered unduly
from the disease of segregation. For years now I have
heard the words ‘Wait!’ It rings in the ear of every
Negro with a piercing familiarity. This ‘Wait’ has
almost always meant ‘Never.’”
I believe your call to
voluntarily refrain from appointing people who happen to
be gay or lesbian to leadership positions is a form of
segregation. It is a way of saying “wait.” Since you do
not call for dialogue or any kind of reconciliation, it
appears to mean ‘never.’ I believe God weeps at this
hubris.
Sisters and brothers, I
call on you to exercise leadership that will uphold our
Baptist heritage, not deny it. I call on you to remove
the walls that divide us and help us to be
bridge-builders, as our General Secretary encourages us.
I call on you to resist the temptation to exclude your
GLBT sisters and brothers from ministry and from our
churches. I call on you to show the moral courage to
foster dialogue that will lead us to a place of
acceptance and ministry for and with all
of God’s children.
I hope that I have
spoken the truth in love. I applaud those who voted
against this statement. I applaud all who decry violence
against our GLBT sisters and brothers. And I long for
the day when we can all lay down our physical and
spiritual weapons and celebrate the presence of Jesus Christ in our
mutual American Baptist life.
May peace be with you
in this wondrous holiday season. May we all find in the
Advent of Christ’s birth a new sense of commitment and
ministry. May the future be bright for all of us who
call ourselves American Baptists.
Yours in the bonds of
Christ’s love,
The Rev. Douglas M.
Donley
Pastor
University Baptist
Church
Minneapolis, MN
U.S. and Canadian Churches Issued
Moratorium on
Same-Sex Unions and Gay and Lesbian Bishops
SOULFORCE MEDIA ALERT: February 24, 2005
Laura Montgomery Rutt,
laura@soulforce.org
U.S. and Canadian churches issued moratorium and asked
to explain their thinking on same-sex holy unions and
consecrating bishops based on their sexual orientation.
(Lynchburg, VA) – Today, primates of the Anglican
Communion issued a statement that they want the U.S.
Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada to
stop performing same-sex holy unions, stop consecrating
bishops who live with a partner of the same sex, and
withdraw temporarily from the Communion's Councils, and
to explain their position and thinking on homosexuality
and the church, in Nottingham, England in June.
The consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson, an openly gay
man living in a committed relationship with another man,
has divided the church and caused a rift between the US
and Canadian Churches, and the Anglican Communion.
In light of these events, Soulforce, Inc. issued the
following statement:
Although the statement by the primates of the Anglican
Communion is incredibly hostile toward lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender people everywhere, it gives
the U.S. Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of
Canada the historic opportunity to stand up for gay,
lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people, and affirm
the inherent worth and dignity of all of God's creation.
This is also a auspicious moment in time for the U.S.
Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada to
perform acts of ecclesial disobedience in the face of
injustice by going against any moratorium requested by
the Anglican Communion, and continue to perform holy
unions and consecrate bishops without regard to one's
sexual orientation or who they love.
It is the hope of Soulforce, Inc. and thousands of
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people of faith
and their allies, that when given the opportunity in
Nottingham, England in June to explain their position,
the U.S. Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of
Canada will use this opportunity to proclaim that
everyone is worthy of equal treatment and uphold the
principles taught in the Bible of love, justice, and
compassion for all.
For more information contact: Laura Montgomery Rutt at 717-278-0592 laura@soulforce.org
Initial Report on the Rochester American Baptist Summit
Report by Alan Newton
One hundred fifty eight
American Baptist leaders have just concluded a historic meeting to
celebrate our heritage and to affirm the diverse and inclusive
nature of our fellowship.
We used a process called Open Space Technology which allowed for
maximum engagement and input from all in attendance.
There were a multitude of actions and working statements developed
which will be shared with the larger family in the next weeks and
months. All will become available in short order on the
http://www.abcrgr.org website.
Know that these will likely not appear fully until after I return
from vacation after March 2.
Here is a copy of one statement which was endorsed by consensus of
the group gathered:
THE ROCHESTER SUMMIT
February 18-19, 2005
We are a diverse group of
158 American Baptist men and women, ages from our 20's to our 80's,
gathering from 14 states, 49 Associations and 11 Regions or State
Conventions. We represent clergy and laity; local, regional, and
national leaders; and members of the General Board and Program
Boards.
We reaffirm that the Old and New Testaments are the sufficient
ground of our faith and practice and, under the experience of the
Holy Spirit, need no creed or confession.
We rededicate ourselves to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and call
our entire denomination to the common task of sharing the whole
gospel with the whole world. We call upon all American Baptist
Churches to be welcoming communities of faith where every child of
God is included. Individually we espouse soul freedom, endeavoring
to live by the moral and ethical principles taught by Christ and
revealed in scripture, realizing that God is the ultimate and sole
judge of our thoughts and actions. As worshipping communities, we
celebrate being worthy trustees of all of God's creation. We uphold
freedom of religious expression, expect no conformity to any creed
or binding confession, and strive for social justice within all
human relationships.
We affirm the national leadership that God has imparted to us, who
support our Baptist principles of soul freedom and local church
autonomy, and commit ourselves to be the "Bridge-Builders" that our
General Secretary has called us to be.
Please spread it widely to all American Baptists. The petition is
available to be sighed at
http://www.petitiononline.com/rochsumm/petition.html.
Alan Newton
Royal Oak, Michigan, January 26,
2005------ A Roman Catholic nun who has dedicated her
work to creating communication and dialog within the
church on the subject of homosexuality and acceptance of
gays and lesbians has been barred from a Royal Oak
Catholic Church facility, along with the group that had
invited her and a local gay rights organization.
Sister Jeannine Gramick, who will be in Metro Detroit
for a weekend screening of a documentary based on her
work, was to be the guest at a reception in her honor
hosted by Call to Action of Michigan, a progressive
Catholic social action organization. The film, In Good
Conscience, is on the roster of films being presented at
the Reel Pride Michigan Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
presented by Triangle Foundation. Barbara Rick, the
film’s producer/director will appear with Sister Gramick
on the program.
St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Royal Oak offered its
facilities to Call to Action several weeks ago. Early
this week when reception organizers visited the church
to make final arrangements they were informed that an
official from the Archdiocese, Bishop Walter Hurley, had
issued the order banning Sister Gramick and the event
from the building.
“Disappointed and uncalled for,” said Sister Gramick
when informed of the Archdiocese action. “Decisions like
that are what makes the Church look foolish in the eyes
of the world. It’s embarrassing to me as a Catholic that
the leaders of my Church would censor,” she concluded.
“This is typical of the Archdiocese which continues to
try to silence its members and refuses to engage in any
helpful dialog at all,” said Jeffrey Montgomery,
Executive Director of Triangle Foundation. “It’s a
shame, really, that the Church is so frightened of
dissent, is so intolerant. The leaders must not be too
confident of their convictions if they must go to such
lengths to stifle disagreement.”
“The Church has been so hurtful to so many who seek only
reconciliation and healing,” said Sister Beth Rindler of
Call to Action. “At times its very disheartening working
within the Church because of the action of people who
are at the helm of the Archdiocese.” Call to Action has
vowed to hold the reception for Sister Gramick at
another, more welcoming location.
For over thirty years Jeannie Gramick has done
pioneering work in ministering to gay and lesbian
Catholics, initiating pastoral outreach to the gay
community, counseling gays and lesbians and their
families and writing two books and numerous articles.
She is a Co-founder of New Ways Ministries, whose goal
was to build bridges between the institutional church
and homosexuals. Her work in these areas earned her a
permanent ban in 1999 endorsed by Pope John Paul II from
any pastoral work involving gays. She chose to ignore
the Church’s efforts to silence her. The “rebel nun”
could not, “in good conscience” remain silent.
Triangle Foundation is Michigan’s leading civil rights
and advocacy organization working on behalf of the gay,
lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) community.
Since 2003 Triangle Foundation has produced Reel Pride
Michigan, the state’s largest film festival, celebrating
the love, life and diversity of the GLBT community.
For more information contact Jeffrey Montgomery (313)
537-3323, ext 106