Myth Number Three: Full Inclusion for LGBT Folk Will Produce Schism

Thursday, May 15 2008 @ 06:29 PM

What is unity within the Church? What does it mean to be the Body of Christ? What really threatens our Church? . First, unity is a gift from God given to the Church, not something we could manufacture or produce. Imagine the arrogance of claiming that we, mere mortals, are responsible for the unity of the Church. We take the place of God when we assume this role in our strivings to be God's Church.

Second, unity in the Spirit is not uniformity of belief. As Presbyterians we are part of the Reformed tradition, semper reformanda, reformed and always reforming. As we gather next month in San Jose, we would do well by remembering Who is the Source of our Unity, and that we are part of Reformed tradition. Presbyterians are not fundamentalists insisting on lock-step belief and litmus tests of true faith.

Third, can one part of the Body say to the other it is not needed, as the Apostle Paul so wisely and poetically wrote in the Epistles? Since 1978, our Church has said that heterosexuals are necessary, and that LGBT persons are not. What have we done to the Body of Christ with our exclusionary policies, church laws and practices? How much unnecessary harm and suffering have we caused for our very own LGBT daughters and sons, sisters and brothers?

The presence, gifts and ministries of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Presbyterians are not the problem in our Church or world, homophobia is the problem. Prejudice and anti-Christian teaching about LGBT persons and their families is the problem. Using "gay people" as a religious football to toss around, using the "question of ordination" as a mask for intolerance and bigotry in the problem. Moreover, using the lives of LGBT persons in the Church as the wedge issue when the real question for some is Biblical authority and the demand for a "pure" Church is morally and spiritually unacceptable.

Instead of accepting the party line that "the problem is gay people in the Church," we need to ask the deeper and more faithful questions. How does oppression affect the soul of the Presbyterian Church (USA)? Are we a Church for all God's children, or just heterosexuals?

In the third part of his series our faithful brother, friend and colleague in ministry, Rev. Ray Bagnuolo exposes the myth about the threat of schism in our denomination. I commend to you this thoughtful and faithful teaching. Rev. Ray Bagnuolo, Minister of the Word and Sacrament, PCUSA, serves as pastor with Palisades Presbyterian Church, Palisades, NY, a welcoming and affirming More Light Presbyterian congregation.

The Session of Palisades Presbyterian Church sent the Ordination Equality Overture which was adopted by Hudson River Presbytery, now called the Hudson River Overture. The National Board of Directors of More Light Presbyterians and I give thanks to God for the vision and commitment of this fine congregation, Session and its pastor.

A growing number of Presbyterians believe that it is time for the Presbyterian Church to do right, to get it right about its own LGBT daughters and sons, sisters and brothers. Many are describing this moment, this Assembly, as a Kairos moment. What is God saying to our Church in this moment?

Please do forward this teaching and Call within your family, circle of friends, congregation, campus ministry, seminary community and MLP Chapter. And, join More Light Presbyterians and a growing number of Presbyterians praying for the 218th General Assembly. More and more of us believe that God is doing a new thing in our midst. Thanks be to God!

with hope and grace,

Michael

____________________________________________________________________

Myth 3: Full Inclusion for LGBT Folk Will Produce Schism

Ray Bagnuolo, Minister of the Word and Sacrament
Gay Member of the LGBT Community
Š2008 Permission Granted for All Reprints
For more information visit: www.ga218.org or www.raybagnuolo.net
Comment on Blog at www.bagnuolo.blogspot.com

If the unity of the Presbyterian Church (USA) is so fragile that the full inclusion of Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) persons will wrench it apart, then maybe it is time for a restructuring. If welcoming our sisters and brothers is going to break us, we are already in serious need of repair.

What is more likely is that the full inclusion of LGBT folk threatens the power structure of the church rather than its theological integrity. Holding the line against full inclusion assures the continued dominance of those seen as "protectors" of the church, leaders whose authority is assured by their resistance to change in any meaningful way for our community and its allies. The full inclusion of LGBT members would likely reveal the true struggle in this church, which is resistance to the redistribution of power in any equitable and truly welcoming way.

The inclusion of our LGBT sisters and brothers has become the threatening fault line in the rhetoric, nurtured in the fear of what change will bring about. The decades-long delay against inclusion has become so mired in the language and practice of fear that we now believe that living into the fundamental principles of Christianity will actually destroy us. No, it will not destroy us, but it will eliminate the dysfunctional behavior of reducing others' status to raise one's own sense of importance and righteousness. Such a change will help to shift the church back to its dominant Christian mission of a radically welcoming and loving God, instead of a limited and exclusive institution.

Think about it for a moment. The PC(USA) may actually be known more for whom it refuses to welcome fully than for whom it fully embraces. It is, constitutionally, a resistance movement against God's creation. In the long run, more than any decision, this aberration of call, misguided by fear and selfishness, will split and plunder the church.

What would it be like to have the constitutional barrier of G-6.0106b removed, along with other limiting AI's, definitions, and interpretations? How many people, leaders, would suddenly be called upon to answer questions to their congregations and the world about gender identity, sexuality, differing views on Scripture, mission, past practices, and future outreach? What would it be like to suddenly be in such a situation? It would be wonderful! Finally, the fresh air of the Spirit would make it possible to be freed from the gender dominance and exclusive practices that we know in our hearts to be wrong.

It's not time!
It will split the church!
It will tear apart our unity!

Do these responses sound Spirit-filled and faith-based? Or do they sound like the cry of those afraid of losing something; those holding on too tightly to what most of us believe should have been released long ago?

Today, the church's fear of doing what is right produces violence and support for hate crimes against the communities we marginalize by our exclusion. The LGBT community continues to be pushed back in this church, and with each thrust away from the table, these actions reinforce the perception and responses of those who become more assured that LGBT people are less than. We embolden those who find encouragement for hatred toward LGBT folk each time we reaffirm LGBT persons are not fully welcome. Our witness to the world includes the message of discrimination, homophobia, and marginalization. How was this ever right before? How could it be right now?

There is little hope for us not to fracture as a church unless we clean house of these hurtful messages and practices

The recent ruling in favor of The Rev. Dr. Janie Spahr in which she was found not guilty of violating her ordination vows by "marrying same gender couples" summarizes the attitude toward LGBT folk from the institutional perspective of the church. Janie was found "not guilty" because the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission said that she could not be found guilty of something she could not do, that is marrying anyone other than a man and a woman. Clearly, the court reaffirmed that there is no place for the LGBT community in their eyes based on the Constitution, except as limited, diminished, second-class citizens.

What does that say to our LGBT family? If this were a decision against you, what would you hear in the words and actions of the court and the Constitution upon which they based their decision? I think you would hear:

It's not time!
It will split the church!
It will tear apart our unity!

Schism as the result of full inclusion for LGBT folk is a myth. It is a fear used to fund-raise by opponents and propel the status quo that benefits no one, not even those who hold the power now, for it has become an infection affecting all.

The church will not split as a result of opening its doors to the LGBT community. It will strengthen and grow in ways we could not even imagine. However, membership is not the reason to change the Constitution, nor is fear the reason to keep it flawed.

It is about Justice and Love. There can be no justice and love in this church until G-6.0106b is removed and all other references that limit participation and definition of membership for LGBT folk have been deleted or changed.

Fear and Schism are the twin myths that have become accepted remedies for maintaining the exclusion of LGBT folk from the church on a constitutional and institutional basis.

It's time now!
It will prevent schism!
It will bring us together!

Once again, I call for all the progressive groups to come together for this General Assembly with one voice and embrace the call to cure this church of the twin soul-sicknesses of procrastination and homophobia.

Here's what I believe we are called to do: Remove G-6.0106b from the Book of Order, strike the Authoritative Interpretation of 1978/1993[1], change the language of marriage in the Directory for Worship, and correct the Heidelberg Catechism in our Confessions.

- Using LGBT folk to hedge and hold onto power? True.
- Schism if LGBT folk were welcomed fully? Just another myth.
- What are we waiting for? I have no idea.

[1] http://www.presbyweb.com/Documents/DefinitiveGuidance1978.htm

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