Out of the wilderness

Thursday, August 25

Sing a New Song officially opened with an evening worship service. As with all RMN services, it sometimes had me in tears. It was joyous. It was hopeful. It was gay. The words spoke of coming out of wilderness into the inclusion of God's family. It spoke of newness, of forgetting of what came before to focus on the new. It spoke of justice and service. It spoke directly to my experience. It was hard to sing such wonderful, hopeful, joyous songs while crying.

The bishop of the part of Ohio that includes our site couldn't be there. A pastor read his letter of welcome. When done the friend beside me said, "Wow. I wish he was our bishop."

The message was by Jennifer Battiest Neal, who is Native American. She spoke of the personal conflict of a church that told her that Native culture was bad, yet she felt a God of love. She worked with youth of a church to create something new, a church and a God that affirmed Native culture.

The whole service was about inclusion. One of our songs was in a mix of Spanish and English. The basket of communion bread passed down the rows held all sorts of bread used by various traditions – loaves, wafers, crackers, pita bread, tortillas, and bread used in wraps.

At each RMN event I am reminded that in my normal weekly worship I leave a bit of myself outside. My gay self isn't mentioned. Here, my gay self is celebrated and I worship in completeness.

I should now back up a bit. RMN is Reconciling Ministries Network, an organization working to make the United Methodist Church to be gay-friendly. They hold a convocation every other year, with alternate gatherings to fire up the troops in preparation for the United Methodist General Conference the following year. GC is the only event that can change the denominations rules about gay acceptance. The next one begins next April.

This is my third such event. This year the event is called Sing a New Song and co-hosted by MFSA, Methodist Federation for Social Action, one of RMN's partners in GC work next year. The crowd was just under 700, with about 40 from across Michigan. We are at Sawmill Creek Resort in Huron, Ohio and overflowed it with some people staying at two neighboring motels.

I arrived yesterday. I spent most of today at a workshop on Building a Reconciling Community. Compared to previous workshops on the same topic, this one was more concrete and practical about what to do. The leaders talked about such things as seek out a core working group, identify people in power (especially unofficial power) and meet with them early in the process (before they muck it up for you), answer some questions about the congregation to determine whether you can do a quick process or a cautious process, provide hooks into the focus (welcome, inclusion, mission) the church already uses, meet one-to-one to talk about concerns, provide educational opportunities, make sure actual LGBT people take part and the committee is as diverse as the congregation. I may even step back a bit and talk of inclusion in general before talking of gay inclusion.

Comments about the events by RMN writers are on the event blog. There are also videos of various parts of the event, such as the bishop's welcome, plenary speakers, and worship sermons. Not everything has been posted yet and the RMN staff won't reappear at their home office until Thursday. Check them out soon.

The schedule for each day included recreation time, though if you gung-ho, there were groups that met to discuss a variety of topics during that time. When I checked in there was a sign at the front desk saying it was possible to rent kayaks and bicycles. Being a keen bicyclist, I asked. The length of the property was about a mile, but there were other bike trails elsewhere. So this afternoon I rented one. It was an old one-speed with a seat that couldn't be adjusted. Then the contract said it could not be taken off-property. I did the round trip between the lodge and the beach at the far end of the property three times before deciding I had enough. No need to rent it again.

Friday, August 26

The day started with a worship service. The scripture was about Jesus telling off the Pharisees (Luke 11:42-54). "You're hopeless, you religion scholars! You took the key of knowledge, but instead of unlocking doors, you locked them. You won't go in yourselves and you won't let anyone else in either." After the scripture Amy DeLong preached, using her recent church trial as her starting place. It was a powerful message.

The service was followed directly by the Bible study, led by Dr. Althea Spencer-Miller, originally from Jamaica. She said if we argue with conservatives or use the Bible to reinforce existing points of view, we are essentially playing their game. We need to come up with our own narratives. So, does the Bible have a progressive trajectory? She thinks it does. Consider the case of two creation stories, Genesis 1 and Genesis 2-3. One has a distant God merely speaking to make creation happen. The other shows God actively building creation and having dirt under His fingernails. When the Bible was assembled, one tradition could have prevented the story from a second tradition from being included. But, they agreed to disagree and included both stories as evidence of the argument. And that is a progressive thing to do.

The workshop I attended after that was Beyond Apologetics; Queering the Bible, Theology, and Pastoral Care. This built on ideas from the Bible Study. Again, instead of arguing over the Bible, the question should be to imagine what kind of world we want, informed by the Bible, and aim towards that without worrying about the opposition. Pastoral care is good when it helps those who hurt. It is worst when it claims there is no hurt or causes the hurt, as is true for many gay people. It is best when it eliminates the source of an ongoing hurt.

The afternoon plenary session was by Bishop Yvette Flunder of the United Church of Christ. She talked of many things, including the difference between unity and unanimity. We need the first, not the second. We are not a puree, but a stew, with each part harmonizing with the other parts. We don't understand each other because we don't know each other. Unity allows us to keep together while we get to know each other.

As part of learning about each other we need a non-punitive discussion of sex. Flunder told this story. In Africa, polygamy works, and does so differently than in America. Wives gain social status through the husband and with that status they are able to run everything. An American Evangelical came in to do a big revival meeting with a huge attendance. As part of it he asked the crowd to repent of their sexual sins. Many wives did so, laying down on the dirt floor. The preacher went back to his fancy hotel and boarded a jet for America. He left those women in the dirt. They lost status and with that the means to provide for themselves. The preacher left them destitute, caring nothing for them except that they had conformed to his view of sin. We don't know each other. And now we try to tell them that being gay is good. They've been burned already, so they ask, “At what cost?”

The evening plenary was by Bishop Joseph Sprague. He trumpeted the progressive agenda for a while, then settled in to describe four verses of the new song we are to sing.

Verse 1: Jobs. Too many in America are being left behind, and he's not talking about Rapture, but rupture of the American Dream. We need a public works project and only government can do enough. The church should shout about the need.

Verse 2: Columbus, Ohio has the Hilltop Shalom Zone in a poor neighborhood. It is a coalition of government services, non-profit agencies, and churches from many denominations. It is doing amazing things. We know this method works. Don't go off about the latest management buzzwords. Get your vestments dirty helping the poor. There are over 120 Communities of Shalom around the country. Join one or build another.

Verse 3: War is incompatible with Christian teaching. The other use of that phrase gets all the press. This one should get the notice instead. No more support for war. Support our troops by bringing them home.

Verse 4: The North Illinois Conference said that if a pastor is charged, tried, and convicted for performing a same-sex wedding the penalty will be suspension for 24 hours. But not just equality for gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgenders, but for all God's people (and not just the Christian ones).

In answer to a question Sprague said that progressive Christianity will evolve into an interdenominational movement, then go on to an interfaith movement.

Saturday, August 27

The morning worship service was wonderful. Alas, I don't have anything special to say about it.

Today's Bible study was a look at some of the people in the Bible who did not fit the gender roles of the time. One of these is Abigail in 1 Samuel 25:2-43. Her husband refused to serve King David and his men. Abigail went to her husband's servants and ordered them to prepare a feast for the king, taking over her husband's role. Another is Judith (a book in the Apocrypha). The army was afraid of General Holofernes. She stepped outside her feminine role to get the general drunk and to kill him. One more story is not from the Bible but is ancient. In Ovid's Metamorphosis is the story of a girl born to a man who demanded a son. The girl is dressed as a boy. The father arranges a marriage to another girl. On her wedding she is changed into a man. This story was told to show such stories were old, something the Israelites would have heard.

My workshop for the day was a description of General Conference and the role MFSA and RMN will play and what we as individuals might do. It was led by Rev. Steve Clunn and Rev. Bruce Robbins.

The basics: General Conference is held every four years and is the only body in the United Methodist Church that can change the Book of Discipline, the denominations governing document. The denomination considers itself to be worldwide, so there are delegations from Europe, the Philippines, and Africa. Other branches of the church, such as Latin America, are considered associated autonomous groups and do not send delegates to General Conference. The number of delegates from each area is determined by a combination of membership and the number of districts, with each district getting a minimum number (which helps the Philippines). The total number of delegates is capped at 1000. Here is the count for 2012:

USA: 606 delegates
Africa: 282
Europe: 42
Philippines: 48
Business will be conducted in English with translation to Portuguese, Spanish, and Swahili.

There are some peculiarities about this system. Each of the areas outside the USA meets separately to conduct business that is important to that area. Each area modifies the Book of Discipline to be appropriate for that area. The USA church does not meet separately, so all America only business (which is a large part of the 2000 petitions to change the BoD) goes before the entire Conference (a waste of time for some) and the other areas have a say in USA's business. On the flip side, many foreign issues don't want much meddling by the USA because it is seen as the remains of colonialism.

Rev. Robbins took part of a group that worked through what parts of the BoD should be allowed to be modified for each region and what must be considered essential to be United Methodist. While it gave him a chance to see the world, the experience was quite frustrating. Should the USA be allowed to ordain gay people in spite of the objections of the African church? Yes, that means that being homophobic might be considered essential to being United Methodist. Within its own region can Africa deny the ordination of women? That change won't help any time soon -- the earliest it could take effect is 2020.

There is a Call to Action report issued by a conservative group that, according to the presenters, says all the right things. However, their remedies do not do what they claim to do and actually increase conservative hold on the denomination (sounds like they take plays from the GOP playbook), and does such things as pit American poor against world poor. As in previous years women's issues are under attack.

RMN, MFSA, and Affirmation (another gay organization within the denomination) have formally combined efforts under the Common Witness Coalition. They have started organization efforts much earlier and with much closer cooperation than for previous GCs. There are three main tasks they will be doing during GC -- (1) track legislation through the committees and plenary floor so that effective responses can be created, (2) witness, put faces on the issues ("they're not 'issues', they're people") and communicate responses to delegates, and (3) support services, such as media and, if the vote goes against us again, grief counselors.

During previous GCs the stance of RMN was that they would strive to remain conciliatory, agree to disagree, knowing we would have to live in the same denomination even when they win. No longer. Our demand is full gay acceptance. Period.

The afternoon plenary session was all about starting the process of talking with GC delegates (who were elected in May and June and thus already known) to share our stories. And I certainly mean starting right then. We were given contact sheets, phone dialog scripts, shown an example of a dialog in process, and told to get out our cell phones and start calling. Though I don't have a cell phone I wasn't exempted, the friend sitting next to me had two. I left two messages, though I don't know how much of what I said actually got recorded. We were also given paper and sample letters to write (by hand!) our own letters to two delegates.

Your help is also needed, both in early contact work and at GC. Watch my DRUM blog for training sessions in the Detroit area and check out RMN's GC site.

I attended a session to talk to volunteers for GC work. My annoyance during the 2008 GC was that information about various votes was incomplete and late. So I asked to be on the media team. I don't know yet what that will mean. I may not be able to go. I now have my performance schedule for the coming year and a big concert is on the Sunday in the middle of GC.

That evening was the banquet, including various awards from both MFSA and RMN to people and groups that best embody their goals. One young woman was wearing a rainbow pattern men's tie, which was admired by many people. She volunteered to auction it off to raise money for our GC efforts. Someone bought it for $650.

The parent organizations have now raised 90% of the half-million dollars they will need for their GC efforts. This includes, for the first time, reaching out to delegates outside the USA. They call it their Love Your Neighbor campaign. 10% of that was raised at the banquet. Donations are gladly accepted. Send to either RMN or MFSA with a note saying it is for the Love Your Neighbor campaign.

The speaker was Michael Adee, Executive Director of More Light Presbyterians, their group that corresponds to RMN. They were successful in approving gay clergy last May. He had a great story and he is convinced United Methodists are next.

Sunday, August 28

The day started not with worship, but with meetings by district. Our agenda item was to choose dates and location for training sessions on how to contact GC delegates.

Next came the third part of our Bible study. This time Dr. Spencer-Miller took her title from the verse in Matthew, "You shall know them by their fruits." Yes, she said, the pun is intentional. She combined this with the passage from Galatians, which lists the fruits of the Spirit -- patience, love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Look at the gay people around you (especially those in the room). We certainly exhibit many of the fruits of the Spirit. Patience? My goodness, we've been at this equality work for decades. As for our opponents, any possibility they might lose they threaten to immediately split the church. That's not patience. Our opponents don't exhibit kindness and gentleness either. But, she said, St. Paul's list isn't complete. She put up images of gay families and asked us to call out the virutes seen there. It was a long list, ending with heroism. This was a marvelous message to leave us with.

Garlinda Burton preached during the morning worships service. She took the passage from Matthew 9:18-26, about bringing the daughter of Jarius (named in Luke's version of the story) back to life. She didn't focus on the restoration to life, but on a detail usually overlooked. Before Jesus gets there the house is full of a crowd already singing and playing laments. Jesus sends them out of the house before turning to the daughter. Our speaker was convinced these were Church People, into laments for what has gone on before (if we could only return to the wonderful 1950s!) and not looking about what the church is or should be doing now. She had a strong condemnation about churches that launch new initiatives rather than getting into the real work of the church of loving your neighbor.

It was a wonderful, uplifting four days. It is now back to the slog of actually working to make it happen.