Our next gathering is a worship service with communion on Sunday night, August 2. There will be fellowship at 7:00 and service at 7:30. Our message will be brought by Alex Plum, who has been very active in the Detroit Annual Conference for several years. Alex recently received a Masters Degree in Public Health from Emory University and is working at Henry Ford Hospital. He has been involved in many facets of ministry. He was in the Peace Corps, a delegate to General and Jurisdictional Conferences, will be a delegate again at General Conference 2016 in Portland, Oregon and is in the ordination process for deacon's orders. The scripture for the evening will be Micah 6:8 and his message will be "Reflections on a Journey." Alex Plum is a dynamic speaker and a charismatic young man. Sunday night's message will show some of Alex's many gifts for ministry and will surely be inspirational.
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8 (NIV)
We'll be at our usual place, Nardin Park United Methodist Church, 29887 W. Eleven Mile Rd., Farmington Hills. The church is just west of Middlebelt. The fellowship time will be in the meeting room on the west side of the church and the service in the nearby chapel. Come and bring a friend!
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Friday, July 24, 2015
Nine pastors face charges
The key phrase in a wedding ceremony is apparently "I now pronounce you..." I had written about Benjamin Hutchinson, the gay pastor in Cassopolis, Michigan who was forced to resign about 10 days ago. Shortly after that, partly to make sure he had health benefits, he married his partner.
That wedding took place a week ago. Thirty clergy, many with rainbow stoles, attended the ceremony along with more than 100 other guests. Hutchinson was delighted with the support. At the close of the ceremony about half of the pastors joined the main officiant in saying "I now pronounce you husband and husband." The names of nine of those, including the main officiant, have been turned over to the Kalamazoo District Superintendent of the United Methodist Church. All nine now face disciplinary procedures. The bishop will now work out a resolution that will hopefully avoid a series of pastor trials.
The lead officiant was Rev. Mike Tupper. He has already gone through the resolution process with this bishop when a complaint was filed after Tupper officiated at the wedding of his lesbian daughter.
Hutchinson had strong words for the United Methodist denomination:
That wedding took place a week ago. Thirty clergy, many with rainbow stoles, attended the ceremony along with more than 100 other guests. Hutchinson was delighted with the support. At the close of the ceremony about half of the pastors joined the main officiant in saying "I now pronounce you husband and husband." The names of nine of those, including the main officiant, have been turned over to the Kalamazoo District Superintendent of the United Methodist Church. All nine now face disciplinary procedures. The bishop will now work out a resolution that will hopefully avoid a series of pastor trials.
The lead officiant was Rev. Mike Tupper. He has already gone through the resolution process with this bishop when a complaint was filed after Tupper officiated at the wedding of his lesbian daughter.
Hutchinson had strong words for the United Methodist denomination:
Because of the disciplines, our queer youth are killing themselves. And it is a religious terrorism by the doctrines they hold. Our youth are killing themselves because of it. Moment by moment as we speak here, there’s children killing themselves because the church says ‘no, you are not a child of God. You can not be married and officiate the sacraments.’ So the church must change for the well-being of our children.
Saturday, July 18, 2015
Pastor resigns
Rev. Benjamin Hutchinson has been the pastor of the Cassopolis United Methodist Church in Michigan for three years. The congregation knew he was gay and knew he had a partner. That bit about the partner meant that Hutchinson was a "practicing homosexual" and violating the denomination's rule book, the Book of Discipline. It seems the bishop never asked Hutchinson directly until a few days ago. Hutchinson didn't lie, so was told to resign. He and his partner were not married, but the sudden unemployment and need of such things as health insurance prompted the two to get married.
Under Hutchinson's guidance the congregation quadrupled in size and the finances stabilized. Quite an accomplishment for such a short period of time. Naturally, many in the congregation say this will prompt them to leave the church. Many others are protesting. The congregation is grieving both the loss of a beloved pastor and the display of such blatant discrimination.
The denomination, in spite of their rule book, is coming around to the idea of their pastors officiating at the weddings of same-sex couples. When a pastor breaks that rule there is an effort to keep the pastor in place and avoid a trial or any other punishment. The denomination, even apart from the rule book, hasn't shifted position on gay pastors yet. They've just lost another excellent pastor, and in the process have destroyed a local congregation.
Under Hutchinson's guidance the congregation quadrupled in size and the finances stabilized. Quite an accomplishment for such a short period of time. Naturally, many in the congregation say this will prompt them to leave the church. Many others are protesting. The congregation is grieving both the loss of a beloved pastor and the display of such blatant discrimination.
The denomination, in spite of their rule book, is coming around to the idea of their pastors officiating at the weddings of same-sex couples. When a pastor breaks that rule there is an effort to keep the pastor in place and avoid a trial or any other punishment. The denomination, even apart from the rule book, hasn't shifted position on gay pastors yet. They've just lost another excellent pastor, and in the process have destroyed a local congregation.
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