Thursday, August 6
Convo opened with a worship service at 7:30. Since the title of this Convo is Gather at the River many scripture passages featured a river. So the altar during this service featured a river.
The first part (after a few rousing songs) was a presentation about Gene Legget. He was the first Methodist (before the "United" was added) pastor to come out as gay. He was quite the agitator in the 1970s at his local Annual Conference, which is held in the same sanctuary as our Convo. He also protested at several General Conferences. Much of his work was to attempt to eliminate the "homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching" phrase that was put in the new Book of Discipline in 1972.
Then came the bible study by Rev. Grace Imathiu. She is from Africa and is currently leading a church in a Chicago suburb. When asked to lead the bible study sessions she figured she would select her own verses. But no, the worship team did that for her. Thursday's passage was Revelations 22:1-5, from the last chapter of the bible. This passage is a glimpse of heaven. Imathiu's points: In times of stress and struggle it helps to read the last chapter first. We know how the story will end, which will help us to carry on. And once we've seen that last chapter a future without diversity will feel like an impoverished place.
The sermon was given by Rev. Peter Storey of South Africa. His bio is impressive – chaplain to Nelson Mandela while in jail, pastor of a congregation that was integrated in defiance of Apartheid, a leader behind the nation's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Storey also preached on the last chapter of Revelations.
The struggle for justice always involves pain. We need hope and signs of hope. He indicated us and said, "Welcome to God's future of the United Methodist Church!" Revelations 22 is a vision of heaven but it follows many darker visions. Some more people will die doing the work of justice. Justice is hard to sustain. We must be willing to suffer for the dreams of love.
The current fight of LGBT acceptance is a case of the church wounding the church. That makes us ask is our witness and pain worth it? Storey's response to that question is that we are not able to judge the worth of our pain. We are asked to witness, no matter the cost. Each bit of message is worth it. Cutting down a tree requires many strikes from the ax, but we don't know which strike will be the one that topples the tree.
Storey said that Apartheid would have ended ten years earlier but for the cowards in the pulpit. Of what or whom were they afraid? When we follow the love Jesus describes we are led to outrage.
The service ended around 10:00. Yeah, two and a half hours. But worth it.
Friday, August 7
We ended one day with worship and started the next with worship. The speaker was Nikilas Mawanda, a transgender man from Uganda. Yes, that's a dangerous place to be transgender. He was forced out of his parent's home when they concluded he was a lesbian, though he long knew he was transgender. He founded a support group for trans people. Then that nasty anti-gay bill was passed and he was arrested. Mawanda has strong words for Scott Lively and others who went to Uganda to stir up hate. You're playing politics with our lives. Does your theology kill people? He calls on us to reach out to Africa because they look up to us.
Elsewhere in the service transgender people did such things as read the scripture. Then we had the best part of the whole weekend: We invited all transgender people into the front and center and had a small ceremony of blessing. This was significant because within in the LGBT world the trans people are frequently discriminated against.
The service was followed by a panel discussion on Biblical Obedience. The panel was moderated by Matt Berryman, executive director of Reconciling Ministries Network. Biblical Obedience is a rule breaking sense of justice for those on the margins. This is some of what was said.
Bishp Melvin Talbert is beloved by the reconciling movement for his call in 2012 at General Conference to Biblical Obedience, quite different from obedience to the Book of Discipline. Talbert connected our movement to the sit-ins of the 1950s and 60s that were a part of the civil rights movement. Discrimination against anyone is the same. General Conference is the last word on the Book of Discipline, but, as Talbert says, "My last word is before God." The church tries to be counter-cultural, stressing values ignored by the culture, such as taking care of the poor. But the church (including the UMC) missed it on marriage. The culture got there first. That's not being counter-cultural. Talbert is reminded of the question asked at baptism: Will you reject oppression in all its forms? So be faithful to your answer to that question. Give your whole self to the beloved community. There is no other way to be faithful.
Rev. Dr. Karen Oliveto is the senior pastor at Glide Memorial United Methodist Church on San Francisco, an early church to declare itself to be reconciling. Oliveto has been a leader in RMN. She said that grace was taught to her by the church from an early age. She noted how much the institutional church supports the status quo. We are to be the leaven that changes the church. But we aren't to bring the margins to the center because the center is sinful. We are to take the church to the margins.
Alex Shanks is a transman, a spoken word poet, and an advocate for ministry with gender non-conforming people. He says that as a trans person he is made as God intended. He is called to ministry as much as anybody else. He considers his transition from female to male to be part of what God intended for him and a part of his call. He said he is more of a feminist as a man. He found out what he had been missing as a woman. Being trans allows him to be an advocate for blacks and for the poor.
Next was another bible study by Grace Imathiu, this time on the Exodus story, leading into the story of Joshua. At one point of their wanders in the wilderness Moses sent scouts into the Promised Land. Most returned with stories of giants who should be avoided. Imathiu said these scouts told the Israelites to back off as a way of protecting God. Those timid scouts were part of the reason for why the people of God wandered for 40 years. She said it takes 40 years to get pharaoh's thinking out of your head. The first task of an oppressor is to convince the oppressed that it is proper for them to be oppressed. Getting rid of that thought takes time. It also takes a while to undo the idea of two categories of people – us and them. Or in our case, male and female.
The Convo leaders randomly assigned us to groups called Reflecting Pools. These groups were a way for us to meet and get to know others in our movement. Today's discussion was essentially that.
I attended two workshops. The first was about intercultural competency and forming a broader community. It was put on by the denomination's General Commission on Religion and Race. The UMC in America is 90% white and that number is dropping. How are we forming community with other ethnic groups? How do we have deep and vital conversations across these groups?
One idea is the privilege walk. Participants form a line standing side by side. The leader reads a series of statements, such as, "If your parents attended college take a step forward." "If you have ever been arrested, take a step back." After many of these kinds of questions some people will be far ahead of others. This becomes a way of starting a discussion of privilege and a chance to hear each other's stories. One participant asked whether it was worth making those in the back of the room feel bad about their lack of privilege in order to teach those in the front of the room about their privilege.
Another idea is vital conversations. These are held in a safe environment, likely with a discussion of what that means. The conversations allow people to tell their stories, prompted by such questions as: Have you ever been followed in a store? Have you been an employee told to follow others in a store? Have you intentionally benefited from privilege? Do you avoid certain ethnic neighborhoods? How do you feel about others wanting to avoid your neighborhood? Keep in mind that people of color may feel the need to please white people in what they say, so responses may be internally edited. More here on the GCORR website.
My second workshop was about General Conference 2016. I'll save that to include with what was presented at a plenary session.
The evening session included some entertainment. Opening the session was the mariachi band Campanas de America. This is the first time I've seen a harp in such an ensemble. It was a lever harp and stood on legs so the player could stand while performing. The other instruments were guitar, bass guitar, violins, and trumpets. Various performers also sang. This photo shows the harp, but missed the one female of the group.
The evening speaker was Bishop Minerva Carcaño, currently serving in Los Angeles. She is the one who extended a job offer to Frank Schaefer when he was defrocked back in 2013. Even in the American South there are pastors who welcome their gay and lesbian members in spite of what their bishops say. They recognize same-sex love.
Carcaño told us the General Conference will be moved outside the United States starting in 2024. That one was slated for Harare in Africa with 2028 to be in Manila. But Amy DeLong, a lesbian pastor who has been on trial for conducting a same-sex wedding, asked if she would be safe in Harare. That prompted the question, are we life giving or life threatening? That prompted a revised schedule: the 2024 General Conference in Manila and 2028 in Harare only if gay and lesbian delegates would be safe.
The evening concluded with a performance by IlluMen, a local 8 member a cappella men's chorus. The music was wonderful!
Saturday, August 8
The morning again started with a worship service. The message was brought by Sara Thompson Tweedy, who had been brought up on charges for being a “self-avowed practicing homosexual” as the Book of Discipline puts it. She says, “I'm not practicing. I'm a professional!” She talked about how the institutional church dams up living water. It protects the institution, not the church – the people that make it a living thing. But the real danger isn't from our opponents, but from the mushy middle. She was quite critical of the church hierarchy for their slowness in doing what is loving and for the harm that has been caused along the way.
Tweedy's trial was scheduled to take place just after Frank Schaefer's trial and about the same time as Tom Ogletree's trial. This second one didn't happen because there was such outrage from the first and so much support for Ogletree the institution backed down. That was in November. The following May Tweedy's case was quietly dismissed. Tweedy said we can't wait for the Book of Discipline to change.
Every Convo invites the local bishop to visit, and speak if he wants. In places such as Maryland (the last Convo) the bishop is friendly to our cause (I don't remember if he showed up). But this is Texas. Bishop Jim Dorff came and requested to speak.
Even before he came to the pulpit the protests began in the form of signs hung from the balcony.
When the bishop was introduced the Convo leader reminded us we should be glad he showed up at all. We were also reminded this is a safe space – for everybody.
By this time the communion rail was full. Those kneeling there had a piece of blue cloth either covering the mouth or binding the wrists.
Dorff began, “This is not a fun time to be a bishop.” Ooh, bad start. “It is also not a fun time to be LGBT either.” He said his time with us is a God time for him. He needed to hear all the criticism that Sara had said. All he said was quite bland. He ended by saying he wants to be part of the solution. Many in the congregation shouted back, “SO DO IT!”
Emotions ran high (including mine). Many present had been hurt by this particular bishop or by many others like him. His bland pronouncements were unacceptable. The Convo leaders asked for a moment of silence. I heard a nearby whisper, “Our church will marry all,” apparently a Texas congregation ready and willing to defy this bishop. Rev. Dr. Julie Todd took part in the protest and shared her experience.
A woman made her way to the front and was given a microphone. This is a summary of what she said:
This is not a new issue. Don't pretend to be surprised by it. I was denied ordination 22 years ago. No current bishop was consecrated before this became an issue. No current pastor was ordained before this became an issue. There are no excuses.There was lots of spontaneous singing, including “We Shall Overcome.” Leadership offered another prayer for healing and then called for a break. There were a lot of hurt people that needed healing. We all needed time for emotions to subside.
The remaining morning sessions were shortened because the bishop's speech and our recovery took a good chunk of time.
The panel discussion was about the intersections of injustice. When one deals with health issues, one also deals with poverty, race, and even gay issues. Or, as is the case with these panelists, race, climate change, reproductive rights, and police brutality all intersect. The moderator was Chett Pritchett of the Methodist Federation for Social Action, the second sponsor of Convo.
Ann Craig specializes in social media skills to support LGBT-friendly faith leaders in Africa. She started by saying she challenges the stereotype that all Africans are against LGBT concerns. She also said that many of these intersections are personal and that working in intersections makes her work possible. We must address all of African's concerns.
Jenny Phillips works for the Pacific Northwest Conference in environmental stewardship. She represented the Fossil Free UMC drive to guide the church into divesting $700 million from all oil and coal corporations. We've already divested from tobacco, time to do the same for fossil fuels. She notes people on the margins are the ones who suffer most from climate change. Those who exploit creation also exploit people. It is hard to name a problem when we benefit from it. We don't need to be gay to be a gay ally. In the same way we don't have to be a scientist to advocate for protecting the climate.
Kathryn Johnson is a leader in the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Rights, an interdenominational group. She said for women to have a choice we must address sexism, racism, and economic need.
Jason Redick is on the board of the Center for Theological Activism. He advocates for immigrants, against police brutality, and against the death penalty. He says those who work with immigrants must be aware of LGBT rights because deportation of an LGBT person frequently leads to death.
On to another bible study by Grace Imathiu. She was disappointed that she had planned for 20 minutes and now was told she only had five. So she started skimming her notes and tossing pages onto the floor while those in the audience shouted that they wanted the full 20 minutes. She actually spoke for 15. The scripture this time was Ezekiel.
An old African saying: When two elephants fight, the grass suffers. In this passage Egypt and Babylon are fighting and Judea suffers. Judea is marched into exile. Back in 1972, when the first gay prohibitions were added to the Book of Discipline, LGBT people were marched into exile.
Exile strips us of everything. The priest, who doesn't have (and isn't bound by) a supporting institution and is useless in exile, becomes the prophet. He is free to imagine what the Promised Land looks like.
As Imathiu read the scripture she turned to us and said, "This next part is really great!" The passage describes a river of fresh water that is so full of life that when it enters the Dead Sea it turns that sea to fresh water, full of life.
After lunch my Reflecting Pool group got into a discussion of how we should label ourselves. The term "queer" used to be a disparaging term. Some of the older people in the group thought it was a word to avoid. But they were puzzled by younger people who embraced the word. We spent some time to puzzle out why. The collection of letters LGBT doesn't cover such things as intersex or asexual. I said I've used the term "sexual minorities." But another said that would include sex addicts, which is not what we want. Yet another said my term puts the emphasis on sex at a time when we complain our opponents reduce our relationships to a sexual act. So "queer" seems to be the word of choice, even if it does have that antagonistic baggage.
On to a discussion of next year's General Conference, including what I heard at Friday's workshop. The number of delegates has been reduced to 864, down from the usual number of almost a thousand. I'm sure the change is to reduce the cost of GC. The number doesn't matter as much as the percentages from each country. That is still mostly based on the number of UMC members in a country compared to the world-wide membership. In America the membership has dropped again so our delegates will be 58.3% of the total, down from 61.3%. Membership in Africa has grown, so their delegates will be 30.1%, up from 28.5%.
The bishop who presides over a session has influence over the discussion and procedures. Bishops volunteer for this task. We need to encourage progressive bishops to volunteer.
RMN, MFSA, and Affirmation formed the Love Your Neighbor Coalition (LYNC) back in 1996 (though under a different name). Three more groups joined in 2012. LYNC now has 11 partners and is active all the time, not just in the year before GC. They are: RMN, MFSA, Affirmation, Black Methodists for Church Renewal, MARCHA (Hispanic Americans), NFAAUM (Asian Americans), PINCUM (Pacific Islanders), Native American Caucus, UMC Ministers with Disabilities, Western Methodist Justice Movement (formed in the Western Jurisdiction after the 2012 GC), and Love Prevails. All of these groups are working on justice issues.
The Love Prevails group was started in response to the trial of Rev. Amy DeLong back in 2011. She introduced the group to the rest of Convo. Their slogan is disclose(t), divest, and disrupt. The first term is a combination of disclose and dis-closet. Both our LGBT pastors and our support for LGBT issues need to be disclosed, to come out of the closet. The group intends to divest their prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness (part of membership vows) from all structures within the denomination that support the status quo of institutionalized discrimination. They intend to disrupt business as usual, because the time for polite persuasion has passed.
http://loveprevailsumc.com/
The LYNC coalition sees GC 2016 will be about struggles over power, ideals, and right belief. In particular that will play out over five areas. Will the church be for inclusion or will it (at least in America) be the church for straight white guys over the age of 45? The battle will be over sexuality, in particular heterosexism and reproductive rights. There are lots of petitions about judicial process – will proceedings before the Judicial Council be fair with a transparent process or will there be mandatory penalties for pastors who violate the Book of Discipline? There are lots of proposals for revising the church structure at the global, national, and regional level. Will those changes enhance or obstruct justice? Will money be allocated or denied for justice issues?
There were several restructuring plans presented in 2012. One was adopted, then thrown out during the last few hours of GC. Many of those are back, along with a few more. LYNC is watching them closely. One that appears missing would create an American Central Conference that can revise the Book of Discipline for local use in the same manner as is already done in Africa and other parts of the world.
A goal is to avoid schism. That has been a threat used against progressives for the last 20 years. But if the denomination split, it would collapse. Neither side would have enough money for the boards and agencies that support the local churches and give the denomination its distinctive focus.
There is a proposal is for continental "connections." Then GC would have delegates from each connection. An American connection would deal with American issues and be authorized to create an American version of the Book of Discipline. But GC 2016 would only get this process started, with approval in 2020. In addition, sexuality issues wouldn't be addressed until the new system is up and running.
During GC LYNC will do several things: They will witness to GC. They hope to have 350-500 volunteers there for various witness events. They will build relationships with delegates. They will propose and monitor legislation. They will communicate coalition goals to delegates and volunteers, including having prepared legislation talking points. They will care for each other when things go bad, including chaplains on call. They will conduct worship services and provide lunchtime speakers. They will extend hospitality, especially to delegates from around the world.
The witness events will be built around empathic resistance, an idea developed elsewhere. Event success will be measured in coalition building.
One leader said our hopes are high, but our expectations are low. Be prepared. Another said the votes are against us. The democratic avenue is closed. Miracles may happen, but miracles are not a good planning strategy.
But that gives us freedom in our witness. Show up anyway. We don't have to be meek. Our job is to witness, not worry whether our witness is effective. Who is the coalition? We are.
There are things we can do now: Sign the LYNC vision statement and pass it around for others to sign. Fill out the volunteer form and plan to go to Portland. Tell leaders what you think. Donate to LYNC. Pray.
Since we will likely not overturn official oppression of LGBT people the sense is there will be a great deal of disobedience of the Book of Discipline, over the next several years. The denomination will have to deal with it. How it does so may determine how and whether it survives. One response to that disobedience are the proposals for minimum sentences when pastors violate the rules.
The Convo banquet was held that night. The music entertainment was by Jennifer Knapp, a lesbian contemporary Christian singer. She told her story in between her songs.
Rev. Vicki Flippin of MFSA interviewed Frank and Tim Schaefer. Tim spoke first saying he wouldn't get a chance once his father started talking. Tim is the gay son whose wedding was officiated by Frank, which cost Frank his credentials. Tim said he now feels supported well enough that he will be attending seminary this fall. He doesn't know if he can be ordained in the UMC.
Frank recounted his trial. Before then he had been living in fear, not able to tell his conservative congregation how he felt. The filing of charges was an outing and he watched his congregation fall apart. During the trial Tim gave his testimony. A friend commented to Frank that what Tim said was his story 35 years before. That prompted Frank to change his closing testimony. He has a new goal – be an advocate for LGBT people. He is now free.
Later Grace Imathiu tied Frank to her bible studies. He had been sent into exile. The support of the institution had been withdrawn. Similar to Ezekiel, the pastor became a prophet.
Tim said the recent marriage equality ruling puts pressure on either the pastors or the bishops. Frank added unless we change we'll alienate the Millennials. We'll lose young families. Professionals will not want to associate with homophobia. We will bankrupt the UMC. Tim said the reconciling movement represents inclusivity and that tells gay kids they are OK.
We were shown the trailer for the documentary movie Act of Love. Part of it is about the story of Frank Schaefer. Another part is about GC 2012. One moment in the trailer caught my attention. A member of Good News (one of our opponent organizations) said he had reveled in beating us in policy fights. But he has grown tired of seeing our pain when we lost. I so much wanted to hear about the implications of that statement.
Sunday, August 9
The first morning session was reports from various areas around the country telling us about local initiatives.
The first speaker asked an important question, though without supplying an answer. Why don't secular and faith-based gay rights organizations work together?
In the Cal-Nevada Conference sexual orientation is officially not an issue of ordination.
A speaker reminded us that laity have power. We must use it. The bishop cannot threaten us as can be done against wayward pastors.
The morning bible study was on Luke, chapter 3, in which John goes out into the wilderness to preach and baptize. Grace Imathiu noted the passage says Tiberius has been around for 15 years and that he had installed four puppet rulers over Judea. People had been eating empire food for 15 years. Here comes John and he doesn't wear empire clothes and doesn't eat empire food. He is living as an exile within the Promised Land, in exile within the church.
When we baptize infants, following John's example, we don't know that baby. We can't ask who are you? Are you gay? Even so, we make promises to that baby, that we will surround the baby with steadfast love. Will we break that promise? Should we wait until we know whether the baby is gay? When the baby grows up and becomes troublesome or makes us feel uncomfortable we must still say, "I promised the baby!"
The people who came to John said, "Abraham is our father." John replies that doesn't matter. Each person must produce fruit. Part of that means to search out people who need our help.
Our closing worship was with the Travis Park congregation, since we were in their sanctuary. The two groups filled the place. Our morning schedule took longer than was planned, so the service actually began at 11:00 instead of 10:30 and lasted until 12:30. The preacher was Theon Johnson of Glide UMC. He preached that God was not after right belief, but right living. From the way the church has been acting there is no surprise those outside don't come in. They don't trust us. Working from the same bible passage he said we must produce fruit, which stands for:
Faithful in action
Reaching out for inclusion
Unapologetic in saying hate is incompatible with Christian teaching
Intentional in our teaching
Transforming our ministries through radical love.
Johnson, who is black, talked about the controversy around black lives matter / all lives matter. The first phrase is a declaration that black lives also matter as much as white lives. The second accuses black people of saying only black lives matter and white lives don't.
