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Change Comes Slow, and Ambivalence Persists. The United Methodist Church in NC as a Microcosm of Macrosomic Change

As The United Methodist Church prepares to meet for the 2020 worldwide Quadrennial/General Conference meeting (it is being held in 2024 because of COVID, etc.), there was this article in Religiousnews.com, by my friend Yonat Shimron about the disaffiliation going on in the UMC within The United Methodist Churches (UMC) of NC. Yes,  the great dissolution and schism (call it what it is) of the UMC is finally taking place. Phew! They kicked the can down the road as long as they could, hoping that they wouldn’t be like every Protestant denomination when it came to LGBTQIA2S+ people in terms of schism. But, in the end, reality set in, and the schism is happening. The UMC in the state of NC is an interesting story unto itself. It is a microcosm of all that is happening throughout the country and world in the UMC. NC has two annual Conferences of the UMC: The North Carolina Conference, which is the eastern half of the state, and the Western NC Conference, which is the western half of the stat
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Discrimination is Not a Way to Grow a Church

I’ve been ordained for over 40 years. I’ve served 14 churches in various roles, from senior pastor, to simple pulpit supply, from MA to NC, WA to FL, NC to OR, and now NM. I’ve read too many books and articles to count about church growth. And none of them, zero, and no author has advocated excluding people as a way of growing a church numerically, let alone in the faith. And yet individual churches and denominations do this as a whole, and then wonder why they aren’t growing. This includes The United Methodist Church (you’ve changed nothing so far), to the Christian Reformed Church, Southern Baptists, Church of Christ. Include, of course, Church of God and the Roman Catholic Church, along with Orthodox churches. All of these churches are losing members and churches. And if they wonder why, one big reason is because of their exclusionary practices.  The first story is about the Church of God, based in Anderson, IN. A smaller denomination, it tends to be conservative theologically and i
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Discriminating in the Name of God at Calvin University

I read this article on advocate.com, by Trudy Ring, about an assistant professor on the faculty of Calvin University, who was fired from his position at Calvin because he officiated at a wedding of a same sex couple. The by-line? " Joseph Kuilema lost his job with Calvin University after officiating a queer couple's wedding. He's disgusted that the school discriminates in the name of God. ” That about says it all. Yes, the University is discriminating against LGBTQIA2S+ people and allies. I don’t get it. There are a lot of  smart, creative, insightful people at Calvin University. They don’t have to “buy” into the conservative politics of the Christian Reformed Church, of which they are connected. They are an institution of higher education. Surely, they can see discrimination when it is around them in the Grand Rapids area.  But apparently they are all right with openly practicing discrimination among themselves, especially when it comes to LGBTQIA2S+ people.  From the art
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Being a Lion in a Den of Self-Righteous' Daniels: Transgender Activist Dahron Johnson is a Modern Day “Daniel” in the “Lion’s Den” of Tennessee Legislature

  In Hebrew Scriptures, there is the story of Daniel in a den of lions, in which Daniel survives being in and among those who are natural enemies of humankind. In advocate.com, there was this story by Christopher Higgins about Chaplain Dahron Johnson, a transgender activist, who recently spoke in the Tennessee House of Representatives, the first transgender person to do so. This is the very state Republican House of Representatives that is trying riding a rising tide of anti-LGBTQIA2S+ sentiment in TN. Dahron Johnson is a modern day lioness who had the courage to walk into and talk to some of the most hostile people (Daniels) towards her and the LGBTQIA2S+ community in the TN Republican-controlled House of Representatives. State Rep. Aftyn Behn, a Democrat from Davidson County, played a pivotal role by inviting Johnson to lead this legislative body in prayer, which not only highlighted Behn’s commitment to LGBTQIA2S+ rights but also symbolized a significant moment of solidarity within
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Clear Sign of Anti-LGBTQIA+ Discrimination in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

  In advocate.com, Trudy Ring reminds us of anti-LGBTQIA+ bias in one of the many Orthodox churches in the world. Along with the Greek Orthodox Church, which as horrified that the Greek Parliament approved same-sex weddings and adoption of children, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church gets the “loser of the month” award for being horribly anti-LGBTQIA+. The church removed a medal given to a gay soldier. Why? Because he is gay. As Ring reports:  Viktor Pylypenko, a medic who’s served in   Ukraine’s   effort to turn back Russia’s invasion, had received a medal from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyiv for “sacrifice and love to Ukraine,” along with other members of his division’s medical corps. He posted on Facebook that he was grateful for the medal. “I also deliberately assumed that the church has changed its attitude towards LGBT, since it rewards an openly gay activist for protection--in theory, I thought, this is a sharp reversal of the church to humanity, a noble road map to all other 
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Cecilia Gentili: May She Rest in Peace, Because the Roman Catholic Archdiocese is Not at Peace

Cecilia Gentili, a transgender activist, actor and legislative lobbyist, was  honored  at a Feb. 15 funeral packed with mourners in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the  mother church  of the Archdiocese of New York.  According to reporter Aleja Hertzler-McCain of religionnews.com, "Cecilia was a transgender activist born in Argentina. S he moved to the U.S. in 2000, experiencing homelessness and addiction while she supported herself as a sex worker. Later, Gentili worked at a health center and for Trans Equity Consulting, where she worked with HIV+ people, trans people, sex workers, incarcerated people and immigrants.  On Feb. 6, 2024, at the age of 52 years old, she died of unspecified causes.  According to press reports, she successfully sued the Trump administration when it tried to roll back the Affordable Care Act and lobbied for the New York State Gender Expression and Discrimination Act. When Gentili died, she had been working to decriminalize sex work in New York. ” While the fun
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Greece Welcomes the Marriage of LGBTQIA2S+ People, and Our Right to Adopt Children!

Today, Feb. 15, 2024, the Greek Parliament approved a bill that would allow same-sex civil marriage! It is the first Orthodox country to legalize same sex-marriage. It is a landmark victory for supporters of LGBTQIA2S+ rights, which was greeted with cheers by onlookers in parliament and dozens gathered on the streets of Athens. The law gives same-sex couples the right to wed and adopt children, and comes after decades of campaigning by the LGBTQIA2S+ community for marriage equality in the socially conservative country (Who knew!?). It was approved by 176 lawmakers in the 300 seat parliament, and will become law when published in the official government gazette. Members of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ center-right New Democracy party abstained or voted against the bill, but there were enough people on the left, liberal side to vote for it, despite a tense debate. Why am I reporting/blogging on this momentous occasion that seems only state related? Because the Greek Orthodox Chur
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