A Queer Pilgrim

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

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

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