Rev. Stephen Van Kuiken said he is leaving his Ohio church, even after winning
reinstatement to the Presbyterian church he was fired from for performing a same-sex
union. (Photo by AP)
Black pastor denounces ‘miseducation in the pulpit'
Some experts say military’s gay ban is ‘on its last legs’
Ala. senator seeks to remove provision from AIDS bill
With no health insurance, Snyder leaves $400K in hospital bills
Court ruling could impact voters in other states
Mass. Senate votes to let out-of-state gays marry
advertisement
advertisement
|
CHRISTOPHER SEELY
Friday, May 14, 2004
Debate at the United Methodist General Conference earlier this month focused
heavily on the role of gay men and lesbians in the church. But the denomination’s
official stance that gays are “incompatible with Christian teaching” remained
when the conference ended.
“I think clearly on this issue of homosexuality, the General Conference
confirmed our current position and in some ways, I think, it was strengthened,” said
Patricia Miller, executive director of Confessing Movement, a group opposing
gay clergy members.
In the final days of the conference, which ended May 7, conservative members
of the church also discussed dividing the church’s assets between those
who favor gay inclusion and those who favor gay exclusion.
“There has been great disobedience in the church and if that disobedience
continues, you will hear more and more talk about amicable separation,” Miller
said.
But during the final day of the conference, delegates voted overwhelmingly,
869-41, in favor of a resolution to affirm unity and “commitment to work
together.” The discussions of a friendly church schism were tabled, Miller
said.
“There are people in the church who say we need to divide over this
issue, but we need to continue to put out a voice that we are part of the church
and need to respect different opinions,” said Troy Plummer, executive
director of Reconciling Ministries Network, a group working for gay-inclusive
Methodist policy.
Conference delegates meet every four years to discuss and update the Book
of Discipline, which serves as church law for the 8.3 million members of the
United Methodist Church.
Debate about the role of gays in the church has been prominent at every conference
since 1972.
Taking center stage this year was the recent trial of openly gay Rev. Karen
Dammann, who was acquitted on charges of being “incompatible” by
a jury in Washington state earlier this year.
Methodist church code prohibits “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” from
being ordained as ministers, but Dammann was excused from that charge because
she did not know she was a lesbian at the time of her ordination.
Confessing Movement and other conservative factions of the Methodist church,
particularly in the southeastern U.S., sought for the highest Methodist court,
the Judicial Council, to reverse the outcome of Dammann’s trial and strip
her of her ordination.
But the Judicial Council ruled during the conference that it did not have
the authority to review the findings of Dammann’s court trial.
Dammann said the conference was not cause for celebration because delegates
voted to retain the “incompatibility” clause, forbid gay clergy,
and extend a ban on holy unions to include gay marriages, which are scheduled
to begin this month in Massachusetts.
“It comes off after General Conference that there are more restrictions
and more anti-gay rhetoric actually in the Book of Discipline at this point,” Dammann
said. “We’re not celebrating.”
Still, gay activists within the church are hopeful after seeing their margin
of support increase since the last General Conference, according to Dammann
and Plummer.
At the conference, 45 percent of delegates voted in favor of a motion to state
in the Book of Discipline that Methodists disagreed over “homosexuality,” which
would open the door to more inclusion, Plummer said.
Only 33 percent voted in favor of a similar resolution at the last conference,
he said.
Almost a year after being terminated from his job as minister at the Mt. Auburn
Presbyterian Church in Ohio, Stephen Van Kuiken won an appeal in a regional
church appellate court April 30, allowing him to be reinstated as a Presbyterian
minister.
Van Kuiken thanked members of the judicial commission that oversees Ohio and
Michigan for reversing the decision of the Cincinnati church court, which ruled
last June that Van Kuiken disregarded church code by marrying a same-sex couple.
But despite the victory, Van Kuiken is leaving the Presbyterian Church, saying
he was only staying long enough to see the appeal to its conclusion.
|
