Long, long ago, during grad school days, one of my friends came home quite angry. "Do you know that you can't be gay and be a Lutheran pastor?"
I replied, "You do know that I'm not in charge of that, right?" At that moment, I would have described myself as non church going, even though I was part of a Lutheran group that met on the campus of the University of South Carolina. That student group was more inclusive than I imagined the larger church could ever be.
Decades have passed since then, and the Lutheran church, the ELCA variety, is more inclusive, although there is still a way to agree to disagree. Pastors who are not white, male, and heterosexual may still find it tough to find a church willing to have them as a pastor. Individual churches still have latitude to discriminate, and that doesn't make me happy.
I thought of these decades of changes that seem impossible and then seem to happen in a flash. I was paying some attention to the national gathering of United Methodists in Charlotte, NC. I knew that they hoped to resolve the issues that have been tearing them apart for the past several years when they couldn't meet in person. And so, yesterday, I was happy to hear that the UMC voted to become a more inclusive church.
I know a bit more about the background because I go to a Methodist seminary, and last year, I attended an information session that occurred after chapel during lunch. A year ago, as some of my fellow seminarians were graduating and taking calls in Methodist churches, I listened to their fears of what would happen if this vote went a different way.
I am so glad that my former classmates aren't waking up this morning with difficult decisions to make. I am so glad that the United Methodist Church voted to become more inclusive.
No comments:
Post a Comment