After a "lesbian identified" Methodist minister is acquitted in an official church trial, Exodus executive director Alan Chambers criticizes the church leadership before launching into a tirade against "liberal" churches as a class.
Chambers begins by accusing the Methodist jurors of honoring an imaginary manual of homosexual politics rather than the Bible, but he offers no quotations from the jurors to substantiate his ridicule.
Chambers then dictates that same-sex attraction ("homosexuality") is punishable by death, according to the Bible. So why doesn’t Chambers obey the Bible on this matter? Chambers does not answer this obvious question. Instead, he further asserts that even if the Bible were unclear about homosexuality, the book does not need to specify that an act or feeling is a sin in order for everyone to know it is a sin.
Chambers quotes II Timothy 3:16 out of context, apparently to justify an inerrantist view of the Bible. Based on this view, and despite the Biblical God’s frequent changes of heart and direction (often in response to prayer), Chambers dictates (again without elaboration) that God never, ever has a change of mind.
It is then that Chambers launches into an assault upon "liberal" churches as a class.
It is time for the liberal and passive social clubs that refer to themselves as Churches either change their inaccurate description of themselves or start truly reflecting and representing Christ’s absolute truth and grace. God will not be mocked, especially not to those who are dying and going to hell for lack of truth.
Had he thought more about the targets of his stereotypes, Chambers might have realized that his broad condemnation of liberal "social clubs" to hell happens to cut across the Roman Catholic Church, whose official social-justice policies are extremely liberal by his standards: Antiwar, antinuclear, antipoverty, anti-death-penalty, pro-welfare. Chambers’ sweeping verdict of damnation against liberal churches also covers some African-American denominations, the pacifist Anabaptist churches, countless foreign orthodox Christian churches that oppose U.S. conservative foreign policy, and all Jews.
In my past faith explorations, I have occasionally encountered some liberal churches that were lacking in various respects — no charisma, no enthusiasm, no extracurricular prayer, no support programs for the poor, the ill, the oppressed in their communities. But I also found conservative churches — often Southern Baptist or Assemblies of God — that lacked these very same characteristics. They were preoccupied with correctness and prosperity as representations of God’s favor. These particular churches were devoid, in my view, of the values of the Gospel.
One wonders about the source of Chambers’ stereotypes about "liberal" churches.
Please bear with the technical nature of this commentary. When a charge is presented in a church court there are charges and specifications. The charge was “practices declared by The United Methodist Church to be incompatible with Christian teaching”. The specification was “Reverend Karen Dammann is a self-avowed practicing homosexual”. The specification was sustained by the jury but not the charge. The operative phrase in the Book of Discipline is this:
“Since the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching, self-avowed practicing homosexuals are not to be accepted as candidates, ordained as ministers, or appointed to serve in The United Methodist Church.”
The reasoning of the jury was that because the “since” referenced so-called social principles in the Book of Discipline and these social principles were declared as not having the force of church law, then the charge does not rise to a chargable offence.
Even if that is true where the dependent clause is in effect struck, the problem exists with the independent clause in the Book of Discipline. That part is NOT part of the social principles. Thus, there is an explicit prohibition against the Rev. Dammann from being appointed to any future office. Thus, while she may not be personally charged, she cannot assume any future office until her state changes as a self-avowed practicing homosexual. Anybody that does appoint her to future office can be charged with violating their vows to uphold the Book of Discipline and vow breaking is undeniably a chargable offense.
Now for some predictions. There will be a similar and good-sized political blowback on this at the upcoming General Conference. This will be quite similar to what happened in the Episcopal Church when Gene Robinson was canonized. I predict with respect to the Episcopal Church that it will split further with the Third World Anglicans recognizing the conservative part of the church. Many Anglicans view what is going on in the Episcopal Church as yet another example of American elitism, unilateralism, and even racism.
In the story here:
https://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04088/292081.stm
The Rt. Rev. N.T. Wright, bishop of Durham in the Church of England and former canon theologian of Westminster Abbey, said “America has been screwing the world into the socket” for years to reach agreements on land mines, global debt, the environment and trade.
Yet when it came time to invade Iraq, the United States acted virtually alone, Wright said in a phone interview from England. He compared that action to the Episcopal Church’s consecration of an openly gay bishop against existing church polity.
“So why should the world listen to the [Episcopalians in the] United States when changing Episcopal Church law?” he asked. “It is bound to be perceived as, ‘There you go again.’ It’s more of the same.”
Not sure what happened to my prior comment on this thread – hope I didn’t break a rule and get censured – I don’t think I did 🙂
Having been pressured to surrender my ordination within the United Methodist Church for acknowledging my orientation – though still trying to go straight at the time – it’s hard for me to any longer think of the UMC as a ‘liberal’ church. I guess I was just always part of an especially conservative corner of that denomination. I’m happy to have found a new place to serve that celebrates both my ministry gifts AND my orientation.
I will be at the United Methodist General Conference in Pittsburgh later this month to assist with efforts of the Reconciling Network and SoulForce. I look forward to talking with persons pushing for legislation to create denominational materials to educate and help persons wanting to “leave homosexuality.” Any other readers/posters planning to be there?