The Vote

The United Methodist Church General Council is preparing to vote on LGBTQ+ inclusion into the full life of the church. This would mean ordination and marriage rights for sexual minorities. There are two votes: one that would affirm the "traditional" beliefs of the church and one that would open the church to all. The vote seems to be heading toward a denial of rights.

I am not a member of the Methodist church (though some of my best friends are 😏). However, I do remember how painful it was to be a member of the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) when the votes went against inclusion. It was heartbreaking. It made me wonder if I really wanted to be a Presbyterian. It may well have had something to do with my long absence from the church--though I never really put it together until now.

I also remember how painful it was when PCUSA voted for inclusion. We lost people. Indeed, we lost entire churches who voted to leave the denomination. First Presbyterian San Antonio was one of those churches, and I still regret their absence from our community of faith.

Gradualism, which may have made it possible for those people to stay, is painful. Ask any minority. It is not enough to say "love the sinner, hate the sin" when I KNOW that God created me as I am. I know that I am God's precious child. And if you hate a fundamental element of me, it is crushing. It drives people away from the church. Indeed, many of my friends are so hurt by the church that they reject it entirely.

When you are young and the church does not support you, you feel that God does not, cannot love you. I remember praying that God would make me "normal." That is the sin of exclusion within the church.

My Methodist siblings and friends are in my heart today. And as a meme from More Light Presbyterians said this morning: "God loves your beautiful, strong beloved queerness, even if your church refuses to honor it."