"Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous."

[captainsblog]

The following is an email sent to the minister of a United Methodist Church near my Rochester office. Except for deleting the name and adding some links, it is repeated verbatim. "RMN" refers to Reconciling Ministries Network, a growing protest organization within the denomination committed to minimizing, if not outright reversing, the denomination's doctrinal stance prohibiting openly gay clergy, solemnizing same-sex marriages in any way, and declaring homosexuality to be "incompatible with Christian teaching."

Anyway. Apropos of the subject header:

Supposedly, Einstein said that. I know our minister here in suburban Buffalo has, more than once.  Call it what you will- maybe even a call- but of all the churches on all the strip of Church Street in all the villages within Perinton, somehow I wound up parked next to yours.
 
I was due on South Main Street for a photo session at Touch of Elegance (nice guy, btw)- and there's no place to park behind it, in front of it, or anywhere near it. I was almost late, thunder was in the air, and headed west since I'd be doing that anyway and turned onto the first side street and into a perfect-as-it-gets space.  I walked over to the photo shoot and back, and somehow knew, despite no sign of a sign on that side, that the church on my right was one of mine.
 
Yup.  (Lifetimer here. Baptized and confirmed in a small NYAC congregation, married at Asbury First, and a member of Williamsville for almost a 20th year.)  But that wasn't enough. I remembered you guys- from the lists on RMN, which showed you (as of the time I checked) to be the only UMC congregation in the former WNY Conference to be brave, and outspoken, and Christlike in responding to the denomination's misuse of Discipline.
 
I've done the superficial things so far: I've liked RMN on Facebook. I've got the stinking t-shirt from MIND, the downstate conference's organized opposition to the opposition of same-sexuality. And, I've broached the idea of us joining the movement, at a Lay Leaders Council meeting.  I feared something close to excommunication for that, but instead got a combination of polite nods and confused looks.  Nothing has happened since.  Maybe my serendipitous parking job means that it's time.
 
(I did check to see if you were in- this was late on a Thursday afternoon. I think I scared your office manager. She did give me your contact information, though, and now you have mine.)
 
What am I looking for? At a minimum, encouragement. Hopefully, information- how has your step gone over in the congregation and community?  It seems near certain that the commitment would gain us some members and cost us some- and probably the Finance Committee would tell us that the first group contributes far more than the second one likely would.
 
At the extreme end, would you or someone involved in this decision be willing to meet with me on your end, or maybe at our church in the future?  I'm feeling very set apart from the doctrine being forced on us by this "tradition," and can't look at those "open mind/door/heart" signs without finding them ironic, if not outright lies.  If this congregation won't take the step, I hope to find one that will. If all else fails, even yours. (Need a certified lay speaker? I finally renewed THAT after close to 40 years.)
 
So enjoy the rest of your vacation, and let me know if there's more to this than a random act of parking.
 
Blessings,
Ray

Comments

[digitalemur.livejournal.com]

I love that you did this. It means so much to a number of people I have worked with and am friends with.

[thediva-laments.livejournal.com]

Good for you. That's a great email.

[symian.livejournal.com]

Well, I am for same-sex marriage. Civil, that is, not religious. Those are two different animals. I wish people would understand the difference.

[captainsblog.livejournal.com]

I agree completely. The state has no business imposing rules on what marriages a religion should solemnize. That said, I am within my rights, as a lifetime member of a denomination, to encourage mine to offer at least as much "intangible religious benefit" to members within my state as the state itself now offers. And it's not like the prohibitions date back to the Apostles, or even to the founding of the Methodist movement in the 1700s- this screed was added in 1972.

[angledge.livejournal.com]

So what's happened?

[captainsblog.livejournal.com]

She's still on vacay. This seems to be a Senior Methodist Minister Thing- those that take new appointments on July 1st spend the month getting to know their new parishes, while the holdovers just take the month off.