MIND will be hosting a general meeting at five different locations. We encourage everyone to attend the meeting date and location that works best for you.
The MIND steering committee is grateful to the following hosts of the Spring 2017 meeting from 3:00-5:00 p.m.:
April 30th
New Paltz UMC (1 Grove St, New Paltz, NY 12561)
Park Avenue UMC (106 E 86th St, New York, NY 10028)
Katonah UMC (5 Bedford Rd, Katonah, NY 10536)
May 7th
St. Paul’s UMC (270 Main St, Northport, NY 11768)
Cheshire UMC (205 Academy Rd, Cheshire, CT 06410)
More information will be coming through this newsletter and via social media. We hope you are able to attend one of these meetings, and offer a special invitation to those of you who have never attended a MIND meeting. YOU are a part of this movement, so please come meet some friends and learn how YOU can help make the United Methodist Church a more welcoming, inclusive place that celebrates all God’s children, without exception!
“I believe in the sun / even when it’s not shining / I believe in love / even when I don’t feel it /I believe in God / even when God is silent.” At General Conference 2016, these words from Mark Miller’s song “I Believe” became our mantra of sorts. Wednesday, May 18th was supposed to be the big day that all “human sexuality” (their term, not ours) legislation came to the floor for a vote. On Wednesday morning, queer clergy as well as LGBT allies gathered outside the convention center for a silent protest. Queer clergy were robed and joined by allies holding crosses with stoles from the Shower of Stoles Project, representing the lives of LGBT people of faith.
As delegates and bishops entered the convention hall they walked by queer clergy and allies standing as a witness with signs that read, “I am your sister” and “I am a queer pastor.” Many of the people that walked by thanked us for our witness and several were in tears as we stood strong, basking in the bright rays of the morning sun, knowing that we are all God’s children and that God called us here. It was a powerful witness to the fact that LGBTQI individuals are people and not issues. As worship ended, we processed in the convention hall through the bar (where the delegates are seated) and gathered around the table that sits in the middle of the hall. All of this occurred while the session was taking place–there was no way anyone in the hall could miss our powerful silent witness–where we faced the bishops, then turned and faced the crowd, offering both a blessing before walking out singing.
Shortly after, Bishop Bruce Ough, president of the Council of Bishops, presented a plan designed to keep the church from splintering over its discriminatory stance on LGBTQI rights titled, “An Offering For A Way Forward.” Ough said the bishops continue to hear from people “that our current Discipline contains language which is contradictory, unnecessarily hurtful, and inadequate for the variety of local regional and global contexts.”
Bishop Ough was careful to note that support for this plan was not unanimous within the Council of Bishops.
The plan would:
Create a diverse commission to research and revise the Book of Discipline’s language about LGBTQI people
Call for a special session of General Conference. Should they fail to complete this work in time for that special General Conference, there will be a two-to-three day gathering before the 2020 General Conference for this purpose.
Finally, the plan would also defer votes on all human sexuality petitions coming before the 2016 General Conference.
The General Conference passed this plan by a narrow margin (428-405 votes).
“An Offering For A Way Forward” prevented any new legislative action that would further harm LGBTQI people, but does not stop the current harm that is already being done. Nothing in the Book of Discipline has changed. Harm is still being done. No moratorium was called on church trials. The Bishops need to call on a complete moratorium on disciplinary actions against LBGTQI people and any clergy who marry them, as we believe that unity without justice is a false unity. We are calling on unity that is honest, respectful and inclusive of all persons.
During morning worship on the last day of General Conference, Bishop Elaine Stanovsky reminded us that, “The church is of God, but the church is not God. The good news is that God is better than the church.” God is better than the church. Additionally, Rev. Dr. Pamela Lightsey reminded us on Pentecost that, “We’ve got to obey God rather than the Book of Discipline.” As the Bishop’s Commission starts its process, we pray that they would keep Bishop Stanovsky’s challenge for us to get out of the tomb and look for a true way forward including all voices at the table. Bishop Stanovsky said, “If you believe the Bible condemns homosexuality, but you’ve never asked a gay Christian how they read the Bible, you’ve got to get out of the tomb.” We’ve got to get out of the tomb as a United Methodist Church. We firmly believe that any change that happens is a result of our movement’s pressure on the institutional church to create change.
We will continue to work to create change. We did not let the last day of General Conference go by without one more reminder that we are still here, with one final protest, and singing, “I am not forgotten / you are not forgotten /God knows your name.”
Bruce Lamb MIND Steering Committee Associate Minister Mt. Calvary/St. Mark’s United Methodist Church
More information to come as we get closer to the date about meeting location and time. Gather your church groups and friends as we MIND and many other UMCs join together to march in the NYC Gay Pride March. Let’s join together in a prophetic witness. There will be singing, communion and of course fun!
2016 NYC Pride Theme: EQUALITY NEEDS YOU
We’re getting closer, but we aren’t there yet. Just ask the bisexual homeless youth on the Christopher Street Pier, the trans worker trying to achieve the American dream, or the gay refugee escaping certain death in his war-torn homeland. The Supreme Court’s affirmation of marriage equality marked progress in the national and worldwide LGBT movement, but it was not a finish line. Equality needs you now more than ever. In 2016, we are making sure that some of the world’s largest and most visible LGBT events are helping to amplify our continued fight. EQUALITY NEEDS YOU, and you can answer the call.
Why do you call it a March rather than a parade?
The first LGBT Pride was held on the first anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. It was an unpermitted, explicitly political protest of anti-LGBT policies and attitudes. Our commitment at Heritage of Pride is to continue recognizing our Pride event as a March until complete and full equality has been achieved for all LGBT people.
For more information contact MIND Gay Pride March Organizer Bruce Lamb.
As co-chairs of the Alumni/ae Council of Union Theological Seminary, we are writing to express out deep appreciation for the faithful and courageous witness of the 15 signatories to the “‘We Are’ Open Letter to the People of the United Methodist Church.”
We applaud their determination to call the church to greater inclusivity and hospitality, especially with regard to its LGBTQ leaders and members, and we commit to stand in solidarity with them from within our own faith traditions, offering our support, encouragement, and ongoing prayers that justice and compassion will win the day.
It is a matter of pride that we note that two of the signatories, Bruce Lamb and Lea Matthews, will be graduation this month with their M.Div degrees from Union, and we urge you and other UMC leaders to welcome them as full colleagues in ministry in good standing.
The New York Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church has had a long and impressive record of justice making for LGBTQ and other persons who have straddled against discrimination, oppression, and various forms of injustice. We urge you to keep the faith and continue the struggle, which is of life-and-death importance not only to the 15 who signed the Open Letter, but to all of us. May gospel values prevail!
In addition to this letter, Union released the following public statement applauding the “courage and conviction” of the signers, noting that two Union students are among the signers. The statement reads as follows:
Statement from Union Theological Seminary:
The students of Union Theological Seminary have a long history of standing on the cutting edge of faith and justice work. In this tradition, we applaud the courage and conviction of the 15 United Methodist New York Conference clergy and candidates who last week came out as LGBTQI, including two Union students – Lea Matthews and Bruce Lamb. We recognize that in doing so, they challenge the denomination’s ban on openly gay and lesbian clergy, and we celebrate their living witness and recognize their full compatibility with Christian teaching. We are grateful for all they bring to the church and its many ministries.
We support their future ministry and believe that, through their witness, new generations of leaders will be inspired to proclaim the Gospel in a fully inclusive manner. In a day and age when it seems so hard to find hope, they are beacons of light for the future of the church and the world. Their courage is contagious and they show us that the Gospel is truly grand, indeed big enough to hold us all.
As delegates and bishops entered the convention hall they walked by queer clergy and allies standing as a witness with signs that read, “I am your sister” and “I am a queer pastor.” Many of the people that walked by thanked us for our witness and several were in tears as we stood strong, basking in the bright rays of the morning sun, knowing that we are all God’s children and that God called us here. It was a powerful witness to the fact that LGBTQI individuals are people and not issues. As worship ended, we processed in the convention hall through the bar (where the delegates are seated) and gathered around the table that sits in the middle of the hall. All of this occurred while the session was taking place–there was no way anyone in the hall could miss our powerful silent witness–where we faced the bishops, then turned and faced the crowd, offering both a blessing before walking out singing.
