Tag: Protestant Clergy

Posted on

Church of Norway Votes in Favor of Gay Marriage

By Stoyan Zaimov

gay-marriage
Jenny Taylor adjusts a wedding cake figurine of a couple made up of two men at the gay wedding show at the Town Hall in Manchester, November 6, 2005.

The General Synod of the Church of Norway, the largest Christian denomination in the Scandinavian country, has voted in favor of accepting same-sex marriage, and will be offering the service to gay couples in the future.

Church of Norway chairman Sturla Stålsett said that the Synod’s decision is “historical,” The Nordic Page reported.

The decision still allows individual priests and other church staff to decide whether they want to participate in ceremonies for gay people, however.

Breitbart noted that the vote from the country’s 12 bishops was unanimous, but will first need to be ratified by the Synod next spring before it becomes official. It opens the door for the first gay weddings to take place in Church of Norway churches by 2017.

Gay marriage has been legal in Norway since 2008, but churches were left to decide on their own how to adapt to the decision.

The last vote on the issue in 2013 left bishops split eight to four in favor of accepting gay marriage, so they had decided to only offer a blessing service instead.

The Church of Norway, part of the Evangelical Lutheran denomination, claims nominally 82 percent of the entire Norwegian population, according to 2011 estimates.

The second largest Christian group, the Roman Catholic Church, remains opposed to same-sex marriage, and defines marriage solely as a union between a man and a woman.

Back in October, the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa also voted for sweeping changes to its marriage tradition by deciding to recognize gay marriage and begin ordaining gay minsters without a celibacy cause.

DRC moderator Nelis Janse van Rensburg said that the decision shows that the church is “serious about human dignity,” but added that individual churches will not be forced to follow the ruling.

The decision by the DRC, which claims a membership of almost 1.1 million people, was criticized by South Africa’s Roman Catholic Church, which said that it went against biblical doctrine.

“We would not accept active homosexuals as priests but no doubt there may be a priest who is an active homosexual in our church, but he is so without the bishop knowing it. As the Catholic Church, we do not accept that position of the Dutch Reformed Church,” Catholic spokesman Archbishop William Slattery said at the time.

Complete Article HERE!

Posted on

History made as South African Church Votes to Bless Same-sex marriage and Ordain Gay Ministers

YES! for Gay People in Dutch Reformed Church – NG Kerk  – There were Tears of joy after the announcement.

By Melanie Nathan

History was made in South Africa today, when the synod of  what was once probably the most conservative church on the planet, the Dutch Reformed Church, (NG Kerk/ DRC) in an overwhelming majority,  voted in favor of ordaining gay ministers and blessing same sex unions.Dutch Reformed Church Theological College

Translating from the Afrikaans language I was able to determine this:

The DRC’s general synod chose to move forward with regard to the church’s position on gay relationships. Two proposals before the Synod were received as follows: Dr. Andre Bartlett  with 102 votes against the 88 votes received by Dr. Chris van Wyk’s  proposal. Van Wyk’s proposal asked that further research on the matter occur  before a decision was to be made. But it was decided that the time  to keep researching and not make a decision, is over.

“I was flabbergasted, but I think it’s a great step forward for the restoration of the dignity of our church’s gay members,” Bartlett said after the announcement of the vote.

Bartlett’s proposal noted that heterosexual and homosexual couples in a relationship of “personal faith obedience to the Lord,” must be allowed to fully participate in all the privileges of the church.

Dutch Reformed ChurchIt was however stated that there would be no forcing of the issue.  Because some in the Church continue to believe marriage should be between a man and woman, an element of discretion is still given to the church councils to formulate their own practices and rules.  It was stated that no one should be forced to conduct gay marriages, because there is such a diverse amount of views within the church about it.  (Source Netwerk 24)

This new ruling where the Church in essence now approves same-sex marriage and the ordaining of gay ministers may be the saving grace for the Church’s sliding popularity.

This is the Church that once all but controlled a country which thrived on discrimination.  It may even be described the as the religious wing of Apartheid.  Drawing on an old article in the Mail Guardian,  “The Slow and Steady Death of the NG Church…”  Charles Leonard back in 2010 paints this picture:

“It was once described as the National Party (The Afrikaner Apartheid party) at prayer. But the Dutch Reformed Church numbers are dwindling. Charles Leonard finds out why.

It was during the one beautiful Afrikaans hymn that I closed my eyes and I was instantly transported about 40 years back to the platteland Dutch Reformed Church in which I was brought up.

I am a teenager in my dark green suit sitting close to my mom on the brown benches. My dad is sitting in the elders’ benches next to the pulpit. The grey-faced, toga-clad dominee’s droning voice and the airless church are dragging heavily on my eyelids. Not even the mint imperials my mom is feeding me are helping to keep me awake. At least the occasional singing brings variety, although the congregation lags a bit behind the histrionics of the organist.

That formerly omnipotent Afrikaner church I grew up in is in trouble. Officially it lost 20 000 members last year, even though the real numbers are likely to be much higher. It had always turned away people with different ideologies, skin colours, and sexual preferences. Now, it seems, we are witnessing the book of Exodus’s “jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me”.

Three, four decades ago Afrikaners could hardly get a job without a reference from their dominee. But, at some point that all changed.

“The church lost its grip over people,” says Jean Oosthuizen, the progressive news editor of the Die Kerkbode (The Church Messenger), which once acted as National Party praise singer and the Dutch Reformed Church’s Pravda during the apartheid days. He says many lost faith in the church because of its actions in the past.

“The Afrikaans churches’ support for apartheid is now costing them a lot. Many people feel cheated and want to know, if the church lied to them about apartheid, what else it is lying about?”

They never had a proud record when it came to inclusiveness. They discriminated against women, who were not allowed on their pulpits, and black people, who were not allowed in their white churches. And, as Oosthuizen points out, women are still not allowed to preach in the Gereformeerde Kerk (Reformed Church), and the Hervormde Kerk (Restructured Church) is still arguing over whether apartheid was a sin. These days, almost all the Afrikaans churches seem to discriminate against gay people, except perhaps one.”

Soon after the end of Apartheid, South Africa enacted an all inclusive constitution which prohibits discrimination based on gender, gender identity and sexuality, protecting all LGBTI people. It seems that this is one Church that is catching up with the times, albeit 20 years into the New South Africa. There are other Churches in the country which still have a long way to go.

My comment: As a South African who grew up knowing a lot about this Church and its impact on South Africa, during the Apartheid era, understanding everything it stood for, in a million years I would not have imagined this day being possible.  I hope it stands as worldwide example of an evolution toward progress and how faith can and should embrace all.  If more faith based organizations are able to accomplish this, we will see a dramatic decline in homophobia around the world.”

Complete Article HERE!

Posted on

First Baptist Church in South Carolina hit for allowing same-sex union, gay ministers

By  Andre Mitchell

While most Christian churches across the United States are strongly opposed to homosexuality and same-sex marriage, the First Baptist Church of Greenville in South Carolina has taken a totally different route: It has decided to allow not just gay unions, but also the ordination of gay and transgender ministers.

The 184-year-old church, which is the home of the first Southern Baptist Convention, reached this decision after conducting a dialogue with its members for six months.

first-baptist-church
Worshippers attend service at the First Baptist Church in Greenville, South Carolina.

The discussions centred on the question: “Can you worship and live with the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in the church?”

In the end, a consensus was reached to allow homosexual unions and ministers, with each member present giving a public affirmation.

Senior Minister Jim Dant said the Baptist church ultimately favoured “embracing the complexities of gender identity.”

“What I heard was, ‘We need to do the right thing, regardless of what anybody thinks or says about us. There were a few people who said, ‘Are they going to start calling us the gay church in town?” Dant said.

He added that members of his church acknowledged that “being open and welcoming to all people is part of the essential nature of our community of faith.”

Dant further said that those who didn’t agree with the church’s decision to allow homosexual marriage and ministers still chose to remain in the congregation.

The congregation’s decision, however, was met with opposition from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF), an umbrella coalition of 2,000 moderate Baptist churches.

“The foundation of a Christian sexual ethic is faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman and celibacy in singleness,” the CBF said in a statement.

It added that its “organisational value does not allow for the expenditure of funds for organisations or causes that condone, advocate or affirm homosexual practice.”

Complete Article HERE!

Posted on

United Methodist LGBT advocates tape pledge to doors after ousting of gay minister

Rev. Benjamin Hutchison
Rev. Benjamin Hutchison speaks to the media after supporters taped an LGBT inclusiveness pledge to the doors of a United Methodist Church center on July 28, 2015.

 

By Emily Lawler

United Methodist pastors from different parts of the state Tuesday traded in the pulpit for a press conference podium and a pledge to support the Rev. Benjamin Hutchison, an openly gay pastor who said he was forced to resign because he has a husband.

LGBT Advocates Tape Up Pledges Advocates on July 28, 2015 taped pledges of inclusiveness to the doors of a United Methodist Church building in Lansing.

Hutchison said he was forced to resign from the United Methodist church in Cassopolis after the church’s district superintendent found out that Hutchinson had a gay partner. The church allows gay members, but not gay pastors. After resigning, Hutchinson officially married his partner, which landed other pastors who participated in the ceremony in hot water with church leadership.

More than 50 supporters of Hutchison and LGBT inclusion in the United Methodist Church gathered at the church bishop’s office at 1011

Northcrest Road in Lansing to read a pledge and tape it to the office door. It was a symbolic nod to Martin Luther, who helped start the Protestant Reformation by posting his Ninety-Five Theses on a church door in 1517.

The modern-day pledge taped to doors by advocates asks for inclusiveness of the LGBT community in all of the church’s ministry, including as pastors. Representatives from the bishop’s office were not present at Tuesday’s event.

The Rev. Lois McCullen Parr is a national representative to the Reconciling Ministries Network, which advocates for full participation of LGBT people in the United Methodist Church. She said she’s spoken with church members who hadn’t had a good experience with their churches.

“What they told me is that they’d been harmed by the institutional church,” McCullen Parr said.

She and others advocated to “Stop the Harm” and have a truly inclusive church.

Hutchison said that when he was asked to resign two weeks ago, he couldn’t have anticipated the effect it would have.

“I would never imagine this, and I could have never imagined the support not only from my local congregation, who is in an uproar about it, but also from my community. The chief of police and county commissioners have come to the church requesting ‘what’s happened? We need him in our community,’ and beyond,” Hutchison said. “All over the world people have sent me Facebook messages and told me they’re here to support me.”

The Rev. Michael Tupper, who signed Hutchison’s marriage license, said the issue was close to him because his own daughter is gay, and said she’d been harmed by the church.

“It’s time for that to stop,” he said.

Hutchison said Tuesday’s event was especially moving because his own family made him choose between his partner, Monty, and them.

“It’s been a great thing for me emotionally to see the support because I never received it from my own family,” Hutchison said.

Complete Article HERE!

Posted on

Episcopalians vote to let gay couples wed in churches

Thousands of members seated in a hall in at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, USA.
Thousands attend the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in Salt Lake City, Utah June 28, 2015. The General Convention of the Episcopal Church is held every three years in different cities around the country.

 

The U.S. Episcopal Church voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday (July 1) to let gay couples wed in the denomination’s religious ceremonies, reinforcing its support for same-sex nuptials days after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage nationwide.

The church, part of the worldwide Anglican Communion, became in 2012 the largest U.S. religious denomination to approve a liturgy for clergy to use in blessing same-sex unions, including gay marriages in states where they were already legal.

While some clergy and lay members disagreed with the proposal put before the church’s triennial convention, held in Salt Lake City, the faith’s House of Deputies concurred with the House of Bishops, which overwhelmingly approved the measure in a separate vote on Tuesday (June 30).

“In 1976, the church promised full and equal claim to LGBT members, and we’ve spent those years making that resolution a reality,” said the Rev. Susan Russell of the Diocese of Los Angeles.

“Today’s action is a huge step … toward a promised land of a church that fully includes all its members,” she said.

But the Rev. Neal Michell, dean of St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Dallas, said he opposed such unions because “the teaching of scriptures says marriage itself is between a man and a woman. That’s the teaching of the (Book of Common Prayer) and our catechism.”

Under the new rules, clergy can opt out of performing gay marriage ceremonies.

The Episcopal Church is the 14th largest U.S. religious denomination, with about 2 million members, according to the National Council of Churches.

In 2003, its members elected Gene Robinson, who lived with his male partner, as bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire, leading to fractious relations with conservative Episcopal dioceses in the United States and some members of the global Anglican Communion, especially in Africa.
Complete Article HERE!