Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Holy Kiss

Home
Progressive Christian
“There but by the Grace of God, go We?” Nope. Calling out the Methodists

“There but by the Grace of God, go We?” Nope. Calling out the Methodists

Last updated on: December 21, 2011 at 4:58 pm by Roger Wolsey

“There but by the Grace of God, go We?” Nope. Calling out the Methodists 2011-12-21T16:58:13-07:00 Roger Wolsey

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Progressive people know not to put money into the red Salvation Army kettles around Christmas. Even though that organization (Church) does a lot of good and helps a lot of people, they’re perceived as homophobic bigots who won’t allow homosexuals the right to join their ranks or participate in their reindeer games.

A recent article on Elephant Journal spells this out in detail:

…From the Salvation Army website, they list their positional stances on many topics, including homosexuality:

The Salvation Army believes that homosexuality can be properly considered only in the broader context of a biblical understanding of human sexuality in general. The creation account set out in the opening chapters of Genesis reveals the following truths: <random bible quotes. go to the page directly to see all of them>

The Bible thus teaches that God’s intention for mankind is that society should be ordered on the basis of lifelong, legally sanctioned, heterosexual unions. Such unions (marriages) lead to the formation of social units (families) which are essential to human personal development and therefore to the stability of the community.

Scripture opposes homosexual practices by direct comment (Leviticus 18:22, 23; 20:13; Romans 1:26, 27; 1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Timothy 1:10) and also by clearly implied disapproval (Genesis 19:1-29; Judges 19:1-30; 2 Peter 2:1-22; Jude 3-23). The Bible treats such practices as self-evidently abnormal. They reject both the obvious implications of human physiology and the potential for procreation. Romans 1 sees homosexual acts as a symptom of a deeper refusal to accept the organising scheme of God for the created order (Romans 1:23-25).

The Army recognises that same-sex friendships can be enriching, Christ-honouring relationships, bringing joy through mutual companionship and sharing. However, same-sex relationships which are genitally expressed are unacceptable according to the teaching of Scripture. Attempts to establish or promote such relationships as viable alternatives to heterosexually-based family life do not conform to God’s will for society.

Did you get that? The Salvation Army’s view of the world which is based on a literal interpretation of Christian Scripture rules that even to “promote” a homosexual relationship goes against God’s plan. ….

I’m a United Methodist. We share a common heritage with the Salvation Army. We both claim to follow the teachings of John Wesley. And, both Churches do a heck of a lot of good in the world and both of our charities receive top marks among organizations that rank charities. In fact, the United Methodist’s charity, UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief ), which specializes in disaster relief around the world is arguably even better than the Salvation Army as 100% of every dollar that is donated to UMCOR goes solely and exclusively to direct aide on the ground (overhead and administrative costs are covered by church members). AND UMCOR doesn’t engage in proselytizing!

There are differences between us. The Salvation Army is far more conservative and evangelical.

—-

However, those differences amount to about spit to the average gay or lesbian person.

You see, despite all our progressive inclusion of women as ordained clergy and bishops, and despite our long history of being ardent advocates for social justice (which I’m very proud of), since about 25 years ago, ours is a denomination whose official position is that “homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.” And we have taken up an official stance that we don’t ordain “self-avowed, practicing homosexuals” into the ministry and we don’t allow our clergy to perform gay weddings or holy unions.

A lot of us UM’s pat ourselves on the back for our motto of “Open hearts, Open minds, Open doors,” and we smugly don’t put money into the Salvation Army kettles because we blindly think that we’re “better than them” … “there but by the Grace of God, go we.” And yet… if we were to organize an annual Christmas kettle drive of our own, the same calls to boycott the Salvation Army’s kettles, would extend to us!

Sorry to be airing our dirty laundry like this, but dammit, I give a damn about my LGBTQI brothers and sisters and I can do no other.

2012 will be a pivitol year for the United Methodist Church. We’ll be holding our quadrennial General Conference event where delegates from around the world will take up legislation to shift and hone the polity and stances of our denomination. Over the past few years, we’ve established full communion with the Episcopalian Church, the PCUSA, Presbyterian Church, the ELCA Lutheran Church, and the UCC, United Church of Christ/Congregationalist Church. And over the past few years, EACH of those Churches have passed progressive legislation no longer barring LGTBQI persons from ordination and allowing their clergy to officiate at gay weddings.

We have a choice to make. We can either follow the Holy Spirit’s unconditionally loving and radically inclusive leadings and move forth to thrive in the 21st Century, or we can chose to relegate ourselves to the increasingly empty and passed by red kettles of history.

May God help us as we choose.

Rev. Roger Wolsey

Director, Wesley Foundation at University of Colorado- Boulder

At Wesley Chapel a Reconciling Ministry – that is LGBTQI friendly and inclusive

Wolsey is the author of Kissing Fish: christianity for people who don’t like christianity, an active participant of The Christian Left Facebook Page, and blogs for Patheos, Huffington Post, and Elephant Journal.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

December 6, 2011

Jesus' Mom was a Punk

Next Post

December 31, 2011 2012 is The End! It's the Beginning! ... Or it's just another year.

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month May 2024 March 2024 February 2024 December 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 October 2022 June 2022 December 2021 September 2021 August 2021 April 2021 March 2021 September 2020 August 2020 March 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 March 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 September 2017 May 2017 February 2017 January 2017 October 2016 August 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 November 2015 September 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 October 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 July 2013 April 2013 March 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who prophesied destruction for Jerusalem but also promised a New Covenant?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Ezekiel Isaiah Joel Jeremiah