By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
A fortnight ago we featured an article reporting that the The Pacific NW Annual Conference voted to not enforce church law proscribing homosexuality. Now, The Western Jurisdiction Conference elected the first openly-lesbian United Methodist Bishop.
The Rev. Karen Oliveto, senior pastor of Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco was elected on the 17th ballot which included The Rev. Frank Wulf, another openly gay candidate.
Such ordinations are in direct contravention to The Book of Discipline which reads as follows:
304.3 Qualifications for Ordination
“While persons set apart by the Church for ordained ministry are subject to all the frailties of the human condition and the pressures of society, they are required to maintain the highest standards of holy living in the world. The practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. Therefore self-avowed practicing homosexuals are not to be certified as candidates, ordained as ministers, or appointed to serve in The United Methodist Church.
1. “Self-avowed practicing homosexual” is understood to mean that a person openly acknowledges to a bishop, district superintendent, district committee of ordained ministry, board of ordained ministry, or clergy session that the person is a practicing homosexual.
With several Annual Conferences adopting non-conformity to enforcing bans against gay individuals, the election of gay bishops I believe certainly shows evidence of effective inertia toward acceptance of our gay community members
Bishop Oliveto, began her ministry as pastor of Bloomville (N.Y.) United Methodist and has served as a campus minister at San Francisco State, pastor of Bethany United Methodist in San Francisco and a faculty member at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley. She serves on the board of the United Methodist Council of Finance and Administration. She is also an adjunct professor of United Methodist Studies at the Pacific School of Religion. She has been at Glide Memorial Church since 2008. She is a graduate of Pacific School of Religion and Drew University.
After her election, Oliveto stated: “I think at this moment I have a glimpse of the realm of God. I want to thank the candidates who I have journeyed with these past few days, for the grace with which we walked with each other. And know I stand before you because of the work and prayers of so many, especially those saints who yearned to live for this day, who blazed a trail where there was none, who are no longer with us, and yet whose shoulders I stand on,”
She especially thanked the delegates of the Western Jurisdiction “who dared to live into this Kairos moment. Today we took a step closer to embody beloved community and while we may be moving there, we are not there yet. We are moving on to perfection,” Oliveto said.
She said as along as people “walk by our churches and wonder” if they belong, because of race, sexuality orientation, ethnicity, social class or immigration status, then “we have work to do.”
Of course, her election was not without controversy as reported by the UMC’s news services:
The Rev. Rob Renfroe, president of Good News, an evangelical United Methodist organization that upholds the church’s current stance on homosexuality issues, said the election and other actions by annual conference this summer ignored the Council of Bishops’ proposal for a commission to examine all church law dealing with human sexuality. Renfroe said that proposal called for a “pause for prayer to step back from attempts at legislative solutions and to intentionally seek God’s will for the future.”
“Instead, these conferences have moved ahead with legislative enactments pledging non-conformity with the Book of Discipline, culminating in the election of a practicing homosexual as bishop,” said Renfroe. “If the Western Jurisdiction wanted to push the church to the brink of schism, they could not have found a more certain way of doing so.”
I see the schism argument as being wielded frequently by the more traditionally minded and vocal camp of the Church, since it is difficult to counter gradual social change by argument alone when such controversy has not in forty years but is showing signs of change. Yet, with time the schism rubric loses power since demographically the congregants more likely will be supportive of gay rights.
Shortly after the election, Bishop Bruce R. Ough, president of the United Methodist Council of Bishops, issued the following statement which seems to try to grasp the issues facing the Church yet does express some uncertainty as to how the denomination will accept not just appointment of an openly-gay bishop in defiance of the Discipline, but does seem to acquiesce to eventual change:
“The Western Jurisdiction has elected the Rev. Karen Oliveto of Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco to serve as a bishop of The United Methodist Church. Rev. Oliveto has been described as “an openly lesbian clergyperson.” This election raises significant concerns and questions of church polity and unity.
Our Book of Discipline has clearly delineated processes in place for resolving issues even as complex and unprecedented as this election.
The authority to elect bishops is constitutionally reserved to the jurisdictional and central conferences. Any elder in good standing is eligible for election as a bishop of the church. An elder under an unresolved complaint is still considered to be in good standing. Being a self-avowed, practicing homosexual is a chargeable offense for any clergyperson in The United Methodist Church, if indeed this is the case.
The Council of Bishops is monitoring this situation very closely. The Council does not have constitutional authority to intervene in the election or supervisory processes at either the annual conference, jurisdictional or central conference levels. And, we are careful to not jeopardize any clergy or lay person’s due process by ill-advised comments.
However, we clearly understand the Church appropriately expects the Council to provide spiritual leadership and for bishops to uphold our consecration vows. In May, prior to General Conference, the Council again affirmed to keep the promises made at our consecrations, including, among others:
- Shepherding all persons committed to our care;
- Leading the church in mission, witness and service;
- Ordering the church including administering processes for handling complaints;
- Seeking unity in Christ, including the work the Council proposed to the General Conference in “An Offering for a Way Forward.”
There are those in the church who will view this election as a violation of church law and a significant step toward a split, while there are others who will celebrate the election as a milestone toward being a more inclusive church. Others will no doubt have questions as we find ourselves in a place where we have never been. Still, others will likely see this election as disrupting or even rendering moot the purpose and work of the Commission currently being formed by the Council.
The Council continues to place our hope in Jesus Christ. Though conflicted and fragile, The United Methodist Church remains a strong witness to the transforming love of God and the saving grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ. We affirm that our witness is defined, not by an absence of conflict, but how we act in our disagreements. We affirm that our unity is not defined by our uniformity, but by our compassionate and Spirit-led faithfulness to our covenant with God, Christ’s Church and one another.
As a Council, we continue to maintain that the proposal for a way forward and the formation of the Commission is the best path. An endless cycle of actions, reactions and counter-reactions is not a viable path and tears at the very fabric of our Connection. The current and incoming COB Executive Committees recently met by conference call to initiate the implementation of our Offering for a Way Forward and the formation of the Commission called for in the proposal. We will resume this work at our regularly scheduled meeting on July 19-20 following the Jurisdictional Conferences. A progress report will be released shortly after the meeting.
Our differences are real and cannot be glossed over, but they are also reconcilable. We are confident God is with us, especially in uncharted times and places. There is a future with hope. We invite your constant and ardent prayers for the witness and unity of The United Methodist Church. May God guide us as we seek to maintain unity in the bond of peace.
Bishop Bruce R. Ough, President
Council of Bishops”
The consecration service can we watched here.
It is greatly important that we as a church accept every member of our society as an equal and do so in a welcoming and non-judgmental manner. We are not the Divided Methodist Church.
By Darren Smith
Source: United Methodist Church, Official Website
The views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not those of the blog, the host, or other weekend bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays or art are solely their decision and responsibility.
TEC (The Episcopal Church) did have a split about six years ago. The churches that split off went to the Anglican Church. TEC sued several dioceses for their property and buildings. In some states, TEC won but in others they lost. The win or loss was based upon the state law. TEC has become more and more apostate since the split. As a sidebar, the Anglican Church is and the Roman Catholic Church are seeking reunification. It is the goal of the present Pope to have one religion – one church. There was a call for a vote at a UMC General Conference about 12 years ago for a split by a delegation from Houston but that delegation decided to not call for a vote. The apostate renegade Methodists are forcing a split. They wanted a meeting on the gay marriage and openly gay in two years from this summer. It was voted down. As an ex-Methodist, the UMC is focused on social justice rather than preaching the Gospel.
I can’t help but wonder how much this new Bishop really cares about the Methodist Church. If she is willing to break-up the church to push her incompatible lifestyle, it means her social agenda is more important to her than the church. Destroying my church is not something that I would want to be responsible for! In fact, if I felt compelled to live an aberrant lifestyle that was incomparable with a leadership position in the church, I would not pursue such a position because I would not want to be responsible for the controversy and division that would follow. But putting the church ahead of one’s selfish interests is perhaps no longer a consideration among todays “faithful.” I guess I’m showing my age, lol.
My understanding is that the Episcopalian Church is breaking up over this very issue. The liberal American Episcopalians will break off from the parent church, the more traditional world-wide Anglican Church. So it is not surprising that the Methodists are heading down the same path.
Excellent thoughtful posts by Steve and Isaac IMO.
For some reason I have had Dr. Jeremiah Wright on my mind lately – the pastor that Obama threw under the bus. Wright built up an amazing church in Chicago’s Southside which served the community in a myriad of ways and helped many rebuild their lives. Wright was under fire for the statements he made at the National Press club in 2008 so I was curious and listened to his speech and found it spot-on. I wound up writing him a letter and he (surprisingly!) responded which I framed and proudly display. I am a fan of black liberation theology which combines Christianity and social justice principles.
Autumn – the Rev Wright has been in the news lately. That may be why you have been thinking about him.
@Steve Groan
Heathens, infidels.???
No, maybe just prodigals. Perhaps narcissists. Like it says somewhere in the Bible, there is a way that seems right to man, but it just screws him up. Perhaps if you live around well-educated white people, and are gated, then you can live a reasonably good life without God. Kind of like being in the Garden of Eden. IIRC the Eloi were pretty happy. I think they were heathens, too. As long as the Morlocks stayed away it was fine. But, then needed that old religion and patriotism stuff to survive. “Whatevah” didn’t work anymore.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
The next logical step is to appoint a Muslim, Taoist or other non Christian to be a bishop. After all, not being Christian shouldn’t be a bar to church hierarchy. We need to keep up with the times, be properly PC, etc.
In history every 600 years there are major changes in our religious faiths. Its was 1530 with the Protestant Reformation of Grace as forgiveness, we are due for change. The Methodist faith is uniquely tied to the founding and beliefs of the US. Descent is the highest form of free speech. Jesus was a radical Jew and look what that got us.
When we draw the attention of Constitutional Law scholars we are doing something right.
I am going to start The Church of the Agnostics and anyone can join. There will be no services, no tithing, etc. It will be there just to upset the IRS.
There is also a lot of confusion about the proscriptions of the Old Testament. I read a comment here the other day about “religion existing to make people behave a certain way.” It was said in a bad way. But YES, that is exactly what religion is, and exactly what LAW is. Rules about how to live.
Some of those old rules were written to help people survive. Thus some of those old rules might be more amenable to being set aside. For example, the atheists love to point out that God had an animus against shellfish in the Old Testament, and ROFL wasn’t that a hoot! But there was a reason for the rule and some common sense helps us figure it out. Shellfish tends to spoil pretty quickly, and back in those days there weren’t any refrigerators. Food poisoning can kill you. That is why when you buy shrimp on the highway in Louisiana, it is iced down. So maybe those rules could be sensibly relaxed.
But how about sodomy? And promiscuity? And the rules against that stuff. STDs are not something that popped up in the 20th century. They had syphilis back 3,000 years ago. And gonorrhea. Promiscuity could kill you. Heck, syphilis killed Al Capone. Antibiotics have worked since 1945ish, but even now they are beginning to fail. Yet, we have Tindr and Grindr apps that spread it. Sodomy is an activity that necessarily involves contact with fecal material. Back in Old Testament days, any bacteria could be easily spread to other members of the tribe by bi-sexual men. Women could become infertile. Don’t you think that maybe when it got wrote down that sodomy was an abomination, that it was made so by people who had seen the ill effects?
So maybe those rules can not be relaxed. Maybe one day medical science will make those activities less deadly, but for now, there are still 30,000+ gay men getting HIV, and that is not even counting the druggies, and women who have sex with bi-sexual men. Sooo, do you think that it is really just peachy to relax those rules???
Like the Africans say, “Don’t tear down a wall until you know why it was put up.”
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
“Like the Africans say, ‘Don’t tear down a wall until you know why it was put up.'”
Not into walls. You and Trump can play that game with each other. Some of us need to get outside the wall to freedom. Heathens, infidels. Whatever you want to call us is fine.
Thanks Darren
There are certain benchmarks in live. The greatest in American History was when some were forced by others to stop enslaving human beings. Those that profited by having slaves defended their ways through religion and every other manmade device possible. They failed because that which man has not made, equality, over rode the BS of the moment. In the end it comes down to all are equal, something that man has not designed, and if any one is not oppressing another then they deserve the protection of society. For those that offend others for whatever reason, they should be stopped, educated, or waited out. In America as in many other countries there are strengths that over rule the weaknesses and we will simply wait these people out.
My roots run 7 generations in Methodism and my wife’s roots run 5 generations. We both had to leave the denomination with heavy hearts for this was the faith of our Fathers. I have my great-grandfather’s Book of Discipline. The Book of Discipline is based upon the Bible. This is a sign that the UMC is filled with rogue ministers and rogue laity. Those who made up the delegations attending the Northwest Conference are composed of lay members and ministers. The General Conference which is composed of member congregations primarily of the U.S. and Africa just met this summer. The consensus was to not allow openly gay ministers and Bishops. The election of this openly gay person to the rank of Bishop over a region of a Washington State- the Seattle area means that the Northern Pacific Conference is in open rebellion against God. How will the Lord choose to deal with this rebellion? Only the Lord knows. The Lord has given His People what they want and then a great price is paid for what they want. Many Believers discount the teachings of the Old Testament. As the End Times near, I feel the need to understand the Old Testament passages and the lessons of the Prophets. The Methodists get their openly gay leader. The more conservative Methodists (that is an oxymoron in my opinion) will either grin and bear it or they will be forced to take a stand which they keep fighting from making. The more Conservative Methodists are still hoping that they can reason with the apostate members of the denomination for the sake of unity of the body. It comes to me a passage in the Mew Testament where Jesus declares: Matthew 5:29-30King James Version (KJV)
29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
I am taking a radical approach to this passage for I believe that this passage can be applied to the body of Christ- the Church. If members of the body are in open rebellion against the Bible, there is no other recourse but to pluck them out or cut them off. With these members remaining will only cause the necrosis of the body so the whole body will die.
steve groen
I too adhere to the concept of ‘if there was a god’. The moment one identifies that god, the sh*t hits the fan. As soon as one identifies a god one makes all other gods substandard. Live as if there was a god but it left you to figure out what it is all about. That makes you one against the universe, the most powerful and yet the weakest position there is. Or you can join a group and feel saved or you can take on the responsibility of understanding all by yourself.
Well-put, Issac. Completely rejecting the concept of some higher power having created everything is as arrogant as assuming the concept is true.
I was convinced to respect that there may be a higher power when I first learned that physicists don’t know where the energy came from that caused the Big Bang (if that’s what happened).
I really think Marlon Brando said it best when he related that on his last day in his short time on this Earth, and with his last breath of air, he’ll be thinking “What was that all about?”
Cheers.
Another concession to the heathens amongst us.
[Edited version]
This is absolutely fantastic news and must be a new day for so many. Thanks for sharing, Darren.
The last time I attended church was in 1995, and it was Glide Memorial in the Tenderloin on Easter Sunday. It was the most fun I ever had in church. Ever. It was a community of people from the homeless to the well-heeled, and nobody knew anyone else. Rev. Oliveto wasn’t there yet. It was the Rev. Cecil Williams, now retired after 50 years as pastor there, who opened his sermon with:
“I used to be a religious man, but now I’m a love man.” He had us all in the palm of his hand.
He gets it, and for that I, like many, am eternally grateful to him for his work with the impoverished. If there is a god, may god bless Rev. Cecil Williams and now Bishop Karen Oliveto, who has some big shoes to fill and wouldn’t be there if she weren’t up to the task.
This is absolutely fantastic news and must be a new day for so many. Thanks for sharing, Darren.
The last time I attended church was in 1995, and it was Glide Memorial in the Tenderloin on Easter Sunday. It was the most fun I ever had in church. Ever. It was a community of people from the homeless to the well-healed, and nobody knew anyone else. Rev. Oliveto wasn’t there yet. It was the Rev. Cecil Wiliams, now retired after 50 years as pastor there, who opened his sermon with:
“I used to be a religious man, but now I’m a love man.” He had us all in the palm of his hand.
He gets it, and for that I, like many, are eternally grateful to him for his work with the impoverished. If there is a god, may god bless Rev. Cecil Williams and now Bishop Karen Oliveto, who has some big shoes and wouldn’t be there if she weren’t up to the task.
Without betrayal there can be no trust – Those that betray the rules can never be trusted not to betray again.
@Independent Bob
Thanks! I keep trying. Meanwhile, immaturity and bizarre sexual behavior sound like fine attributes for a church leader to me. NOT. And while I do think lesbians (to the degree there is such a thing, which is about 15% of those claiming to be lesbians) are much more tolerable than gay men, this will just open the door to the gay men, too. Which ought to be a hoot when a gay minister performs a marriage. I can just see him choking on the words, “forsaking all others til death you part.” The Methodists will have to change that up for sure!
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Hey Squeeky, you’re alright.
Well, there go the Methodists!
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
It appears that the upper echelons of religious hierarchies are largely gay communities. Probably, like other gay folks, they would prefer to live openly and are happy that the larger culture is learning to accept gender variations.