The Principles assert that all persons are 'of sacred worth'. It "affirms that sexuality is God's good gift to all persons." They also state that homosexuality is incompatible with Biblical teaching and they support civil laws defining marriage as the union between one man and one woman. "Self-avowed practicing homosexuals" are barred from ordination by the church rules in its Discipline.
How does one put aside one's sexual identity and desire for intimacy and love? asked my husband's fellow seminary student, a self-avowed homosexual.
The UM church is a world-wide organization. Some nations support the current language of the Principles, while conferences or churches support full inclusion of LGBT persons. Expectations of a split within the denomination has increased over the years. The denomination is considering allowing individual churches or conferences to make their own decisions.
In 2016 the Western Jurisdiction of the UM church elected a bishop who is a married lesbian, Rev. Karen Oliveto. The Judicial Council ruled that although she is in violation of the Discipline, she also was legally elected and the Jurisdiction can only act to remove her.
Has the time come for the church to take a stand, once and for all, to embrace and love all persons, or will we untie the "United" in our name?
The book relates Bishop Oliveto's faith journey and pastoral career. She writes in a very accessible and direct way.
She confesses her own challenges as she learned to be inclusive and open to diversity while serving as senior pastor at Glide Memorial in San Francisco, a predominately Afrocentric church in the Tenderloin district. The community was guided by a saying, "We are all in recovery from something," uniting people in their admission of imperfection and struggle for wholeness.
I appreciate her candor regarding the need for perpetual self-assessment, asking "Is what I am saying, is what I am doing, increasing compassion and connection in the world, or rupturing relationship with others, with the divine, with the earth, with myself?" I know from experience that one must be vigilant for it is easy to fall into stereotyping or group-think.
Bishop Oliveto writes, "I believe that we are currently facing an empathy deficit in this country and, unfortunately, also in the church." I remember in the 1960s hearing the saying "don't judge a man until you walk in his shoes." Today we don't want to even try to understand each other. Race, economic class, and gender have become reasons to exclude people. Our current government leaders foster this division and labeling of the other.
"We have lost the capacity to listen to one another, to be open to the truth another brings to the conversation. We stand ready to rebut, rebuke, and reject." We see this daily on Facebook, Twitter, in the news. I have seen it in the local church as well, causing schisms and division.
Bishop Oliveto affirms that accepting everyone to the Communion table is messy; allowing everyone a voice is messy. Ambiguity can be frightening. Dispensing with surety and black and white rules requires living on faith.
But isn't that what faith is all about--being willing to step into the unknown, trusting in God?
"We don't really believe in the Trinity, otherwise we wouldn't have such a hard time accepting diversity," Bishop Oliveto quotes Episcopal Bishop C. Andrew Doyle's challenge to the UM Council of Bishops. We love diversity in nature, the flowers and animals. yet we are only comfortable with people 'like us.'
Research has shown that diversity in experience and insights lead to better decisions and creativity in the workplace. If the church puts love at its center, Rev. Oliveto says, we can remain in relationship. Unity does not require uniformity. We can be stronger and better together.
Bishop Oliveto has a vision of people gathering at the table, all kinds of people with conflicting beliefs and backgrounds, breaking bread and listening, learning. A healthy community based on love.
During my husband's career, we saw persons harmed by exclusion, a transgender student pressured to conform, churches schism over the Social Principles, pastors facing charges for being gay. Will the church reflect the intolerance of secular society and continue to divide into "us and them"? Or can we pattern The Beloved Community, as Bishop Oliveto dreams?
Together at the Table: Diversity without Division in The United Methodist Church
by Karen Oliveto
Westminster John Knox Press
Pub Date 31 Jul 2018
ISBN 9780664263607
PRICE $16.00 (USD)
“Bishop Oliveto’s story touches on one of today’s deepest fault lines in church and society. Hers is a deeply personal, revealing memoir about love and unity in a denomination wrestling with division. In an engaging, even gripping, style, she brings the reader to the table where issues are no longer abstract but fully human. This book has the power to change hearts and minds.”
—Jim Winkler, President and General Secretary, National Council of Churches
“Bishop Oliveto reveals a pastor’s passion, theologian’s rigor, servant’s heart, pioneer’s courage, and disciple’s extraordinary capacity to articulate hard truths with clarity and love. This book is a blessing in multiple ways. It speaks to pastors, laity, leaders, and pilgrims on a faith journey with deeply moving stories and respect for persons of all persuasions.”
—Jane Allen Middleton, retired Bishop, Northeastern Jurisdiction, The United Methodist Church
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