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"You're under arrest!" This phrase echoed in my mind as I rode silently in
a taxicab from the Police Station to Soulforce Headquarters 20 blocks away.
I was not one of the 191 arrested the morning of May 10 outside the United
Methodist General Conference in Cleveland, but I wanted to be. I felt on
the "outside" of the action. However, my job was to be on the outside, to
act as the media liaison, to answer questions the press had about what was
going on and what was going to happen in the next few days.
I felt utterly alone in that taxicab, as people such as Arun Gandhi,
grandson of Mohandis Gandhi, Bishop Joseph Sprague, Rev. James Lawson,
friend of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rev. Mel White, co-founder of
Soulforce, Rev. Jimmy Creech, the minister who was defrocked by the United
Methodist Church for performing a holy union for two men, and other
ministers, members and friends of the United Methodist Church sat in jail
cells for taking part in a peaceful act of non-violent civil disobedience
to protest exclusionary church policies.
My mind drifted back to what led me to that point and the decision to join
Soulforce, a movement based on the principles of Jesus, Gandhi and King.
For the past two decades, the United Methodist Church, the church to which
I belong, has been implementing policies that dehumanize and exclude gay,
lesbian, bisexual and transgender people from the life of the church. I
could not remain silent and watch the church destroy people in the name of
God, claiming to love all people, claiming to be one body. The church may
think it is one body right now, but it is a deeply wounded body and
bleeding profusely.
Early in the morning on May 10, approximately 400 Soulforce supporters,
including Arun Gandhi, Yolanda King (daughter of MLK), several leaders of
the 60's civil rights movement, and bishops, ministers, and friends of the
United Methodist Church had gathered on the mall next to the convention
center to walk together, arm in arm, around the convention center.
"Marching in the Light of God" resounded through the crowd as the line of
marchers encircled the convention center, partially drowning out the cat
calls by Fred Phelps and a dozen or so other people who were carrying signs
and shouting, "GOD HATES FAGS".
After the march, 191 courageous people, gay and straight, stood their
ground outside the convention center blocking the exit, still arm in arm,
refusing to move until police placed them under arrest. At the same time,
several United Methodists inside the convention center interrupted a speech
by the Bishop of Canterbury to show solidarity with those standing outside
the convention center and with those who have been forced out of the church
because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Approximately 100
people, half in the balcony and half on the floor, sang out a
back-and-forth litany "Wide is God's Welcome! - Extend the Table!"
Twelve hours later, all those arrested had been charged with persistent
disorderly conducted and fined $100 plus court costs. It was a long day
indeed. The next day was to prove just as trying.
As I sat in the Convention Center on May 11 and heard the debate and
watched 27 people get arrested inside the Convention Center in a peaceful
protest of non-violent civil disobedience by the coalition A.M.A.R., it
dawned on me that the past 36 hours had been history-making. No longer
would we sit silently by and watch the church send messages of antipathy
and apathy as our brothers and sisters are defrocked, dehumanized, and
devalued by the church.
The United Methodist Church claims to "love the individual". But on May
11, delegates voted to retain policies that state:
1) "Homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching"
Not only do these policies affect those inside the church, but as the
largest mainline denomination, the decisions of the church affect how
society perceives all of God's children. The Church may not use the same
language as Fred Phelps, but the message the church sends is the same.
So many talented people have been forced out of the church because they
could no longer deny a part of themselves. So many people have been forced
to hide and lie about who they are to be able to answer their call to
ministry in the United Methodist Church. So many people have left and gone
to other denominations like the United Church of Christ or the Unitarian
Universalist Church, or have given up on God and religion all together.
Thank God for people like Bishop Sprague, who are willing to stand up and
speak out for justice and inclusion, for people like Rev. Mel White, who
co-founded and leads Soulforce, and for people like Rev. Jimmy Creech, who
was willing to perform a holy union for two men and was defrocked by the
church.
Changing society and winning hearts and minds through relentlessly
speaking the truth is never easy. But as history shows us, a small group
of committed citizens can change the world. And Soulforce is doing just that.
Copyright © 2000 by the author
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Homosexuality and Christian Faith : Questions of Conscience for the Churches Walter Wink (Editor) Saving Jesus from Those Who Are Right : Rethinking What It Means to Be Christian Carter Heyward
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