In recent weeks, social justice has been taking a turn in
favor of the LGBTQ community. This is great news, but what does it mean for the
United Methodist Church?
First and foremost pastors in the UMC get to choose which
couples they want to marry. This means they can perform a marriage ceremony for
whomever they want. If a pastor doesn’t want to marry a couple, they do not
have to, whether that be a heterosexual or homosexual couples. Secondly, state rules are important
when getting married. If a state declares
LGBTQ marriage legitimate, a pastor can perform the marriage ceremony, if they
so choose to defy UMC church law.
The tagline of the United Methodist Church is “Open Hearts,
Open Minds, Open Doors”. Now that DOMA has been struck down, our tagline seems
partially closed off. Christians are
always talking about practicing what we preach, but if our hearts, minds, and
doors were really open, we wouldn’t be turning people away from our churches.
The people who have been turned away from our churches have seen the harm that
has been done by being exclusive. The
current generation of young people want the church to be accepting of all
people; we do not see the need to hate anyone. After all, love is love.
There are various steps we can take as the Church to be more
inclusive to the LGBTQ community. We need to apologize to those who have been
hurt by or turned away from the church. Most United Methodists are accepting of
people for who they are, no matter what. In addition, the church is a place for
all people, regardless of sexual orientation or identity. After all, the church
is a hospital of sinners, rather than a museum for saints. Lastly, it takes
each of us to make a difference. One person’s words or actions can help spark change
in the atmosphere to make the United Methodist Church as great as it possibly
can be.
-Joint Post by Caitlin and Amy
No comments:
Post a Comment