← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Pennsylvania_Dutch
Thread ID: 19387 | Posts: 4 | Started: 2005-08-02
2005-08-02 13:52 | User Profile
*ââ¬ÅPastor Out of Pulpitââ¬Â*
By Robbie McMillian (Sun Staff Writer)
The minister of the South Hill United Methodist church has been placed on an involuntarily leave of absence after he allegedly told a local gay man that he was not eligible to join the congregation.
A source who is close to the circumstances said the homosexual man was told he could join the congregation if he quit practicing the act, but that the man refused to repent of his homosexuality and refused to quit having sex. The source said the manââ¬â¢s refusal to change his lifestyle is why the Rev. Ed Johnson would not welcome him and why Johnson was ultimately forced to leave the church by his superiors.
Church officials either refused to comment or said that Johnson was forced to leave temporarily because he would not follow the orders of higher-ups in the church.
Neither Johnson nor the gay parishioner would return phone calls left for them.
According to District Superintendent William Anthony Layman, who presides over the Petersburg district to which South Hill belongs, Johnson was instructed last week at the annual Conference for the Virginia United Methodist Association that he would no longer be the minister of the South Hill church. Layman informed the South Hill church of Johnsonââ¬â¢s suspension this past Sunday.
[Layman refused] to comment on the situation further.
ââ¬ÅOur decision was made through prayer, through a great deal of respect for the pastor, and in the long run what was good and best for the church,ââ¬Â said Layman.
Layman said Johnson is taking the leave of absence ââ¬Åfor one yearââ¬Â and that ââ¬Åit may be more. It depends on whether or not he works with the conference on what we ask him.ââ¬Â
The source ââ¬â who asked for anonymity for fear of causing more trouble among those close to himself said Johnson was forced to take the involuntary leave of absence because he refused to allow a ââ¬Ånon-penitentââ¬Â homosexual join the church. The source sided with the embattled minister in the dispute.
ââ¬ÅThe church that is opposing Ed believes it is a rights issue, that this person has a right to become a member given the [United Methodist] Book of Discipline and the rules they maintain according to [Methodist] rules, anyone willing to come to the church and who is willing to take our vows can join,ââ¬Â said the source, who is versed in Methodist practices.
ââ¬ÅThe vows state that one will renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of the world, and repent of their sin.ââ¬Â
The source said he is sympathetic to Johnââ¬â¢s struggle.
Edââ¬â¢s thinking if someone who is not recognizing that it is a sin, how can they engage and take the first vow?
The source said Johnson did not feel it was a rights issue, but instead a moral one.
Johnson didnââ¬â¢t flatly refuse membership to the gay man, the source said ââ¬ÅHe postponed membership with the statement that he was open to wanting to talk further with him. If [the gay man] moved towards repentance, the membership would be on the table.ââ¬Â
ââ¬ÅVery early on, back in February, a statement was made that Ed was refusing to accept a gay man. He is not on a crusade against homosexuals. [The man] was an impenitently practicing homosexual. He is a person who engages in it without a sense of contrition.ââ¬Â
But Virginia United Methodist Bishop Charlene Kammerer countered that no Methodist minister, including Rev. Johnson, has the authority to exclude anyone from joining the church.
ââ¬ÅFor Rev. Johnson, itââ¬â¢s a matter of conviction that gay persons who are still living in a homosexual relationship are not eligible to join a Christian church. I believe our Book of Discipline has a different interpretation.ââ¬Â Said Kammerer.
She said the church bars practicing gays from the clergy, but not from the laity (The church also prohibits same-sex unions.)
ââ¬ÅRev. Johnson would disagree with that interpretation of that Discipline and I believe he would do so [based] on his Biblical understanding,ââ¬Â said Kammerer.
And this is where the two groups differ ââ¬â Interpretation.
According to the churchââ¬â¢s Book of Discipline, homosexuality is tolerated but not embraced among church leaders.
According to the 1984 Discipline of the United Methodist Church, the church believes that ââ¬Åhomosexual persons, no less than heterosexual persons, are individuals of sacred worth and that all persons need the ministry and guidance of the church in their struggles for human fulfillment, as well as the spiritual and emotional care of a fellowship that enables reconciling relationships with God, with other and with self.ââ¬Â
The Discipline is a set of rules [by United] Methodists.
According to the source, at the beginning of the year, Associate Pastor Lee Warren, second in command at South Hill United Methodist, filed a complaint about the situation to Layman. Warren and Layman then counseled Rev. Johnson for several months but could not get him to change his mind.
Layman then submitted a complaint to Bishop Kammerer, who submitted it to the board of ordained ministry.
The complaint will be heard later this year before the board of ordained ministry. That board could either reinstate Johnson or affirm the leave of absence.
Meanwhile the church ââ¬â filled with community leaders and business people ââ¬â is hurting from the rift and the volatile differences of opinion.
Said one member who supports Johnson, ââ¬Åheavens, no, I wonââ¬â¢t leave, not at this point. If I donââ¬â¢t hang in there and try to correct what I feel is an error then I have no right to be involved in it.ââ¬Â The woman asked not to have her name printed.
Warren, the associate pastor, is in the pulpit in Johnsonââ¬â¢s absence.
The fracas at the South Hill church is a microcosm of whatââ¬â¢s happening on the national and international level in nearly every mainline Protestant denomination in the past decade, Baptists, Presbyterians, Lutherans and Episcopalians have also wrestled with the issue of homosexuality and how much to condone ââ¬â condemn ââ¬â the practice.
Ironically, it was the United Methodists who just a few years ago began using the catchphrase ââ¬ÅOpen Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors,ââ¬Â as part of their national advertising strategy. Some saw this as a nod to inclusivity, including gays.
Nationally, the denomination has more than 8 million members.
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Any of you familiar with this situation?
2005-08-02 19:38 | User Profile
What of 1 Corinthians 5 don't these "church leaders" understand? Expel the immoral "brother."
2005-08-02 20:11 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Pennsylvania_Dutch]According to the 1984 Discipline of the United Methodist Church, the church believes that “homosexual persons, no less than heterosexual persons, are individuals of sacred worth and that all persons need the ministry and guidance of the church in their struggles for human fulfillment, as well as the spiritual and emotional care of a fellowship that enables reconciling relationships with God, with other and with self.”[/QUOTE]
Is the "struggle for human fulfillment" and "reconciling relationships...with self" what Christianity is truly about?
Oh, man. That sounds more like something out of a Marianne Williamson or Deepak Chopra book. 'Course when you have women bishops what should one expect.
2005-08-02 21:27 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Texas Dissident]Is the "struggle for human fulfillment" and "reconciling relationships...with self" what Christianity is truly about?
Oh, man. That sounds more like something out of a Marianne Williamson or Deepak Chopra book. 'Course when you have women bishops what should one expect.[/QUOTE] That old key of American Methodist philosophy, "if you don't talk about it, and, you don't think about, it will probably go away", doesn't seem to be working anymore. :smartass:
From what I read, I would say that Rev. Johnson made a perfectly rational and fair decision based on scripture and discipline; with discipline being an educated understanding of the situation & events.