[Editor’s Note: The overarching themes for this year’s Lenten devotional writing have been “community” and “social principles”‘, specifically those of the United Methodist Church. We’ve spent quite a lot of Internet ink on the former; not quite as much on the latter. That’s about to change — curiously enough, thanks to this and a few other “throwbacks” to SUMC Lenten writing of a different time.
In this case, that different time was 2019, the first year that our Lenten writings went online. Our current Lay Leader was relatively new to this congregation; and this congregation was wrestling with the stance that the General Conference of the United Methodist Church had taken, at its meeting in St. Louis, about place of the LGBTQ+ community in our denomination.
So, we invite you to read the following piece of writing, from our current Lay Leader but written seven years ago – and consider: where are we now, compared to where we were then — as humans, as Methodists, as Sudbury Methodists?]
“I am the church, you are the church / We are the church together / All who follow Jesus, all around the world / Yes, we’re the church together.” -Richard Avery
Saturday, March 2, 2019:
Snow is falling as I write. In many ways it’s a typically mundane weekend around here: homework, violin practice, laundry. My partner, Lois, and I will go to our 12-year-old’s soccer game this afternoon and then out to GiGi’s, our new favorite Vietnamese restaurant. If Dez is bothered by having two grammies cheering her on at every game, she doesn’t show it. To her, we are unremarkable. Boring even. She reminded me recently that I have the “most uncool” car of all time. This is the way I like it.
Yet as the news from the special General Conference in St. Louis seeped across my social media feeds this week, I was reminded that my little family is not unremarkable to some factions of the wider church, and for all the wrong reasons.
The passage of The Traditionalist Plan, or “the Mean Plan”, as it’s known around our house, has strengthened the exclusion of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people, and those who would stand with them, from full participation in the life and ministry of the United Methodist Church. With the passage of this possibly unconstitutional plan, our family has been even more securely relegated to second class citizenship.
Ironically, this moment has given me a chance to pause and to count my blessings. I was raised by two parents who loved me unconditionally. Growing up in Sunday school, youth group, and at UMC summer camps, and later on as a CCYM (Conference Council on Youth Ministry) delegate, I learned over and over that God loves me just as I am. As an adult, I know General Conference isn’t the church; we the people, are the church. I feel well-equipped to stand on the side of justice regardless of consequences. I am not afraid of those who cast their ballots out of fear in St Louis this week.
My concerns are not for me personally, but for the wider body of the United Methodist Church. What does the Traditionalist Plan say about us as an institution and what we believe about God’s love? What message does this stance send to our children about their place at God’s table? How has this decision added to the pain and loneliness of young people from Nevada to Nairobi, from Memphis to Manilla, who may be struggling with their identities in fearful, homophobic families, churches, schools, or workplaces?
According to The Trevor Project:
- Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people;
- LGB youth are almost five times as likely to have attempted suicide compared to heterosexual youth;
- LGB youth who come from highly rejecting families are 8.4 times as likely to have attempted suicide as LGB peers who reported no or low levels of family rejection.
Now more than ever our young people need to to hear the message of the welcoming church movement: You are not alone! You are loved just as you are! You are welcome here!
Sunday, March 3, 2019:
This morning I helped serve communion for the first time at SUMC. Like others have done for me, I looked into each person’s eyes and offered this simple blessing: “The blood of Christ, the cup of salvation.” And I was nearly moved to tears as people of all ages, abilities, and ethnicities approached the chancel. This is God’s table and everyone is welcome here, I thought. Look at how beautiful we are!
At coffee hour after the service, someone asked me why in the world would I want to join a United Methodist Church after the events of the past week? My answer was, “How can I not?” Pastor Joel [Guillemette] came to our home Wednesday evening following the dreadful news to let us know how sorry he was and that he was thinking of us. When I pulled into the SUMC parking lot this morning, I saw not one, but two, giant rainbow flags, cheerful and defiant, greeting the neighborhood and beckoning parishioners to worship. In his message this morning, Pastor Joel spoke truth to power, to borrow a Quaker phrase, with more than a little bit of fire. He is hurt and angry, and he shared his sense of injustice and outrage openly and honestly. Lay leaders stood up and re-affirmed SUMC’s commitment to the inclusion of all people in the ministries of this church. And as on almost any Sunday, choir members sang their hearts out with divine, uplifting harmonies wrapping the congregation in God’s love and grace.
If this congregation and its leaders are willing to take a stand against institutionalized hatred and discrimination, even at the possibility of facing sanctions, then how could I walk away from this? How can I NOT be a part of this?
-Christie C. White
Sudbury UMC Lenten Devotions 