Posted on 04/05/2007 1:19:40 PM PDT by mborman
An official with the Institute on Religion and Democracy believes the recent approval of an active homosexual for membership at a Virginia United Methodist church will force the denomination to take a closer look at its guidelines for church membership.
Minister Ed Johnson, who was pastor of South Hill United Methodist Church, was approached two years ago by a homosexual man who wanted to join the congregation. Johnson declined to grant immediate church membership to the man, who was living with his partner.
The presiding bishop, Charlene Kammerer, removed Johnson from his pulpit and eventually moved him to another congregation. The new pastor at South Hill United Methodist Church has accepted the homosexual man for membership, despite the UMC's teaching that homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.
Mark Tooley, director of United Methodist Action at the Institute on Religion and Democracy, feels this case will prove helpful and challenging to the church. It is a chance "for us to confront what the liberal side of the church has been advocating," he says, "which is that church membership is a right to which everyone is entitled, because they believe in a gospel of what they call inclusiveness rather than in the gospel of what, I think, the orthodox would call divine calling."
According to Tooley, the liberalism in the United Methodist Church has contributed to the denomination's rapid membership decline over the past 40 years. Having been an outspoken critic of the church's liberal policies, he says he is not surprised the Virginia pastor now in the pulpit at South Hill UMC has allowed an active homosexual man to join his congregation.
But despite current liberal influences in the United Methodist Church, Tooley believes new leadership in the UMC will eventually get the denomination back on track.
"The Bishop of Virginia represents the outgoing generation of leadership who rose up in the church in the 1960s," the IRD spokesman notes. "And gradually those liberal leaders will be replaced by more orthodox leaders," he says, "especially in the international church, which is overwhelmingly conservative theologically."
Tooley says church membership is a privilege, not an automatic right. As director of UM Action, he is involved in that group's stated mission of defending "traditional Christian beliefs and practices in the spirit of the father of Methodism, John Wesley."
Practicing? he can’t get it right yet?........
And just who does this pastor think he is, he will force the church to accept this.
These liberals are getting even more out of control.
I don’t think Jesus would want us turning sinners away from the church body. Maybe His word will change him. :o)
I must agree.
I think homosexuality is a sin and should be condemned. However, if the church does not allow sinners as members, it wouldn’t have a congregation.
They should welcome the sinner but condemn his sin.
Just like allowing members who are greedy or racists or live with someone without marrying, etc.
yep. As far as I know we are ALL practicing sinners.
Hits the nail on the head.
My church got a new minister about 2 years ago and became virtually Unitarian. We just stopped referencing the Bible and began focusing on nature worship and political activism instead. They lost me real quick.
1 Corinthians 5 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Expel the Immoral Brother!
1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife. 2And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this? 3Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present. 4When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, 5hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature[a] may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.
6Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? 7Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.
9I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
12What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.”[b]
I don’t think the man was barred from attending. I think he was barred from membership, since his unrepentant sinning showed that he had not yet accepted Christ.
Hospital for sinners or museum for saints....
Well, they are just Methodists.... :)
Actually, the problem with the guy is that he wasn’t a Christian. He practically admitted this act was a ruse. That’s why he was declined.
It is quite clear that “Bishop” Kammerer is more interested in promoting sexual deviants than she is in promoting Christianity.
They have to be kidding. This was an issue for one parish, one pastor, and the Virginia conference. I don’t see how this has any impact on the denomination generally because there have been “affirming parishes” (I believe that is the term) that have been accepting homosexual members for years, and there are UMC congregations that are pratically all gay. Then, in spite of the church’s official stand on the matter, there are plenty of homosexual clergy.
It’s a real dishonest situation that has time and again come back to bite them.
No, we are all “alcoholics”. this sinner is a “drunk”. “Alcoholics” go to meetings. In order to quit. A practicing homosexual is a “drunk”.
Sorry, but this implicitly states that the homosexual’s lifestyle is not a sin, hence he does not need to repent from it to fully participate as a member of this “church.”
And would the last Christian to leave please turn out the lights? The new tenants prefer the darkness.
See, you’re one of those guys that actually reads the articles. ;o)
Well allowing a church to have a member that is openly sinning doesn’t really bother me... heaven forbid if every church kicked out every sinner as a member, pews would be empty ever Sunday.
Definately should not be ordained or given any official leadership position in the church, but membership? I can’t think of a church that doesn’t have open sinners in their membership.
Hell, maybe being a member will help him stop being an open sinner, maybe not.. but who knows.
And how many people in the membership are divorced and/or remarried? Sorry... your argument doesn’t fly. Not a congregation I have ever been part of that didn’t have open sinners in their flock.
Note that he wasn’t refused the chance to come to church, just to join as long as he was in an openly homosexual relationship. COMPLETELY different from “turning away sinners”.
Okay, that made me lol! :oD
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.