Month: June 2015

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From Behind a Different Pulpit

In a previous post, I stated that “I want to be a pastor to everyone who is part of First UMC, not just those who agree with me.” To that end I thought I might share a post from someone who disagrees with me. It’s a well-crafted post of the kind I would hope that I would write if I were on the other side of the issue on homosexuality and gay marriage. I would recommend it to everyone, regardless of where they stand. There is a great deal of insight into the place of marriage in the church and the place of the church in the world. I’ve long thought that we needed to more clearly distinguish between civil marriage and holy matrimony (regardless of the gender of those involved).

Link: bit.ly/1QXqn6I

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Acknowledging Our Differences

Jenny, Liz, and I are still on vacation, and I don’t yet want to wade too deeply into the issue of same-sex marriage in general or the supreme court’s decision in particular. However, I saw an article that I very much want to respond to. The article in question appeared in The Week and was written by Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry. The title was: “Why Christians are so upset about same-sex marriage” and the title was an accurate summary of the article. Both the title and the article are wrong in that they fail to acknowledge that not all Christians are upset about same-sex marriage. Some Christians are upset, but other Christians are rejoicing. Abilene First UMC contains people in both groups. While I fall squarely in the subset of Christians who are rejoicing, it would never occur to me to imply that all Christians are responding in one way or another (and by logical extension that those who are not responding in that manner are not Christians). I simply know too many faithful and devout Christians who disagree with me.

Some of the petitions going to General Conference in 2016 acknowledge the readily verifiable fact that United Methodists are not of one mind on the subject of homosexuality. Such an acknowledgment is an honest place to start and a necessary first step to keeping United Methodists united as we work our way through this issue. It is out of line with the Christian virtues of humility and modesty to suggest that “our side” (whichever side that may be) speaks for the whole church.

On a personal and professional note: As the pastor of a church where my parishioners are not of one mind, it (the frank acknowledgment that Christians are not of one mind on this issue) is a necessary first step that I might serve as a shepherd to the entire congregation. I want to be a pastor to everyone who is part of First UMC, not just those who agree with me. Today I rejoice with those who rejoice, but those faithful and devout Christians who weep have my sympathy.

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Funeral Services for Beverly Ann Kogler

A Service of Death and Resurrection for Beverly Ann Kogler will be held Thursday, June 25, 2015 at 10:30 am in the sanctuary of First United Methodist Church. As Jenny and I will be out of town, Pastor Lindsay Brummer will be officiating.

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A Brief History of Emanuel AME Church

I try to remain non-political on this blog (while still addressing the full scope of religious issues), so I hesitate to link to Talking Points Memo. However, they have a succinct, insightful, and non-political summary of the history of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. The article, written by Benjamin E. Park, an American history professor at the University of Missouri, relates the sad news that racist violence is nothing new to Emanuel AME.
Here’s an excerpt:

“There is no greater coward,” Cornell William Brooks, president of the N.A.A.C.P, declared in a statement [in response to the recent attack], “than a criminal who enters a house of God and slaughters innocent people engaged in the study of scripture.”

This experience is unfortunately far from new: While black churches have long been seen as a powerful symbol of African-American community, they have also served as a flashpoint for hatred from those who fear black solidarity, and as a result these edifices have been the location for many of our nation’s most egregious racial terrorist acts.

I don’t think it incidental that a racist shooter targeted a historical African-American house of worship. I encourage you to take the time to read the full article, and I think you’ll come to the same conclusion.

Link: bit.ly/1eu407L

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Senate Votes to Ban Torture

Officially, the United Methodist Church holds that:

“the mistreatment or torture, and other cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment or punishment of persons by governments for any purpose violates Christian teaching and must be condemned and/ or opposed by Christians and churches wherever and whenever it occurs.” — The Book of Discipline, Paragraph 164.

I agree with the above statement wholeheartedly, and so I’m cautiously optimistic about the fact that the Senate has voted to ban torture (with a majority in both the Republican and Democratic caucuses). I say cautiously optimistic because the bill will not become law unless and until passed by the House and signed by the president. (Since it echoes an executive order that he issued, it seems safe to assume that he will sign it.) The Senate measure approves the interrogation techniques included in the U. S. Army Field Manual. Though not torture, those methods are highly effective when used by people who know what they are doing. I’m keenly aware that celebrating this as good news sets the bar rather low, but on this front, I’m thankful for any good news I can get.

Link: reut.rs/1BmIn3B

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Annual Conference Passes Petition on Homosexuality

I feel like I’ve done a lot of posts on the subject of the church and homosexuality. Regardless of where you stand on the issue, you may be tired of reading about it. However, the Great Plains Annual Conference took action on Saturday, June 13, 2015, and I feel that I need to comment.

Great Plains Connect, the conference’s official newsletter summarized that action, as follows:

“The annual conference voted 496-363 to approve a petition offered by the Rev. David Livingston, St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Lenexa, Kansas, that would strike references of homosexuality as being incompatible with Christian teachings and would eliminate restrictions against practicing homosexuals being certified as candidates, ordained as ministers or appointed to serve in the church. It also would lift restrictions on United Methodist pastors conducting same-sex marriages and would lift restrictions on annual conferences and United Methodist agencies from providing funding to homosexual-related caucus groups and similar agencies. The petition would eliminate the performance of same-sex marriages from the list of offenses that would initiate a church trial.”

The petition would also amend the book of disciple to acknowledge that United Methodists are not of one mind on this issue.

To be honest, I didn’t realize the full significance of the vote at the time. The former Kansas East Annual Conference regularly approved such petitions to General Conference (I’m told the Nebraska Annual Conference did the same), however, I’ve since learned that the former Kansas West Conference never passed such a petition. The first-time nature of this petition for churches and clergy of the former Kansas West Conference helps explain what happened next: Rev. Rob Schmutz (who grew up here in Abilene) publically surrendered his credentials. Surrendering credentials is the official United Methodist verbiage for a clergy member resigning from the local church and the annual conference.

Over at Kansas.com, The Wichita Eagle has a solid article summarizing what happened. I’m not going to go into all the details; I just want to offer four points of interpretation about what the approval of the petition does and does not mean.

  1. Nothing has changed yet. This will be one of many petitions sent to General Conference on this subject. In the past, the General Conference has rejected all such petitions. No one can say what will happen at the next General Conference.
  2. This petition does not mean that every annual conference will start ordaining gay men and women, it simply means that conferences will have that option if they so choose.
  3. Likewise, this petition does not mean that every pastor has to perform same-sex marriages. It simply means that they may do so if they choose. This authority is given to the pastors and not the local church because currently that is the way it is for heterosexual marriages. However, all the clergy I know would take their congregation’s feelings into account when making that decision.
  4. As the petition acknowledges, the opinion of individual United Methodists around this issue will continue to be divided. The petition would amend the church’s position as a whole, but not the beliefs of individual members.

Hopefully, Jenny and I have made it clear that we’re willing to answer your questions and discuss your concerns no matter where you stand on this issue. While we agree with the Annual Conference’s decision, we believe that both the issue and the conversation itself are important and we want to be the pastors of the entire congregation.
Link: bit.ly/1G6cMys

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Our Vacation Starts Tomorrow

Jenny and I will be starting our vacation tomorrow. We’re using the remainder of the time we have for the 2014-2015 appointment year. One of us will be back in the pulpit on July 5. Until then, I’ll only be posting when I absolutely can’t help myself. As I’ve previously mentioned, our vacation will largely be a staycation. So call us if there is a pastoral emergency.

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Good News for the Church Budget

As you may or may not know, last year the trustees moved the church’s property and liability coverage from Church Mutual to the Great Plains Conference’s group plan. This move was made for the sake of better coverage and savings in excess of $12,000. That money was put to very good use elsewhere for mission and ministry. This year there was a petition to the Great Plains Annual Conference to disband the group. Had the petition passed, it would have pushed us back to Church Mutual or another company. The petition was withdrawn before it was debated thus leaving us with the continued option of better coverage at a lower cost. I’m feeling much better now than I did at the beginning of the annual conference.

The other bit of good insurance news for Abilene First is on the health insurance front. The cost to the church of providing health coverage for the parsonage family (Jenny, Liz, and I) stayed the same from 2014 to 2015. This was because the Affordable Care Act provided guaranteed coverage for pastors and their families without a group plan. If the group had stayed together costs would have gone up several thousand dollars for the church and our family’s deductible would have jumped to $8,000 (Great Plains Conference pastors are a small, unhealthy pool of people). It was a win-win situation for the church and us. But it didn’t work so well for all pastors. There was a petition to reconstitute the group to address the needs of those pastors (and presumably costs would have gone back up). Instead, other fixes have been found, and our health care coverage (and the cost of that coverage to the church) will remain the same.

I’m well aware of the fact that these matters aren’t exciting in and of themselves, but every dollar we don’t spend on insurance is a dollar we can spend on mission and ministry. And I’m excited about that.

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Youth Trip to Worlds of Fun

The youth group will be taking a trip to Worlds of Fun on June 29, 2015 from 9 am to 9 pm. Tickets are $35 (but you must RSVP by June 18 to get discount). Youth should bring a lunch and additional money for snacks or a fast food dinner on the way home. Contact Wendy Robinson if you’re interested.

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Funeral Services for Jerald Heimiller

A Service of Death and Resurrection for Jerald Heimiller will be held Wednesday, June 10, 2015 at 2:00 pm in the Sanctuary of First United Methodist Church. Jenny and I will officiate and Brian Emig will preach. Burial will be at the Farmington Cemetery, in Macksville, Kansas. The obituary can be found online here.

Link: bit.ly/1MoFPSN