Thoughts on the Schaefer Trial

The media attention given to the ecclesiastical trial in Pennsylvania for United Methodist pastor Frank Schaefer has a lot of folks confused and concerned. 

Rev. Schaefer performed a same gender wedding ceremony for his son and his partner in 2007, violating the United Methodist Book of Discipline.  A member of his congregation filed charges against him.  A jury of his UM Pennsylvania clergy peers found him guilty and Rev. Schaefer was given a 30-day suspension and told that if he can’t uphold the Book of Discipline in its entirety, he must surrender his credentials as an ordained clergy of the United Methodist Church. Rev. Schaefer has publicly stated he will not make such a promise.

Any United Methodist can file charges against a UM clergy person or Bishop.  If those charges warrant a trial, which is determined by the local Bishop, trial procedures are carried out within the boundaries of the Conference in which the clergy serves.  In recent years, a handful of trials across the country relating to the UM prohibition against the ordination of gays and lesbians, or clergy participation in same gender weddings has resulted in a variety of outcomes, from dismissal of charges to suspensions and loss of credentials.  

While Rev. Schaefer’s trial and punishment establishes a precedent, it is regional.  Each geographical Conference is left to work out its own process within the framework of the Discipline.  In other words, just because Rev. Schaefer was found guilty and defrocked in Pennsylvania doesn't mean that all other UM clergy in other Conferences will necessarily meet the same fate for similar violations of the Discipline.

The list of "chargeable offenses" for UM clergy and Bishops is long, running from fiscal malfeasance and criminal behavior to interfering with another pastor's ministry.  Rev. Schaefer was charged with "disobedience to the order and discipline of the UMC" (BoD, 2702.1d).  That could include a pastor refusing to baptize an infant (BoD 216.1) or failing to lead his/her congregation to pay 100 percent of their Apportionments (BoD 340.2c1(e)); Two-thirds of pastors in the California-Nevada Conference could be charged with the latter offense!  Chargeable offenses that lead to trial are very rare; their application in our denomination’s struggle with human sexuality is quite arbitrary.   

This most recent trial coupled with a complaint filed with the Council of Bishops against retired UM Bishop Melvin G. Talbert for participating in a same gender wedding celebration in Alabama says much more about the denomination's majority than the actions of these pastors.

The “majority” to which I refer is a 60-65 percent voting blocks of elected delegates to the quadrennial UM General Conference, the governing body with authority to adopt or amend the rules of the church.  Delegations are based on a ratio in proportion to church membership within each Conference.  In other words, at the 2016 General Conference the California-Nevada Conference with 78,000 members will have 6 voting delegates.  The North George Conference with 362,000 members will have 22 delegates.  Most North American United Methodists live within a zone bordered by Dallas-Indianapolis-Washington DC-Atlanta.   Delegates from those Conferences are the core of the “majority" to which I refer. This majority and the ancillary institutions they support have also successfully organized the voting delegations from outside of the U.S. (In 2016, 30 percent of all delegates will come from Conferences in Africa) especially on issues of human sexuality.

Since 1972, the majority has legislated to the prohibitions for ordination of self-avowed members of the LGBTQ community and clergy participation in their "holy unions" or weddings.  The language describing human sexuality in the Book of Discipline reflects the tension within our denomination with an awkwardly mixed message; describing those in the LGBTQ community as "no less of sacred worth" than heterosexuals while living "incompatible to Christian teaching."

The majority use of church trial to punish pastors violating their prohibitions against the full inclusion of the LGBTQ community in the life of our church may be some of the last options they have in a losing battle. Yes, they consistently win General Conference skirmishes due to their superior numbers and their manipulation of international delegations.  But restoring to the trial of pastors and the threat to censure retired Bishop Melvin G. Talbert exposes the emptiness of their doctrinal and theology arguments. 

Church trials and threats of censure are about power and control.

It is hallow to claim the need to uphold "scriptural authority" or warn against "conforming to the world" (Romans 12:2) as secular society and the young rapidly accept non-heterosexuals as full citizens.   For example, the teachings of Jesus are unambiguous that divorce is akin to adultery, a capital offense and abomination (Matthew 5:23, 19:9 note Genesis 2:24, Ezekiel 22:11).  Yet taken in their historical context, our denomination long ago accepted the full participation of the divorced in the life of the church.  In a secular society with a 50% divorce rate, we ordain divorced clergy and commission divorced Bishops.  Clergy who confess to adultery and are willing to work successfully through its’ consequences under the supervision of a Bishop while suspended can eventually return to active ministry.  Yet often based on the very same biblical verses, the majority will insist that marriage is only to be considered between one man and one women or that the "abomination" of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian life while going through a divorce can be.

Today's argument from the “majority” is that as clergy and Bishops openly violate the Book of Discipline's prohibitions, they break the covenant taken in their ordination vows to "uphold the order and discipline of the church."  They argue that having failed to change the rules within the proscribed process of the General Conference, the minority now disregards our ecclesiastical democracy.

They are absolutely right.

For example, at the induction of a military officer, vows are taken to uphold and defend the U.S Constitution against all enemies. They also promise to obey the orders of military superiors in a chain of command that reaches to the Commander in Chief, the President.  However, tested in military and civil courts throughout our history, that vow cannot nor must not allow our soldiers to follow illegal or immoral orders.  A soldier’s first commitment is to uphold and defend the U.S. Constitution.  That doesn't allow for the mass murder of civilians at Mai Lai village Vietnam (1968) or the summary execution of an Iraqi family in Fallujah (2004).  Soldiers fulfill their primary vow by disobeying illegal or immoral orders from a superior as difficult and contextually limited as that may be.

The minority has the duty to "uphold the order and discipline of the UMC" by acts of "biblical obedience" to call the larger church to accountability to its injustice.  Those in the minority are willing to face the consequences of their actions to redeem the church we love.

It is dishonest and dishonorable to insist that openly homosexual people are disqualified from ordination when thousands have served and are serving as clergy, even as Bishops, as long as they hide their sexual orientation. The discriminatory language suggesting that anyone's sexual orientation makes them "incompatible" with Christian teaching is based on the most arbitrary and capricious hermeneutic and ignores the latest science of human sexuality.  

Former debates over slavery and women's rights warned of the dangers of "conforming to the world" when the church was confronted with society's advances in human rights.  Northern European cultures and its younger generations are rapidly changing in attitude and understanding of sexual orientation.  Sixteen states and the District of Columbia now offer legal marriage licenses to same gender couples and the world has not come to an end.  Might the church listen and learn from this sweeping social change rather than erect its narrow walls in defense?  

Thousands can see through the emptiness of our denomination's tag line..."Open Doors, Open Minds, Open Hearts."  The hypocrisy and empty dogma of our denomination's majority is blatantly exposed as they defrock a father who wanted to participate in his son's celebration of love and commitment, or by censoring a distinguished Bishop's act of conscience, a Bishop who as a young man marched along side of and slept on the floors of jailhouses with Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who served as president of the National Council of Churches and Ecumenical officer of the UMC to the World Council of Churches.

Yes, the majority can win votes at General Conference, but those are hollow victories as our North American denomination continues to decline in numbers of members, worship attendance and financial resource.  The minority cannot and will not stop its "biblical obedience" protest.  It is our duty to disobey the rules and break the covenant when our majority brothers and sisters insist that we acquiesce to their injustice.

Twenty, forty, sixty years from now a United Methodist General Conference will hold a repentance and reconciliation worship service for the way we as a church excluded the LGBTQ community from full participation.  The names of Rev. Frank Schaefer, and Bishop Melvin Talbert, Rev. Jimmy Creche and Bishop Mel Wheatly among many others will be lifted up with praise and thanksgiving. 

Many in the majority know that day is coming.  All they have left is to exert power and control.  I would expect that there are more trials to come and that the consequences shall become harsher.

That just may be the price to pay to redeem the church we love.

Things I’ve Learned at The Ranch

In my 40-year association with the family that operates the Canyon Creek Ranch, I have learned a number of invaluable lessons. For one, this suburban kid can buck a bale, pluck a chicken and chop a pile of wood. Also, I never would have learned the true meaning of “hamburger” without the experience of hanging around ranchers through the cycle of their year.

Yet the most essential teachings have come from the core values of everyday life on the ranch, which can be heard again and again, especially between grandparents and their grandchildren. These truths aren’t just for children. In fact, they have lasting meaning for all of us, regardless of age or locale.

Lesson 1: Put things back where you found them

The Ten Commandments conclude with “Thou shalt not covet.” It assumes that human trait that sees what another has with envy, if not lust.

On a ranch, it is essential that one shares what one possesses when appropriate. This is how tools are tested and improved and how young ones learn to use them. Neighbors will run out of essential supplies and share equipment when it is cost effective. One of the key rules of such an exchange is the agreement to return the property back to the place it belongs. If you can't find the shovel when a fire breaks out, or the bucket for the table scraps to feed the chickens, or your cell phone when the baby is about to be born … well, on a ranch, things have a place in relation to their function.

Respecting another’s property, its place and function, and returning it to its owner is the opposite of “coveting,” because when you put things back where you found them, you honor the person and the relationship, and your own integrity in the process.

Isn’t that true for relationships as well as things?

 

Lesson 2: Clean up your mess

It’s difficult to learn anything on a ranch without making a mess, especially the first time you try it. That’s true of baking a pie, chopping wood, stacking hay, or putting a horse away after a day of riding. My experience on a ranch has taught me that there is a lot of patience and grace when it comes to mess and mistakes.

What isn’t tolerated, from the get-go, is walking away from your mess and expecting someone else to clean it up. Taking responsibility for your actions is an essential part of learning and an essential measure of human maturity.

How many relationships could be saved, how many careers advanced, how many sleepless nights avoided if we simply found the conviction to clean up our own messes? Jesus said, “First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye” (Matthew 7:5).

The only harm in making a mess is running away from it.

Lesson 3: There is no shame in asking for help

The ranch owner I worked for 40 years ago taught me a very important lesson one day. We were about to “work calves,” which means corral the herd, separate the calves from their mothers (no easy task, one that requires skilled riders!), rope the calves, and throw them to the ground for a team to brand, castrate, and de-horn the males and give various immunization injections. It is quite a process!

Well, this city boy had seen plenty of cowboy movies and TV shows growing up, so when it was my turn, I picked up some rope to try my hand at lassoing a calf. The owner watched in silence as this tender foot twirled the rope over his head and successfully lassoed a calf about 15 feet away. Holding the rope directly in front of me, the 200 lb. calf broke for its mother across the corral. The resulting rope burn through my palms was with me for about a week!

The ranch owner broke out laughing. After the calf was released, he took the rope from me and showed me the correct way to rope a calf: once the calf is lassoed, the cowboy wraps the loose rope around his back, leaning with all of his weight to stop the surging animal in its tracks. A cowboy would also never “work calves” without gloves on!

The ranch owner handed me back the rope and, as he walked away, said, “There is no shame in asking for help.”

Isn’t that true in any aspect of our lives?

Lesson 4: Everybody pitches in

Ranchers are required to know accounting, tax and environmental law, veterinary medicine, automobile mechanics, land management, building codes, and plumbing and electrical contracting, to say nothing about the domestic arts of cooking and preserving food. That list doesn’t even begin to cover all that needs to be done on a working ranch. It is essential then that anyone on it, regardless of age, pitches in whenever and wherever appropriate. If you haven’t cooked the meal, you help clean up. When it is time to move the herd, there is a role for everyone, from opening gates to driving the cows with your horse. If all your skill level can handle is feeding the chickens, then your contribution is expected and very much welcomed. Everybody pitches in to make the ranch work.

In modern families, how often do we find children treated as the audience, spectators to what it takes to run a family? We see this passive entitlement in the workplace, at school, and very much in the church. We count on others to contribute to the success of the whole while we limit our interests and activities to personal preferences. In our hectic and privileged culture, we grow entitled to self-interest, expecting someone else to make the mission of the larger system work. We see this especially in our voting patterns in the U.S., where rarely do even half of eligible voters turn out for elections. We see this in churches and other nonprofit service organizations where it is expected that 20 percent of the active members will fund 80 percent of the operations of the institution.

On a ranch, everybody pitches in. Everyone invests in the success and mission of the whole. In so doing, each individual makes a unique contribution and reaps the benefits of success or is there to share the burden of failure. One way or the other, the sense of purpose and belonging lasts a lifetime. It may also be what we in suburbia so desperately seek.

Lesson 5: Please and thank you

Teaching conventional manners varies from culture to culture. It is a universal responsibility for parents and community elders to equip their children with these essential tools for positive relationships. Saying “please” when making a request and “thank you” upon receiving are found in most languages and come with a myriad of associated expressions.

On the ranch, “please” and “thank you” define required behavior for all ages and statuses. Expressing respect and gratitude is more than quaint ritual. Honor and courtesy acknowledge another's humanity in a relationship exchange.

This value of respect and gratitude is also applied to the earth and its cycles. Rather than exploiting the land, as is often the assumption of those foreign to farming, this ranching family lives as part of the ecology and its needs. For example, this family recycled plastics, metals, and glass for decades before it became municipal law. Their use of pesticides, insecticides, and fertilizers as well as their care for the livestock have been done with a commitment to ecological responsibility long before that was in fashion. Members of this family serve on regional commissions overseeing the sustainability of water, grassland, wildlife habitat, and forest. Not all farming operations share such values, but many do. Folks like these respect the earth, honor what it shares with them, and are grateful to be a part of it.

“Please” and “thank you” aren’t just about getting along with others. Such values can frame how we live on this planet.

Conclusion:

As a visitor to ranch life and culture, I romanticize much of what I observe. Yet it’s not so much that I ignore how difficult, stressful, and risky such work can be for those who grow our food. I have learned much in association with my surrogate family at Canyon Creek Ranch and am beyond grateful for their hospitality and graciousness. Above all, they have exhibited values that make anyone’s life more rich and real.

Fifty Shades of Grace #7

Reverend Robert (Bob)Van Gorder is an 85-year-old retired Congregational minister living in Connecticut. A man of creativity, he is an-award winning photographer, and as a person of significant integrity, he served as a conscientious objector during World War II.  He also happens to be the uncle of my spouse, Bonnie Minkler, and performed our wedding in July 1973.

Bob was one of the participants during the March on Washington in 1963. During its 50^th anniversary weekend in August, Bonnie emailed Uncle Bob to get his thoughts and recollections of participating with thousands on that day 50 years ago:

“My memory is a bit hazy about some things, but I remember that it was a beautiful day when a friend of mine and I got on a train from Springfield, MA, and headed toward Washington, D.C. I confess I was a bit unsure about my decision to attend, since I had never before experienced anything this large or fateful, but such thoughts were quickly banished in the hours to come. 

As soon as we reached Washington, we were immediately absorbed into a crowd of hundreds and thousands of people as far as the eye could see, ahead of us and behind us, filling the broad avenue that finally led to the Lincoln Memorial. And I felt wonderful as I walked along, sometimes by myself, at other times with a friendly group, interacting with various people, but never feeling alone, just glad and free, relishing each moment, almost euphoric in my feelings of connection with those about me. And what an amazing variety there were: black, white and brown, rich and poor, young and old, the happy, the hurting, the aimless and homeless, Asian, Hispanic, Jews and Muslims and Christians, gays, straight, people on crutches and in wheel chairs; the whole rainbow of humanity. And I felt a tremendous oneness with them and deep love for them all, and I felt them loving me back! 

I have never experienced anything quite like it, before or since, nothing quite as profound! At one point, a choir from a black church started singing “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” and I and people all around me joined in, I taking my usual bass part! Beautiful! And of course we all sang “We Shall Overcome” and other familiar freedom songs at various points along the way, not forgetting “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee, Sweet Land of Liberty”! It was an awesome scene, from the base of the monument looking down the reflecting pool toward the capitol. Everyone was thrilled to be a real part of it all! And Dr. King’s speech was great, as expected, simple and profound, going straight to everyone’s heart: a kind of echo of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, I thought, not just in its brevity but in its profound clarity and appropriateness for that particular moment in time. It was a great climax to a truly wonderful day, one I will cherish always. 

This Anglo-American pastor took a stand for our nation’s future that day, risking the condemnation of his congregation for “mixing politics with religion.” Yet, like so many others, his commitment to civil rights in “the land of the free and the home of the brave” compelled him to be a part of history. We thank God he is.

Fifty Shades of Grace # 6

FIFTY SHADES OF GRACE  # 6

Andy Murray won the 2013 Wimbledon Championships in June and was the first male British citizen to do so in 77 years. He won a gold medal at the 2012 Olympics and became the first British player since 1977 to win the US Open tournament last year. He is ranked the worldwide No. 3 and British No. 1 male singles tennis player.

He is also a survivor of gun violence. The media reminded the world of that and placed his accomplishments in that perspective after he won Wimbledon.

The Dunblane, Scotland, school massacre occurred at Dunblane Primary School on March 13, 1996. The gunman, 43-year-old Thomas Hamilton, entered the school armed with four handguns, shooting and killing 16 children and one adult teacher before committing suicide. Andy, then 8 years old, hid under a desk in a nearby classroom until police and teachers arrived on the scene.

In his autobiography, Hitting Back (Century, 2008), Murray says he was too young to understand what was happening during the Dunblane massacre. He is often reluctant to talk about his experience in interviews, but after watching the news from Connecticut last December, he had something to say. 

Andy sent a message to the families of the victims at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown in response to the tragic mass shooting that took the lives of 20 students and six teachers (12/14/2012). In a Facebook post, he wrote, "My heart goes out to all those poor children, their families and the community in Newtown in Connecticut, so, so sad." (USA Today, December 18, 2012).

The people of Dunblane will tell you that Andy Murray has made them famous. He has dimmed the memory of that tragic day in 1996. He will not claim that effect but remains a proud and dedicated citizen of that village. As one of the most competitive and focused professional tennis players in the world, he remains a person with deep empathy for others. 

One dictionary defines “champion” as “a person who fights for or defends any person or cause.” For the people of Dunblane, Andy Murray is their champion in more ways than one.