Sessions Sign
Saint Mark's United Methodist Church in Atlanta expressed its displeasure over Attorney General Jeff Sessions' enforcement of the Trump Administration's "zero tolerance" immigration policy that separates children from their families. Photo by Christia Holloway. Used by Permission.
"If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”
Matthew 18:15-17
Jesus outlines a three step process for confronting sinners.
First, go to the person in private. Second, visit with the person again and bring other church folks with you. And then if steps one and two don’t work, bring your complaint to the church.
Lately we Methodists have been pretty much skipping steps one and two. Although, given the nature of recent complaints, I don’t think that matters much.
I am not really a fan of the complaint process, at least not as it has been most frequently used in recent years. Those complaints have all been about gay clergy or clergy officiating at same sex marriages. And the complaints have often been filed by folks at a distance with no real connection to the supposed offenses.
The good thing about the complaint brought against Attorney General Jeff Sessions is that it moves us from the imaginary sins of same sex relationships to the real sins of oppression and marginalization. Mr. Sessions is a member of the Ashland Place United Methodist Church in Mobile, Alabama and regularly attends the Clarendon UMC in Alexandria, Virginia. The complaint is addressed to the pastors of those churches.
The letter of complaint was organized by the Rev. David Wright, an elder in the Pacific Northwest Conference of the United Methodist Church and chaplain at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. It has been signed by over six hundred clergy and laity of the church.
There is no doubt that these are very serious issues. And by every standard of Christian faith and ethics, the policy of separating children from their parents at the border is misguided at best. Our vilification of immigrants should be of deep concern to every Christian, and to every American. It is wrong and it is not a small matter.
But is it a good idea for us to point fingers at one another within the context of the church?
The answer, I think, is complicated.
It’s not a good idea to point fingers. And in our United Methodist context there is the very real possibility that the Sessions complaint will be seen as morally equivalent to the many complaints related to LGBTQ inclusion or exclusion. But that is a false equivalence. Our government has inflicted real harm on folks at our southern border. That is in no way equivalent to a clergy person officiating at a same sex wedding.
It is bizarre to think it might even be necessary to make that statement!
And the complaint against the Attorney General is largely symbolic. He will not lose his membership in the church or asked not to attend. There will be no real consequences. This is only about raising consciousness and stimulating discussion.
It is important to remember that at its core this is a moral issue. It is an issue of faith and practice. It is about our vision of the Kingdom of God. We in the church need to address the issue of immigration and the arguments surrounding it as a fundamental part of who we are. The Sessions complaint reminds us that though we must always "speak the truth in love," we must nevertheless speak the truth.
And that’s a good thing.
This is the complaint:
Pursuant to Paragraph 2702.3 of the 2016 United Methodist Book of Discipline, we hereby charge Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, Attorney General of the United States, a professing member and/or active participant of Ashland Place United Methodist Church (Mobile, Alabama) and Clarendon United Methodist Church (Alexandria, Virginia), with the chargeable offenses of:
• Child Abuse (examples: advocacy for and implementation of documented practices that indefinitely separate thousands of young children from their parents; holding thousands of children in mass incarceration facilities with little to no structured educational or socio-emotional support)
• Immorality (examples: the use of violence against children to deter immigration; advocating and supporting the separation of children from their families; refusal of refugee/asylee status to those fleeing gang or sexual violence; oppression of those seeking asylum or attempting to enter the United States with refugee status; directing employees and staff members to kidnap children from their parents)
• Racial discrimination (examples: stopping investigations of police departments charged with racial discrimination; attempting to criminalize Black Lives Matter and other racial justice activist groups; targeting incarceration for those engaged in undocumented border crossings as well as those who present with requests for asylum, with a particular focus on those perceived as Muslim or LatinX)
• Dissemination of doctrines contrary to the standards of doctrine of the United Methodist Church (examples: the misuse of Romans 13 to indicate the necessity of obedience to secular law, which is in stark contrast to Disciplinary commitments to supporting freedom of conscience and resistance to unjust laws)
The Rev. Dr. William C. Trench serves as pastor of the East Greenwich United Methodist Church in East Greenwich, R.I. This post is republished with permission from his blog, Thinking Faithfully.