November 1, 2016
Beloved Justice Seekers,
M Theresa Basile
MFSA Logo
From our earliest days, we identified as a movement energizing people to be agents of sacred change in the church and the world. We believe that the root of justice lies within people of faith in grassroots communities called to engage in collective liberation. It requires storied relationships, resilience in the midst of oppression, and resistance to all that stands in the way of love. Our intersectional lens reminds us of the words of Methodist and civil rights leader, Fannie Lou Hamer, who said: “nobody’s free until everybody’s free.” Our lived experience tells us sacred change is only possible in a movement that is boundary breaking and refuses to be silenced by the powers and principalities that use a call for unity as a veil for discrimination.
“As a queer layperson of color in The United Methodist Church I am disheartened by the choices of our bishops and judicial council. However, the liberation of LGBTQ people in the church and the world will not come from an institution that has strived to erase the existence of our lives and experiences. Our liberation will come from building relationships in our local communities, our resilience to continue to exist in the church when we are told the Church’s table is not large enough, and when we harness our collective power to resist the sin and temptation to oppress others. As queer people in the church, we must hold on to our love for God. We must also hold on to the ways we have learned to love ourselves, despite church teachings, so that we can better love - in word and deed - our neighbor.” -- Joseph Lopez, MFSA Board of Directors
“I feel betrayed by those who committed to seeking a way forward but have offered business as usual. The imbalance of power represented on the commission will uphold the status quo. We cannot continue to say we want a way forward when we are willing to leave so many behind, even in the formation of our Commission. This reflects our broader institutional practice of trampling underfoot the same people that oppressive powers trample. The ways of exclusion and silencing are not God’s ways. How will we be different? From the bottom up, we have to reclaim the faith that listens for God in the places where the powers say it cannot be, and dare to be transformed by what we hear. Our witness is the most powerful thing that we have as people of faith. Let us use this witness to change our present reality to more fully reflect God’s kin-dom.” -- Rev. Elyse Ambrose, MFSA Board of Directors and UMC Queer Clergy
We call justice-seeking people of faith…
- To pray for those on the commission, especially the LGBTQ persons that have made themselves known and for those who have not, whatever their reasons.
- To pray and be in solidarity with Boards of Ordained Ministry and Annual Conferences that are faithfully pursuing non-conformity with any policies that stand in the way of love.
- To challenge your bishop and church leadership to uphold and continue the commissioning and ordaining of openly LGBTQ clergy, and the support of openly LGBTQ lay leadership.
- To step out in faith and advocate for LGBTQ people in your communities. There is an increased attack on the lived equality of LGBTQ people by state governments throughout the U.S. These laws create a culture that have contributed to the death of more than 20 transgender people of color this year alone.
- To connect and build deeper relationships within your own faith community. The work of reconciliation must begin within ourselves and our own communities first.
We call on the Council of Bishops…
- To live into their prophetic call. It is long past time to claim the sacred worth of LGBTQ people and our families by advocating for our full protection in the communities in which we live.
- To be vulnerable within your own context. For such a time as this, we need you to boldly express your support and pastoral care for LGBTQ people. What you say or don’t say matters. LGBTQ people need you to be our pastors, too.
- To lead the church in our baptismal call to resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever form it presents itself - even when it is within our polity by naming the harm of erasure and exclusion that is done through the legislated discrimination woven into the fabric of our polity.
- To commission, ordain, and appoint openly LGBTQ clergy.
In the words of Mark Miller, “No matter what the church says…” as justice-seeking United Methodists, it is our courage in faithfully living out our gospel commission to love God and our neighbor by seeking sacred change and breaking boundaries that we will find a way forward boldly proclaiming...you are a “child of God.”
May it be so,
The Staff and Board of Directors,
Methodist Federation for Social Action