Illustration Courtesy of Reconciling Ministries Network
Rainbow BSA
Reprinted with Permission from Reconciling Ministries Network
25 March 2013
From: United Methodist Men
Morningside United Methodist Church
PO Box 3076
Salem, OR 97302
To: General Commission on United Methodist Men
The membership of the UMM from Morningside UMC have strong concerns regarding the press release from your office on Feb. 19. The board of the UMM issued a statement which is summarized by the following 3 major points:
- Whereas, we received lots of angry and hateful phone calls and letters from conservatives following our first two statements in favor of the inclusion of Scouts who identify as gay.
- Whereas, we value “retention and expansion above every other value”.
- Whereas, the United Methodist Men are calling on the Boy Scouts of America not to change their ban on gay scouts and scout leaders because we need more time.
The Board of the UMM seems to be basing their decisions on outside pressure and not on the basic ideals of the UMC’s Mission Statement: “The mission of the church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world” and to keep “Open Hearts, Open Minds and Open Doors”. The Board also seems to disregard the Book of Discipline (which is silent on this issue unless you feel we are intending to “ordain Scouts as clergy”) or on the Book of Resolutions which calls on the denomination to “dedicate itself to a ministry of Christ-like hospitality and compassion to persons of all sexual orientation….welcoming sexual minorities, their friends and families into our Churches”.
If this news release is the stated policy of the General Commission on United Methodist Men, then, as members of a Reconciling Congregation (who in 2012 celebrated 50 years of support for Scout Troop 81) we are struggling with how we can continue to give our support, financial and otherwise, to this organization. After prayerful consideration, and with great reluctance, we have decided to withhold all future payments of dues and any other support available to us until your stated goals and support of United Methodist doctrines, resolutions and principles are realigned with those of our denomination.
Finally, since the Board’s decisions do not appear to be based on the Book of Discipline and the Book of Social Principles, we are going to strongly encourage all other United Methodist Men organizations in our conference and throughout the country to also withhold their financial support. We do not take this step lightly but we cannot, in good conscience, continue to support your office and the Board’s decisions on this subject. We hope you will find the courage to reaffirm your original stance of encouraging the Scouts to change their outdated policies. Whether the Scouts change or not isn’t a decision which we control. All we can do is remain faithful to the theology of inclusiveness. The “we need more time” philosophy simply means more time for boys to be bullied and excluded and higher suicide rates among adolescents. We, as UMM, should have no more time for this type of injustice.
Looking forward in prayer with open hearts, open minds, open doors,
Ellis Sanders, Chairman
United Methodist Men
Morningside UMC