Baptismal Covenant Shirts
Investing in liberationist efforts toward a future with hope, United Methodists who produced a “Baptismal Covenant” T-shirt have donated the proceeds from the shirt’s sales to support UM-Forward, the collective of United Methodists who have collaborated to center the lives and ministry of People of Color (POC) + Queer (Q) + Trans (T) in naming a new direction for the future church.
“We are divesting from systems of oppression to invest in liberation,” says Rev. Alex da Silva Souto, who is among UM-Forward’s leadership. The United Methodist denomination has included language in its Book of Discipline that prohibits LGBTQIA+ persons from serving as clergy; in February, language that has harmed LGBTQIA+ United Methodists since 1972 was affirmed and punitive measures tightened at a specially-called General Conference.
“At this time between Special Conference Session earlier this year and next year’s General Conference, some POC+Q+T clergy are experiencing their livelihoods at stake” da Silva Souto says, “and those under complaint for their very identities need our tangible support.”
“Resisting evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves” is the message on the resistance T-shirts, language taken directly from the baptismal vow United Methodists make. Donations from the first round of shirts is directed to a fund created in support of POC+Q+T clergy under complaint (it is hoped that future resources can also support allies under complaint for practicing marriage equality) and liberationist efforts by UM-Forward.
T-shirt creator Rev. Laurel Capesius says she reimagined a shirt that was created by the Iowa Annual Conference “Do No Harm” Reconciling Ministries chapter a few years ago, but she “did not imagine how far-reaching this message would be – this message of upholding our baptismal covenant to resist the evils, injustices, and oppression within the UMC,” she says.
“In this liminal space in the denomination, our financial support is provided knowing that the burden and spiritual violence runs deep,” according to UM-Forward leader Rev. Kai Greer. “Clergy trials can result in loss of credentials and livelihood – including income, housing, health insurance, and pension plans. Many clergy going through the process of complaint endure a drawn out process that can have an impact on their mental health and spiritual lives. As much as we envision and labor towards a church where POC + Q + T clergy are not put on trial for whom they have been created to be, this is not our current reality,” says Greer.
Committed to funding travel costs for required meetings when “under investigation,” necessary medical expenses (including counseling or spiritual direction), housing, and other needs, the UM-Forward and Baptismal Covenant Campaign Justice Fund “seeks to provide financial support in a holistic way that gives each POC + Q + T person the manna they need,” affirms Deaconess Irene DeMaris, another UM-Forward leader.
“This partnership is especially fitting,” says DeMaris, “because the baptismal vow is our ultimate commitment toward one another as Christians.” The UM-Forward grassroots campaign to dismantle systems of oppression (racism, sexism, heterosexism, cissexism, ableism, classism) has been guided by an approach of love and liberation. “This T-shirt speaks to our UMC reality, but it also extends well beyond this current parochial struggle. Resistance to injustice is at the heart of liberation theology,” she says.
UM-Forward’s submitted legislation for GC2020 to birth new Methodist expressions, the New Expressions Worldwide (N.E.W.) Plan, imagines a future church exempt from such violence, one where “God’s family is equally beloved, called, and celebrated in the fullness of our lives,” according to UM-Forward. The NEW Plan proponents see the value of separation into at least four possible expressions of Methodism as a healthy future for the denomination.
According to UM-Forward’s FAQ page for the NEW Plan: “While the details of many other plans were drafted behind closed doors by handpicked or a self-chosen few, we believe that the details of the future of Methodism should be worked out in a representative and transparent fashion. Our main goal is to establish a Transitional Council that collaboratively develops the Plan of Separation according to the values of self-determination, equitable distribution of general church assets, restorative justice, and reparations. Each new expression of Methodism will have the freedom to envision and structure themselves as they feel called. Therefore, we chose to focus on general principles as opposed to imposing and/or constraining the future of new expressions.”
UM-Forward, a collective of United Methodist liberationists fiercely committed to advancing POC+Q+T liberation through an intersectional, enfleshed, and anti-colonial framework, is rooted in its vision, mission, and values; sign on to UM-Forward’s “Loved and Liberated” Proclamation here.
Capesius says she is honored that “I, and all who invested in this outward symbol of resistance, can be part of this holy movement. I appreciate UM-Forward’s dedication to the mission of liberation, and it is this mission that I hope we will all continue to support in whatever ways possible.” If you are interested in helping UM-Forward’s efforts directly, you can donate online at the UM-Forward Facebook page or send a check to: NMUMC, 68 Danbury Road, CT 06776 (UM-Forward in the memo line). Shirts and other gear are still available for purchase at Bonfire.com.
Capesius says her “prayer is that those who believe in resisting evil, injustice, and oppression will have ears to hear and hearts to know that, even if they aren’t ready, POC+Q+T folks are. Liberation can no longer be delayed.”