So, with an eye to the sky, what prospects for disaster existed when the SA Synod opened, with three comets making their appearance in the night sky over the Barossa as the new Moderator was installed?   The Synod opened with a Service more like a Sunday service at Aberfoyle Park than a Synod opening for a diverse church.  Graham Humphris was installed as Moderator, without the transfer of all the symbols of office usually associated with the event.  There was no transfer of the Moderator's stole, breaking with tradition and omitting the symbolic yoke of service.   This was going to be an interesting Synod.

The daily Bible studies proved to be disasterous, with glib clinchers like, "when you are born you have your father's genes, but when you are born again you are given Jesus' genes"!   The metaphor is plainly absurd, even sexist and ignorant!  Given the resources available to us in the UCA through our colleges, the Bible studies were inappropriate.  Were we heading into the dark recessesion of fundamentalist revival?  Even considering mention of "Jesus' genes" as an silly slip, the portents were not good and there was more to come.  The comet in Dorado was brightening, ominously it seemed.

However, we are not superstitious people, are we?  We know that comets are accreted ices, dust and debris left over from the formation of the Solar System.  There are thousands of comets sitting out there in the Oort Cloud, beyond the Kuiper Belt, from where gravitational perturbations sent them on trips around the Sun or to fiery deaths as they collide with other objects in the Solar System.  We are well informed and  reasonable people, aren't we?  We can pass over "Jesus' genes" with a smile, and not be too concerned about preacherly nonsense, can't we?  Well, yes, I thought so, until I read reports from the Synod concerning Rev. Rob Tann's proposal to brand Bishop John Shelby Spong a heretic because he criticised some of our most sacred beliefs, notions and traditions.  The proposal questions the wisdom of supporting or promoting Spong's views "through Synod mailings or other UCA communication media".  Tann proposes setting up a "theological task group" to "examine" Spong's views.  Tann had elevated my concern for preacherly nonsense, with his proposed examination of Spong's views.  The suggested process is much like that of the Inquisitors of old, who probably saw themselves as a "theological task group", as they held their witch hunts, hounded heretics and enforced oppressive rule and the superstitions of the Dark Ages, by threat, torture and execution.   The Tann proposal was not considered at the Synod and passed to the Council of Synod for consideration.  Time had not permitted discussion.

Tann's proposal is a sign of our times.  It shows the absurd lengths to which desperate persons may go to try to stop others making critique and enquiry into long held beliefs.  Among reasonable people, "in contact with contemporary thought" (Basis of Union, paragraph 11), the witness of people such as Jack Spong needs to be made and considered, not banned behind labels of heresy.  Spong describes himself as a Christian "in exile", who discounts anthropomorphic theism and is, among other things, a critic of fundamentalism and an advocate of inclusive participation for gay and lesbian Christians in the life of the church.  Perhaps that explains Tann's concern?  He does not like the message so he tries to gag the messenger.  Stifle debate and more nonsense about "Jesus' genes" may proliferate.

There is much at risk here, for if Spong is discredited as a heretic then the people from within the Church who listen to him are implicated as "heretics", too.  The Progressive Christianity Network, for example, has hosted Jack Spong and people from a diversity of backgrounds have attended his lectures and workshops, including those who may call themselves orthodox, liberal thinkers, post-Christian, queer, social justice activists, gay and lesbian Christians, evangelicals or simply faithful people of the church.   Tann's proposal pre-empts the task given to the Assembly Standing Committee at the Tenth Assembly, to prepare and distribute guidelines to the Church on how to discuss controversial issues.   Surely we can do this without resorting to labelling people heretics?  Attempting to stifle the sharing of information or to limit the promotion of discussion of controversial views, is not the way of an authentic, modern church.  The proposal to ban the promotion and distribution of Spong's views within the UCA will not silence Spong's criticism or that of others like him.   The church will adapt to changing understandings and perceptions as it moves into the Twenty-first Century.  Some of those changes will inevitably affect perceptions of God and contemporary thought with sharper acuity than talking of "Jesus' genes".

Attempting censureship through "theological task groups" is the way of the Inquisition.  Recall its work concerning the thinking of Giordano Bruno, who was burned at the stake in 1600, for challenging religious and cosmological beliefs of the day.  Bruno's thinking, along with that of Copernicus, moved us beyond superstition into greater understandings of truth.  Neither Copernicus nor Bruno were strictly correct with their theories but they were closer to the mark than the Ptolemaic views held by the church.  Sixteen years later, Galileo was forced to retract his heliocentric, Copernican views of the Solar System because they were neither biblical nor of the official, orthodox church view.   Admonished by Pope Paul V, not to "hold, teach or defend" heliocentric "heresies", Galileo retreated to studious retirement, saying little and working on his Saggiatore,  presenting a discreet account of Copernian opinions and his own views on the nature of comets.  That the Earth orbited the Sun was later vindicated by science but not according to Copernican understandings of  concentric, circular orbits.  We now know that Galileo's theory of comets, as atmospheric phenomena much like rainbows and halos, was erroneous.   However, in 1623, his views in the Saggiatore were acclaimed by ecclesiastic and scientific authorities alike, when they were published with a dedication to a new pope, Urban VIII.  Things can change quickly.

We no longer see comets as atmospheric phenomena but as part of the Sun's family of orbiting Solar System objects. We no longer see all comets as harbingers of disaster, though some may well be, as the Tunguska event in 1908 and the collision of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter in 1994, showed.  We now understand that past impacts of comets on Earth have had great consequences for planetary formation, life and evolution.  Comets may also have influenced climatic and social changes and that is an historical fact and not a superstitious presumption.  Comets over the Synod skies need not concern us.  However, "Jesus' genes" and Tann's proposal are signs of significant portent, risking a backwards slide into absurdity.  The former alienates thinking people and the latter risks entrenched fundamentalism, with stiffled debate and limited diversity within the Church, in a continuation of the spirit of Paul V and the Inquisition.   Jack Spong's criticism is timely: critical thought tempered with wisdom will help us focus on love rather than judgment.  It may move us towards greater knowledge of being grounded in God in our times, rather than being grounded in tradition, superstition and rhetorical nonsense.

Peace and Blessings
I am going to buy a new pair of jeans.

Editor.

Ministry, Membership and Sexuality Resolutions SA Synod, October 2003.

.

A Wonderful Gift to the Church

Singing while it is still dark: a gift book of prayers and meditations
for members of the South Australian Synod 2003
A publication of Friends of Unity, Adelaide, South Australia.

 "Faith
    is a bird
  that feels
   dawn breaking
and sings
   while it is
still dark."

ORDERS NOW BEING TAKEN BY MAIL CLICK FOR DETAILS

Exposing the Exodus Fraud

"...ignorance, no matter how overlaid with piety, is still ignorance."
                                                                           J. S. Spong

It seems that the myth that sexuality can be changed through faith in God and prayer is still with us as, with recent suggestions presented to the Special Synod of the UCA in Queensland seeking to promote Exodus resource materials.  Notably Proposal 12, which suggests that such resources be made available 'to support young people in their desire for holiness'.  (Proposal 12 made at the Qld Special Synod, November 7-9, 2003).  Except in cases where people have acted contrary to their given sexuality, experience wiithin the Uniting Network tells of no cases of lasting change of sexuality. However, cases of damage to persons who emerge as broken and desperate people are known.  The Queensland Synod is well advised to listen to Uniting Network on such matters.

Exodus is a movement which began in the States in the 1970's and has spread around the world through Christian organisations that share the belief that homosexuality is a "chosen lifestyle".  It began with claims that people could be cured of their homosexuality through prayer and other techniques.  Where "cures or healings" are not sought or advocated, the focus is on celibacy or sexual abstinance. 

The interesting thing is that, after 20 years, the Exodus co-founders Michael Bussee and Garry Cooper confessed that their own sexual orientation was unchanged and that they had resumed their life together as gay men in relationship.

Speaking of his counselling of people over the years, Bussee said, "I had no success with them. I counselled hundreds of
people who tried to change their sexual orientation and none of them were successful. If you got them away from the christian
limelight and asked whether they were now heterosexual, not one person said that they were now heterosexual."

Yet people still push Exodus views, regardless of the lack of success!  Of course, in a Christian context there is always the way out of lost cedibility through the argument that either the motivation or commitment to change was not great or sustained or that faith was either lacking or not strong enough.

Two recent publications are worth reading concerning Exodus and Ex-Gay claims and practices.  One from the United Church of Christ which says, "Changing gays is damaging."  The other is from an Anglican Website on Changing Attitudes.  Both are speaking against the fundamentalist wing of the church that persist with outdated, false understandings of sexuality and faith.

In a similar way, retired Bishop John S. Spong also comments on the work of a retired pastor, Rev. Holt, reporting that this minister claims "that a fundamentalist organization in Encino, California that "treats gays and lesbians for their sickness,"  has findings that "irrefutably showed that same sex orientation can be overcome" if the patient really wants to be "cured.""  Spong comments that, " Someone should inform this gentleman that there is not one shred of scientific evidence to support that claim. Furthermore, a well known national pastoral counseling organization has called this point of view nothing less than "pastoral violence." The Rev. Mr. Holt illustrates well that ignorance, no matter how overlaid with piety, is still ignorance."

Spong was making his comments in an articles that welcomes the No Longer Silent: Phoenix Declaration....

No Longer Silent! The Phoenix Declaration

By John Shelby Spong, February 19, 2003
(Copyright 2003, John Shelby Spong.
Permission to post on the Internet granted by the author)

It was inevitable. The only question was when and where this initiative would occur. The surprise was that it emerged in Phoenix, Arizona, part of Goldwater country, rather than San Francisco, New York or even "born free" Vermont. I refer to a formal declaration entitled "No Longer      Silent!" developed and made public by an ecumenical group of Arizona clergy, which stated that its signatories would no longer tolerate the continuing negativity from Christian churches toward homosexual persons. It was a dramatically new thing in the present, tired debate.

     
The Phoenix Declaration was signed by 86 ordained religious leaders representing in descending numerical order, the United Methodist, United Church of Christ, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Unitarian-Universalist, Episcopal and Metropolitan Community Church traditions of Christianity. Opening this Declaration was the rather bold but accurate claim that the debate on homosexuality in our society "is over" and that the verdict "is clear."

"As Christian clergy we believe it is time to share our perspective concerning gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) persons," they began. "Homosexuality is not a sickness, not a choice, and not a sin," they continued. "GLBT persons are distinctive, holy, and precious gifts to all who struggle to become the family of God. We are committed to
work and pray for full acceptance and inclusion of GLBT persons in our churches and in the world." They went on to state their opposition to those religious persons who continue to condemn and exclude homosexual persons while calling that behavior "Christian." The "Christian faith compels us," they concluded, "to be part of the healing for the souls wounded by this tragic violent and destructive hatred."  From The Phoenix Declaration

Then follows a series of affirmations. The Declaration commits its signers to oppose openly those who use the Bible to undergird homophobic ignorance and prejudice. It acknowledges the presence of homosexual persons already in the church and recognizes their great gifts of      leadership. It calls on other clergy to speak out against the insensitive and hostile rhetoric that emanates from conservative religious leaders around the world. One thinks of the words and actions of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, as well as pronouncements made by John Paul II, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey and other leaders in every Christian tradition. It celebrates the courage of those prophetic figures who have endured enormous hostility when they spoke out as lone voices inside the prevailing negativity of their own faith communities.

Finally this Declaration issues a call for "an end to all religious and civil discrimination against any person based on sexual orientation. All laws must protect the freedom, rights and equal legal standing of all persons. We will continue to work for and promote the dignity of GLBT persons and their inclusion in our social, political, cultural and economic life."

There are several unusual things about this Declaration. First, it represents a grassroots movement led by pastors in daily contact with their church members. There is not a bishop, moderator or general secretary among the signers. Second, its signatories represent a critical mass of the clergy leadership in the Phoenix area, including many who are highly successful and respected by their communities. One is the Rev. Dr. Culver H. Nelson, the founder and now 'pastor emeritus' of Phoenix's largest Protestant congregation. Rising young denominational leaders like the Rev. Margaret Lindamood Roberts, the Rev.Gene Lefebvre, the Rev. Dr. Jeff Proctor-Murphy, the Rev. David Felten have led this effort. No ecclesiastical hierarchy would try to silence or marginalize such leadership. Third, this group will force denominational leaders everywhere to recognize that American society has moved far beyond the current negativity that still marks most churches on this issue, revealing yet again how irrelevant most of the Church's leadership has become.

This is not the only issue on which the Christian Church seeks to catch up with a fast changing world. Our nation, for example, has decided quite publicly that racism will no longer be tolerated, even in the person of former Republican Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott. Yet the most segregated hour of the week in America continues to be the time of public worship on Sunday morning in our churches.

Countries such as England, Israel, India and Pakistan have had female heads of state. America has women governors, senators, representatives, Supreme Court justices, and Cabinet members. Women today are the CEOs of such major corporations as Lucent, Hewlett-Packard, E-Bay, and Toys "R" Us. Yet, churches across the world remain among the most sexist institutions in the world. This sexism ranges from the Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions which still maintain that women are not fit, by God's design in their very creation, to serve as priests, bishops and     popes; to the Southern Baptists who recently declared as part of their core belief that wives must be subject to their husbands and that the Bible forbids a woman to have authority over a man. Who in our society today is still willing to listen to this strange and negative bit of dated religious ignorance?
     
Similarly, the churches are also badly out of touch with reality on sexual orientation issues. The Congress of the United States has in both political parties today 'out of the closet' gay representatives, elected by the people of their districts. The second family of the nation, Vice-President Richard and Mrs. Lyn Cheney, are the parents of a lesbian daughter whom they love, accept and acknowledge without apology or duplicity. Television programs, motion pictures and Broadway plays now treat gay and lesbian issues as a normal part of human life. The fact is     that the consciousness of the Western world has changed dramatically on this issue, while the leadership of the Christian churches remains mired in an ill informed debate that ignores the data now available from the medical and scientific world.
     
This data proclaims that sexual orientation is not a choice but a given; that the number of homosexually oriented people is approximately the same in every part of the world throughout all time; and that sexual orientation is so deeply a part of a person's identity that it is not amenable to change. Either unable or unwilling to confront this new knowledge, church leaders defend their prejudices by quoting the "clear teaching of Holy Scripture," oblivious to the fact that the "clear     teaching of Holy Scripture" in previous eras was used to condemn Galileo, to justify slavery and segregation and to establish an inferior status for women.
     
Now, this significant group of clergy leaders, in a relatively conservative western state, has dared to stand up and say, No more! We will no longer participate in the ill-informed prejudices put forth by our churches and its leaders. We will act on our understanding of the demands of the Gospel!

This statement will have two major side effects. First it will embolden young clergy leadership all over the developed world, to decide that they too can no longer remain silent, and they will add their names to this Declaration. That in turn will cause church hierarchical leaders, who seem to worship some strange idol called "church unity" which must be served even at the sacrifice of both truth and justice, to recognize that the primary threat to church unity has shifted dramatically. It no longer comes from a few prophetic voices on the edges of the church's life, that can be quickly isolated. The divisive force is now located in those recalcitrant traditional people who are not emotionally capable of changing no matter what new data is presented. This means that a new and positive majority on homosexual persons is finally visible in the Church.
     
This Declaration further reveals that the traditional negative voices are in reality nothing but the sad sounds of people living in a religious time warp. Typical of these voices was the first reaction to the Phoenix Declaration, uttered by the Rev. Nathan Holt, from Mesa, Arizona. This retired pastor is the convener of a Methodist organization created to counter any move to open that church to the inclusion of gay and lesbian people. His defensive statement suggested that "the sponsors of this [the Phoenix] declaration hope to promulgate their misguided assumption that God created homosexual people with same sex orientation." He went on to say that a fundamentalist organization in Encino, California that "treats gays and lesbians for their sickness,"  has findings that "irrefutably showed that same sex orientation can be overcome" if the patient really wants to be "cured." Someone should inform this gentleman that there is not one shred of scientific evidence to support that claim. Furthermore, a well known national pastoral counseling organization has called this point of view nothing less than "pastoral violence." The Rev. Mr. Holt illustrates well that ignorance, no matter how overlaid with piety, is still ignorance.
     
The day such claims will continue to enjoy respect is over. The Phoenix Declaration from the clergy group that calls itself "No Longer Silent," has made that very clear. A new day has dawned. History needs to note that this new consciousness first appeared in Arizona. The whole church owes an enormous debt of gratitude to these Phoenix Christian leaders.
     
John Shelby Spong
Used with permission.

---

More information:
The "No Longer Silent: Phoenix Declaration" is the name of a declaration by clergy who believe that the "time has come to share an alternative Christian perspective on the issue of homosexuality. Conservative political and Christian rhetoric condemning homosexuals has monopolized public perception of the stance of religious persons on this issue."
You may follow this link to read the No Longer Silent Phoenix Declaration.  Read the Declaration and then click to read their mission statement.

Not to be outdone, there is an anti-gay response taken by "reformed" evangelicals and other conservatives who hold homosxuality condemned by the bible and traditional Christian ethics. They see the original "Phoenix Declaration" as "attempting to subvert the Bible's clear teaching on sexual ethics, particularly homosexuality."   Their response may be read at The Courage, Clarity and Charity: A Phoenix Declaration

Both statements are made by members of clergy in Arizona, USA.

A Madison Affirmation: On Homosexuality and Christian Faith was a statement endorsed by 68 Christian clergy and additional non-Christian clergy that was released on  Monday, May 12, 1997, at a press conference at First Congregational Church, Madison, Wisconsin. Their statement may be read here:- Madison Affirmation. 

The The Adelaide Affirmation, will be launched on November 26, 2003, calling for an end to religious and civil discrimination against GLBT persons.