An Inkling
Has a line been crossed? This summer our larger church decided to remove the “fidelity in marriage and chastity in singleness” language from our ordination standards. Although it’s complicated to explain the history of our sexual ethics debates and how that impacts ordination, suffice it to say that the effect of removing this language is to open the door to ordination for those sexually active outside of marriage between a man and a woman, be they heterosexual or homosexual. The advocates for this change have been telling us all along that this is no big deal, and that we’ll either learn to like it, or learn to live together with this as just-one-more-difference in the great range of diversity in our church – i.e., no line has been crossed.
Next week there will be a gathering of those who disagree. About 2000 elders and ministers, from hundreds of congregations, will gather in Minneapolis to discuss the change. During August the thermometer in Minneapolis is certainly to be preferred over points south, but not enough to justify the days and dinero necessary to get there. So the five of us going from St. Giles are making this effort for another reason: we do believe a line has been crossed, and we need some partners in trying to discern how God would have us respond.
After the Minneapolis gathering we’ll have a congregational forum to discuss what we learned about emerging options. But for now it’s important to know why we’re going to all this trouble. It’s not as if we couldn’t find many more appealing ministry options for the days and dinero this will take. So it’s well to think through why this is important. I usually try to blog once a week. But for the next few days I’ll blog a reason each day for why I believe a line has been crossed, for however many days that takes.
Pray for the five of us going to Minneapolis. Pray for all 2000. And pray for those who say no line has been crossed. May God’s mercy be apparent for all.
Blessings,
Keith
