Major issue affects many Protestant churches in North America

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This article was published 23/07/2023 (1149 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s one of the biggest issues rocking Protestant churches in North America today: Welcome and affirmation of LGBTTQ+ people. Whole denominations are dividing over it, hardening their stances or expelling congregations that break from traditional beliefs about sexuality and marriage.

In the U.S., more than 6,000 churches have decided to leave the United Methodist Church (UMC) because they believe the denomination is becoming more open to ordaining LGBTTQ+ ministers or performing same-sex weddings. That’s a fifth of the total number of UMC congregations in that country.

In fact, the denomination currently does not permit the marriage or ordination of LGBTTQ+ people. But two LGBTTQ+ bishops have already been elected and each of its five jurisdictions voted last year to aspire to become a church where “LGBTTQ+ people will be protected, affirmed, and empowered.”

Where the UMC is becoming more open, the Christian Reformed Church, which has congregations in the U.S. and Canada, voted last year to take a harder stance against LGBTTQ+ welcome and affirmation.

“The church must warn its members that those who refuse to repent of these sins… will not inherit the kingdom of God,” the denomination stated. “It must discipline those who refuse to repent of such sins for the sake of their souls.”

Over the years, the denomination has given its churches a degree of latitude with regards to LGBTTQ+ people. Now the denomination has signalled there is no room for things like same-sex marriage or inviting LGBTTQ+ people into leadership.

That decision could prompt a divide the opposite way of the UMC, with more liberal congregations voting to exit the denomination.

Another American denomination feeling the pain of division is Mennonite Church USA, which officially supports marriage only between a man and a woman but allows individual congregations to decide their stance on the topic. It has gone from 840 congregations to 509 and from 113,000 members to about 50,000 since 2001, largely over the issue of LGBTTQ+ inclusion and affirmation.

Mennonite Church Canada, MC USA’s counterpart in this country, has not seen the same large exodus, but some churches have left over how it lets individual congregations decide their approach to LGBTTQ+ inclusion. That includes two in Manitoba: Carman Mennonite Church and Springfield Heights Mennonite Church in Winnipeg.

The Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches is also dealing with congregations that want to be more open to LGBTTQ+ people. Like its Christian Reform counterpart, Mennonite Brethren have pushed a hardline stance against churches that violate its opposition to same-sex marriage. Three churches have been expelled so far — two in Ontario and Jubilee Mennonite Church in Winnipeg.

River East Church in Winnipeg — my home congregation — has been suspended by the denomination because of its decision to become affirming and welcoming of LGBTTQ+ people, with suspension being the first step towards expulsion.

A church moving more towards more full inclusion is the Anglican Church of Canada, which recently approved a liturgy for people who are transitioning genders. The decision was welcomed by the Diocese of Rupert’s Land, which covers southern Manitoba and northwestern Ontario. But the Diocese of the Arctic, which covers Canada’s north, issued a statement to its clergy and members saying it is “committed to the clear teaching of scripture” on this topic and that they should not use the new liturgy in their churches.

Other denominations are also dealing with this topic, like the Canadian Baptists of Western Canada which felt compelled to reaffirm their opposition to same-sex marriage. But two other Baptist groups in Canada — The Gathering of Baptists and the Canadian Association of Baptist Freedoms — are openly promoting LGBTTQ+ affirmation and welcome. In fact, the latter group ordained its first openly LGBTTQ+ minister earlier this year.

Author and theologian Phyllis Tickle predicted this state of affairs before her death in 2015.

In her book The Great Emergence, she popularized the idea that every 500 years Christianity has a garage sale — selling off the ideas and beliefs and practices that no longer fit. The last one was the Reformation of the 16th century. Tickle maintained we are now in the midst of the next upheaval.

During this upheaval, Christians are jettisoning things they no longer believe necessary in order to be faithful — things like institutional church structures, buildings and traditional beliefs about sexuality and marriage.

The opposition we are seeing today to LGBTTQ+ affirmation and inclusion is, Tickle said, “the last playing piece” in the fight over how Christians view the Bible. Previous playing pieces that have already been dealt with include slavery, divorce, and women in ministry — topics that once were very contentious and split Protestant denominations but are not considered divisive or controversial today. (Although some evangelical churches today are still reluctant to allow women to be clergy.)

This current battle over LGBTTQ+, Tickle said, would be “the bitterest, because once it is lost, there are no more fights to be had” over how people read the Bible — whether it is to be taken literally as a black-and-white book of rules, or if it should be seen as a product of its time that can provide only inspiration for current belief and behaviour.

Whether Tickle was correct about the 500-year timeline or views of the Bible, one thing she got right was about the fight. It is bitter, and it is dividing churches and denominations. What remains for these denominations when the fight is over is not yet clear.

faith@freepress.mb.ca

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