Relationship between LGBTTQ+ community and religions is positive

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/06/2024 (860 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s Pride Week in Winnipeg. Although some in the LGBTTQ+ community might think news about religion and LGBTTQ+ is only negative, that’s not the case — as some recent developments show.

For example, Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, Calif. is discussing whether to revise its standards prohibiting students and staff from “homosexual forms of explicit sexual conduct,” and its position that sexual intimacy is supposed to be reserved for a marriage between a man and a woman.

In a draft of the proposed revisions, the school — one of the pre-eminent evangelical schools in North America — noted that Christians are not uniform about what the Bible says about LGBTTQ+. For that reason, it is suggesting that students who come from accepting and affirming denominations should not have to abide by those standards but only “live with integrity consistent to the Christian communities to which they belong.”

If the draft revision is approved, Fuller could become the first evangelical seminary in the U.S. to adopt such an open and accepting standard.

Also in the U.S., in May the United Methodist Church (UMC) voted at their General Conference to become more open and accepting of LGBTTQ+ people.

The vote came after years of debate in the 11-million-member worldwide denomination about the topic — a debate that saw a quarter of its American churches, more than 7,600 more conservative congregations, depart over the past five years.

At the conference, delegates voted to repeal a 52-year-old declaration that the practice of homosexuality is “incompatible with Christian teaching.” They went further by also removing a restriction against clergy conducting same-sex marriages and dropping a ban on gay clergy.

In eliminating the punitive language on homosexuality, the United Methodist Church joins the majority of America’s liberal Protestant denominations in extending full equality to LGBTTQ+ members.

The decision is only effective in the U.S. branch of the church; it isn’t clear how it will affect UMC congregations in Africa, Asia and Central and South America where there is widespread opposition to being more affirming of LGBTTQ+ people. But delegates also passed a series of measures to restructure the worldwide denomination to give each region greater freedom to tailor church life to its own customs and traditions.

Closer to home, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Canada, which is headquartered in Winnipeg, has revised its code of conduct so anyone can apply for any position at the international relief and development organization — including those who support same-sex marriage or are members of the LGBTQ+ community.

According to MCC Canada board chair Ron Ratzlaff, the decision was made because MCC Canada, which operates as a charitable organization, needs to be in compliance with existing Canadian labour laws and human rights legislation that prevents discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Prior to making the change, MCC Canada had two codes of conduct — a Standard Code for senior staff that required LGBTTQ+ people in those positions to be celibate outside of heterosexual marriage, and a Basic Code for all other staff that didn’t include that requirement. Now the Basic Code is the only code that will apply to all MCC Canada staff and board members.

According to Ratzlaff, anyone can now apply for any position at MCC Canada, including those who support same-sex marriage or are members of the LGBTTQ+ community, as long as they support the mission and core values of MCC Canada. This includes a commitment to Christian faith, being part of a church or other Christian community and being committed to peace and nonviolence.

Finally, Anglicans and Lutherans in Manitoba have joined together to create a new committee to educate about and advocate for members of the LGBTTQ+ community.

“Over the last few years, there has been an incredible increase in attacks on the LGBTTQ+ community,” said Theo Robinson, a trans male and member of the committee who is also pastor of the joint Anglican-Lutheran Interlake Shared Ministry.

For Robinson, the committee will be a way for the two denominations to counter harmful messages and threats of violence against the LGBTTQ+ community by helping congregations to be more welcoming and better allies.

For Jason Zinko, bishop of the Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario (MNO) Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, the new committee will be “a life-giving ministry” that will provide “a stronger voice and larger impact.” Geoff Woodcroft, bishop of the Diocese of Rupert’s Land, agreed, adding the committee is a way for the two denominations to act “as one church.”

When it comes to the LGBTTQ+ community, organized religion has a lot to apologize for. But these stories show members of that community that religious groups are trying to find ways to make and do things better.

faith@freepress.mb.ca

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