Thank you for your honesty and compassion. Although I am no longer a Covenant pastor (now a Lutheran, but working in an Episcopal congregation, since Lutherans and Episcopalians are in fellowship), I remember the stresses on pastors who took stands for the sake of the Kingdom of God that the denomination and other pastors rejected. Now, when I look with sad fondness at the Covenant Church, which I still love, I am grateful that you guys are there and how you exemplify the very best things that I always loved about the Covenant.

I am currently a part of a congregation in which the rector, Jeff, is a gay, married man. Since he has come (a year and a half ago), the worshipping congregation has increased by over 30 %. We have become more ethnically diverse, culturally-diverse, and of mixed class. Jeff’s sermons are simple, powerful, and moving. His example as a man, father, and spiritual leader is attracting more and more people, most of whom are seekers, or who had walked out of church years ago because of the church’s hypocrisy. His Biblical theology, sermons, and practice inspire us all.

May God continue to bless you, Ralph and Phil, with the joy of Christ’s Presence.

ps. the post is from Gordon Schultz, even though it says Jack (my middle name), below.

Jeff, I agree entirely. And since Jesus was quite clear in Mark 12:28-34 and Matthew 22:34-40 about the greatest of the commandments, I would encourage us all to ask ourselves, “How would it look, right now in this situation, if w loved God with our entire heart, soul, mind, and strength AND loved these neighbors as we love ourselves?”

I would say that, in order to love my neighbor as myself, I would not “tolerate” them. I would completely accept and love who they are and who they desire to be, and celebrate with them for being faithful to God and kind and loving to others. And I would welcome their committed and faithful relationship with each other, whether opposite sex or same sex.

And you see, that is where we start to disagree. For some of us hold to the principles of love, and accepting everything that is grounded in love and faithfulness. And some of us believe that judgment is more important, and that holding a mirror up to someone else to show them where we personally believe that they have strayed is more important.

Judgment is not the same as discernment. All emotionally laden ideas or judgments in the present come from preconceived ideas in the past. Through judgment, a person reveals what he is still ignorant of, what he is afraid of. The practice of discernment is part of higher consciousness. Discernment is the opposite of judgment. Discernment is the discrimination of difference according to the integrity felt within a whole. Whereas judgments tend to separate, discernments tend to unify. They do so because they respond to and ultimately support the reality, purposefulness, development and interrelationship of all things and/or expressions of all things found within Creation.

I prefer to take myself out of the seat of judgment, and leave that up to the Father to exercise.

Stacia, I mean this in a gentle, reflective way. Read that sentence that you wrote out loud to yourself a few times. Then read 1 Corinthians 11: 5-6.

What do you think about that? Have you prayed without your head covered before? If so, did you shave off all of your hair afterwards?

No, of course not.

I do not mean to imply that covering your head in prayer is of the same gravitas as sexual fidelity. However, I do want to (gently) point out that your comment about omitting parts of the Bible is not as true as you would like to believe.

The ECC allows women to speak out in church. We do not stone those in our congregation who have gotten divorced. Like it or not, we already omit parts of the Bible or determine that they are no longer relevant or determine that interpret them for action as best as we know how based on our understanding of the Gospels or the original languages in which is was written and so on. The reality is very different from the black and white choice represented by your sentence.

Yet, that is neither here nor there when it comes to considering the place of two committed, faithful people of the same sex who are true to one another and to God. The Bible admonishes us from committing adultery, from prostitution, from disrespecting others and ourselves through engagement in sexual behavior outside of pledged commitments of faithfulness. Upon studying the passages that have become to be interpreted as condemning same-sex relationships, I would recommend going back to the text–WAY back–because you will find that it is far from clear.

http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/pharsea/Leviticus.html&date=2009-10-26+00:31:43

Jeff, since the Bible, itself, never calls committed monogamous relationships between same-sex couples a “sin,” there is no grounds for assuming them to be sinful. The only forms of same-sex behavior defined as “sinful” in the Bible are adultery, sexual orgies in service of pagan gods, prostitution, and exploitation. And I think we can all agree that those behaviors are defined as equally sinful for heterosexuals.

Thank you for your post. I know that this is a story that you have been trying to get published for literally years with no success.

Ralph, I want you to know that “Coming Out Covenant’s” very existence is in large measure due to your influence on me! Over the years you have challenged me and stretched my heart and mind. When I disagreed with you – you didn’t take it personally but kept speaking up. Our friend Denny and others did the same. Then when Andrew “came out” – God spoke to me and said that unless fellow clergy who are straight, stand up, and speak out there will never be any progress on this issue. Without you, Denny and Andrew and others I would never have had the motivation or courage to push the button to launch this site.

However, you and I are not the brave ones in this matter. We are just the “old guys” with not so much to loose. A friend wrote recently, “I am troubled that it seems only retired clergy are speaking out on this issue.” It is easy to understand why and I have no criticism of Covenant Clergy who are shy or fearful to put their name out there in support, for I too know what it is like to live in fear and to be concerned about one’s family and livelihood.

Therefore the people whom I am in awe of are the Andrews and the others who have and who will tell their stories on this site. God bless them for risking it! I can see how good it is for them and it makes me happy!

And the folks that I admire most are the clergy who are in the middle of their careers who risk the consequences of speaking up and speaking out on this issue when they themselves are heterosexual and have nothing to gain personally but everything to lose career wise. Sisters and Brothers you are the true prophets. Remember Jesus said, ” Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For yours is the kingdom of heaven.” That is a blessing that few want and all of us shy away from. However, Jesus did not shy away from that blessing, instead he went to the cross, an innocent on behalf of others.

Therefore, thank you Ralph but “KUDOS” to the Eva’s and the Darlenes and to other clergy who have had the courage to comment or post and to in some way put their name out there as a friend of “Coming out Covenant.” God Bless you all on this Good Friday 2011. Keep watching, keep reading, keep sharing “Coming Out Covenant.”

With much love, Brother,
Philip K. Brockett

Jesus never addressed MANY sins specifically, but the principles are what need to guide us, not looking in the Bible for a specific thumbs up or thumbs down for behavior.

n/a, I think it is important to remember that what constitutes “married” in our society is not by any means what has constituted “married” throughout history. In fact, in many times and places, up until the past couple of hundred years or so, it was most common that a couple who made a public commitment of faithfulness to each other were married in the eyes of the law and the church. The church didn’t really even engage in the issue of “performing marriages” or authorizing them other than for the landed aristocracy and royalty until the Council of Trent.

Even today, marriage is not considered a sacrament which is “performed” by a priest or minister, but rather, one in which the couple perform the sacrament for and with each other and the minister or priest merely watches over them to give counsel and ask God’s blessing upon their union. The actual “marriage” is accomplished when the couple, themselves, make their vows to one another.

Therefore, it can well be said that a gay couple who commit to share their lives in fidelity and monogamy within the bounds of a covenantal relationship are every bit as married in the eyes of God as any heterosexual couple who have recited their vows before a priest, minister or judge. I know that my wife and I just celebrated our 20th anniversary. We were only married in the eyes of the state about 3 years ago, but considered ourselves no less married during the preceding 17 years since we first committed to one another.

Stacia, what your post misses is the fact that the Bible does not actually condemn committed, monogamous relationships between two people of the same gender. There are only a handful of verses in the Bible which say anything at all about same-sex acts, and all of them relate to issues such as adulterous behavior between a married man and another man, or to sexual orgies in a pagan temple right, to relations with a homosexual prostitute, or to other related forms of idolatrous or unfaithful behavior. The Bible actually doesn’t say a single word about committed, faithful, monogamous same-sex relationships.

And Jesus doesn’t mention same-sex relationships at all in any of the four Gospels. If this was such a huge issue to God, don’t you think Jesus would have at least mentioned it? And made sure it got written down in the Gospels?

So those who would admit gay and lesbian believers as full and equal members of the church and recognize our covenantal relationships as equal to those of heterosexual couples are not “omiting parts” of Biblical teaching. They are, instead, acknowledging that errors have been made in the treatment of same-sex couples due to misunderstandings of what actually constitutes “correct Biblical teaching.”