The Institutional Structures of The Church Are Not 'The Church.' The Church Is The People...

Institutional structures of the Church-- such as the denominations (ELCA, UCC, UMC, PC(USA), etc.) and mid-councils (presbyteries, synods, classis, conferences, etc.) are not the Church.

The People are always the Church. These institutional structures are much more like the temporary 'houses' of the people of the Church--a home designed for a specific time, place, and set of social conditions.

When a house no longer meets the needs of the People it is intended to house, it makes sense to modify the housing, or to change it altogether-- just like we renovate our homes, or move into larger homes, or into smaller homes, at various points in our lives. Sometimes we can even take a very old, historic home, and fix it up to make it useful for a new generation to live and grow--and at other times, that's not as feasible an option due to the age, the construction materials, the accessibility issues, or the labor and cost of making it usable again vs. the benefit likely to be gained.

Our modern Mainline denominations (UCC, UMC, PC(USA), ELCA, etc.) are not the People of the Church; but rather they are the temporary houses of the people of the Church, constructed mostly to accommodate the social situation of the postwar Baby Boom. Sometimes households were joined together during this era, and new houses were created or renovated. At other times in our history, households split over issues such as slavery, Civil Rights, women's ordination, and LGBTQIA+ equality, and the people moved into separate living quarters.

We must never forget that the walls that house the People, are not the People. To change the boundaries of a presbytery or synod or conference; to merge; even to separate denominational structures when needed for reasons of justice and equality--these are not failures. These are the lives of the People, and we adjust the housing to meet the needs of the People.

Perhaps in this next decade or so, we will finally realize that the arguments between White European Reformers 500 or so years ago, aren't really great reasons for us to remain in our separate little walls and houses anymore. Maybe we will even realize we have far more in common and far more to be gained from joining together, than we have ever really realized.

Similarly, we may realize that it's ok to separate from and put some distance between people who would discriminate against and harm people based on race, sex, orientation, gender identity, immigrant status, disability, or other human demographic factors--and those who would seek to welcome, include, and protect them--even if we seemed to share a lot in common in the past.

And as the Baby Boom enters its sunset years and our demographic patterns change and our populations migrate from farm to city, or even from one region of a state to the next, we, too, can look for ways of rearranging our housing to meet our new realities.

Housing exists for the People, not the other way around.

Sometimes we people forget that we do not exist to preserve an unsuitable house at all costs. Houses should not consume so much of our time and energy and resources that we have little left with which to live the rest of our lives, to love and learn and grow, and to be active in the world around us.

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Frankly, it is not so different with the walls of our own congregations, our 'Houses of Worship.' Like our own family houses, sometimes we need to expand or move into a larger home as our family grows; and sometimes we need to move into smaller, more manageable housing as our family changes, moves, or the older generations die. Sometimes a big old house is beyond our energy and resources to maintain, and it's time to let a younger, growing family put it to use. At other times, a house can become too old and unsafe for use; or perhaps the land it is on could be better used to serve the needs of the community in a different way.

Even in times when a house, or a House of Worship, needs to be demolished, we can still offer them first to nonprofits who can recycle and repurpose building materials, creating new life and new beginnings where something we once loved is ending.

Similarly, when our institutional structures of the Church change, or are even dissolved, we can offer what we have in assets, or in other gifts, practices, events, and traditions, to create new life and new beginnings for new gatherings of people and new formulations of community. We can even find ways to use what we have had to do justice--such as when the assets and property we have attained came at the expense of Indigenous, Black, or other displaced and unjustly treated groups of people.

The housing is for the People, not the People for the housing.

The housing is not the Church.

The Church is the people.

Using 'Freedom of Conscience' to Justify Discrimination Is Unconscionable...

 In the PC(USA) General Assembly this summer, we have an item of business called the 'Olympia Overture,' (POL-01), which will do two things if approved: 1) it will finally add 'orientation and gender identity' to what passes for our denomination's 'nondiscrimination policy,' about a decade after our denomination ended its ban on LGBTQIA+ ordination and weddings; and 2) it will allow presbyteries to question candidates for ordination whether they intend to carry out their duties without discrimination. Of course, in our denomination, candidates for ordination can 'declare their scruples' to any point in our tradition or polity, and the presbytery can still vote on whether or not to accept them as a candidate, on a case by case basis. That part is not changing.

Not surprisingly, the people who still do want to discriminate against LGBTQIA+ people are up in arms, claiming their 'freedom of conscience' is being violated and that they were promised a decade or so ago when we ended our ban that they would never have to change. Petitions have been filed. The discriminators and their allies are claiming discrimination and victimization.

I am going to speak very bluntly from my personal stance on this issue:

It's 2024. Grow the @#$% up.

It's not discrimination to call out discrimination, or to be held accountable for discrimination.

Also, let's be real: you can't be an ally for the LGBTQIA+ community and also an ally for the people who want to discriminate against them. That's not how it works. There really is no middle ground between discrimination and non-discrimination.

There are at least two other Presbyterian denominations where discriminators can discriminate against LGBTQIA+ people as much as they want, and they'll likely never change. A lot of discriminators went there, and they'll certainly welcome more discriminators, too. However, they won't be welcoming any LGBTQIA+ folks any time soon.

I firmly believe that discriminating against the LGBTQIA+ community to be as heinous a sin and as grievous a disqualification from the ministry as any other form of sexual abuse, racial discrimination, gender discrimination, disability discrimination, or nationalism.

If you are a clergyperson and you discriminate against LGBTQIA+ persons, then I don't want you as my pastor and I don't want my kids around you.

If you are a congregation that discriminates against LGBTQIA+ persons, then I don't want you as my church and I won't be bringing my kids there to learn from your hate.

I get that this all might have been 'new news' to a lot of folks a decade or so ago, but there has been more than enough quality scholarship and books and resources and theological education out there to bring people up to speed on why there is no solid Biblical rationale for discriminating against LGBTQIA+ people in 2024. People have had time to go get themselves sorted out and educated on this issue. I am, therefore, quite understandably, out of patience with anyone who is still out there, demanding the 'freedom' to discriminate.

Frankly, I'm ok with a Great Reorganization whereby all of us in the mainline denominations, who have some congregations and clergy who discriminate and some who do not, to split--and for those of us who are ready to work in favor of full inclusion to work together cooperatively in building a new ecumenical American church movement. After all, I have far more in common with a Lutheran, a Methodist, an Episcopalian, a Disciple, a Mennonite, or a UCC member who is committed to full inclusion, justice, and human equity issues, than I do with fellow Presbyterians who want to discriminate.

Having some congregations and clergy within a denomination who are still free to discriminate also 'cheapens the brand.' Imagine going into a chain restaurant who promises a great customer care experience--but not that one branch that's in your town, because that's the one where they always spit in your lemonade. If you know they're going to spit in your lemonade in your local branch, are you really going to drive over to the next town to try the same chain, or are you going to avoid them altogether?

It's not about numbers; it's not about 'unity,' it's not about 'keeping the peace' at all costs. Instead, it's time to do what is right. Much like with racial justice and gender justice, it is time to let go of our regrettable past; take accountability for our past harms done; and be truly free to serve Jesus and love our neighbors as Jesus would have us love.

Should Churches be Political? Or Non-Partisan?

To be nonpartisan as a church means that the leaders do not endorse candidates for political office from their pulpits; and that members of the church are free to belong to any political party (or no party) as they choose. Nonpartisan churches do not believe that any political party or candidate is 'divinely ordained' for political office.

However, it is a good and right thing for churches to be *political* in the way that Jesus was political--in the sense that Jesus was directly concerned and engaged with what was happening in the Polis, the city. Community-engaged churches work to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, befriend the lonely and outcast, heal the sick, welcome the foreigner, tend to the dying, and to work for justice for the poor and oppressed.