In Acts 10:15 Peter hears a voice while he is in a trance tell him, “Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.” This statement was a part of a vision that set Peter up to begin a ministry to the gentile peoples. For Peter’s part, the idea that Jesus came to save the gentile people was a hard thing for him to understand. As a Jew, his laws, which were engrained on his heart, stated that the gentile people were considered unclean. Let’s fast forward to today and consider those who the church has long described as being unclean. Our siblings in the LGBTQIA+ community have been oppressed, kicked out, looked down upon, considered incompatible with God’s word, and spoken of as if they were unclean. That is why we recognize and honor June as pride month. As I have said, this is not pride that comes before a fall, as it states in Proverbs, but this is the pride that gives them and their allies the courage to stand in the face of such a harsh and unjust environment. To help us understand a little more about Pride, I invite you to read this excerpt from a service put together on behalf of the United Church of Canada called, Stories from the Heart.
“Pride is a positive stance against discrimination and violence toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and gender-fluid people. Pride is also a chance to promote self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and fundamental human rights, and to celebrate in a safe environment.”
The Pride Parade has its roots in a 1970 march in New York City, which marked this LGBTQ community’s first resistance to police brutality, oppression, and human rights violations that had resulted in the Stonewall riots a year earlier, in 1969. Since the 1980s, this liberation movement has morphed into the Pride movement. Parades, festivities, and celebrations are held to mark improved rights for this marginalized community, supported by allies of all walks of life, as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people.”
As members of the United Methodist Church, we can proudly say we celebrate Pride and stand against continued oppression of our LGBTQIA+ siblings no matter what form or what institution it comes from. That is what being an ally is after all. It is making a commitment to use our resources to protect and serve those who find themselves in unjust positions. I am grateful to be able to say the greater UMC has removed harmful language from the Book of Discipline. This language has aided in the oppression of the LGBTQIA+ community since 1972 when it was first inserted into the B.o.D. However, that does not mean our work as allies is done.
In 1956, the Methodist Church granted full clergy rights to women. Today, we still have churches in our Western PA Annual Conference who flat out refuse to be appointed a woman minister. In 1968, the United Methodist church was in part created when black and white Methodists merged into a racially integrated denomination. Today, we have churches in our Western PA Annual Conference who flat out refuse to have a black minister appointed to their congregation. We also have churches who will not pay apportionments, because we have a black, female, Bishop. Our Bishop, since moving to this conference, has received death threats. Just because something has been legislated does not mean the work is done.
I pray that you will join me as we continue to take a stand. Let us stand together with our black siblings, our siblings in the LGBTQIA+ community, our female clergy, and any others who find themselves on the receiving end of the words, “you are unclean.” Jesus Christ has died on the cross, and whosoever believes in him has been made clean by the blood of the Lamb. WHOSOEVER. Amen!
From one light to another,
Pastor Hannah Loughman