I hesitate to even write about another denomination's issues, but I identify myself as a pastor in the one church--one church with many denominations. So I can't help share my views as what happens in a congregation in another denomination matters to me.
This
action attracted plenty of attention as two articles in the Star Tribune each
garnered almost 300 comments on the newspaper’s web site. Those articles and comments can be found here: http://www.startribune.com/minnesota-pastor-faces-unprecedented-defrocking-because-of-lgbt-stance/511808592/ http://www.startribune.com/minneapolis-pastor-and-first-covenant-church-evicted-over-lgbt-stance/511979272/
A
letter written by four leaders of the Evangelical Covenant Church about the
decision can be found on the denomination’s web site: https://covchurch.org/news/letter-from-the-covenant-regarding-the-decisions-made-at-the-annual-meeting/
I’ve
written about my beliefs about gay marriage in other parts of this blog. For
those who don’t want to search through the blog, it’s worth knowing that the
first wedding celebrated at Chain of Lakes was a marriage I officiated between
two men—Chris Audet and Richard Garcia.
However
I don’t intend to make the case in this particular blog about gay marriage. Instead I want
to share my dismay that a denomination (in this case the Evangelical Covenant
Church) would kick out a local congregation and revoke the ordination of a
pastor over the issue of gay marriage.
To me this is an example of the excess of Subscriptionism.
Subscriptionism—"what’s
that?” you might ask. Subscriptionism is
a view that a person must subscribe to a certain set of beliefs in order to be
part of a faith community or a denomination.
In
the 18th century American Presbyterians went through a rigorous
debate about Subscriptionism. The history is worth knowing. These two web sites
share a preliminary introduction to that history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Dickinson_(New_Jersey) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adopting_Act_of_1729
Put
briefly, in the early 18th century Presbyterian pastors were required
to subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith. Jonathan Dickinson (who later became
President of Princeton) argued that this put the Westminster Confession of
Faith at the same level of Scripture. He helped pass the Adapting Act of 1729
which stated that candidates for ministry had to subscribe to the Westminster
standards but could declare a scruple (a modern-day description of a scruple is
a dissent) to the standards. The
governing body could then decide if the scruple was allowed.
Beliefs
about God matter; theology matters; humans are always going to disagree about
theological beliefs.
For
me an individual’s or community’s belief about gay marriage doesn’t rise to the
level of whether a person or a community of people can be part of a congregation
or a denomination.
As
many people in the comment section in response to the Star Tribune's stories noted, the Bible can be
used to affirm almost any viewpoint. I’m reading through the Bible this year
using Eugene Peterson’s Message translation. This morning I read Deuteronomy 13-18. In these chapters I read about stoning
prophets who encourage people to follow other gods; I read instructions about
not eating camels, rabbits, badgers or animals with a cloven hoof; I read about
how financial debts should be canceled every seven years; I read about tithing;
I read about principles that leaders need to follow when they judge
people. To the best of my knowledge none
of these issues are splitting apart a denomination. Yet there they are in the Bible. I find these six chapters of Deuteronomy
interesting, a bit bizarre, but they don’t diminish my own love for the Bible
and what it teaches me as a follower of Jesus Christ. Perhaps most importantly anyone can disagree
about these issues and be leaders in a faith community.
To
the best of my knowledge no one’s ordination has been revoked for eating a
rabbit.
For
me the teachings of the Bible become authoritative when they are consistent
with the life, death, resurrection and teachings of Jesus.
If
Jesus magically walked into my house, I would bow down and worship him. I would encourage other people to worship
with me. I highly doubt that he would
refuse our worship based on our views of gay marriage. I think some of the questions he might ask me are “Do
you love me? Do you believe in me? Will you follow me? Will you encourage others to love me and to
love their neighbors as they love themselves? Will you teach others to believe in
and follow me?”
At
Chain of Lakes Church a person becomes a part of our congregation (we use the
language of disciples and not the traditional language of members) by affirming
that Jesus is Lord and Savior. A person
becomes an Elder or Deacon in the church by affirming nine constitutional
questions. The list of the questions can
be found here: http://www.highlandpres.org/publications/OfficerInstallation.pdf.
A
person can believe in or be opposed to gay marriage and be part of Chain of
Lakes Church. We find our unity in
saying that Jesus is Lord and Savior.
The strength of this unity is more important than other theological
differences.
My
hope for the church universal is that we can continue to find strength in what
unifies us and not be divided by our differences.
I’m
saddened by the actions of the Evangelical Covenant Church as I believe their
action has made theological belief more important than the teachings of Jesus.
Would you take a moment to subscribe to this blog? Put your email in the box on the right hand side of this blog. You'll be asked a few questions to ensure you are really a human being. You'll then receive an email whenever a blog is posted
Would you take a moment to subscribe to this blog? Put your email in the box on the right hand side of this blog. You'll be asked a few questions to ensure you are really a human being. You'll then receive an email whenever a blog is posted
No comments:
Post a Comment