[amc] discussion of Hyattsville
- From: "garland robertson" <pastor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Austin Mennonite Church" <amc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2006 10:03:22 -0600
Members and Friends of Austin Mennonite Church
Thank you for the reflective discussion concerning the situation of the
Hyattsville community. I appreciate the concern and desire for insight that
this subject has generated among us.
Whenever I invite persons to join us for worship, I am usually asked some
direct questions about our congregation. Most often the questions relate to
the role of women and to the homosexuality issue. My response is that we
welcome to full participation all persons regardless of physical or cultural
distinction who desire to follow the way of Jesus. Whenever I am asked to
clarify 'the way of Jesus,' I speak about the prophetic call for persons to
honor justice, mercy, and respect in their relationships with others. I
explain that Jesus embraced this aspect of traditional religious expression
and in addition validated the existing teaching that in the quest to live in
relationship with the creator God one need only to follow a simple
guideline: do unto others that which you would like them to do unto you.
Some persons have responded to my invitation explicitly because of my
assurance that homosexual persons will be welcome in our community.
The matter of how the MC USA relates to the homosexual issue takes shape
from the discussion about family in item 19 of the Confession of Faith which
speaks of marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman. There is no
explicit reference to homosexuality in the confession. I know that in the
Western District Conference, the Bethel College MC has printed in their
bulletin every Sunday their welcome of all persons regardless of sexual
orientation. Because they are such an influential community, I do not
expect that any other church in WDC who also publicly acknowledges this
attitude would experience any negative response from the conference or other
communities in WDC. It is interesting that in the Allegany conference, 25%
of the initial vote was in favor of Hyattsville's membership policy, and 35%
of voting delegates supported Hyattsville's continued full membership in the
conference even after Hyattsville refused to adjust their membership policy
to reflect the expectations of other more dominant congregations. This I
believe this discrepancy indicates significant support, although not
majority.
I know there can always be unpredicted consequences whenever positions are
published on controversial issues. Yet, as your pastor I do not want this
concern to be the final determination for me in how we respond to these
complexities. I desire the final impetus for a decision to rest on the
measure of how our behaviors conform to the pattern displayed in Jesus's
relationship with sinners-with persons like us. It seems Jesus trusted the
spirit's capacity to guide persons into the life that God has intended . My
intent in ministry is that we are always moving toward learning to trust
this same capacity.
Please continue to share your reflections with us. May it go well with you.
Sincerely,
Garland Robertson
...always hold firmly to the thought that each one of us can do something to
bring some portion of misery to an end
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