I wasn't attempting to manufacture any kind of confection with my earlier
postings, nor did I have in mind ultra-conservatives whose minds will never be
changed or even move on the topic of same-sex marriage. I was more concerned
for the folk who make up the bulk of our congregations who in their lifetimes
have seen mainstream society do an about-face in its attitudes to
homosexuality, which, for the record, I wholeheartedly welcome. Things have
moved rapidly in recent years; we were just getting our heads round civil
partnerships when full marriage was made legally possible. Perhaps GILUU is the
best approach; I wouldn't want to argue with anything it says, and simply hope
that in the days to come it will be presented in as gentle a pastoral way to
those of our folk who are still struggling with it.
Incidentally, I haven't read The Runaway Train, although I haven't binned it
yet. The title was enough to indicate to me where it was coming from, and it's
well down my list of reading priorities.
John Barnett
On 24 June 2021 at 19:30 Rob Weir <RobWeir@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Tom wrote:
GiLUU *is* the middle way – it allows those who in all good conscience
hold a conservative view to continue holding that view, it makes no
requirement of Church Councils to permit same-sex marriages to occur in
property they are the Managing Trustees of if they do not wish to, it
explicitly acknowledges that we are not of one mind on this matter.
Amen to that! We've been engaging in making some good old Methodist
Fudge, not necessarily a bad thing in my view, but to strain a Biblical
metaphor well beyond breaking point some are telling us that we need to now
make fudge without sugar. GILUU is about saying "all are welcome" - that it's
possible to disagree and yet remain in fellowship; and yet for all the
compromises that means, and I think Dignity and Worth have shown much grace
on this issue, there are others who felt that even the Derby Resolutions were
dangerous backsliding and will never accept anything less than "Not ever" on
this issue. Instead, I have seen them shout down and refuse to listen even to
the likes of Paui Smith when he suggests that it is indeed possible for
people to earnestly study the scriptures and come out with different
answers... And yet GILUU doesn't say to those opposed to Same-sex
relationships "You are not welcome"; it says "how can we remain in fellowship
with one another". If the answer from some is "By you changing your views and
agreeing with us", then we can't go with that - we lose people from the other
end who have been waiting faithfully, in many cases for years, for a sign
that the church may be ready to fully welcome and affirm them. In some ways,
given how we have treated many of those who are LGBTQI+, the amazing thing is
that they are still here, part of our fellowship, at all...
God Bless
Rob
--
Rev. Rob Weir
Cheshire South Methodist Circuit
St. Johns Whitchurch, Tallarn Green and Brown Knowl Methodist Churches
