The Reconciling Ministries Network (RMN) is an organization seeking the inclusion of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities in both the policy and practices of United Methodist Church. It is one of many Welcoming Congregation organizations to emerge in American Christianity in the 1980s. The ministry has over 1100 affiliated congregations and 42,000 affiliated individuals.[1]
The group was founded in 1983 as the Reconciling Congregation Program as part of Affirmation: United Methodists for Lesbian/Gay Concerns. It was created as a system for congregations to publicly support lesbians and gay men, and welcome them to full participation in the life of the church both locally and beyond the local congregation. The group was named "Reconciling Congregations" in reference to discussion regarding the need for reconciliation between gay people and the church.[2]
In 1984, the United Methodist Church, at its General Conference, added to its Book of Discipline the statement that "no self-avowed, practicing homosexual shall be ordained or appointed in the United Methodist Church." Affirmation members gathered outside the meeting hall, inviting churches to join the Reconciling Congregations. Soon after, the first two congregations declared themselves to be part of the movement: Washington Square United Methodist Church in New York City, and Wesley United Methodist Church in Fresno, California.[2]
As the program grew, it broke away from Affirmation, becoming autonomous in 1989. The name changed to its current name in October 2000 as a recognition that the diverse ministries the program was serving went beyond congregations.[2]
RMN members have challenged United Methodist policies on same-sex relationships. After pastor Jimmy Creech officiated at a union ceremony for two lesbians, the church in 1996 forbade any same-sex commitment ceremonies to be celebrated in United Methodist churches or by United Methodist pastors.[3]
In 1999, 95 clergy officiated in a union service for Jeanne Barnett and Ellie Charlton. Later that year, Reverend Gregory Dell was tried and found guilty of violating Methodist policy in officiating at the marriage of two men in his church.[2]
In 2000, 229 members of the Reconciling Ministries and Soulforce were arrested at the United Methodist Church's General Conference. 29 more were arrested when they entered the conference floor to protest church policies regarding LGBTQ people.[2] At the 2004 General Conference, some conservative Methodists proposed that the denomination split over the question of inclusion of LGBT people, a proposal which did not meet with wide approval.[4]
In 2006, the organization became active in a dispute over a pastor's right to refuse membership to an LGBTQ churchgoer.[5]
On February 23 through February 26, 2019, General Conference met in St. Louis, Missouri, to address the single issue of language in the Book of Discipline about human sexuality. In total, 129 Annual Conferences were represented. Of those, 54 Annual Conferences representing 7 million members were from the United States and 75 Annual Conferences representing 5.7 million members were from Europe, Eurasia, the Philippines, and Africa.[6] At least eight countries that criminalize homosexuality (Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Burundi, and Kenya) were represented.[7][8] Despite advocacy by RMN, the Traditional Plan, "which excludes LGBTQ persons from ordained leadership and prohibits ministers from officiating at same-sex marriages", passed with a vote of 438 in favor and 384 against.[6]
During the 2020-2023 period, over 7,660 conservative congregations in the United States disaffiliated from the UMC, largely over continued tensions within conferences over LGBT parishioners and clergy.[9]
For the Postponed 2020 General Conference, held April 25-May 3, 2024, RMN jointly formed the UM Queer Collaborative, a coalition with the United Methodist Queer Clergy Caucus, Affirmation, the United Methodist Queer Clergy Caucus (UMQCC) and the Queer Delegates Caucus (QDC), in order to advocate for votes in favor of amendments to church law and the Social Principles to repeal anti-LGBT language, including the Traditional Plan, and allow for regionalization of the denomination.[10] Having lost many supporters of the Traditional Plan since 2019, the General Conference passed the pro-LGBT legislation and submitted the constitutional amendment for regionalization to the Annual Conferences for ratification.
The Reconciling Ministries Network includes 1,180 organizations (United Methodist churches, church subgroups, and campus ministries) and 42,161 individuals.[1]
Relationships within the UMC
Since its beginnings, the RMN and other organizations have had some success in advocating for change within the denomination. The Connectional Table, a governing committee of the UMC, approved legislation to create a localized option allowing regional conferences to marry same-sex couples.[11] In 2016, the New York Annual Conference and Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference voted to allow openly gay and lesbian clergy and the Baltimore conference ordained a partnered lesbian to the provisional diaconate.[12] The Methodist Federation for Social Action has also been invited to work with RMN.[13]
Reception
In 1986, the Northern Illinois and Wisconsin conferences of the United Methodist Church supported the Reconciling Ministries, but The United Methodist Reporter refused to accept advertising from the group, saying that it violated Methodist policies by "promoting the acceptance of homosexuality." The publication eventually accepted a classified ad from RMN in 1994.[2] In 2012, 15 Regional Conferences voted to support same-sex marriage and LGBTQ inclusion in the church.[14] In 2015, the New York, Baltimore-Washington, and Great Plains conferences also voted to support same-sex marriage.[15] In a similar vote, the Virginia Annual Conference has petitioned the General Conference to allow openly gay and lesbian clergy.[16] In 2016, the Indigo Girls were featured at a benefit concert and called on the UMC to support marriage equality.[17]
Convocations
The first convocation of the organization was held in 1987 in Chicago, Illinois. Convocations have been held biannually since then.[2]
The 2007 convocation, "Faith, Hope, Love," was held in Nashville, Tennessee at Vanderbilt University. This event was attended by almost 400 Methodists, including almost 50 young people.
The 2009 convocation, "Justice and Joy," was held in Estes Park, Colorado over labor day weekend. Over 500 persons attended, with almost 100 young persons.
The 2015 convocation, "Gather at the River", was held in San Antonio, Texas in cooperation with other organizations including MFSA. Speakers included Rev. Frank Schaefer, Marcia McFee, Mark A. Miller, Theon Johnson, Nikilas mawanda, Peter Storey, and Sara Thompson Tweedy.
The 2018 convocation, "A Place at the Table," was held in St. Louis, MO in conjunction with the Love Your Neighbor Coalition (LYNC) affiliate organizations.
The 2023 convocation, "Onward to Perfection," was held at First UMC in Charlotte, NC, celebrating 40 years of the movement. The first convocation since the COVID pandemic, it was attended by more than 280 in-person and 100+ online. Discussion of, and strategizing for, inclusive legislative initiatives at the 2024 General Conference made up a significant portion of the convocation's content. [19]
Publications
In 1985, Reconciling Ministries Network began publishing the quarterly magazine Manna for the Journey. The magazine was renamed Open Hands[20] in 1986. In 1988, it received the Award of Merit for publications with fewer than 10,000 subscribers from the Associated Church Press for its second issue, "Living and Loving with AIDS." In 1992, it again received the Award of Merit.[citation needed] The magazine ceased publication in 2002.
Reconciling Ministries Network publishes a quarterly newsletter, available both in print and online, called Katalyst.[2] Additionally, there is a biweekly "Flashnet" e-newsletter, which is emailed to subscribers and also available on RMN's website.
Within Christianity, there are a variety of views on sexual orientation and homosexuality. The view that various Bible passages speak of homosexuality as immoral or sinful emerged through its interpretation and has since become entrenched in many Christian denominations through church doctrine and the wording of various translations of the Bible.
The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelicalism. The present denomination was founded in 1968 in Dallas, Texas, by union of the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church. The UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley in England, as well as the Great Awakening in the United States. As such, the church's theological orientation is decidedly Wesleyan. It embraces liturgical worship, holiness, and evangelical elements.
The Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), also known as the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC), is an international LGBT-affirming mainline Protestant Christian denomination. There are 222 member congregations in 37 countries, and the fellowship has a specific outreach to members of the LGBTQ community.
The blessing or wedding of same-sex marriages and same-sex unions is an issue about which leaders of Christian churches are in ongoing disagreement. Traditionally, Christianity teaches that sexual practices between men and sexual practices between women are sinful and that holy matrimony can only exist between two persons of different sexes. These disagreements are primarily centred on the interpretation of various scripture passages related to homosexuality, sacred tradition, and in some churches on varying understandings of homosexuality in terms of psychology, genetics and other scientific data. While numerous church bodies have widely varying practices and teachings, individual Christians of every major tradition are involved in practical (orthopraxy) discussions about how to respond to the issue.
More Light Presbyterians is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing and ensuring the full participation of LGBTQIA+ people in the Presbyterian Church (USA). As of 2024, the organization's membership includes over 330 congregations and thousands of individuals.
Unitarian Universalism, as practiced by the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), and the Canadian Unitarian Council (CUC), is a non-Creedal and Liberal theological tradition and an LGBTQ affirming denomination.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+)-affirming religious groups are religious groups that welcome LGBT people as their members, do not consider homosexuality as a sin or negative, and affirm LGBT rights and relationships. They include entire religious denominations, as well as individual congregations and places of worship. Some groups are mainly composed of non-LGBTQ+ members and they also have specific programs to welcome LGBTQ+ people into them, while other groups are mainly composed of LGBTQ+ members.
Attitudes in Presbyterianism toward homosexuality vary, ranging from outright condemnation to complete acceptance.
Methodist viewpoints concerning homosexuality are diverse because there is no one denomination which represents all Methodists. The World Methodist Council, which represents most Methodist denominations, has no official statements regarding sexuality. Various Methodist denominations themselves take different stances on the issue of homosexuality, with many denominations holding homosexual practice to be sinful, while other denominations ordain LGBT clergy and marry same-sex couples. The positions of the various Methodist denominations around the globe are outlined in this article.
The Q Christian Fellowship (QCF) is an ecumenical Christian ministry focused on serving lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender, queer, and straight ally Christians. It was founded in 2001 as the Gay Christian Network (GCN) by Justin Lee and is currently administered from Denver, Colorado. It was re-branded in 2018 to better reflect the diversity of the ministry and community they serve. According to the re-branding documents, the 'Q' does not correlate to any particular word. Instead, it is just the letter 'Q' open for interpretation.
The ordination of lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender (LGBT) clergy who are open about their sexuality or gender identity; are sexually active if lesbian, gay, or bisexual; or are in committed same-sex relationships is a debated practice within some contemporary Christian denominations.
Minerva Garza Carcaño is the first Hispanic woman to be elected to the episcopacy of The United Methodist Church (UMC), the second-largest Protestant denomination in the United States. She was elected in 2004. Her first assignment was as Bishop of the Phoenix Episcopal Area of Desert Southwest Conference of the UMC. She was then appointed as Bishop of the California-Pacific Annual Conference of the UMC in 2012, and currently serves as Bishop of the California-Nevada Annual Conference of the UMC. She also serves as the leader of the United Methodist Church's Immigration Task Force.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) affirming denominations in Judaism are Jewish religious groups that welcome LGBTQ members and do not consider homosexuality to be a sin. They include both entire Jewish denominations, as well as individual synagogues. Some are composed mainly of non-LGBT members and also have specific programs to welcome LGBT people, while others are composed mainly of LGBT members.
Karen Oliveto is an American bishop. She is the first openly lesbian bishop to be elected in the United Methodist Church. She was elected bishop on July 15, 2016, at the Western Jurisdictional conference. Her four-year term of service began September 1, 2016 and she currently serves as the bishop of the UMC's Mountain Sky Conference ; she was officially installed on September 24. At the time of her election, she was the senior pastor of Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco. Oliveto is married to Robin Ridenour, who is a deaconess in the United Methodist Church's California-Nevada Conference.
Paul Milford Abels (1937–1992) was an American Methodist minister who became the country's first openly gay minister with a congregation in a major Christian denomination. He served as pastor from 1973 to 1984 of the Washington Square Methodist Episcopal Church in the Greenwich Village area of New York City.
Rick Huskey is an American minister. He was a co-founder of the United Methodist Gay Clergy Caucus, alongside Gene Leggett, which later became known as Affirmation.
Julian Rush was a clergyman, composer, playwright, and administrator, who prompted a national debate in the early 1980s when he became the first openly gay pastor appointed by the United Methodist Church (UMC).
1 2 Burkholder, A. (2019, April 10). Unsettled Methodists. Christian Century 136(8).
↑ Commission on the General Conference. (2019). Daily Christian Advocate: 2019 Special Session of the General Conference--The United Methodist Church, vol. 1. Nashville: United Methodist Publishing House.
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