September 10, 2013
Bishop Mark Webb
UNY Conference Office
324 University Avenue, 3rd Floor
Syracuse, NY, 13210
Dear Bishop Webb,
My wife and I became a part of University United Methodist
Church in the early 1970s when we moved to Syracuse. I had grown up in the E.U.B. church, my wife
in the Methodist church. We joined
because we liked the people in the church, but to a considerable degree because
of the diversity of those attending services, and the commitment of the
congregation to social justice and outreach to those in need. At the time, the wounds of Vietnam had not
healed and the civil rights movement was still the major focus of social
justice; “gay rights” was not on our radar screens.
My wife and I moved to Syracuse because I was joining the
biology faculty of Syracuse University.
I am now retired. During my
tenure at SU, the issues of social justice, including gay rights, became more
prominent. The idea that homosexuality
was a lifestyle was set back by much evidence that sexuality is not a choice,
and we became strong supporters of our friends who are gay or lesbian. Soon I found myself in an interesting
situation. On Sundays I attended a
church that had a Discipline plainly at odds with my core beliefs. The other six days of the week, I was
involved in working with students at an institution which tries to treat
everyone fairly, does not judge people because they are born differently, and
does not tolerate the sort of inequality the Discipline demands. My wife was a schoolteacher in Liverpool
working with students to engage with and not be judgmental of those who are
different. My wife and I have long
agreed that if we move to a new community in retirement, we’ll leave the
Methodist Church. The only reason we
remain at UUMC is that we know most members of this wonderful reconciling
congregation believe as we do, and are faced with the same dilemma.
I realize the church hierarchy, including you, is confronted
with a difficult situation, with ministers and congregations willing to follow
their conscience and act in defiance of Methodist doctrine. However, this state of affairs is not
tenable, and some way needs to be found to recognize and perform gay marriages,
and honor the standing of all people as equal before God. How exactly are we to attract new young
members, when we demand they (or at least their ministers) submit to a
Discipline that violates the moral and ethical principles the rest of society
is trying to teach, and which they are asked to abide by in their secular
lives? Perhaps we should all reread the Wesleyan Quadrilateral–particularly the
part about reason.
Sincerely yours,
Ernest Hemphill
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