Mammon: 1. Jesus: 0

For those of you who appreciate documentation, I've found the UMC's Judicial Council Decision #132 online so you can read it in its entirety.  The two dissenting opinions -- by Jon R. Gray and the Reverend Susan T. Henry-Crow-- appear following the majority opinion.

I can tell I've been out of the loop too long, because I only just now discovered that Susan Henry-Crowe, whom I've known since I was a lay member of the UMC (prior to 1993), was elected president of the Judicial Council on May 1, 2008. Belated congratulations to Susan.

She replaced as president that old scalawag James Holsinger, who was nominated by President George W. Bush (but never appointed) as Surgeon General of the United States, at least in part due to his attitude toward homosexuality.  He's a slick little fellow. He and his wife formed a church called Hope Springs Community Church, and when nominated he fell all over himself saying that congregation doesn't have a group dedicated to curing homosexuality.  If you visit their website, though, you can read all about a Celebrate Recovery group called Men's Sexual Integrity.  Okay, maybe it's to help men stop running around on their wives; but it so shouldn't there be an equivalent group for women?  By the way, if you can translate the gobbledygook description of that group, please share with the rest of the class.

While I'm on the subject of surprises, I was delighted to read that James Holsinger was censured by the United Methodist Church at General Conference in 2008 for various sins of omission and commission regarding large sums of money. The vote was 826 for censuring him and 38 against.  I'm in a predicament here.  I don't know whether to gloat over how the mighty have fallen or to ask, "What the hell is wrong with you people?  You censure this sleazebag over a few million dollars but you let him get away with denying our history, theology, and polity as president of Judicial Council when Decision 132 came down?" 

Score:  Mammon: 1; Jesus:0

New Day Dawning

The complexion of this blog is shifting.

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The posts that precede this one come from three earlier blogs:

Way Ahead Threads, focused on fiber and other art;

Hot Flash Fan, focused on feminist art; and

Turbulence to Tranquility, weekly musings for the spiritually inclined.

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Each of those topics will continue to receive attention, but the heart of this blog now is to document a movement to bring the church in general and the United Methodist Church in particular back to its senses. I left the UMC in 2005 after a Judicial Council decision that allows clergy to decide who is worthy of church membership. Perhaps if it had been a Southern Baptist to whom the pastor had refused membership, on the grounds that the person didn't believe in infant baptism, I'd see this issue differently. But it wasn't a Southern Baptist. It was an Episcopalian gay person; and the named reason was that he was gay. If he's not welcome, I'm not welcome. And so I resigned. Since then, I've been quiet about it. Now I'm beginning to talk.

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I considered forming a nonprofit for this adventure. I thought of approaching other nonprofits to see about sharing their umbrella. But then I realized that giving up ordination was so costly that I don't want to be a nonprofit. For once in my life, I actually would like to make sufficient money to make a difference. I want to donate to causes that support our shared humanity, and I want to hire a book-keeper because I don't have time to run the numbers and she has too much time, thanks to cut-throat companies, venal financiers, and the layoffs they've spawned.

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Plans are afoot.

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You can help.

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I need:

--Followers on this blog. Please sign up; and tell your friends.

----Cash for start-up costs.

--Stoles from clergy who have resigned their ordination for reasons of righteousness (so I can combine them with other materials and upcycle the stoles into art, to sell on this blog and perhaps other places).

-----Suggestions of unheralded organizations working toward social justice (because I'm going to donate a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the art to such organizations.)

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Stay tuned for late-breaking news.

-------------------------------------------------------------------Photo credit: Michael C. Smith