Theological prayer request and call for info
Submitted by d on November 04 1999 at 19:15:32
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This probably belongs on a Gay-Christian forum rather than here, but you guys are my friends so... My congregation has taken action (actually, they took action a few years ago but I wasn't paying attention, they recently reaffirmed this in a very public way) basically saying it's OK to have non-celibate homosexuals in ordained leadership (turns out over the years '96-00, we've had or will have several known gay men and lesbians). Until earlier this year, I held firm to the "obvious" readings of Leviticus and Romans, which on the surface say you should make sure your deacons, elders, etc. are not engaged in homosexual activity. A few months back, thanks to discussion on RDC and some private email to others on BC and RDC I was forced to admit to myself this wasn't the only way to look at these verses. While this didn't change my mind, it did prevent me from stating my opinion as if it were the ONLY "right" opinion. Here's where you come in Due to recent events in my congregation, I need to know what I believe and why I believe it. In order to do this, I need Biblical citations and commentary on both sides of the issue of "is homosexual sexual activity a sin". Please email me anything you have, especially Bibical citations, URLs, and books and magazine articles. I expect most of you believe and can support a liberal position. I think at least one of you favors a conservative position. And I suspect Heather has additional resources to support both sides. Also, be praying for me for the next few months as I mull this over. To short-circuit the obvious question "how do you feel about having gays and lesbians in leadership": No reaction. No "woopie! it's about time!", no "I won't take leadership from them, goodbye." No anything. Yawn. But I do have feelings about violating the higher church rules and not waiting until the rules are changed by using established processes. And I do have feelings (which may go away with this exercise) about ignoring "my" interpretation of the Bible. -David ("d") |