Concerning the request from the Pacific Northwest Conference for a declaratory decision on the perceived conflict between Paragraphs 304.3 and 325.1 of the 2000 Discipline.

Docket: October (Fall), 2001, # 5.

Judicial Council Jurisdiction per Paragraph 2610.1, 2000 Discipline.

We, the Congregation of the Woodland Park United Methodist Church, Seattle, Washington, through our Justice Ministry Team, submit this Brief in order to have our stand on this Docket # 5 duly noted by our Judicial Council of the United Methodist Church. We acknowledge the conundrum in which the worldwide Church itself is caught around the issue of ordination and appointment and definition of “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” (Judicial Council Decisions 708, 722, 725, 764).

We applaud and support the wisdom and prayerful thought which must apparently go into your work as Judicial Council Members. Our continued prayers are with all of you.

With the submission of the request by the Pacific Northwest Conference for a declaratory decision on the perceived contradiction between paragraphs 304.3 and 325.1 in the 2000 Discipline, we at Woodland Park United Methodist Church met and decided to both support these Pastors as well as embark upon a study and support of homosexuality as a basic human rights issue (161.G, 162.H, 2000 Discipline), We also want it to be known that our Congregation views having a Pastor who is a gay man or a Lesbian is a non-issue with us.

The decision your august body makes will impact not only the general membership and the Pacific Northwest Conference, but very specifically and directly, our Woodland Park Congregation ( 2610.3, 2000 Discipline).

Statement of Facts

We are aware that our United Methodist Church has an unofficial, but pervasive, “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy concerning pastors and pastoral candidates who may be gay men or Lesbians. We believe that this policy encourages a forced dishonesty within both the ministry and ministry candidates.

We further believe that any forced dishonesty between a congregation and its Pastor is damaging to the relationship and a hindrance to the multitude of pastor duties and responsibilities (331, 1.m), o), q), 2c) 2000 Discipline). Additionally, the policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell” interferes with the charge to the Staff-Parish Relations Committee and the necessary effective communications between the SPRC and the Pastor (258.2f), (1), (2), (3), (12), (13), 2000 Discipline).

A Pastor cannot, when “closeted”, continue to do his/her call to the ministry of Jesus Christ and his/her appointed job effectively where forced dishonesty exists. For a person who is truly called by God to be a Methodist Minister, that call overrides the need to be openly a gay man or Lesbian. God can be persuasive in that way.

We find Pastors who remain “closeted” thus keeping their appointments and credentials. We also find other Pastors who choose to be honest to themselves as all Christian Methodists are bound to be (218, 2000 Discipline). The former keep their positions and credentials, the latter now await in harm’s way of losing their careers, incomes, credentials, and appointments.

We believe that our Congregation has a calling and responsibility to provide a welcoming community sharing the full acceptance and love of our Lord Jesus Christ to any and all persons who come into our Church Family and any one in which we members come in contact anywhere, anytime (161, 204, 2000 Discipline). We can continue to fully do that if we are allowed to have Pastors who are called to Woodland Park through the Bishop’s appointment process regardless their sexual orientation.

We also believe that “homosexual persons no less than heterosexual persons are individuals of sacred worth” (161.6, 2000 Discipline). Our Congregation is accepting of all of its members, participants, visitors, and staff whether heterosexual, gay men, Lesbians, transgendered, bisexual, questioning, elderly, infants, Norwegian, African, transplanted from the midwest, or whatever. We are neither afraid of differences, such as a gay or Lesbian Pastor, nor do we need to be protected from Pastors who just happen to be homosexual.

We are also asking at what point does a Pastor reporting "I am a gay man” or “I am a Lesbian” suddenly translate into him or her being labelled a “self-avowed practicing homosexual”? There is not a solid definition of self-avowed practicing homosexual that we have been able to find, and actually we do not know any “practicing homosexuals” among all of the gay men and Lesbians we do know. Furthermore, why does a statement of being a gay man or a Lesbian suddenly disallow an appointment to a pastorate for a person who is “in good standing” (304.3, 2000 Discipline)?

As a Congregation, we do not understand how these and other Ministers could go through the complete and thorough process of becoming a full-fledged Methodist Minister, be found wholly fit to accept ordination (306.4, a-f, 2000 Discipline), and at the point in time they state “I am a gay man” or “I am a Lesbian”, all of a sudden they are no longer worthy of an appointment to a Methodist Church, even to a Congregation who does not care about sexual orientation.?

Our Congregation believes that the application of the church law which prohibits appointment of “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” is a dangerous label placed onto one group by another out of fear, misunderstanding, or ignorance. Such a law prevents gifted, kind, gentle, loving people who have been called by God to be Ministers in the United Methodist Church from being allowed to fulfill their life’s purpose according to the calling of God, the ministry of Jesus Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Mark 4:21 in the New Testament reads “Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lamp stand?”

Pastors who are truly called by God are the leaders, the lamps who light the way in Christ’s ministry to the world as well all seek to fulfill God’s purpose in our lives as members of Methodist Congregations. Homosexual or heterosexual does not matter, the light needs to be placed on the lamp stand for Christ’s love and ministry to reach all of His creations, all of His people, regardless of where any of us is individually on any scale of human behavior or sexuality.

Respectfully submitted,

John Wejak,      Board of Trustees
Emilee Birrell,    Justice Ministry Team
Linda Southall,   Justice Ministry Team

Per directions of the 2000 Discipline, Paragraph 2610.3, copies of this brief have been distributed to the following parties:

Judicial Council Members
File Copy for the Judicial Council
Bishop Elias Galvan, Seattle Area Resident Bishop
The Rev. Wesley Stanton, Secretary, Pacific Northwest Annual Conference
The Rev. Mark Edward Williams
Woodland Park United Methodist Church Files
Woodland Park United Methodist Church Justice Ministry Team in charge of Judicial Brief
Other Friends who have interest and support