Methodists breaking away from church over opposition to LGBTQ rights https://t.co/3qwjv3FrBb
— Raw Story (@RawStory) March 7, 2023
Harold Zimmick, the lead pastor at Asbury, said his congregation's vote was "heartbreaking and sad," but those who backed disassociation said they had grown tired of hearing his personal views on same-sex marriage and clergy.
“About six weeks ago, before the service started, he announced, ‘Please don't think we don't love gay people, we just can't allow gay marriages and we can't allow gay clergy,'” said Carey Fleischmann, who asked the church to remove her and her family from the registry. “He’s been doing that every week.”
The last church I pastored (the second church I pastored, as well) had a gay pastor as the interim (the pastor between pastors, basically) when I was called there. I got to know him fairly well, fairly briefly. He joined the church as a member, and then never showed up. He lived in Montrose, the "gay" section of Houston, and it's quite a hike from there to the church I was pastoring. He was a good guy, and I think some of the congregation knew he was gay (he didn't announce it daily, obviously) and most were old (older still than I am now, and this was all nearly 25 years ago. Shit! I'm getting old.) and didn't realize. They might have cared, had they known. But almost nobody knew, and the ones who did thought it was clever of them to keep it secret. That should have been a red flag to me, looking back now.
And then when I left (let's remain civil on that point, eh?), they called a gay pastor, a lesbian this time, and I hear the congregation exploded into anger and drove her off within a few months. I sympathized with her, though I never knew her. The members who convinced her to come did her dirty; and she really shouldn't have stepped into it, except I'm sure false representations were made, and besides accepeting congregations at that time (again, 20+ years ago) were not that widely available. In my experience, accepting congregations of any pastor are as rare as hen's teeth, so for gay/lesbian pastors, (I haven't known any transgendered ones, I leave them out only because of that), it's even worse.
The ultimate irony (I like to think God is a comedian, albeit not a trickster) is that church building and name are now owned by a "gay" church (the UCC designation is "open and affirming"). I hope it's a happy and thriving place, as that church once was long ago now (well before I got there, I mean).
As for the report of that pastor at Asbury, I understand his position vis a vis the denomination. In the Methodist church, if I remember correctly, the "bishop" assigns pastors to congregations, not unlike the Episcopal church does. The UCC is a congregational polity, like many Protestant denominations: the congregation "calls" a pastor, there is no presiding official who has a final word in the matter outside the congregational vote. It's an ancient split between Lutheran and Reformed traditions, I won't bore you. But Rev. Zimmick has a foot in two camps, as most pastors do: the denomination, and the congregation. His is a more "denominational" denomination, in other words. But if I had a pastor every week telling us gays were fine, they just couldn't lead the church or fully participate in church life, I'd leave, too.
It sounds way too much like "I've got nothin' against blacks, I just don't want my daughter to marry one!" Or the distinction between ordaining gay pastors, and female pastors. I don't get that fine line of separation, either.
In the end, church is a volunteer organization, after all. And splitting denominations is as old as the Reformation itself (where, as I hinted, non-RC Christians quickly divided broadly into Lutheran and Reformed camps).
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