A Vote of Support from the Marblehead Ministerial Association
Today we are writing in support of our treasured colleague, The Pastor Ross Johnson, and all others harmed by the recent vote of the Special 2019 General Conference of the United Methodist Church. This week, 864 delegates gathered in St. Louis for the explicit purpose of addressing the denomination’s position on the role of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA) persons in the life of the church. The vote, 438 for the “Traditional Plan” rejecting full inclusion of LGBTQIA peoples, and 384 for inclusion, reflects how deeply divisions exist within the larger, world-wide Methodist community.
We join Pastor Johnson and many other colleagues in our sadness and grief that the vote failed to remove discriminatory prohibitions toward LGBTQ persons in the church, choosing instead, to add stronger punitive measures. Following the vote, clergy who officiate weddings for LGBTQIA couples face a one-year unpaid suspension with a second violation initiating a process toward defrocking.
We, as colleagues of Pastor Johnson, and members of the Marblehead Ministerial Association affirm the sacred worth of all of our member clergy, the congregants in each of our congregations, and in our larger community. We join the many Methodist and interfaith groups coming out in full opposition of the vote and in strong affirmation of honoring the full diversity of clergy and congregants.
To Pastor Johnson and to the LGBTQ members of St. Stephens, we see you, we love you, we know the God of your tradition loves you as well. We are sorry for your pain and we grieve with you. Finally, we are with you in your continued battle against oppression.
We are better together. All of us.
--Pastor James Bixby, Clifton Lutheran Church
Rev. Dr. Dennis B. Calhoun, United Church of Christ
Rev. Clyde Elledge, St. Andrews
Rabbi David Cohen-Enriquez, Temple Sinai
Benjamin Day, Marblehead Counseling Center
Christine Holbrook
The Rev. Mimi Hollister, United Church of Christ
Terri Allen McDonough, Marblehead Counseling Center
Rabbi David J. Meyer, Temple Emanu-El
Rev. Susan Morrison, United Methodist
Don Orne, Peace Committee
Rev. Sally A. Schreiber-Cohn, The Inayati Order
Rev. Andrew Stoessel. The Episcopal Church
Rev. Dr. Wendy von Courter, Unitarian Universalist Church of Marblehead