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LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Offering grace to LGBTQ people

By Rev. Betsy L. Halsey, Psy.D., M.Div.

Licensed Psychologist, Silver Spring, Md.

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Grace abounds! Sometimes, in spite of the church. The State of Maryland now permits marriage of same-sex couples. The Supreme Court’s striking down key parts of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) enables gay spouses to receive the same federal benefits that heterosexual spouses receive. God can use any means for grace – in this case, the ballot and the Supreme Court.

The UMC sends mixed messages. While our UM Social Principles declare, “Sexuality is God’s good gift to all persons,” and commit us “to be in ministry for and with all persons,” our church law prohibits the ordination or appointment of “self-avowed, practicing homosexuals,” and prohibits pastors from marrying same-gender couples. We claim to offer “Open Hearts. Open Minds. Open Doors.,” but our actions speak much more loudly. Committed, Christian, same-gendered couples are getting married all around us, but not in our churches.

We are called to follow Christ -- the one who broke down barriers and taught that what is most important is to “Love the Lord your God, with all your heart, and soul and mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself.” We have not lived up to our calling or our roots as United Methodists to champion social justice. We have not opened the table to all. The UMC has not been the means of grace for LGBTQ people. It is time to catch up to where grace has come. We are inherently irrelevant as a church unless we are relevant in the world in which we live.

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