A group of United Methodist ministers in Virginia have purchased a newspaper ad proclaiming their support for granting church membership to homosexuals.
The 44 active or retired Richmond-area Methodist clergy signed the $3,000 ad, which they paid their own money to have placed in the Richmond Times Dispatch. In the announcement, the ministers vowed they "will continue the long-standing, historic United Methodist practice of accepting into membership all who will take the vows of faith of our United Methodist tradition."
Jim Lavender, senior pastor at Discovery United Methodist Church, refused to sign the statement arguing that the church should not deny practicing homosexuals full membership. Among the reasons he gave was that he felt the ad singled out homosexuality from other issues facing the church and, more importantly, it failed to call the lifestyle what the Bible says it is - sin.
"Homosexual behavior is not compatible with a Christian lifestyle," Lavender asserts. "It is not compatible with scripture, nor is it compatible with the [Book of] Discipline of the United Methodist Church."
The conservative minister feels a public perception is being put forth that homosexuality is not a sin. Nevertheless, he insists, "According to scripture it's a sin; according to our understanding of United Methodist doctrine and the United Methodist discipline, it is a sin. And that was not addressed in the ad. Nor has it been addressed, as I understand it, by the Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church."
Lavender says he has noticed a "groundswell of conservative opposition" in the denomination to the "liberal approach" to homosexuality and church membership. The denomination's highest court, the United Methodist Judicial Council, ruled recently that another conservative Methodist pastor in Virginia had the right to deny membership to an unrepentant homosexual.
This ruling came down after that pastor had been placed on unpaid leave for refusing to admit a practicing homosexual into church membership. The Judicial Council's ruling reinstated him but also sparked debate over the denominational law that declares "homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching."
But even with the upsurge in conservative sentiment, Lavender laments, a pro-homosexual contingent remains among United Methodists that seems to be pushing for tolerance at the expense of biblical truth. But as one of those church members that exalt God's Word over liberal ideology, he insists there is undoubtedly a more excellent way.
"We love all persons, no matter who they are or where they're coming from with their life," the Richmond pastor says, "and we welcome them with wide open arms. But the sin attached to someone's life, we do not welcome. So we welcome the person but not the behavior."
Lavender believes the Bible is clear in its assertion that homosexuality, along with a lot of other proscribed behaviors, is sin. As such, he says, it is something the church is required to address, since it has bearings on who can be allowed to teach and minister to others in the body of Christ, as well as who can be married in the church.
(c) 2006, Agape Press
