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Has anyone heard of this campaign?

I saw an ad for it on pandora so I googled it and I'm not sure what to think.

Here are two excerpts from the site

"Yet here we are – still actively turning away from so many. These “others†live in community with us, but their lives are so often kept outside the gates of the church. These others may be persons just released from prison, who without accountable love and support, will gravitate back to the only secure space they’ve known. Or, perhaps they are persons with cognitive or mental disabilities whom we exclude from full engagement. When the church shows the radical love that first attracted so many to Christian community, we get a glimpse of the kingdom on earth we’ve been praying for. We see people integrated into the life of the church to share the image of God that’s in them too.

Recently I heard for the first time the song, “Sing a New Church†which describes the kind of alternative reality where one human family uses their variety of gifts to share faith, love and praise to the one who created us all. When I think of that alternative reality, I envision full inclusion of all persons. This includes gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual individuals being ministered to and ministering others. I would venture to say that since the beginning of the church, LGBTQ persons have served in ministry. What we have required these church leaders to sacrifice is their integrity – to live lives hidden from those in community. Hidden, secret lives can never be a good thing – for anyone. And it’s not how God asks us to live in community."

http://rethinkchurch.org/article/why-throw-stones

And

"Like Danny, many people in the twenty-first century hunger for an open-minded expression of Christian faith. That’s especially true for young people. For example, in a recent episode of the popular television show, Glee, several high school students explain why they are turned off by religion. From their perspective, the church is down on gays, women, and science. When you add to that the arrogant and judgmental attitudes found in many churches, it’s easy to see why people are repelled by religion. If the only faith options are arrogant and judgmental religion or no religion, many people will opt for no religion. Thankfully, another alternative exists—open-minded mainline and moderate faith. Promoting that kind of faith is my greatest passion in ministry."

http://rethinkchurch.org/article/whats-least-i-can-believe-and-be-christian

Opinions about this?

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Not 100% positive but I think this is a campaign by the UMC. I've seen the rethinkchurch banner outside a few UMC chuches in my city. I think it's their version of the "seeker sensitive" movement among more conservative evangelical churches desiring to emulate the megas.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'd rather see people opt for no religion, but if they feel like they have to have it, more humane forms are certainly preferable.

I would just hope that these people are genuinely progressive, and not just hiding/dressing up their intolerance in pretty language. This is a campaign by the United Methodist church, but their national organization just re-affirmed that they are not accepting of LGBT people, clergy or otherwise.

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I'd rather see people opt for no religion, but if they feel like they have to have it, more humane forms are certainly preferable.

I would just hope that these people are genuinely progressive, and not just hiding/dressing up their intolerance in pretty language. This is a campaign by the United Methodist church, but their national organization just re-affirmed that they are not accepting of LGBT people, clergy or otherwise.

I thought that the Methodists had openly gay ministers? Am I thinking of another denomination?

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I thought that the Methodists had openly gay ministers? Am I thinking of another denomination?

They ban non-celibate gay clergy, and the national organization just had their annual meeting where they again refused to change their stance that "homosexual acts are incompatible with Christian teaching."

http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?mid=1324

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/04/methodists-homosexual-act-incompatible_n_1476042.html

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They ban non-celibate gay clergy, and the national organization just had their annual meeting where they again refused to change their stance that "homosexual acts are incompatible with Christian teaching."

http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?mid=1324

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/04/methodists-homosexual-act-incompatible_n_1476042.html

OK, I'm thinking of another denomination, but I don't remember what! I was thinking of one specific minister (I think he might have been featured in the documentary "For the Bible Tells Me So") who is openly gay. Always thought he was Methodist. Now I'm going to have to use my super-Googleing powers to find out what the hell I'm talking about!

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OK, I'm thinking of another denomination, but I don't remember what! I was thinking of one specific minister (I think he might have been featured in the documentary "For the Bible Tells Me So") who is openly gay. Always thought he was Methodist. Now I'm going to have to use my super-Googleing powers to find out what the hell I'm talking about!

Episcopalian, maybe? If he was featured in For the Bible Tells Me So, you're probably thinking of Gene Robinson.

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The Church of Scotland have openly lgbtq ministers, and I think the Methodist church in the UK does too? But I think you're thinking of the Episcopalian church, pixydust.

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Guest Anonymous

I always get the heebie jeebies when I read 'seeker sensitive' stuff. Why does anyone think the church could become more attractive simply by putting on a new facade? It's so creepy.

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I think it's their version of the "seeker sensitive" movement among more conservative evangelical churches desiring to emulate the megas.

Ah, but there's one important difference: the Rethinking Church website doesn't have a grunge-inspired design.

Seriously, though, I can't tell what distinguishes this campaign from numerous other Christian campaigns to reach the unaffiliated. And the articles are an inferior version of the already inferior articles at Relevant Magazine. Take a look, for example, at an article on GCB at Rethinking Church and an article on The Avengers at Relevant Magazine.

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Yeah, the UMC can shove it. I was raised in that church, and not a particularly conservative one, either. The way homosexuality was dealt with in my church was to not mention it, ever. We were told to ask our parents, and the topic was swiftly changed. I was very involved in the church growing up, attending various functions 3 times a week, and was even president of the youth group.

When I went away to college and came out as a lesbian, I came across something about how the Methodist church was anti-gay. I couldn't believe it, because I'd never heard anything about that, but I dug around on the UMC website and lo and behold "homosexuality is contrary to the teachings of Christ." Dismayed, I called up my minister and asked him (being the naive 19-year-old I was) whether he was aware of the church's position on this. He gave me a lot of BS about how god loves us all just as we are, we all have things we can work on, etc., but when it came down to it, he finally did admit that his position was that the "homosexual lifestyle" was a sin. I don't know why this was such a shock to me, as a majority of Christians believe this, but I was floored that this organization I had given so much of my time to as a kid was such a crock! I immediately revoked my membership in the church and never looked back.

I think it's very shameful that the UMC covers up their hatred with this veneer of accepting people as they are. It's a lie. Another girl I know from the same church came out, and was assigned a "Stephen Minister" (some sort of church appointed counselor) to discuss her "issues" with. She was counseled to focus on doing good things with her life, but to remain celibate. :roll:

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I always get the heebie jeebies when I read 'seeker sensitive' stuff. Why does anyone think the church could become more attractive simply by putting on a new facade? It's so creepy.

Especially since it's obvious that they have no intention of changing the underlying, problematic beliefs. Many Christians appear to think that people won't join their church because they have an "image problem." It's hard to convince them that examples of bad behavior (of which there are many) are not the reason. A lot of these churches seem to feel that if they act nice, no one will notice that their theology is still unaccepting of people who aren't in the club. But most people who reject Christianity are rejecting it because they find the basic premise either false or immoral, or both.

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I think it's very shameful that the UMC covers up their hatred with this veneer of accepting people as they are. It's a lie. Another girl I know from the same church came out, and was assigned a "Stephen Minister" (some sort of church appointed counselor) to discuss her "issues" with. She was counseled to focus on doing good things with her life, but to remain celibate. :roll:

Celestial, I'm sorry that my church hasn't grown to the point that we accept LGBTQ people unconditionally. I do want you to know there are thousands of us in the UMC who are fighting for full inclusion. Many people have left the church because of this position, and many others of us are fighting to change it from the inside.

That's all, really. I just wanted to apologize.

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Celestial, I'm sorry that my church hasn't grown to the point that we accept LGBTQ people unconditionally. I do want you to know there are thousands of us in the UMC who are fighting for full inclusion. Many people have left the church because of this position, and many others of us are fighting to change it from the inside.

That's all, really. I just wanted to apologize.

Thanks. I know there are many people working for change within that church, and I hope you're eventually able to have an impact. As for me, I simply wasn't willing to support them at all anymore after I heard their nonsense. That was the best decision for me, and I don't regret it a bit!

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