Several years
ago I was asked to mentor four young adults who had been approved as certified
candidates for ministry by their local church. I had been invited to help them
as they prepared to go before DCOM and continue their pursuit of ordained
ministry within the United Methodist Church. It was truly a joy to work with
these men and women who were answering God’s call on their lives.
I vividly
remember one young man who had just started seminary. He was so full of the
Spirit! He was a life-long Methodist who had actively served in his church all
his life. His fruitfulness was already evident, his passion for Christ was
clear, and his desire to serve God’s Church was sincere.
I am sure he
would be ordained today if it were not for the fact that he is gay. His calling
by God was so strong that he was willing to remain celibate so he could serve
God in the United Methodist Church.[1]
But the DCOM said no. The Church said no. The Church told him: No matter how
clear God’s calling is in your life – no matter how fruitful your ministry has
already been – you cannot be ordained. Sadly, he dropped out of the candidacy
program and he dropped out of seminary.
This young man
is so faithful to the United Methodist Church. Today he still serves in his
local church as a lay person. He continues to do great work for God. But I
wonder about all the other young people who feel called by God and say nothing
to anyone because of their sexual orientation. I wonder about those who leave
their home churches to pursue ordination in a different denomination, or who
simply leave the church altogether.
I am thankful
for my time with this young man because he forced me to recognize my personal
fears and biases. I had to wrestle with my own understanding of Scripture and Tradition.
My experience with him led me to spend much time in prayer. I wondered: When
God’s calling is so evident, who am I to say no? Who are we to say no?
If God is
calling a person to ordained ministry, it is good for the Church to verify that
calling. If the Church sees a clear calling in someone’s life, the fruits of
that calling are abundantly evident, and a person meets all of the other
requirements for ordination, should gender, race, ethnicity, sexual
orientation, disability, or any other distinguishing marker keep a person from
answering God’s call?
[1]
Our Book of Discipline requires “celibacy in singleness and faithfulness in
marriage” for all ordained clergy. As someone who could not be married, he
chose to be celibate.
No comments:
Post a Comment