(Jason Collins | staff photographer)
Lake Junaluska will be the setting for a controversial meeting held by The Reconciliation Ministries. The conference will feature numerous religious speakers including Beth Stroud, a United Methodist minister at the center of a church controversey over gay rights in the church.
Editor
Group promotes inclusion; support is high for conference at Lake Junaluska
A four-day conference billed by detractors as a “homosexual rally” will be held at Lake Junaluska on the Labor Day weekend.
At least one national religious group is questioning the Southeastern Jurisdictional Administration Council, which oversees the United Methodist Church facilities at Lake Junaluska, for allowing the meeting sponsored by The Reconciling Ministries on church grounds.
Mark Tooley, director of the United Methodist committee for the Institute on Religion and Democracy, prepared a news release outlining objections to the conference and invited those who disagree with the SEJAC decision to contact Jimmy Carr, the organization’s executive director.
Carr, however, said comments, letters and e-mails — about 250 so far — support the conference by a margin of two-to-one. He said the council is confident the decision is the right one.
The event in question is a “Hearts on Fire” conference sponsored by The Reconciling Ministries Network. This network promotes the inclusion of people of all sexual orientations as full participants in the United Methodist Church, both in policy and practice, according to the SEJAC Web site.
Tooley said the Institute on Religion and Democracy is dedicated to renewing and reforming main line Protestant denominations and supports traditional teachings.
“Homosexuality has been debated every four years since 1972 in the United Methodist Church, and there has been language in the church’s book of law since then stating homosexual practices are incompatible with Christian teaching,” Tooley said in a phone interview. “The group sponsoring ‘Hearts on Fire’ wishes to delete those teachings.”
Included in the conference agenda will be speakers who are openly lesbian, who have performed same-sex unions and a male Presbyterian minister who had a sex-change operation, Tooley said.
“Reconciling has declared that ‘Hearts on Fire’ will include a ‘rainbow of community of faithful lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and heterosexual disciples committed to justice,” the statement continued.
One of the speakers scheduled to address the conference is United Methodist minister Beth Stroud, who has been at the center of a church debate. Stroud is a lesbianwho was defrocked, reinstated and will have her case heard before a higher church court in October.
Another scheduled speaker is Erin Swenson, a male Presbyterian minister who had a sex-change operation.
Carr, however, said the conference will have worship, Bible study and training as an integral part of the gathering.
Lake Junaluska is owned by the United Methodist Church, and policies are in place to deny use of the facilities to groups who are in opposition to the church, Tooley said. That should have been done when the “Hearts on Fire” conference was proposed, he added.
Tooley said while he has little hope SEJAC officials will cancel the conference, he would like to see them realize they have made a mistake and not allow future conferences of this nature to be held at Lake Junaluska.
Rules were followed
Carr said the administrative council sought church legal advice before deciding to rent the Lake Junaluska facilities to The Reconciling Ministries.
“From a legal standpoint, we don’t feel like we are breaking the discipline. We don’t think it was a mistake,” Carr said. “We were very caring and cautious as we made that decision. We counseled with leadership on the administrative council.”
Carr said Lake Junaluska serves more than 100,000 persons a year with its facilities and grounds by providing a place for spiritual enrichment study and reflection.
“We’re not in the business of turning people away if they are sincere in growing in their relationship with Christ,” Carr said. “The more diverse groups in the church that talk with each other, the better off we are.”
Carr said The Reconciling Ministries is an affiliated caucus of the United Methodist Church and the administrative council felt obligated to meet their needs for housing and meeting space.
“SEJAC does not approve or disapprove of the ‘Hearts on Fire’ conference program,” Carr said. “The participants in the event will use the facilities of Lake Junaluska, and we will host them, as we do other groups who are our guests, in a gracious way that is exemplary of the United Methodist Church.”
There will be no church funds spent on the “Hearts on Fire” conference, he stressed, and fees paid by conference participants will be used to support the conference center.
Carr said some of the 400 or so participants expected at the “Hearts on Fire” conference are parents who have gay or lesbian children. Others are church members who either are homosexuals or those who believe in changing official church policy on homosexuality.
“They are United Methodist church members who disagree with the church’s stand, and we have those across the church,” Carr said.
“They want to change the Book of Discipline (the rules governing the church), and they were looking for a caring place to host them.” As a Methodist minister and church executive, Carr said he supports the church’s stance on homosexuality, which does not condone its practice and does not sanction same-sex marriages.
However, the church doctrine also states those who are homosexual are “individuals of sacred worth” who need the ministry and guidance of the church for their struggles for human fulfillment and spiritual growth.
The UMC Book of Discipline states, “God’s grace is available to all, and we will seek to live together in Christian community. We implore families and churches not to reject or condemn lesbian and gay members and friends. We commit ourselves to being a ministry for and with all persons.”
Carr said while it is true the Methodist church believes homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching — as Tooley emphasizes in his statement — it was the subsequent text in the church policy that prompted SEJAC to welcome the “Hearts on Fire” conference.
Vicki Hyatt can be reached at 452-0661, ext. 128, or e-mailed at news@themountaineer.com