General Conference 2008

Christian Post: Transgender Talks Begin at United Methodist Meeting

According to the Christian Post:

Hundreds of United Methodists have begun looking over some 1,500 petitions that have been proposed by those seeking change in church policies and structures, among other things, during the church's quadrennial gathering.

Much of the media spotlight, however, has fallen on two submitted petitions aimed at changing the United Methodist Church's current position on homosexuality. The church body holds that the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.

One petition would state that homosexuality is a subject about which Christians disagree and the other would define marriage as the union of two loving adults.

To support gay and transgender church members, young Methodists from the Mosaic Youth Network are holding a 24-hour "drumming and rally," which began Friday at noon, outside the Fort Worth Conference Center in Texas, where the United Methodist General Conference is taking place. Recent General Conferences have seen protests by gay-rights advocates, some of whom were arrested for disrupting proceedings.

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Transgender Talks Begin at United Methodist Meeting
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Picnic in the Park with Transgender People of Faith

A crowd filled General Worth Park in front of the Fort Worth Convention Center to have lunch and to mix and mingle and listen to transgender people of faith.

Photo Set

Transgender Press Conference

Audio:

Full audio recording of Transgender Press Conference including question and answer period:
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YouTube: Rev. Drew Phoenix
St. John’s United Methodist Church, Baltimore, MD

YouTube: Sean Delmore
Program Director of MIT LBGT Center
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YouTube: Diane DeLap
Spokesperson of Affirmation:  United Methodists for LGBTQ Concerns
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YouTube: Tina Seitz
Transgender Woman, Member of United Methodist Church, Detroit, MI
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UMNS: Transgender United Methodists share stories

The United Methodist News Service Reports:

Phoenix had been minister at St. John’s for five years as the Rev. Ann Gordon. Following surgery and hormone therapy, he changed his gender and adopted a new name.

The press conference was sponsored by Affirmation, an unofficial caucus of United Methodists that are among advocacy groups hoping to gain support during the 2008 General Conference for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people through prayer vigils, rallies and speeches. The event was held near the Fort Worth Convention Center, where General Conference is meeting through May 2.

Other groups that organized public-witness activities on issues of sexuality and sexual identity were Reconciling Ministries Network, Methodist Federation for Social Action and Soulforce.

Gay-rights proponents hope this General Conference will elect a more “moderate” Judicial Council, the church’s supreme court, so that practicing gays and lesbians will not be barred from church membership; include a statement in the Book of Discipline that not all United Methodists are of one mind on homosexuality; and allow gay and transgender people to be ordained as clergy, said the Rev. Troy G. Plummer, executive director for Reconciling Ministries Network.
Emerging issue

The issue of transgender clergy came to the forefront in 2007 when Bishop John R. Schol reappointed Phoenix as pastor of St. John’s. Schol said the 2004 Book of Discipline did not prevent transgender clergy from serving in an appointment. The denomination’s highest court affirmed that decision last October, agreeing that gender change is not addressed in the United Methodist constitution.

While church policy does not permit self-avowed practicing gay clergy to be appointed and bans gay unions, it says nothing about transgender clergy.

The Rev. Karen Booth is executive director of Transforming Congregations, an organization she says ministers to “sexually confused, sinful and broken people.” She believes transgender people exhibit a “deep, psychological conflict.” While the church should minister to them, she says, leadership should not be an option.

“We recognize that there are, in fact, people who are unfortunately born with a chromosomal blueprint that is ambiguous. That is a valid medical condition that needs to be addressed,” she said. “Most of what we see is more of a psychological state where a person says, ‘I don’t feel like I’m in the right body.’ We believe that’s a blurring of the distinct way God created us as male and female.”

When transgender people describe a difference between how they feel inside and what their body looks like, Booth said it reflects the Gnostic heresy that “assumes an anti-body dualism—if inner feelings are at odds with physical reality, the latter is insignificant and expendable.”

She also finds it ironic, she added, that “gays and lesbians say, ‘God created me this way,’ whereas transgender people say, ‘God made a mistake.’ There’s a real inconsistency there.”

Booth has submitted petitions to the 2008 General Conference that would spell out church policy by stating that neither transgenderism nor transsexuality “reflects God’s best intentions for humankind.”

Seeking acceptance

Phoenix, however, believes transgenderism is compatible with Christian teaching because “it was in the context of my faith in Christ, led by the Spirit, that I made the transition (of gender).” What’s more, he added, his church is thriving in its mission of disciple-making and mission.

Sean Delmore found “radical hospitality” through a United Methodist bishop who asked him, “How can we help?”

“Seeing me become more transparent, honest and authentic in the transition gives them permission to be honest in a way that they couldn’t have before,” he said of his congregation. “We want to be known as the children God created us to be. That’s been my experience with my church, across the board.”

• Tina Seitz, a United Methodist from the Detroit area who considered suicide to spare her children embarrassment of having a transgender parent, but who says making the transition to a woman makes her feel “whole in a way I never did before.” She said a United Methodist church gave her the spiritual guidance she needed “as never before.”
• Sean Delmore, a doctoral student at Boston University's School of Theology and a transgender man who is pursuing ordination as a deacon in the New England Annual (regional) Conference. He came to faith at seminary and found “radical hospitality” through a United Methodist bishop who asked him, “How can we help?” “That is the history and tradition of The United Methodist Church,” he said.
• Diane DeLap, Affirmation spokesperson and a transgender woman who called on General Conference delegates “to reject any attempt to discriminate against transgender persons in ministry and membership. One of the things that concerns me is that the church is interfering in what is a medical decision. When a doctor concludes that medical treatment is needed, it is the church’s position to support people through those decisions.” She added, “Jesus welcomed the outcast of his day. If he were here today, he would be welcoming us into the church, too.”

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Transgender United Methodists share stories
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Press Release: Transgender Christians Tell Their Story

Affirmation: United Methodists for LGBTQ Concerns
PO Box 1021 Evanston, IL 60204.
(978) 884-7401
www.umaffirm.org
umaffirmation@yahoo.com

Press Release April 24, 2008

Transgender Christians told their stories to press and delegates at the United Methodist General Conference in Fort Worth, Texas, on Thursday, April 24. Compelling stories of “coming home” and “saving their life” by living as a transgender person provided listeners with insights into their lives.

The future of transgender participation hangs in the balance of pending legislation as United Methodists, who meet once every four years to pass legislation, consider resolutions that ban transgender persons in and those that affirm inclusion regardless of gender identity or expression.

The event was opened with introductions by Diane DeLap, National Spokesperson of Affirmation, which is the United Methodists for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Concerns group   Panelists included Rev. Drew Phoenix pastor of St. John’s United Methodist Church of Baltimore City, MD, Tina Seitz, a United Methodist from the Detroit area and Sean Delmore, a doctoral student of sociology at Boston University's School of Theology and Program Director of MIT’s LBGT Center.

Ms. DeLap said, “For over 30 years, United Methodists have ignored the Wesleyan tradition of inclusion and are now considering adding transgender Christians to the list of those who are excluded from full participation in the church. It's time for the Church to abandon the politics of exclusion and to start following Jesus again.  Jesus reached out to include anyone who heard the good news, and began to love God and neighbor.  The church follows the teachings of Jesus when it accepts the service of transgender people like Rev. Phoenix, who clearly have the gifts and graces for ministry.”

Rev Phoenix, transgender pastor in good standing from the Baltimore-Washington United Methodist conference, said, “It is my hope that my presence and my story will be an occasion for our church to sit down together and explore the complexity and diversity of gender identity and expression and that out of that process, we will open our hearts and church doors to transgender persons.  Jesus’ central message is that God’s love and grace extend unconditionally to all of us, not because we look a certain way or have a particular identity, but because we are all children of God created in God’s image.  Each of us is a beloved child of God.  No exceptions.”

“I am SO proud to be a member of denomination that recognized a long time ago that gender discrimination is wrong,” said Sean Delmore.  “In my church, the pastor and the two lay leaders are women.  50 years ago, we granted full ordination rights to women.  We decided that stereotypes about the “proper” role and place for women were outdated, were divisive, and – most importantly – ran counter to God’s work on earth.  We decided that God does not discriminate on the basis of gender.”

Tina Seitz said “During transition, I needed spiritual guidance more than ever before, yet the church I attended at the time rejected me. I found another church with an accepting pastor, and things went well. Within a few months though, that pastor was replaced by one that was non-accepting. The last service I went to at that church was when the pastor, speaking about me, delivered a sermon about “good people who defile the church”. Thankfully, I have now found a home within the United Methodist Church. I am now working to help bring an end to the misunderstanding so many people have about transgender people. We only wish to be allowed to live our lives like everybody else.”

Christianity Today: United Methodists to Debate Transgender Clergy

Christianity Today reports:

The decades-old discussion of sexuality in the United Methodist Church will include a new wrinkle — transgender laypeople and clergy — when the nation's second-largest Protestant denomination meets next week in Texas.

Methodists will meet for their quadrennial General Conference from April 23-May 2 in Fort Worth, Texas. Beyond sexuality, they are expected to discuss possible divestment from companies operating in Israel, questions related to their increasingly international membership, and possible statements on the Iraq war.

Resolutions related to sexuality and gender number in the hundreds, but an increasing number deal with transgender people after the church's highest court permitted Baltimore pastor Drew Phoenix to remain in his pulpit. Gender change had not been addressed in the church's constitution, the Judicial Council ruled last October.

In light of that decision, some conservative Methodists now want to see church rules codify that transgender people should not be allowed as clergy.

Full story:
United Methodists to Debate Transgender Clergy
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Transgender Intro: The UMC & Gender

Decades of debate about the place of gay and lesbian people in the UMC means that most United Methodists are aware of a range of sexual orientations: gay, lesbian, straight, bisexual.  But as our church prepares to gather for General Conference, we’ll likely be talking about a kind of diversity that is much less familiar: gender diversity.  It may seem pretty commonsensical that people are either male or female, so some may be wondering: What’s all this talk about “transgender” people? 

When we say “transgender,” most people think about a person who was raised male, but knows herself to be female.  She seeks out medical treatment that makes her body better match her feminine spirit.  Similarly, there are people who are raised female, but have received medical care that enables their bodies to better match their male identity.  We often use the somewhat cold, clinical term of “transsexual” to describe such people.  But “transgender” is a term that includes a broad range of people.  What they all have in common is that they don’t meet gender stereotypes and expectations.

I am SO proud to be a member of denomination that recognized a long time ago that gender discrimination is wrong, that it runs contrary to the good news that the transformative spirit of Jesus Christ moves through all of us.  In my church, the pastor and the two lay leaders are women.  I have been touched by their ministry, by their witness to God’s redemptive love.  Sometimes they wear high heels and makeup, sometimes they watch football games – and sometimes they do both at the same time!  My point is this: 50 years ago, we granted full ordination rights to women.  We decided that stereotypes about the “proper” role and place for women were outdated, were divisive, and – most importantly – ran counter to God’s work on earth.  We decided that God does not discriminate on the basis of gender.

Now, some may say that it’s just “different” when we’re talking transgender people.

They worry about:

1. Psychological diagnoses.  It’s true that the diagnostic manual used by mental health professionals includes the technical-sounding “Gender Identity Disorder,” with which some transgender people are diagnosed. Some people worry about ministers having mental disorders.  But there is a cure for this disorder, which is receiving medical treatment that matches a person’s body with their identity.  Don’t we want our ministers with mental health issues to receive treatment? Our ministers give pastoral care to people who are dying, being abused, and living in misery every day.  We shouldn’t be surprised if they sometimes suffer from depression.  Barring people from ministry on the basis of mental health diagnoses is wrong.  It stigmatizes all people with mental health challenges, and it could needlessly force many to avoid or delay treatment for curable conditions.
2. Genetics.  Do you know your genetic code?  When the International Olympic Committee instituted mandatory genetics testing, many women – people who were raised female and identified as women – were shocked to discover they were not the XX female they assumed themselves.  Some women are XY (the “male” chromosome set), and some people are born with atypical gender sequences – XXY, XYY, etc.  It can be tempting to hold onto male-or-female, black-and-white ways of thinking.  But the truth is, God’s creation is so much more diverse than that.  Look around you – God is too creative to be restrained by our two simple categories!
3. God’s creation.  We all were created in god’s image, male and female – not one or the other.  Some of us match gender stereotypes better than others, but all of us change our bodies.  We get circumcised, we pierce ears, we have breast implants or reductions, we may have a testicle removed when diagnosed with cancer, we dye our hair, we repair cleft palates, we receive cochlear implants.  All of these body modifications change us, in bigger or lesser ways.   

God is with us.  God is transformative.  Let us not be afraid when God is doing something new amongst us.