United Church of
Christ set to consider gay marriage

The United Church of Christ is poised to become the largest Christian denomination to endorse same-sex marriage, but as with other Protestant churches, taking a stand on homosexuality could come with a price. "I don't think it's possible to overestimate the prophetic role that the passage of the resolution would have in terms of the impact on the religious and secular debate in this country," said the Rev. Rebecca Voelkel of Cleveland, national interim director of the UCC Coalition for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Concerns. Yet eight congregations in the liberal denomination of 1.3 million members believe that approving the same-sex marriage resolution at the church's upcoming annual meeting would be a bad idea - even if they concede the measure is likely to win approval. The meeting starts Friday and concludes Tuesday. The Rev. Brett Becker, pastor of St. Paul United Church of Christ in Cibolo, Texas, and a spokesman for the conservative congregations, predicted the eventual collapse of the UCC if the measure passes. "If we're going to call ourselves Christian and be followers of Christ, we need to follow his teachings on marriage," said Becker, whose group has proposed an alternative resolution defining marriage as between one man and one woman. Becker said he and other conservative pastors should continue to welcome homosexuals into the church, but encourage them to change their behavior. A third proposal calls for study, prayer and discernment on the same-sex marriage issue - though its proponents said the "one man, one woman" resolution was discriminatory and backers recently voted to support "the spirit" of the same-sex resolution. The resolutions will all be discussed at the meeting Sunday immediately after worship services. Becker's group also will put forward a measure that defines the UCC as a Christian denomination - a resolution that notes some pastors have strayed so far from the mainstream that the UCC has earned the derisive nickname "Unitarians considering Christ." The church will also vote on proposals to cut back investments in Israel as protest for that nation's treatment of the Palestinians, and a policy declaration to loosen standards for clergy ordination from the mandatory four years of college and three years of seminary. Traditionally strong in New England, the church was criticized last year for its television advertising campaign featuring a gay couple, among others, being excluded from a church. CBS and NBC rejected the 30-second ads. But the church's support for gays and lesbians is not new. In the early 1970s, the UCC became the first major Christian body to ordain an openly gay minister and established a gay caucus. Twenty years ago, the church declared itself to be "open and affirming" of gays and lesbians, and since then, nearly 600 congregations have independently done the same. "It's important for religious groups that are supportive of (gay) rights to get out in the public arena and articulate that there is not a monolithic understanding of these issues and it's not fair to say that in order to be a good Christian, one has to be anti-homosexual," Voelkel said. UCC churches are autonomous, meaning the General Synod does not create policy for its more than 5,700 congregations. Still, if the resolution supporting same-sex marriage passes, it would be "a very disturbing thing," Becker said. The Rev. John H. Thomas, UCC president, said he supports the same-sex resolution. However, he expressed his disappointment that some congregations could decide to leave the church if the resolution is approved. "No church can avoid this difficult discussion in our current cultural context if it seeks to be relevant to our society and if it seeks to be faithful particularly to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons among its members," he said. Debating the same-sex marriage issue is the next logical step in the denomination's support of the gay community, especially in the current political climate, Voelkel said. "We continue to be very concerned about the way in which very narrow understandings of biblical and scriptural tradition have been used in the political arena to justify a lot of oppressive public policy," Voelkel said. No hard data exist on how many gays and lesbians are in the UCC, but Voelkel said about 2,000 people are on the mailing list for the coalition, and about 1,000 clergy or seminarians are gay. The denomination has 10,323 ordained ministers. The momentum for the same-sex resolution has encouraged the Rev. Libby Tigner, minister of the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Long Beach, Calif., and sponsor of the measure. Tigner said the proposal was largely a response to "the social reality of many of our members," many of whom flocked to San Francisco last spring after the mayor directed courts to issue marriage licenses to couples, regardless of gender. Still, Tigner said the resolution is not a mandate for other congregations and hopes the issue does not divide the church. "Even if it passes, it doesn't impose anything on anybody," Tigner said. "Resolutions speak to the churches, not for the churches. This invites congregations to dialogue and study." (AP)