Build Better Bridges

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” (Leo Tolstoy)

How ironic. On November 13, ARDA (Association of Religion Data Archives) reported that: “America’s pews are becoming dramatically more welcoming to gays and lesbians and increasingly reflective of the nation’s racial and ethnic diversity, according to the latest results from a major study of U.S. congregations.”

Then, on November 19, the Washington Post reported that a United Methodist pastor in Spring City, PA, was convicted by a “jury of his pastoral peers” for performing the 2007 wedding of his son and spouse – two gay men. The report said: “The nation’s largest mainline Protestant denomination accepts gay and lesbian members, but it rejects the practice of homosexuality as “incompatible with Christian teaching” and forbids pastors from marrying same-sex partners.”

The Pennsylvania ruling is another sad example of why so many people under age 40 (nearly all Millennials and many Gen-Xers) reject the institutional church as being overly judgmental and hypocritical. It’s even more sad because every church, United Methodist or not, on some level is guilty by association.

The controversy between America’s largest non-churched generations ever and our churches really is not about gay marriage or homosexuality. The issue in question is any church’s authority to interpret the Bible and set doctrine. The bottom line is that churches have lost their authority for Biblical interpretation to generations of people who can read for themselves Jesus’ teachings. The Church is being challenged by people who rely on what Jesus taught as reported in the Bible, more than on what human church leaders dictate as policy. It’s a position that diversity-minded churches take into consideration in their approach to reaching an entire generation – not just a certain segment of them.

The LGBTQ argument can’t be won by either side in this lifetime, and it will go on. For churches that are willing to become bridge builders to diverse populations, you have to do more than just “accept” LGBTQ members. You must go on record as supporters.

For church searchers, many bridges are already built. You just need to find them. The Church Guide Website offers Online Resources to two organizations that identify bridges between diversity-minded churches and church searchers. In addition, the Church Guide Website offers Search Strategies for finding open, affirming, and diverse churches.