Greenwich Time Editorial - Bravo to Diamond Hill Church
One of Greenwich's great strengths is its many and diverse places of worship. One in particular this week brought honor to the town and should make all residents proud, regardless of faith or denomination.
The Diamond Hill United Methodist Church in Cos Cob has announced it will take a courageous and principled stance in support of human rights -- at a time when many wish the particular issue the church is concerned about would go away for a while.
The Cos Cob church is protesting policies of the United Methodist Church that discriminate against homosexuals, in particular, the parent church's opposition to same-sex marriage and position barring gays and lesbians from becoming ordained ministers.
"This is the only group that our policies in our church explicitly discriminate against, and we find that disrespectful," said Senior Pastor Vicki Flippin.
It is the only group that the policies of our great country explicitly discriminate against as well. We saw last week, when Maine voted to take away marriage rights from homosexuals there, that legal discrimination remains a powerful force against homosexuals......
COMMENT:
What's The Big Deal?
Diamond Hill Church Already Had An Openly Gay Pastor Named Herb Miller.
PLEASE SEE:
Delegates pray prior to a vote on issues related to homosexuality during the 2008 United Methodist General Conference in Fort Worth, Texas.
By Linda Bloom umc.org
Nov. 4, 2009
Ten years ago, the Rev. Greg Dell was put on trial by The United Methodist Church for performing a same-sex union ceremony.Since then, a few states have legalized gay marriage and some mainline
Protestant denominations, including the Episcopal Church and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, now accept non-celibate gay and lesbian clergy.
The United Methodist Church, however, has remained firm in upholding its traditional stance that homosexual practice "is incompatible with Christian teaching."
In a decision released this week, the Judicial Council, the church's highest court, struck down a resolution from the Baltimore-Washington Annual (regional) Conference that said the church is divided on the issue."
The effect of the Baltimore-Washington resolution is to negate the church's clearly stated position," the council wrote....
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