Remove Ads

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Transgendered Clergy Encouraged to Come Out
#1
Apostate Christianity

Transgendered Clergy Encouraged to Come Out

This past weekend the first National Transgender Religious Summit was hosted at the Pacific School of Religion, an ecumenical seminary that prepares students for ordination in the United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Church and the Disciples of Christ. The conference, open to members of all faith traditions, is a joint project of the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) in Washington, D.C., and the Pacific School’s own Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry (CLGS). Sixty-five religious leaders attended, from Lutheran, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Unitarian, Quaker, and Jewish communities across the country. On the agenda: denominational policy and outreach to transgender communities.

At the heart of almost every conversation that occurred during the conference was this: how does a person who chooses to live “with permanent gender ambiguity,” as one handout put it, also participate as a leader in an institution as traditional as religion?

Conference organizers think the time is right for transgendered persons of faith to come out of the closet. “Transgendered people are beginning to find their public voice with more advocates and opportunities for protection,” explains Justin Tanis, an ordained minister who helped put together the summit—and who was born female.

With the House and Senate now under Democratic control, Tanis says, activists in the transgender community feel that they may finally be heard, and they are working hard to put together legislation on Capitol Hill, especially on the issue of workplace rights. No one knows how many people in the United States live with an ambiguous gender identity, either because of a firm conviction that they were born in the wrong body or because of a political ideology or youthful experimentation.

But the issue has gained great resonance on college campuses of late, as well as in local legislatures and in gay activist circles. Last weekend’s conference was evidence that at least some of these people have strong religious identities as well.

The transgender issue is so new that most religious denominations have not yet made policy statements about it. In 2003, the Roman Catholic Church announced that transsexuals suffer from “mental pathologies” and should be barred from religious orders and the Catholic priesthood. Often using Biblical language to make their point, conservative Christian groups have treated transsexuals and other people with ambiguous gender as having psychological defects that can be cured with psychotherapy.

Transgendered people say another difficulty is that many religious denominations reinforce gender stereotypes—conventions about women’s and men’s roles in the life of a church, for example, that pose problems for people who want to live outside those rules.

Transgendered clergy say they know that parishioners can become distracted by thoughts about what lies beneath their robes, but they hope that people in the pews can learn to see them as ministers with a holy mission. Religion, says Tanis, “is about compassion and human dignity”; he hopes the seminar will teach transgendered clergy to embrace their uncommon situation and use it for good. After going through his own transition, he says: “I had a greater sense of internal peace; I was wiser and could be a better religious leader. It is a gift to be able to see the world through more than one gender’s eyes.”

Prophecy News Watch Headlines - Kade Hawkins


Reply
#2
editor Wrote:Apostate Christianity

Transgendered Clergy Encouraged to Come Out

This past weekend the first National Transgender Religious Summit was hosted at the Pacific School of Religion, an ecumenical seminary that prepares students for ordination in the United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Church and the Disciples of Christ.

Sixty-five religious leaders attended, from Lutheran, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Unitarian, Quaker, and Jewish communities across the country. On the agenda: denominational policy and outreach to transgender communities.

At the heart of almost every conversation that occurred during the conference was this: how does a person who chooses to live “with permanent gender ambiguity,” as one handout put it, also participate as a leader in an institution as traditional as religion?

[font=Arial][size=medium]As one of the invited participants to the National Transgender Religious Summit I've reviewed the substantial conversation and reprints that has resulted. Unfortunately, Newsweek, which supplied the quoted article, arrived for the last session for the last day and attempted to present that four hour slot as an overview of the three day summit. As you might expect, the effort was less than successful. At no time during the first two and one half days did I hear any reference to permanent gender ambiguity and I'm not familiar with that term as being common, or even rarely used among transsexuals. I can only imagine that it would refer to those who choose to have an androgynous presentation.

The summit was a powerful experience sharing time with 56 (not 65) positively focused and spiritual individuals, most of whom were transsexuals . . . and most of whom are ordained. Transsexuals may be gay or lesbian, but are not usually identified or considered as the various faith groups discuss gay issues such as marriage and full participation within the church.

Those of you who may read this submission have probably formed your own opinion and stance regarding transsexuals within your faith group. I learned long ago that I cannot change your mind by debate or arguing, so I will not attempt to do so here. I will tell you that we who participated in the conference have had our conversation with God and are confident that we continue to be children of God and loved by God.

Many thanks to Jesustalks for posting the article and enabling conversations of this sort.

In peace,
Roslyn Manley
Irvine, California
Reply
#3
I did a little running around briefly to know you. I see you are equipped to deal with controversial issues. I am glad you came and spoke your heart.

Our churches are going through some upheavals. I believe those that are not aware of these types of issues should be informed.

On this particular issue, I must emphatically state that I personally know no transgendered persons. I am not personally attached. I do state my belief here that God indeed loves these people and can use them to His glory if they are born again.

What I do stand on, which most likely will be an opposite to your stance perhaps, is their role of leadership in the Church. Not all denominations adhere to this passage but this is where my head and heart is at; 1 Tim 3:1-16. This refers to bishops and deacons and I believe needs to be upheld in any pastoral role.

I am, on the other hand, aware that in the last days, God shall pour out His Spirit upon men and women. I am aware that in the last days Israel shall turn unto the Lord Jesus and be saved. Despite us seeing evidences of end times, I am persuaded that we must cling the the Word and uphold the judgment of God as well as the grace.

Reply
#4
Dear editor, I think you meant 1 Timothy 3:1-16.
Reply
#5
I sure did and thank you so much, Ann. I will edit it. *blush*
Reply
#6
Aligning Psyche and Sex
Methodists Meet to Evaluate Transgenderism, Starting With Baltimore Pastor

By Daniel Burke
Religion News Service
Saturday, October 20, 2007; Page B09

BALTIMORE

The Rev. Drew Phoenix is many things to many people.


TOOLBOX
Resize Text
Save/Share + DiggNewsvinedel.icio.usStumble It!RedditFacebook Print This E-mail This
COMMENT

Discussion PolicyDiscussion Policy CLOSEComments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.

Who's Blogging?
» Links to this article
To congregants of St. John's of Baltimore, he's the fun-loving pastor who counsels them, takes their children hiking, explains Scripture and plunges into worthy causes.

To conservative Methodists, Phoenix embodies another front in the culture wars: a rebel who has defied God and nature and should be removed from ministry.

To mainstream society, Phoenix is an enigma who transcends traditional sexual boundaries, provoking uncomfortable questions about the interplay between body, mind and soul.

To the Judicial Council of the United Methodist Church, he's number IV on the docket for its Oct. 24-27 session: "A Review of Bishop's Decision . . . Whether Transgendered Persons Are Eligible for Appointment in The United Methodist Church."

The issue of transgenderism seems too hot to touch for religious Americans already bitterly divided over sexual orientation. A number of Methodist theologians and ethicists asked to comment for this article declined.

But as scientific advances and changing sexual mores allow transgender people to slowly move into the mainstream, religious leaders will soon have to grapple with the theological implications of sexual identity, scholars say.

In practical terms, they have to consider Phoenix and whether he should remain in ministry. The judicial hearing of the United Methodist Church, one of the largest Christian bodies in the United States, may be a high-water mark for transgender awareness in the pews.

"The theological issues here are very important," said Mark Jordan, a professor of Christian ethics at Emory University in Atlanta. "It's not just an issue of church discipline, and it's not just a freak show."

About 18 months ago, after 46 years of feeling trapped in the wrong body, the Methodist minister had sexual reassignment surgery, at last aligning psyche and sex.

The Rev. Ann Gordon became the Rev. Drew Phoenix.

Phoenix, now 48, describes the transition from female to male as a homecoming. "For me, now it's very much about being embodied. My spirit is in a body now," Phoenix said. As a female, "my spirit was just, like, homeless."

The 40 or so members of St. John's, who say they pride themselves on being the most accepting and inclusive Methodist church in Baltimore, said their minister's sex change was no big deal. They had some questions, which Phoenix answered in individual meetings, but no large theological hang-ups.


TOOLBOX
Resize Text
Save/Share + DiggNewsvinedel.icio.usStumble It!RedditFacebook Print This E-mail This
COMMENT

Discussion PolicyDiscussion Policy CLOSEComments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.

Who's Blogging?
» Links to this article
"It was like, 'Okay, great, congratulations. You're living as God intended now. How wonderful,' " said Kara Ker, 33, a social worker and lifelong Methodist. "Every now and then, people struggle with the pronouns. That's the biggest challenge."

But to some Methodists, Phoenix's ministry posed larger problems.

At a meeting of the Baltimore-Washington Conference in May, several pastors questioned whether the ministry should be open to transgendered people.

Baltimore-Washington Bishop John Schol reappointed Phoenix, reasoning that the Methodists' Book of Discipline has no rule forbidding transgender pastors. Now the nine-member Judicial Council -- the United Methodist Church's supreme court -- will rule on Schol's decision in San Francisco this month.

James Holsinger Jr., President Bush's nominee for U.S. surgeon general, heads the council. Senate Democrats have stalled Holsinger's appointment in part because he has described gay sex as abnormal and unhealthy.

Conservatives have promised to pass a ban on transgendered pastors at the Methodists' next General Conference in 2008.

"Most church people instinctively recognize there are problems with the church affirming a gender change but haven't really thought through all the implications," said Mark Tooley of UMAction, a branch of the conservative Institute on Religion and Democracy.

Christians and Jews have traditionally derived fixed notions of sex from the Hebrew Bible, in which God creates Adam and Eve. To mess with that, some argue, is to mess with God's plan for creation.

Other conservatives point to Deuteronomy, which says, "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment; for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God."

"There's the issue of what's God's intention for us," said the Rev. David Simpson, a United Methodist pastor from Ellicott City who challenged Phoenix's reappointment. "Is that something that we get to choose?"


On the other hand, some medical professionals and transgendered people say sexual identity and sexual orientation are separate things.

"It's not about whom I love," Phoenix said. "It's about who I am."


TOOLBOX
Resize Text
Save/Share + DiggNewsvinedel.icio.usStumble It!RedditFacebook Print This E-mail This
COMMENT

Discussion PolicyDiscussion Policy CLOSEComments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.

Who's Blogging?
» Links to this article
Moreover, they argue, science is demonstrating that sexual identity is fluid and not fixed into binary categories. And it's innate, not a choice.

Finally, those who argue the "God doesn't make mistakes" and "Don't mess with creation" points of view readily make use of medical procedures to change their bodies, Phoenix said. "Think of all the vaccinations, medications and pharmaceuticals we take," he said. "We completely alter our bodies."

But to many Christians, there's a fundamental difference between taking a vaccine and changing something as basic as sex.

In 2003, the Vatican said transsexuals suffer from "mental pathologies" and barred them from Roman Catholic religious orders. Last year, a Christian college in Michigan fired a transgendered professor for failing to live up to Christian "ideals."

Other mainline Protestant churches haven't banned transgender pastors, but they haven't exactly welcomed them, either.

The Rev. Erin K. Swenson, a Presbyterian pastor who transitioned from male to female in 1996, has written that "transgendered individuals are modern lepers in a culture that worships at the altar of sexual stereotypes."






Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)