As a Christian it should be the day that I am at my most joyful, even more so than Christmas. Today is the day that marks the day that Christ conquered death from when he died on the cross for us.
I've spent most of this afternoon with family, including the annual Easter Egg hunt around the garden of the nephews' other Nana. But before lunch I had started to write an email to my minster pointing him among other things to minutes of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland from 4 June 2007. Which said that:
Resolution 2 was then put to the House. For 159 against 120. The Resolution was declared passed.
That resolution was basically this paper on homosexuality (in full at the bottom of the article), you can see that there are some Guidelines which the minutes state:
That the General Assembly welcome the recent report of the Social Issues and Resources Panel regarding Sexual Orientation and authorise its publication as pastoral guidelines.
I have trailed every other minutes since 2007 and these Guidelines have not been rescinded despite some concern raised about how the Church of Scotland are dealing with LGBT issues at almost every General Assembly since.
I've not had a good day as far as Church goes. But have had some nice comments via Twitter and other means which I really appreciate. Indeed I very nearly set picked up my bass and walked out of the church before the service even began.
The email has been sent, rather than sending it straight away when it would have been angry it is more considered. But I do feel the need to pray about the future and where I can actually worship and receive pastoral care that is keep with what Christ, who has risen today, would have wanted.
I know it's not nice to come into somewhere that matters to you and find something like that. Sympathies and hopes that it doesn't happen again.
ReplyDeleteJames
Sympathies. I'm going through a similar process of considering my future in the C of E. Our vicar is pro-equal marriage, so we've never had that kind of display, but not all of the congregation are so supportive and I did have some uncomfortable conversations after he circulated (for people's information) the recent RC Bishops' letter. I'm also getting really fed up with C of E (arch)bishops lobbying against the religious freedom of other denominations to conduct marriages for whom they please. I'm currently going to the C of E on Sunday mornings and MCC Sunday evenings, and the sense of liberation from being able to be openly bi and poly on my very first visit was amazing. Sadly, they don't have a congregation in NI yet, though.
ReplyDeleteWould the Non-subscribing Presbyterians be an option for you? They seem to be the NI denomination that's most often mentioned as being LGBT-friendly, but they're unitarian, so won't suit you if you're strongly Unitarian. Or Changing Attitudes NI should know which C of I churches might be welcoming, if that's something you might consider. Good luck finding somewhere that will give you the nourishment you need.