By Ronald E. Keener
In a church known for its peace stance, a “hearing process” proved useful in testing a controversial issue and keeping the cohesion of the body.
American churches, at least those of a denominational stripe, are increasingly being divided between “gay churches” (those voting to accept gay clergy and adopting an inclusive stance on sexuality) and “straight churches” (those who still see homosexuality as sin and trust to the New Testament understanding). A crude distinction, to be sure, but illustrative.
So when the Lutherans (ELCA) two years ago voted to accept gay, if chaste, pastors, those congregations who objected moved their affiliation to the North American Lutheran Church, a new group. Presbyterian(USA) churches, disagreeing with the move this year by the national body to accept gay clergy, can affiliate with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
Divisions of this sort threaten schism within Christianity and a division and weakened witness of the faith community to the world. In these denominational debates a yes/no vote will produce winners and, well, losers.
Schism was a fear of one denomination that debated the sexuality issues in July. The Church of the Brethren, a small group of 121,000 souls and 1,000 congregations, most numbering under 75 on a Sunday, labored with its understanding of homosexuality, and with a certain special burden: the Brethren have long described themselves as non-creedal and a “New Testament church.”
Said the Standing Committee, a sort of elder board that screens business prior to the annual conference, “The Church of the Brethren affirms the New Testament as our rule for faith and practice and seeks to place Jesus at the center of our lives and life together.”
Interestingly, the denomination spent two years listening to its members in a sophisticated hearing process that guided the church’s discernment on the issue. In the process called Structural Framework for Dealing with Strongly Controversial Issues were involved 121 hearings, in the 23 districts, with 6,638 participants that was the equivalent of 5 percent of the church’s membership or 8 percent of its active worship attendance.
Sixty-five percent of the hearing groups “being not of one mind,” there was much diversity on the matter. [Disclosure: The Brethren was my church for the first 35 years of my life.]
It was not a perfect process.
They felt, “despite instances of confusion, bias, or even deviation from the scripted process and questions, the process was viewed as well designed and valuable in meeting its intended goal of conversation and sharing. The information gained from the process paints a discernable picture of the denomination as it continues to seek the Spirit’s leading.
“Responses from the hearing process describe a denomination committed to the love and unity exemplified in Jesus Christ yet struggling with how to be authentic to the call of scripture and a theological heritage which has traditionally favored forbearance over doctrinal uniformity.”
In the end, Standing Committee decided that “it is clear that good people of faith, through Bible study and prayer, are not of one mind in how we as a church interpret the Bible or how the Bible is understood concerning homosexuality and same-sex unions.” The delegate body later concurred.
But the temperature of the church was taken, and differences were identified, yet the body “expressed a desire and willingness to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Brethren, known as one of the historic peace churches, held to the tenant of peace-making that served them well over more than 300 years.
More churches might choose a listening process that sheds more light and less tension on issues such as sexuality, though it applies to many controversial topics. This issue is not settled, but the process allowed a strong part of the church to be properly heard.
“Standing Committee urges the Church of the Brethren to continue to wrestle with our tension, to truly listen to one another, to disagree in love, to avoid unkindness toward those with whom we differ, and to continue to seek the mind of Christ together,” the report noted. God’s Word is characterized by continuing revelation, Brethren believe, and the matter didn’t need to be “settled” in 2011. Otherwise, the church’s doors remain open – to all people.
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