Kevin J. Payne

[My thoughts in response to the following article: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/gay-evangelical-seeking-acceptance-church-19537354?singlePage=true#.UdGGLpz-tKV]

  If Evangelicals are wrestling with the issue of same-sex relationships, they are not ignoring. We are called to Faith with both our minds and our hearts. Good to see them using both! That being said, an attempt at changing the conservative Evangelical church's view on same-sex relationships (and/or attractions for that matter), is like trying to get a Baptist to forsake Calvinism or a Nazarene to abandon its Wesleyan roots. Will the Assemblies leave behind its teachings on the Gifts of the Spirit? Instead of using my energies for convincing the "unconvincable", I'd rather use them to promote a church, a community of Believers which embodies the essence of the Gospel. I'd much rather show the world there ARE places of love and acceptance; there ARE outlets for the Gospel that refuse to use the Bible as a weapon. If statistics are accurate, the youth of today--yes! the Evangelical youth of today--will seek out these 'Outlets of the Gospel'. They will be tomorrow's lay leaders and clergy. As these outlets multiply, the fundamentalists' message will be overshadowed and its influence diminished; so much so as to be rendered completely inconsequential.

[originally posted on my FB page]

I believe it’s equally as important to be a good winner as a good loser….

I have been asked by several people how I feel about this week’s rulings by SCOTUS. I have tried to restrain my feelings in this venue because I have friends and family on my Friends List that are likely to be truly devastated by the rulings. Their devastation is rooted in deeply held religious beliefs—beliefs that I once espoused. I no longer ‘get it’! Not even a little bit, but I do remember how my indoctrination led me to respond to these events and the fear it conjured up—fear that God’s wrath would be leashed upon our nation.

(If you have not grown up in the culture you cannot understand it. These beliefs develop from a recipe of intellect, emotions and some component of folk theology. Indeed, it is not purely religious, but a culture as well.)

That explanation aside, it goes without saying that I am ecstatic about the rulings. Unfortunately the saga will continue—out of necessity—but it will continue. State constitutions will be challenged (those that have amendments against same-sex marriage) and State legislatures will be forced to act; all in the context of the High Court rulings. It will still be years before our country can move beyond this inequality. But it has to start somewhere!

And it has started!

Unfortunately, it will continue to be fodder for the conservative pundants like Gov Huckabee and the like who claim to know Jesus’ emotions and project their feelings onto Him; the Evangelical Church will pray fervently to stay God’s wrath; and the LGBT community and its supporters will be blamed for every natural disaster, man-made disaster, and hellacious crimes against the innocent, for the foreseeable future.

But for today…I am happy. I am hopeful.

Tomorrow… We will worship with a Community of Believers which holds to the values of equality for all. And we will enter into God’s presence with a people who proclaim,

"In these days of resurgent fundamentalism, it is good to know that there is a church where both head and heart are equal partners in faith. Countless men and women are looking for a congregation where thier souls can be nourished without the sacrifice of their intellect; where the precepts of the gospel are creatively espoused without endless talk of damnation and guilt. A church where people are taught that in love all things are possible; that science and religion can live together in harmony; and that God’s chldren can think for themselves.

New Covenant UCC is such a congregation. We are a diverse community of Christians made up of young and old, men and women, people of special needs and special interests, married and single, conservatives and progressives, and people from the LGBT community. We share in common a deep and abiding love for God and each other. Working together, we are a vital, committed, and vibrant community of faith. We covenant with each other to walk in the light of Jesus Christ, the interpreter of God; to make ancient ideas as fresh as the morning newspaper; and to worship in a way that is both dignified and exciting.