Marriage Debates to Mark UCC General Synod
The United Church of Christ may become the first American mainline denomination to endorse both civil and religious marriage for homosexuals
The United Church of Christ may become the first American mainline denomination to endorse both civil and religious marriage for homosexuals, pending the passage of a resolution submitted to the church’s General Synod this year.
“The resolution asks the UCC to affirm that all persons be given equal access to marriage rights, and invites our congregations to dialogue on affirming marriage for all persons regardless of genders,” said Libby Tigner, spokesperson for the Southern California-Nevada Conference that drafted the measure. “It also calls on the leadership of the UCC to defeat the defense of marriage act or any constitutional amendment that would limit the rights of marriage"
The measure is one of three resolutions the will face the church’s biennial assembly in Atlanta this July. A second resolution, brought forth by the Central-Atlantic Conference, calls for a deeper study on the issue of homosexual marriage but does not take an advocacy stance on the issue. A third resolution, authored by individual pastors, calls on the church to uphold Biblical and traditional standards on marriage.
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All three resolutions were made public on April 21 at the denomination’s website: www.ucc.org/synod.
The debate surrounding the three resolutions mimics the current shape of secular society, where liberals and conservatives are sounding off fierce battles to either redefine or protect traditional marriage. However, being arguably “the most progressive” mainline Christian denomination, the UCC is likely to pass the most controversial – and most liberal - of the three measures.
"I fully expect that the General Synod will affirm something that is more like the Southern California resolution than the one man one woman approach," said Rev. John Deckenback, Regional Executive for the Central Atlantic Conference. "That's being very consistent with our past records."
Rev. Brett W. Becker, who authored the traditional marriage resolution, gave a similar assessment.
“[The Southern California resolution] has an extremely good chance of passing, and I’d be shocked if it doesn’t pass almost unanimously,” said Becker, pastor of the 300-member St. Paul UCC in Cibolo, Texas, and one of the few conservative leaders in the 1.3 million-member denomination.
Becker, with the help of a handful of other evangelical pastors, drafted and submitted the resolution on traditional marriage for this year’s assembly, after hearing about the Southern California resolution.
“Unfortunately our society and even some of our churches in the nation have been trying to redefine what God’s words say about marriage,” Becker told the Christian Post on Thursday. “I knew that our conference out west was submitting their resolution in favor, and that prompted me to start the process.”
Becker explained that while he believes his resolution “does not have the slightest chance” of passing, it can still be used to “change some people’s minds” and “bring reform” to the liberalized church.
“I would be surprised if we could get a handful of votes in support of our resolution since most of the delegates who are chosen are not evangelical,” said Becker. “But I’m hoping God might use [the measure] to change some people’s minds.
“I’m hoping people will see the argument and realize we’ve made a mistake,” he said. “I want to see us be faithful to Jesus.”
Meanwhile, Deckenback said he believes marriage is a religious freedom and equal rights issue that must be addressed.
"I think of marriage in terms of religious freedom and recognize that in our society there are all kinds of families," Deckenback told the Christian Post. "Why should only one kind of family be recognized exclusively and given sanction in the state or church, when we know marriage itself is a relatively new institution?"
"If you step back, we say we give created equal rights, but we say 'except, except, except,'" said Deckenback. "To be consistent constitutionally even in the secular arena, you can't have discriminatory policies and laws that segregate and isolate families."
Southern California's Tigner agreed that marriage is a "civil rights and justice issue."
"One reason we're bringing this resolution out now is because of the political and social scene," Tigner explained. "There are states that passed laws banning marriage based on gender, and the current president made it clear he will bring forth a constitutional amendment to make marriage between a man and woman only."
"The political atmosphere for the church is to be a prophetic voice about equal rights and justice when it comes to marriage for all people," Tigner added. "We see this as a civil rights and justice issue."
Tigner also said that since the UCC is an "open and affirming church," gay marriage is part of a step of "natural evolution."
"We are an open and affirming church, and this is what we see as the next step of the natural evolution of open and affirming," said Tigner. "Opening and affirming has to do with welcoming folks to full life, and this is the logical next step."
On the contrary, Rev. Becker said the marriage issue in church is more about adhering to the teachings of Christ than about civil rights.
"It boggles my mind that we could even be discussing sex outside of marriage as an acceptable behavior for the followers of Jesus," said Becker. "My argument is based on the teachings of Jesus."
According to Becker, the scripture is clear on its stance regarding all relationships outside of marriage between a man and a woman.
"The exact texts are Matthew 15:19 and Mark 7:21," explained Becker. "Although Jesus does not specifically address homosexual relationships, he uses the word "pornea," which in Greek covers an extremely broad range of sexual behaviors outside of the one man and one woman relationship.”
The homosexuality debate in the UCC began much earlier than in other mainline churches. By 1972, the first openly homosexual gay man was ordained in the church, making the UCC the first mainline to recognize and allow the pastoral leadership of such individuals.
Thirty years later, the UCC remains as part of only a few denominations that allow such ordinations. In most other mainline churches, ministers are expected to remain celibate outside of the bounds of marriage – that being defined as a union between one man and one woman only.
Oddly, despite its “progressive” stance on most Lesbian and Gay issues, the denomination had not yet had a resolution on “equal marriage.”
“Actually there have been a lot of different resolutions at our general synod, but we don’t have yet a reolution on equal marriage,” explained Barb Powell, spokesperson for the UCC. “This is being brought up for the first time, some on one side others on another side.”
Powell also explained that no matter which resolution passes, it will act merely as a recommendation – not a strict standard – for the local congregations and associations to follow.
“When a General Synod passes a resolution, local churches and regional conferences are free to take those resolutions and study it,” Powell said. “We encourage and urge them to follow the resolutions, but local churches are free to discern and develop in their own areas.”
Nonetheless, Becker believes a resolution would speak a lot about the denomination, and hopes his measure may bring change.
“I’m trying to be a positive voice for reform, and I’m hoping God will use me to encourage my denomination to come back to the teachings of Jesus,” said Becker.
“We want to be loving and understanding that no one is perfect, but if you truly love someone, you would love them enough to tell them you don’t want to be destroyed by going against the teachings of Jesus,” he explained. “In Christ we are a new creation, and He can transform us.”
The three marriage-related documents are to be considered alongside about 25 other issue-oriented proposals.
The resolutions submitted by the California-Nevada and Central-Atlantic Conferences must gain a two-thirds majority to pass. Becker’s resolution needs only a majority vote to pass.
The United Church of Christ was formed in 1957 with the union of the Congregational Christian Churches in America and the Evangelical and Reformed Church. UCC congregations and structures, some dating back to the early 1600s, are among the oldest in the nation.
