Sexuality: a way forward, but no consensus

The Uniting Church has decided against trying to reach consensus at present on a policy about homosexual people in positions of ministry and leadership.

Members of its 11th Assembly meeting in Brisbane agreed they were “not of one mind” on the issue of accepting into ministry people who were living in a committed same-gender sexual relationships.

They said that “notwithstanding the hopes of many in the church”, the Assembly “is not prepared to exercise further its determining responsibility in this matter”.

Instead, they decided that no congregation would be forced to accept a minister living in such a relationship if it could not do so in good conscience. Equally, any congregation willing to accept such a minister would have its decision respected.

The Assembly resolution, passed by 173-48 (78.3%) in a formal vote, affirmed the church’s unity in Jesus Christ but acknowledged “a variety of theological perspectives and biblical understandings which we maintain in tension within our life as a church”.

It noted that some of its members stay with traditional teaching about sexuality in the Reformed and Evangelical churches while others believe God may be leading this tradition to a different understanding and practice.

The Assembly expressed its regret that some ministers and members had felt they had to quit the Uniting Church after the last Assembly’s 2003 decision on sexuality and leadership. (Commonly known as “Proposal 84”, this decision left with presbyteries the authority to decide about a minister living in a committed same-gender relationship.)

The 11th Assembly also expressed regret that faithful Christian gay and lesbian people had experienced pain in the church because of the way their lives had been affected by its deliberations.

Among the next steps decided by the Assembly were:

* to encourage congregations to realize the diversity of belief on sexuality and, realizing that some of their members might not feel free to express their views, to become “safe communities” where people could have diverse beliefs;

* to encourage the whole church to grapple with the implications of God’s grace for our humanity, and urge members with different views “to work at living together in peace”; and

* to ask its doctrine group to help the church “in our ongoing consideration of the theological diversity of the church on this issue”.

The Assembly’s discussion of the issue had begun five days earlier with eight proposals on sexuality and leadership.

Three of them rejected homosexuality as a way of living and didn’t want to see it ‘normalised’. They argued that sexual relationships should be limited to a faithful marriage between a man and a woman.

Others said it was impossible to reach consensus at present because of the widely divergent views that people held, with integrity.

One asked Assembly to declare that “being in a committed same-gender sexual relationship is not itself a barrier to any ministry”, while another sought a way for Uniting Church people to live out their diversity about sexuality.

Speakers described the proposals in terms that ranged from “a summons to us by God to confess and proclaim His truth” to a question: “What must we do for the church to be a safe place for gay, lesbian and transgendered people?”

It became clear early on, however, that most Assembly members thought it wasn’t the time to decide one way or the other – or to change to the 2003 Assembly’s decision on sexuality and leadership.

It also became clear that the concern among indigenous people and the migrant-ethnic community in the Uniting Church about recognition of homosexual people was not a simple rejection of the moves in the church.

Just as the church had respected the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress, the Congress respected the need of the church to have the discussion and made space for it to happen.

Speakers from migrant-ethnic churches showed diversity of views.  Homosexual people in leadership went against the Bible and the tradition of the church, said one. But “not all of us” agreed with that rejection of homosexual people, said another.

Now, the Assembly statement calls all the church’s members to bear witness to the gift of Christ’s unity as well as living together in their diversity.

To read the full text of the Assembly resolution follow this link