Courage

Just a few snippets from the article about Rev. David Weekley:

The Rev. David Weekley told the congregation of Epworth United Methodist Church a secret Sunday that he'd kept for 27 years: Almost a decade before his ordination journey began in 1982, he'd undergone counseling and several surgeries and became a transgender man.

Ordained an elder in 1984, he said he vowed to become "the best pastor" he could possibly be. He told few people about his past. But recently he was inspired by Japanese-Americans in his congregation who told their stories of internment during World War II and the healing they had experienced.

"I am a man in some ways different from other men," he said. "But most people are different from other people in some way. And God still loves us."

After his sermon, the Rev. Bonnie Parr Philipson, metropolitan district superintendent of the United Methodist Church, affirmed to the congregation that Weekley's status within the church did not change with his revelation. She read a statement from Bishop Robert T. Hoshibata, leader of the Oregon-Idaho Methodist conference.

Weekley "is choosing now to share this earlier part of his life journey honestly and openly," Hoshibata wrote. "This decision does not, in any way, change his faith or his commitment to the ministry to which he was ordained, nor does it change his status as an elder in good standing. I prayerfully ask that his congregation, his colleagues and the United Methodist Church continue to uphold him and his family at this time."

"The United Methodist book of discipline does not speak to transgender as an impediment to ordination," said Greg Nelson, director of communications for the United Methodist Church in Oregon and Idaho

Hopefully it is not horribly shocking to anyone that I fully support the rights of ALL people to be ordained in the United Methodist Church. (Or members of, or married in for that matter.) What I always say is that God's call to ministry, for me, was very unmistakable. My own head can get in the way, but God's call is still very clear. So, if I'd been born another way, I'd be suddenly be hearing it wrong? If anyone is crazy enough to want to do this job, then who are we to second guess that? So I applaud Rev. Weekley's courage in speaking out, and I'm grateful for the district superintendent and Bishop Hoshibata's support of him.

This church is just a few miles away from me. Portland is a pretty accepting community, so I think it's a great place for movements towards greater equality to start. But just in case there is crazy backlash, I have my picketing shoes ready.