Isaac Simmons, openly gay man and publicly practicing drag queen, UMC candidate for ministry.
Posted on 03/12/2021 3:26:34 PM PST by lightman
With the United Methodist Church’s recently announcing its General Conference would be rescheduled, further examples of the denomination’s rift over human sexuality are rising to the surface. The implementation of the church’s teachings and official doctrine, or lack thereof, continues to cause discomfort as camps with vastly different beliefs await an expected separation.
One such case comes from the Illinois-Great Rivers Annual Conference (IGRC), which covers the state except for its northernmost portion. IGRC’s Vermillion River District Committee on Ordained Ministry (DCOM) has recently unanimously approved Isaac Simmons, an openly gay man and publicly practicing drag queen, as a candidate for ministry. Mr. Simmons currently works at Hope United Methodist Church in Bloomington, Illinois as their Project & Remote Learning Coordinator. He also studies Business Management and Religious Studies at Illinois Wesleyan University.
When performing as a drag queen, Mr. Simmons goes by the name Ms. Penny Cost, and in this role he performs both independently and at times as a part of Hope Church’s Sunday services.
On his public Facebook page, Mr. Simmons shares about his spiritual life and his latest activities in drag as Penny.
On February 7, Simmons, dressed in drag, had several minutes of screen time in Hope Church’s livestreamed Sunday service. He begins by describing poet laureate Amanda Gorman’s poetry performance given at the Presidential Inauguration, and compares it to how Moses was called by God to speak for his people. A video of the whole service can be found on the church’s Facebook page.
Earlier in the year, on January 19, Simmons appeared as drag queen Penny, this time in a short video titled: “On The Move Together: A Drag Queen’s Prayer,” shared on Hope’s Church’s website.
To give just one line that is illustrative of the spiritual practices of Simmons and many others in deeply progressive United Methodist circles, the drag queen began by praying, “In the name of God the Mother, the Father, and the trans-identifying person of color.” A written reflection placed below the video notes the Presidential Inauguration which would come the next day, which would appear to be “the marvelous movement of a justice-filled moment of transition” that Penny invites those listening to join.
On January 2, Mr. Simmons shared a nearly 30-minute video of himself speaking and praying the Rosary at home while dressed in drag. His goal in wearing drag was “to bridge the gap between spirituality and queerness, to show that they are not mutually exclusive.” He shared that the Rosary is one of his spiritual practices, and that he prays it almost every night: “Even though it is a Catholic tradition and I am a United Methodist, and… in the ordination process of the United Methodist Church, I find solace, I find hope in praying the Rosary, especially amidst the pandemic, amidst chaotic times.”
This time, Simmons opened his prayer by saying: “In the name of the Parent, and the Child, and the Holy Spirit.” Throughout the video, he avoids describing God as Father completely, and alternates between calling Jesus the Son or Child of God. Interestingly, Simmons always keeps the gendered title of “mother” for Mary.
It is very likely that the Vermillion River District DCOM members were aware that being a drag queen was part of Isaac Simmons life. For one, it is publicly part of his ministry at the church where he works. Further, parts of the Traditional Plan enacted in 2019 and upheld by the Judicial Council require “full examination and thorough inquiry” by district committees on ministry, such as screening clergy candidates’ social media.
As strict matters of church law, neither simply have same-sex attractions (without being a “self-avowed practicing homosexual”) nor dressing in drag disqualify him.
However, did the committee that unanimously approved of Mr. Simmons’s candidacy use good judgment? How many churches in their district or conference would be comfortable with a minister who is a drag queen? Would the people in the pews say his faith and works honor God and align with the Wesleyan tradition? Is Simmons committed to living by the UMC’s current sexual morality standards of either faithfulness in heterosexual marriage or celibate singleness?
In recent years, enforcement of church standards on sexuality in the ordination process has been dependent on the views of the resident bishop, district superintendents, and other local leaders.
District superintendents play a particularly important role because, as laid out in paragraph 666.1 of the Discipline, they annually nominate the members of the DCOM. In related news, Vermillion River District Superintendent Jim Barnett recently named the IRD as one of the demonic “principalities and powers” that are supposedly aligned to fracture the family of believers in Christ and “stir up trouble.” You can read his full column in IGRC’s March newsletter here.
While Isaac Simmons’s case is an exception to the norm in many ways, the post-separation United Methodist Church is headed for a future where we can expect such clergy candidates will be affirmed. The newly launched Global Methodist Church, by contrast, is founded on traditional Biblical views, and will aim to hold their clergy to clear standards on human sexuality and traditional Christian teaching about gender.
Isaac Simmons, openly gay man and publicly practicing drag queen, UMC candidate for ministry.
Union Metallic Cartridge????
I must be old. I swear I can remember when this would have been a tad unusual for a Methodist preacher.
Therefore:
Lutheran (EL C S*A) Ping!
* as of August 19, AD 2009, a liberal protestant SECT, not part of the holy, catholic and apostolic CHURCH.
Keep a Good Lent!
The August 19 date refers solely to the adoption of the gaysbian agenda, NOT to the “Full Communion” agreement.
I guess he’s a Remington homo or something...
This thread would have been better-off without pictures.
Founded in 1981, the IRD has been a voice for transparency, for renewal, and for Christian orthodoxy. In the words of theologian and IRD board member Thomas Oden, we “are not presuming to create new doctrine but hold firmly to apostolic teaching in ways especially pertinent to current circumstances. The theology is orthodox, reliable, stable, beautiful, familiar, and glorious. By it the church has been blessed by God for two thousand years.”
Our historic ties with renewal efforts in the mainline denominations along with our connection to the broader evangelical movement give us a unique and comprehensive perspective on Protestant American church life and social witness.
No. Just no. Maybe he’s one of those people who wants to push the envelope, see how far he can take it before someone finally says “No, we are not accepting this condition as OK”
Then, he would switch into Phase Two: Lawsuits for discrimination and ‘trauma’. His goal, to become financially independent based on his ‘winnings’ from the settlements.
Maybe this is what’s really going on.
That said, I think that the original Biblical texts are pretty clear on the matter of God the Father. And no one back then had any concept of "non-binary." And while I am sure that God wants us to love our LGBTQUERTY siblings, I don't think that God intended his Creations to live that way.
Hate the sins, love the sinners, and pray for their conversion.
Thanks for screwing up another church to the point of being useless for good.
Wow. I am surprised to see this in that conference. That’s in the red part of Illinois and in a conservative area as far as the UMC is concerned. ( Or at least it has been. I have been away from there for a while.) This character, and his “theology” , show how extensive the rot is. I guess this being a college town doesn’t help either.
The idea that God will change his mind on what is sinful according to the whims of man is something every muslim would agree with.
Between the drag-queen subject of this article, and the 23-year-old black bidenite “poet laureate” Amanda Gorman, there’s enough nonsense and poison in this article to last us at least through this whole year!!!!
But now Great Lent is coming at us fast and furious, and it’s time to forgive our fellow parishioners, and to enter into repentance!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqVECqe5V-g
No, an finite man cannot comprehend anything about an infinite creator other than what God chooses to reveal about himself. But God has chosen to reveal much about himself both through his creation and his divine revelation in scripture. He covers these matters.
Yuk. Clearly Satan.
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.
Revelation 12:7-9 (NASB1995) The Angel, Michael
7 And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, 8 and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
Revelation 20 Satan Bound
1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.
Revelation 20 Satan Freed, Doomed
7 When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, 8 and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. 9 And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
I wonder why in verse Rev. 20-1 the angel is not named? Then in verse 10 no mention of who or what threw Satan into the lake of fire? Angel of the LORD... Jesus?
We will know soon enough, Even so, LORD, in Jesus name.
Amen.
God the Father self identifies as male all through the Bible as does the Son and the Holy Spirit. Male pronouns are used throughout. I take God at His Word that male gender is the appropriate way to address and think of Him. The Bible is not ambiguous on this matter or on what God thinks of sexual perversions
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