Posted on 07/19/2015 7:53:12 PM PDT by markomalley
An openly gay United Methodist pastor said his "I Dos" in front of more than 30 clergy members and 100 guests Friday, days after he was forced to resign for having a partner.
The Rev. Benjamin Hutchison married his partner, Monty Hutchison, in a ceremony on the steps of the historic Cass County Courthouse.
Hutchison called it a joyous occasion.
"Walking around the courthouse and seeing all the support, seeing all clergy there gathered standing there saying that they support it, they're not opposed to it, it really was a blessing today."
Hutchison, 31, resigned earlier this week from his position as senior pastor at Cassopolis United Methodist Church Monday, where he had worked since January 2013, after the bishop's office received a report that he had a gay partner. Hutchison said he would have been fired had he not resigned.
Hutchison said it had been well known and accepted in the congregation that he is gay, and he even had legally changed his last name to Hutchison, his partner's last name, in February 2013. Hutchison said he understood when he took the job it might be difficult for the congregation and he understood it was against the United Methodist discipline.
The church accepts members who are gay, but its Books of Discipline states " ... "self-avowed practicing homosexuals are not to be certified as candidates, ordained as ministers, or appointed to serve in The United Methodist Church."
The confrontation and Hutchison's resignation came as a blow to the congregation. Parishioners say Hutchison turned the Cassopolis United Methodist Church from one that was dying to one that was gaining new members. Hutchison said the church now has more than 140 members in its directory and it recently has become financially solvent.
Pastor Mark Thompson of Faith United Methodist Church in Grand Rapids officiated the ceremony with Ginny Mikita, a candidate for ordination within the United Methodist Church.
"I believe that Benjamin and Monty are very much in love and they deserve to be married and to celebrate the gift of love that God gave them," Thompson said.
Mikita said the United Methodist Church not approving of gay marriage has been her greatest stumbling block for continuing her candidacy. But, Mikita said, she felt the day was one of celebration and rejoicing.
"To be here today for Benjamin David, who had been a dear friend, ... to be able to walk that walk with him from the moment we met back in 2008 'til now, it's just remarkable," Mikita said.
Mikita said it was critical for Hutchison to have support for his ceremony on Friday.
"I believe that there is a swell of support that already exists within the denomination (of Hutchison)," Mikita said. "It only continues to grow, and I think it was evidenced here by the number of clergy that showed up not only from West Michigan congregations and conferences, but I met folks that came from the Detroit area and Illinois to be here today to demonstrate their support."
Mikita said the county clerk's office closed at 12:15 p.m. Friday for the ceremony, and to show support for the Hutchisons.
Rich First, a Stevensville resident who attended Hutchison's ceremony, credited Hutchison with pulling him out of his depression.
"I was very depressed, and one meeting with this pastor brought (me) out of depression so far that I started coming (to the church)," First said. "You would not believe the ability that this pastor has to make the whole church cry, laugh, rejoice you name it. I haven't been to church for 30 years and one afternoon with him changed that. I knew he was gay and the church knew too."
The Methodist Church has released a statement to media stating it will not comment on personnel matters such as Hutchison's. The statement goes on to say that the church's clergy and laity will discuss the church's official position on gay pastors at its General Conference in May 2016 in Portland, Ore.
Hutchison said he sees some change happening within the church, but would like to see it change further.
"I want the church to change," Hutchison said. "I believe the congregation, specifically in Cassopolis and Southwest Michigan and the Chicago area, has changed. The members have changed. They understand it. My members were in full support."
It’s sickening watching Satan’s minions highjack one sect after another. And make no mistake, it is Satanic. If none follow you out, that’s on them. They’re the ones embracing darkness. Be glad that you had the wisdom to recognize evil when it presented itself and separate yourself from it.
The “Good New” Perspective Email
GC2016 Delegates Elected
By Walter Fenton
In May and June of this year the vast majority of United Methodist annual conferences in the United States elected delegates to General Conference 2016, (GC2016) which will be held in Portland, Oregon. Approximately 58 percent of the 864 delegates attending GC2016 will come from the U.S., 31 percent will come from Africa, and the remaining 11 percent will come from The Philippines and Europe.
It is widely recognized that United Methodists in the U.S. are divided over theological issues like the authority of Scripture and social issues like same-sex marriage. It is not unusual for conservative, moderate and progressive United Methodists to work together to elect slates of delegates to General Conference that will represent their views on critical issues.
According to various reports and observations, moderates and progressives did better than they expected in the Great Plains, West Ohio, and Virginia annual conferences. On the other hand, conservatives demonstrated greater strength in the Florida, Illinois Great Rivers, Indiana, and North Georgia annual conferences.
Many regional and national groups, including Good News, follow the elections closely to get some sense of how General Conference delegates will vote on a host of critical issues.
A number of annual conferences passed petitions calling on GC2016 to liberalize the UM Church’s teachings on same-sex marriage and the ordination of openly gay clergy. Still other annual conferences adopted petitions encouraging GC2016 to not only maintain the church’s current teachings, but to pass legislation that would tighten accountability for pastors and bishops who disregard the Book of Discipline.
At the 2012 General Conference delegates defeated, by a 53.5 to 46.5 percent vote, a proposal by the Revs. Adam Hamilton and Mike Slaughter to remove from the Book of Discipline the statement declaring that “the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching,” and replace it with language that would essentially state the church is of two minds on the matter, and therefore no longer has a consensus position on the issue.
At GC2016 delegates are likely to consider separate proposals presented by the UM Church’s Connectional Table (CT) and the Revs. Hamilton and Slaughter. The CT’s plan is called “A Third Way” and Hamilton and Slaughter’s is entitled “A Way Forward.” In essence, both plans would allow for same-sex marriage and the ordination of openly gay clergy.
However, based on informal, but extensive reporting, it appears the delegates at GC2016 will reject these proposals, like those before them. Indeed, it is quite possible the margin of defeat will actually increase as the number of conservative-evangelicals from around the world becomes more dominant in 2016 and at General Conferences thereafter.
Walter Fenton is a United Methodist clergyperson and analyst for Good News.
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Thanks so much! I’m familiar with a number of these. I’ve heard a number of comments about the rift between Missouri and Wisconsin synods that make me less enthusiastic, but I don’t know enough about it to know whether it’s one of those urban myths that grow up around the different denominations. Any insight?
I don’t understand the reticence of the UMC to take the full plunge into a mere social group
that’s all any of the modern suburbanized Christian churches want to be...our Novus Ordo parish makes the local woman’s club seem like a group of acetic monks...
I am puzzled by why you think they would be.
Hmm...I’m puzzled as to why you’d be puzzled by that...
Picture of two guys kissing slaps you in the face immediately
Far worse than that are the idiots standing there and applauding...
Then why call him "our pastor?" If he is on the brink, he's already compromised. No one is holding a gun to your head.
And I am puzzled why you should be puzzled why I am puzzled. :)
I think we all make excellent points on the history of the dissolution of John Wesley’s Methodism with becoming “united” with the brethren, abandoning traditional worship, ordination of female “clergy,” etc. The primary point of all of this is to validate the total lack of traction on the slippery slope once the choice is made to follow man rather than scripture. Everything can only unravel from there.
My family is Methodist back at least three generations but my dad’s oldest brother, a pillar of his local small town congregation in the years I was growing up, died in 1998 with significant assets. As an executor, I can tell you I was truly surprised he left NOTHING to that church after giving regularly for building projects for years.
“This denomination is done if there isn’t a split”
Right you are. I’ve told my friends at my Methodist church that if homosexual “marriage” is approved in 2016 that I will be gone. I would go back if there was a split, and my church came down on the correct side of the split, but I can’t see the future, so my future with the Methodist church is up in the air at the moment. It doesn’t help that my minister is a leftist either. After the Charleston shooting, she(that’s correct I said she) gave a sermon about how White society is still racist, and we have White Privilege. She is white, and our congregation is lily white(what a hypocrite). The worst came this past Sunday when I asked for prayers for the four marines, and one sailor who were killed in the islamic attack in Chattanooga. She said we should also pray for the killer. That disgusted me.
I would just leave now and avoid the heartache. This female white guilt liberal is also pro gay marriage, and you don’t want to participate in paying her rent or supporting her rise.
It’s a hopeful analysis.
I will pray for the Conference.
Blessings on your journey!
I’m hardly paying her rent anymore. Our church has a parsonage so no worries about rent. As for how I financially help the church, I used to give $40.00 a week, but after her leftist rant painting all white people as racist for the actions of one lunatic in Charleston, I cut my donation to $10.00 a week. That’s barely more than minimum wage which is about what she deserves. Next time she goes on a leftist rant, my offering goes down to $5.00 a week, and so on until I get to $1.00 a week. We have a good church, and only a few leftists in the congregation, besides our pastor of course. But I am going to wait it out. I pray that the Methodist church decides to honor God’s definition of marriage at the next general conference. As for the pastor situation, she might be here a few years, but I live in the area, so I’ll likely see her leave before she sees me leave. Unless of course the Methodists accept abomination next year.
I am blessed.
I sympathize with your uncle’s choice. Sorry for your loss, T-Bird.
How on earth could you sit through two minutes of that spew without standing up and verbally repudiating it ? I couldn’t do it. When Satan invades the church, Satan must be rebuked.
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