RMC Clergy Sign Protest

A group of 126 clergy, almost all from the Rocky Mountain Conference, have signed a statement of protest against the recent ruling of the Judicial Council (the UMC's highest "court") which supported a clergyperson in Virginia who denied membership in the UMC to a gay man who was active in his church.

The clergy contributed all of the funds (no conference funds were used) to pay for an ad which ran today (Dec. 6) in the Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News on page 22A. Jean Torkelson, religion editor of the News also wrote a story about the ad, on page 11A of the News. Her story is here.

The statement says,

As United Methodist Clergy serving as Spiritual Leaders in the Rocky Mountain Conference, we stand in public opposition to the recent Judicial Council ruling of the United Methodist Church giving a clergyperson in Virginia the authority to deny church membership to an individual based on sexual identity.

We proclaim our vigorous disagreement with this act of injustice by the highest judicial body of our denomination. The United Methodist Church is committed to inclusiveness; and inclusiveness denies every semblance of discrimination. The vision of hospitality for our church is Open Hearts, Open Minds, and Open Doors.

The ad including the list of signers is below.

The ad grew out of an administrative council meeting at Christ United Methodist Church in Denver which challenged their pastor, Rev. Carolyn Waters, to find other clergy to protest the ruling. A small group of area clergy met for coffee one morning and wrote a statement that was then offered to the Bishop, Cabinet, and all clergy members of the Rocky Mountain Annual Conference by e-mail. A total of 126 responded with their names and monetary support for the ad.

An option for Laity is below.

Ad published in Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post 12/6/2005

As United Methodist Clergy serving as Spiritual Leaders in the Rocky Mountain Conference, we stand in public opposition to the recent Judicial Council ruling of the United Methodist Church giving a clergyperson in Virginia the authority to deny church membership to an individual based on sexual identity.

We proclaim our vigorous disagreement with this act of injustice by the highest judicial body of our denomination. The United Methodist Church is committed to inclusiveness; and inclusiveness denies every semblance of discrimination. The vision of hospitality for our church is Open Hearts, Open Minds, and Open Doors.

SIGNED:
Bishop Warner H. Brown, Jr.,
Resident Bishop Denver Area,
The United Methodist Church
Rev. Dr. Harold W. Anderson, Brush
Rev. Jenny Arfmann, Arvada
Rev. Jeffrey R Babb, Burlington
Rev. Merlene Barner, Brighton
Rev. Cindy Bates, Highlands Ranch
Rev. Denise Bender, Golden
Rev. Teresa Benedett-Farmer, Englewood
Rev. Ginny Bettendorf, Gillette WY
Rev. Rosalee Blake, Boulder
Rev. John Blinn, Pueblo
Rev. Tom Boller, Denver
Rev. Paul A. Brunner, Golden
Rev. Dr. Patrick Bruns, Denver
Rev. Steve Burnett, Monument
Rev. Edwina Ward Burton, Denver
Rev. Lynne Butler, Idaho Springs
Rev. Rusty Butler, Arvada
Rev. Gilbert H. Caldwell, Denver
Rev. Chris Carr, Rocky Ford
Rev. Ginny Chase, Berkeley, CA
Rev. Claire Childress, Boulder
Rev. George Christie, Denver
Rev. Charles Cooper, Cheyenne
Rev. Chuck Cram, Aspen
Rev. Ora Dailey, Torrington, WY
Rev. Su DeBree, Buffalo, WY
Rev. Derek DeToni-Hill, Sterling
Rev. Joyce DeToni-Hill, Sterling
Rev. John Denker, Wheat Ridge
Rev. Andy Dunning, Salida
Rev. Lonnie Eakle, Greeley
Rev. Todd Everhart, Frederick
Rev. Beverly Fest, Boulder
Rev. Janet Forbes, Highlands Ranch
Rev. George Fort, Colorado Springs
Rev. Peter Freytag, Johnstown
Rev. Linda Gertenbach, Wheat Ridge
Rev. Margaret Gillikin, Casper, WY
Rev. Steve Goodier, Salt Lake City, UT

Rev. Michelle Gowin, Englewood
Rev. Jolain Graf, Evergreen
Rev. Aaron Gray, Denver
Rev. Kathy Haley, Aurora
Rev. Ron Hodges, Thornton
Rev. Larry Howard, Wheat Ridge
Rev. Keith Hudiburgh, Haxtun
Rev. Deborah Hull, Glenwood Springs
Rev. Kim James, Pueblo
Rev. Mark A. Johaningsmeir, Aurora
Rev. Barbara Ann Johns-Schleicher, Niwot
Rev. Patricia Johnson, Commerce City
Rev. Youngsook Kang, Boulder
Rev. Jane Keener, Boulder
Rev. Ken Kendrick, Edgewater
Rev. Bill Kirton, Denver
Rev. Daniel Klawitter, Denver
Rev. Paul Kottke, Denver
Rev. Matthias Krier, Longmont
Rev. Brenda Lear, Pueblo
Rev. Eun-sang Lee, Denver
Rev. Dave Lillie, Laramie, WY
Rev. Carol Lillie, Laramie, WY
Rev. Olon Lindemood, Loveland
Rev. Dr. Richard Lyon, Glenwood Springs
Rev. Linda C. Marshall, Denver
Rev. Harvey Martz, Highlands Ranch
Rev. Bruce Maxwell, Longmont
Rev. Sharon McCormick, Arvada
Rev. Keith Merriman, Greeley
Rev. Dr. Don Messer, Centennial
Rev. John Michio Miyahara, Pensacola, FL
Rev. Darrell Mount, Denver
Rev. Paul Murphy, Aurora
Rev. Paul Murphy-Geiss, Centennial
Rev. Warren Napier, Boulder
Rev. Peg Newell-Guazzo, Denver
Rev. Judy Owsley, Colorado Springs
Rev. Linda Pelletier, Louisville
Rev. Sue Pierce, Rock Springs, WY
Rev. TL Phillips, Wheat Ridge
Rev. Cheryl Popple, Park City, UT
Rev. Teena Racheli, Denver
Rev. Vickie Richards-Street, Dolores

Rev. Brian Riecke, Aurora
Rev. Jane Youtz Riecke, Northglenn
Rev. Dr. Elaine Robinson, Fort Worth, TX
Rev. Trudy D. Robinson, Cheyenne, WY
Rev. Maggie D. Roe, Denver
Rev. Jessica Rooks, Arvada
Rev. Melanie Rosa, Lakewood
Rev. Jay Rundell, Denver
Rev. Julian Rush, Denver
Rev. Eloise Saltzgaver, Pine Bluffs, WY
Rev. Rodney Noel Saunders, Grand Junction
Rev. Scott Schiesswohl, Evergreen
Rev. Charles Schuster, Ft Collins
Rev. Jean Schwien, Lakewood
Rev. Dr. Doug Slaughter, Littleton
Rev. Eric Smith, Greeley
Rev. Don Sperber, Lakewood
Rev. Amy Stapleton, Washington, DC
Rev. Sandra Stephens, Littleton
Rev. Richmond Stoakes, Rifle
Rev. Walter Strickland, Boulder
Rev. Dr. Dan Strizek, Lakewood
Rev. Lois Strohmeyer, Denver
Rev. William Stroud, Bailey
Rev. Claude H. Sullivan, Jr., Florence
Rev. J. Alton Templin, Denver
Rev. Jack D. Tharp, Ft. Collins
Rev. Patti Thomas, Broomfield
Rev. John Thompson, Denver
Rev. Keith Thompson, Boulder
Rev. Robert J. Toll, Central City
Rev. Dr. Gene Tucker, Denver
Rev. Sione Tukutau, Stratton
Rev. Glenda Ulmer, Grand Junction
Rev. Carolyn Waters, Denver
Rev. Keith E. Watson, Colorado Springs
Rev. Rob White, Castle Rock
Rev. J. Philip Wogaman, Denver
Rev. Gregory Young, Westminster
Rev. Claire Zilm, Pueblo West
Rev. Gary Zilm, Pueblo West
Rev. Marti Zimmerman, Centennial

Hi-Res graphic

Letter to Laity

Conference friends,
Several laity have expressed some frustration that they were not invited to sign the statement which appeared in the Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News yesterday, Dec. 6, and which was the focus of a RMC News post last night (contents above).

There were also a few clergy who were missed in the invitation (which was handled solely by e-mail). If you were one of those clergy and want to add your name to a potential future ad, please let me (ben at rmcumc dot com) know.

If you want to add your voice and/or name to another statement about the issue of the Judicial Council's ruling (#1032 - found here), you may be interested in another announcement made yesterday about a new web site which welcomes laity signers. Visit http://herewestandumc.org and decide whether or not you wish to sign this statement.

If laity of the Conference want to do something specifically for/in this Conference about this issue, I would suggest contacting the Board of Laity and/or the Conference Lay Leader, Judy Hill (hillej@plains.net). Alternatively, your own congregation's lay leader might be a resource. Finally, a petition to the annual conference session might be another avenue of expression. Visit this page for the petition form and instructions. The Conference has one Welcoming Congregation in the Igniting Ministry program (Crossroads, Grand Junction) and 5 Reconciling Congregations in the Reconciling Ministries Network (Arvada, Aurora Mtn View Community, Boulder First, Denver St. Paul's, and Warren). And, of course, you know many other welcoming churches around the conference!

Ben Roe
Information Administrator, RMCUMC