Should Homosexuals Be Denied Church Membership?
This is a thorny question and one that I do have an opinion on. However, I will not be the one to state my opinion is more correct than a church elder. They are in a position in which only God has the authority to judge them.
As for my opinion: I do believe that homosexuals should be allowed chruch membership. Just as any other human is. We are all sinners and we all need forgiveness. Also we all need to be included into a body of believers that can counsel and suppport us in our walk with Christ. However, this inclusion comes with an expectation of an individual by the group. The individual will repent of thier sins. They will not grasp upon particularly pleasurable sins and expect others to accept this. This then becomes a point of centention within the congregation and allows division to enter the church. We've seen this with the appointment of an openly gay Bishop within the Episcopalian denomination and within individual churches. As a man of God Bishop Robinson knew full well what his appointment would do to his denomination. No matter how ferverently he wished to serve God the unity of the Church should have been his primary concern. He chose his own selfish desires over the needs of his congregation.
Now, Rev. Edward Johnson, former pastor of South Hill United Methodist Church:
He's been removed from his positon because he refused chruch membership to an openly gay man. A man who had been attending the church for some time and was also a member of the choir.
I'm inclined to agree with the pastor in this situation because his overall responsibility is to protect the congreation. If he were to allow an openly and unrepentant homosexual into the congration he risks their spiritual growth. If, however, this homosexual man expressed the desire and intention to repent from this sin and was still denied membership then I belive the pastor has errored. I've seen no place within the article that states this is the case.
The Church is to accept all people because we are all sinners in need of God's grace. But acceptance within Church hinges on one's desire to repent. If one does not, and flaunts it, then they must not be allowed to tempt others into stumbling.
As for my opinion: I do believe that homosexuals should be allowed chruch membership. Just as any other human is. We are all sinners and we all need forgiveness. Also we all need to be included into a body of believers that can counsel and suppport us in our walk with Christ. However, this inclusion comes with an expectation of an individual by the group. The individual will repent of thier sins. They will not grasp upon particularly pleasurable sins and expect others to accept this. This then becomes a point of centention within the congregation and allows division to enter the church. We've seen this with the appointment of an openly gay Bishop within the Episcopalian denomination and within individual churches. As a man of God Bishop Robinson knew full well what his appointment would do to his denomination. No matter how ferverently he wished to serve God the unity of the Church should have been his primary concern. He chose his own selfish desires over the needs of his congregation.
Now, Rev. Edward Johnson, former pastor of South Hill United Methodist Church:
...has been banished from the pulpit and denied his salary for one year by the Virginia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, despite the admission he acted on his conscience and his action could be defended "in theory" from the Methodist Book of Discipline.
He's been removed from his positon because he refused chruch membership to an openly gay man. A man who had been attending the church for some time and was also a member of the choir.
I'm inclined to agree with the pastor in this situation because his overall responsibility is to protect the congreation. If he were to allow an openly and unrepentant homosexual into the congration he risks their spiritual growth. If, however, this homosexual man expressed the desire and intention to repent from this sin and was still denied membership then I belive the pastor has errored. I've seen no place within the article that states this is the case.
The Church is to accept all people because we are all sinners in need of God's grace. But acceptance within Church hinges on one's desire to repent. If one does not, and flaunts it, then they must not be allowed to tempt others into stumbling.
Posted by Kevin D. on
Monday August 1, 2005 at 1:40am
Couples living together like married outside of wedlock should not be allowed membership unless they get married or stop living together. It should apply to any sin as such....
Why would they fire him? He didn't bar the man from coming to church, he jsut barred him from being a member.
I think it is a matter of putting your best foot forward to stop sinning or not. We can't help sinning, but continuing to do stuff that you know is sin is where the problem lies.
However, by that same token, it is private property and they do have the right to deny entrance to anyone they wish. I'm not advocating that but just reminding people the a church is a private organization and under no obligation to do something it feels violates certian ethical standards.