By now, the movement towards full inclusion in church for openly lesbian or gay (and partnered) clergy is strong, and widely reported - for the US. The process is in fact also evident in many other areas. In Protestant Europe, it has advanced rather further than in the US - so that it is no longer even newsworthy. In Australia, it is a little behind, but as this report from Sydney, it has begun there too.
Two gay ministers uniting the church - Australia
Two congregations of the Uniting Church of Australia (UCA) have appointed two openly gay ministers — understood to be the first time a major Christian denomination has inducted openly gay clergy in Sydney.
The Reverend Nicole Fleming was appointed sole minister of Balmain Uniting Church on July 17.
One week later, the Reverend Ben Gilmour was welcomed as the sole minister of the Paddington Uniting Church.
Both congregations appointed Fleming and Gilmour completely aware of their sexuality.
While the UCA has not made a definitive decision about gay ministers, its 2003 national assembly affirmed the Church’s previous position that a person’s sexuality should not, in itself, be a bar to ordination.
It acknowledged that different views on homosexuality exist within the Church but made it clear congregations can choose clergy who fit the local context.
-full report at SX News
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Y’know, the odd thing about this is that there are and have been quite a number of Out, Queer Clergy inducted into UCA positions in recent years. Maybe Sydney is a little behind the times in this regard…???
For example, my partner, Rev. Leanne Jenski, has been the Minister at Blackwood (a suburb of Adelaide) Uniting Church in South Australia for 5 years. I have just started my 4th year with Church of The Trinity Uniting in Clarence Park (also a suburb of Adelaide.)
Whilst the Blackwood congregation was initially less receptive than Trinity, most people there are delighted that she is their Minister and many have come to church or come back to church BECAUSE the Minister is Queer. The congregation at Trinity has also grown - and continues to grow (in terms of both faith and numbers.) One of the MANY things that delight me about the Trinity congregation is their amazing openness to diversity AND the fact that, of the people who are newcomers (in the last 3 years) about a third are GLBT people and around at least another third are families with young children. Given that many homophobes believe Gay men are also paedophiles, I think this is REALLY COOL! We have also become the “home” of the Adelaide Gay and Lesbian Qwire and the SA branch of Uniting Network (which is a network of GLBTIQ people, their friends, families and supporters within the Uniting Church across Australia.) About 18 months ago, a Gay male Minister came out to his 2 congregations in a reasonably large country town near Adelaide. The larger of the 2 congregations decided they did not want him to continue as their Minister. The smaller congregation could not afford to employ him full time but asked him to stay in a part-time capacity, which he did. I preached at his Induction which was packed to the hilt - both the church AND the adjoining hall. This tiny congregation has subsequently attracted a lot more members and has become a little beacon of hope for many people in that community.And… there are other similar stories.It’s not always easy for us OR our congregations but, being a prophetic voice in the church has RARELY been easy.Thanks for your website - which I came across by accident! I’ve enjoyed reading MANY of your posts and have bookmarked you to return again.Peace to you and blessings,Rev. Sue Wickham
Thank you for this most helpful commentary from the ground, in Oz. I also found the report distinctly odd, for creating the impression that this was in any way new. I have no direct knowledge of Australia, and the net tends to be dominated by US news - but I would have expected the Uniting Church practice to be similar to that of their counterparts in the United Church of the US, or of the UK.
I would probably not have placed the link if it had not been an Australian story - I am anxious to move away (as far as I can) from the disproportionate coverage of the US that results from reliance on internet news sources.