The Truth About Hate
MLIVE
Emily Monacelli
July 16, 2015
CASSOPOLIS, MI — An openly gay Southwest Michigan pastor has said he was forced to resign earlier this week because he has a partner.
"It's no different than I'm white," Hutchison said.
Hutchison was contacted by the United Methodist Church's district superintendent, the Rev. John Boley of Kalamazoo, on Monday. Boley asked to meet with him and said someone had made it known in the bishop's office that Hutchison has a gay partner.
"He asked me if I did and I said yes," Hutchison said. "By that evening at 7:00 I resigned under the condition of immediate termination. If I wouldn't have resigned, they would have fired me."
Hutchison, 31, said he was surprised and curious why it took so long and why the confrontation happened now. The Grand Rapids native said the church accepts members who are gay, but pastors cannot be gay. The church's Book of Discipline states:
"The practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. Therefore self-avowed practicing homosexuals are not to be certified as candidates, ordained as ministers, or appointed to serve in The United Methodist Church."
Hutchison said he was hired to help the church grow its congregation. He said he helped grow the organization from less than 30 members to the more than 140 members that are listed in its directory now. He said he also helped the church become financially solvent by closing its $9,000 budget shortfall.
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.
"I've never been one to speak about gay issues from the pulpit," Hutchison said. "I've talked about inclusivity and God loves all people. The sermon was not about gay people. It was 'God loves all people. God forgives us all and we all need God.'"
Hutchison said the congregation is hurt, angry and upset. They have draped his pulpit and chair in black tulle, which they usually do to mourn a member's passing.
Church member Kevin Hershberger said the district superintendent held an "emotional" meeting with about 80 members of the congregation Wednesday to explain the move.
"His message was, it's in the Book of Discipline that we've got open doors to everybody. We welcome everybody, apparently, except for the pastor," Hershberger said.
Hershberger said Hutchison's work in the community has drawn more members, including himself, his children and grandchildren, into the church. He said he is going to miss his service and the way he plays music.
"It was a performance," Hershberger said of Hutchison's service. "It was so enjoyable to go there and listen. There was a saying amongst the congregation, if someone was new, 'If you liked it this week, just wait 'til next week. You'll like it better.'"
Hershberger said he started attending the church regularly in November, after Hutchison had reached out to him and supported him for an appointment with the county. Hershberger said he and his family had been looking for a church.
"This church was dying when he came here," Hershberger said. "They weren't far from closing the doors. It was real close. He came in, worked on it, got people to come. ... He brought life back into that church."
Hershberger said Hutchison is looked up to in the greater community, not just within the church.
"He's so influential," Hershberger said. "He built a congregation because he went to all of the village meetings and county meetings just because. Everyone got to know him. He wanted to know what was going on. It meant enough to him and that also got everybody to know him."
Hershberger said it was never a secret Hutchison is gay, and it wasn't an issue with the congregation. In fact, the church's marquee bears a message of support for Hutchison.
"I'm straight," Hershberger said. "I knew when we started that he was gay, but he's not in your face about it. He's not asking you to be gay. All he wanted was friends. In Cass, he found acceptance. That means a lot to him and everybody in that church. There's nobody in that church who had a problem (with it)."
Hutchison said he plans to marry his partner, Monty Hutchison, outside the Cass County courthouse on Friday.
Hutchison, who has master's degrees in social work, divinity and theology, said he plans to look for a job as a social worker in a hospital in the Ann Arbor or Detroit areas. He said his dream is to be a professor and obtain a doctorate in clinical psychology.
"I'm still waiting for the shell shock to wear off," Hutchison said. "I'm looking forward to being married to my husband. I'm looking forward to our next chapter together."
Calls to the Cassopolis United Methodist Church and the district superintendent's office weren't immediately returned Thursday. The Methodist Church has released a statement to media stating 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.
The Truth About Love
Gay Michigan Pastor Marries Partner Days After Being Forced To Resign
MLIVE
Emily Monacelli
July 17, 2015
CASSOPOLIS, MI — 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.
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.
"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."
*******
This is the truth about love & hate...
1 Corinthians 13English Standard Version (ESV)
The Way of Love
1. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
2. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
3. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast;
5. it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
6. it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
7. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
9. For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
10. but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
11. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
12. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments may be moderated and will appear within 12 hours if approved.