REFLECTIONS for the JOURNEY:

May Reflection: Faith, Hope and Justice

It's been two weeks since I participated in"JustChurch" Tampa! I continue to reflect on the intersection of my life-lines; of the United Methodist Church's General Conference in Tampa, my leaving Florida 13 years ago, and my return to Florida on behalf of the Church Within A Church Movement.

One of the reasons I moved away from Florida in 1999 was because I could no longer abide by the treatment I was experiencing by the church. For 18 years I attended a United Methodist Church (UMC) in a small town in south central Florida. I was closeted and never felt it would be spiritually or emotionally safe to come out. And why would I? Every year, whether in response to something in the news, the "Gay Days" at Disney World or because Annual Conference or General Conference was on the horizon, the "issue" of homosexuality was raised. In Sunday School classes and from the pulpit I was reminded that I was not accepted. One pastor, who later became a District Superintendent, preached one bright sunny morning, that I was an abomination. In that moment something deep inside shifted for me. I knew God had something more for me than being spiritually abused by some pastors of the UMC.

I moved to Chicago and my first Sunday I risked attending a United Methodist Church. I had read about this church. Pastor Greg Dell had just been on trial for participating in a holy union for two gay men. I needed to meet this pastor. My first Sunday in Chicago was Greg's last Sunday before he went on indefinite suspension. Again, something deep inside shifted for me during that service. This time, it was my liberation. 

My God-voice had been rekindled. And then the church acted out again.

In 2005 I gave up my membership in the UMC after Judicial Council ruling 1032. The ruling was related to a Gay man who was very active in his local UMC denied membership in that church because he wouldn't turn away from his "sin" of being a sexually active Gay man. That ruling was my line in the sand.

The faith I have lost in the UMC system, has been replaced by the place I have found  in the Church Within A Church Movement. And by "place" I don't mean status or responsibility. Rather, I mean a place of community. A place where I am theologically grounded in a God of love and justice. A place to call 'my church home' that honors and respects me and offers a place to live my faith, be supported in hope and work for justice. There is no hierarchy that puts up barriers or conditions. It's community being church.

And it is in that spirit that I could be back in Tampa, Florida offering myself as a witness of a fully inclusive and just  community to the United Methodists doing battle inside the convention center.

During a dinner break from the battle next door, over 50 of us gathered at "JustChurch" Tampa! We talked, ate and shared our stories. We offered a place of support and community. We were BEing Church.

Some of the 50 are already Members of the Church Within A Church Movement. Others won't join. Others have and will. Others will find a way to stay in the UMC.

My prayers are with them all.

My community is with the Church Within A Church Movement.

cathy knight

executive director

Church Within A Church Movement

Read more of our "JustChurch" Tampa activities HERE

Read IRD (a conservative ecumenical renewal group) article "Church Within A Church Movement at General Conference" 

cathy knight introducing speakers at "JustChurch" Tampa! l to r: Dave Lafary, Rev. Annie Britton, Rev. DeLyn Celec. Tampa. 2012.

Read the beautiful Communion liturgy used by Annie Britton, DeLyn Celec and Sarah Celec at the Tabernacle in Tampa, HERE.

Rev. Annie Britton, Sarah Celec, Rev. DeLyn Celec. Tampa. 2012.