On Monday, May 9, 2016, 111 United Methodist clergy and candidates released a letter in which they came out to their denomination as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and intersex people. Responding to their coming out, on May 16, 2016, a broad coalition of national faith leaders outside of the United Methodist Church released a statement in support of these clergy and candidates. Only two days later, more than 1,200 religious leaders outside of the Methodist Church had also endorsed the statement.
Their statement reads in full:
“We, as religious leaders outside of the United Methodist Church, unite today in support of the 111 United Methodist religious leaders who on Monday, May 9, 2016, released “A Love Letter to Our Church from Your LGBTQI Religious Leaders”
“We celebrate the courage of these United Methodist LGBTQI religious leaders who, in coming out to their church, have risked their own security in order to share the fullness of their gifts with their faith communities and the United Methodist Church. We acknowledge their desire to remain in relationship with the United Methodist Church and to continue to answer the call to ministry as United Methodists. Their act of boldness is an example for all people of faith of what it means to embody one’s faith and sexuality with wholeness and integrity.
“We affirm the call of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and intersex people to ordained ministry, and we embrace the gifts LGBTQI people bring to faith communities. We recognize that there is a long history of LGBTQI people answering the call to serve in faith communities, including as religious leaders. This service has furthered justice, transformation, and flourishing in both faith communities and society.
As siblings in faith, we join with these United Methodist LGBTQI religious leaders in praying that the United Methodist Church will stop harming LGBTQI persons, and we commit ourselves to a world where sexual and gender diversity are understood as a blessing that enriches all.”
National Religious leaders who endorsed of the statement:
Imam Daayiee Abdullah, Executive Director, MECCA Institute
Dr. Michael Adee, Director, Global Faith and Justice Project
Rev. Daniel Adolphson, Moderator, GLAD Alliance
Marie Alford-Harkey, President and CEO, Religious Institute
Rev. Ray Bagnuolo, Chaplain & Minister Director, That All May Freely Serve
Rev. Dr. Lee Barker, President, Meadville Lombard Theological School
Rev. Elder Pat Bumgardner, Executive Director, Global Justice Institute, Metropolitan Community Churches
Rev. Dr. Michael D. Castle, President, Alliance of Baptists
Eliel Cruz, Executive Director, Faith In America
Rev. Dr. Miguel De La Torre, Professor of Social Ethics and Latinx Studies, Iliff School of Theology
Francis DeBernardo, Executive Director, New Ways Ministry
Rev. Ronald Degges, President, Disciples Home Missions
Rev. Dr. John C. Dorhauer, General Minister and President, United Church of Christ
Ms. Marianne Duddy-Burke, Executive Director, DignityUSA
Rabbi Denise Eger, President, Central Conference of American Rabbis
Rev. Dr. Marvin M. Ellison, Director of Alumni/ae Relations, Union Theological Seminary, New York
Rev. Brian Ellison, Executive Director, Covenant Network of Presbyterians (PCUSA)
Bishop Yvette Flunder, Presiding Bishop, The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries
Rev. Francis Fornaro, Interim President and Dean, Episcopal Divinity School
Rev. Dr. Marie Fortune, Founder and Senior Analyst, FaithTrust Institute
Mr. Bruce Garner, President, Integrity USA
Rev. Dr. Larry Greenfield, Executive Director, Parliament of the World’s Religions
Dr. Sharon Groves, Vice President, Partner Engagement, Auburn Seminary
Rev. Ann-Louise Haak, Board Chair, Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists
Rev. Dr. Debra W. Haffner, President Emerita, Religious Institute
Rev. Cedric Harmon, Executive Director, Many Voices: A Black Church Movement for Gay & Transgender Justice
Rev. Dr. Trace Haythorn, Executive Director/CEO, Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, Inc.
Rev. Dr. Katharine Henderson, President, Auburn Seminary
The Rt. Rev. Anne Hodges-Copple, Bishop Diocesan Pro Tempore, Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina
Rev. Dr. Alice W. Hunt, President, Chicago Theological Seminary
Mary E. Hunt, Co-director, Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Ritual (WATER)
Rev. Dr. Mark Johnston, Executive Director, Open & Affirming Ministry Program, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Rev. Dr. Serene Jones, President, Union Theological Seminary
Rev. Dr. Kevin Kanous, Bishop, Northern Texas-Northern Louisiana Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Sapreet Kaur, Executive Director, Sikh Coalition
Idit Klein, Executive Director, Keshet
Pastor Steve Knight, Co-founder, Transform Network
Mr. Bruce Knotts, Director, Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office
Andrew Lang, Executive Director, Open and Affirming Coalition of the United Church of Christ
Justin Lee, Executive Director, The Gay Christian Network
Rabbi Michael Lerner, Chair, Network of Spiritual Progressives, Editor, Tikkun Magazine
The Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis, Senior Minister, Middle Collegiate Church
Rev. Rodney McKenzie, Jr., Director of the Academy for Leadership and Action, National LGBTQ Task Force
Rev. Rosemary Bray McNatt, President, Starr King School for the Ministry
Alex McNeill, Executive Director, More Light Presbyterians
Jon O’Brien, President, Catholics for Choice
Rev. Dr. Gail R. O’Day, Dean, Wake Forest University School of Divinity
Ms. Marilyn Paarlberg, Executive Director, Room for All (Reformed Church in America)
The Rev. Dr. Cameron Partridge, Episcopal Chaplain, Boston University
Rev. LeDayne McLeese Polaski, Executive Director, BPFNA ~ Bautistas por la Paz
Bishop Tonyia Rawls, Executive Director, The Freedom Center for Social Justice
The Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson, Bishop, The Episcopal Church
James Rowe, Director, Believe Out Loud
Dr. Bernard Schlager, Vice President of Academic Affairs & Dean; Associate Professor of Historical and Cultural Studies, Pacific School of Religion
Rev. Michael Schuenemeyer, Executive for Health & Wholeness Advocacy, United Church of Christ
Bishop John Selders, Jr., Bishop Presider, The Inter-Denominational Conference of Liberation Congregations and Ministries
Gregory E. Sterling, Reverend Henry L. Slack Dean, Yale Divinity School
Rev. Dr. Roland Stringfellow, Coordinator of the African-American Roundtable, Center for LGBTQ and Gender Studies in Religion, Pacific School of Religion
Dr. Justin Tanis, Managing Director, Center for LGBTQ and Gender Studies in Religion, Pacific School of Religion
Aubrey Thonvold, Executive Director, ReconcilingWorks: Lutherans for Full Participation
Bishop Joseph W. Tolton, Bishop, Global Ministries, The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries
Rev. Dr. Emilie Townes, Dean and E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of Womanist Ethics and Society, Vanderbilt Divinity School
Rev. Dr. David Vasquez-Levy, President, Pacific School of Religion
Lisa Weiner-Mahfuz, Vice President, Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
Dr. D. Newell Williams, President, Brite Divinity School
Rev. Dr. Nancy Wilson, Moderator, Metropolitan Community Churches
Ms. Ani Zonnevald, President, Muslims for Progressive Values