(The following is an excerpt from the introduction to my upcoming talking at a retreat in San Antonio, Texas.  The retreat is sponsored by the Open and Affirming [ONA] coalition in the UCC’s South Central Conference.  ONA churches advocate for full inclusion of gays and lesbians in the life of the church, including ordained ministry, and for “marriage equality” for same gender partners.  Linda and I are going to represent Faithful and Welcoming Churches of the UCC.”  A manuscript of the entire address will be posted on this blog Saturday afternoon, January 23.)

Courage and rules

Last summer at the UCC’s General Synod in Grand Rapids, Lauryn Farris did something very courageous.  As a transgendered person, she ventured over to the display table for Faithful and Welcoming Churches (FWC), a coalition of UCC members summarized in the acronym ECOT – evangelical, conservative, orthodox, traditional.  Lauryn knew before she ventured to our table that FWC came into being following the 2005 General Synod’s endorsement of same sex marriage, and that many of the core values of the UCC’s Coalition for LGBT concerns are not shared by ECOTs.

But she went anyway, not knowing exactly what she might encounter, or whom.  The person she met was my wife, Linda, and the conversation surprised both of them.  They were able to talk respectfully, even warmly, and closed the conversation with prayer.

That simple act of courage by Lauryn, accompanied by Linda’s irenic response, was more than anything else the primary catalyst for this day for my being here as the representative for Faithful and Welcoming Churches at an event sponsored by the South Central Conference’s Open and Affirming group.

I want to thank you for the invitation, because it reflects courage for all of you to listen to someone with whom you are likely to disagree about some key principles.  I want to thank not only those of you who invited me, but those of you who came.  That is also courageous.  Our culture has an unwritten “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy about most issues that are controversial – from religion to politics to sex, and our conversation touches all of them…. 

Here are the questions I have been asked to address by those who invited me here.

·         Who are ECOTs?  I will share my own story as well as give a description of those four terms.

·         Why do ECOTs stay in the UCC?  Not all ECOTs do stay, of course, so what makes us different?

·         How can we have sacred conversations?  If we are to have a healthy dialogue, how can we make that happen?

·         How can the UCC provide a voice for ECOTs?  In other words, what is FWC asking of the denominational leadership and of ONA advocates?