Where are we?
and where are we
headed ???
Future Directions in the Uniting Church
Diversity, disparity and divergence
in the Uniting Church
‘The Uniting Church has become so diverse that it is no
longer a denomination. To be sure its congregations share
a common financial, legal and property framework which
is binding upon all. But there is no common faith and
order that is credibly held, proclaimed, practised and
required. Congregations or groups of congregations,
therefore, are defining themselves theologically and
ethically, and are ‘sitting loose’ to any theology or ethic
claimed by the Church as a whole. Regrettably, what has
been celebrated as ‘diversity’ has become disparity and
divergence.’
The slant road
Affirming of
LGBTIQ
2015
Review of doct.
of marriage
Diversity in
sexual ethics
Practising homosexuals
allowed in ministry
At the 10th Assembly in 2003
the Uniting Church made
decisions which caused it to
leave the path of biblical
orthodoxy and begin to
travel along a ‘slant road
On that road are a number of
bridges which, since then,
have either been crossed or
will need to be crossed if the
Church is to continue on this
slant road.
This slant road is taking the
Church in roughly the same
direction as the secular
society in which it lives.
2003
14th Assembly, July 2015
The 14th Assembly resolved to be an inclusive church ‘that
celebrates diversity and embraces LGBTIQ people as full
members of the church community’.
It also apologised for having 'caused hurt' to these people.
LGBTIQ stands for
‘L’ = lesbian,
‘G’ = gay,
‘B’ = bisexual,
‘T’ = transsexual,
‘I’ = intersex,
and now ‘Q’.
But what is the significance of Q?
What does ‘Q’ stand for?
‘Q’ can mean Questioning or Queer
Questioning: i.e. people who are questioning their
sexual or gender identity
Queer theory:
• Rejects the binary view of gender and sexuality
—‘male and female created He them’.
• Posits instead a fluid spectrum of gender
identities
• Claims autonomy for the individual person to
choose their own gender identity, and self-identify
within the gender ‘spectrum’.
Queer practice:
The scope of queer sexual practices goes far beyond what
is meant by LGBTI. It includes:
Polyamory: the practice of having more than one sexual
relationship at the same time, with the full knowledge and
consent of all partners involved.
Pederasty: a (usually erotic) homosexual relationship
between an adult male and a younger pubescent or
adolescent male.
Paedophilia: the sexual love of and attraction to children.
Paraphilia: an unlimited array of sexual perversions
including fetishism, transvestitism, sadism, masochism,
bondage, exhibitionism, and voyeurism.
Bestiality: sexual activity with animals.
All these things are truly queer and take their cue from ‘Q’.
Q is the key that opens Pandora’s box
Two metaphors that describe a step or direction that will result
in unbridled, negative outcomes.
• Sowing the wind and reaping the whirlwind (Hosea 8:7)
• Pandora’s box is a box which, when opened despite warnings,
releases many undesirable things which cannot thereafter be
controlled.
Q is the key that opens Pandora’s box
So when society and the church leave the time honoured path
and, contrary to God’s warnings, head down a path that ‘seemed
like a good idea at the time’, they reap the whirlwind and open
Pandora’s box.
We began with gay and lesbian and have added BTI, and now Q
which is the gateway to every conceivable erotic possibility.
The straight path
The slant road
diversity
?
?
?
2015
diversIty
LGBTIQ
I
T
diversity
B
G&L
The slant road is making
crooked the straight paths of
the Lord. Acts 13:10
Forsaking the right way, they
have gone astray. 2 Peter
2:15
The further the Assembly goes
along the slant road, the
greater the diversity between
those on that road and those
who remain on the straight
path of biblical orthodoxy.
2003
The straight path of gender/sexuality
The created, binary nature of gender
- male and female created He them
Diversity in binary gender
- the delicate man is still a man, the ‘tom boy’ is still a girl
Those ‘whom God has joined together’ in marriage union
-therefore shall a man leave his father and mother and be joined
to his wife and the two shall become one flesh
The familial image of God
- before the Father from whom every family…is named
The honour and dignity of singleness
- let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned
to him, and to which God has called him.
Celibacy in singleness and faithfulness in marriage (CISAFIM)
Grace on the straight path
The straight path of God is not a path
of legalistic righteousness.
It is the path of
the righteousness of God through faith in
Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is
no distinction: for all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God, and are justified by
his grace as a gift, through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus. Romans 3:22-24
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for
you, for my power is made perfect in
weakness.“ 2 Corinthians 12:9
‘The way’ ahead on the straight
path
6. Unite under the banner Uniting in Christ
5. Build praying relationships with all
groups on the straight path
The slant road
?
diversity
?
?
2015
diversIty
LGBTIQ
I
T
diversity
B
G&L
2003
4. Statement on gender and marriage
- Creation as male and female
- Christ and his bride
- The family
3. Publicise redemption stories
2. Define, teach and proclaim the faith
1. A way or path, not an organisation
Those belonging to the way Acts 9:2
For the ways of the Lord are right,
and the upright walk in them, Hosea 14:9
The world’s slant road
(the growing acronym)
LGBTIQ???
LGBTIQ??
LGBTIQ?
LGBTIQ
2015
LGBTI
GLBT
GLB
G&L
1995 ‘Gay’
The world’s slant road—looking back
(social and legal changes)
2015
Same sex adoption of children
Same sex parenting
Same sex fostering of children
Legal equality for LGBTIQ people
De facto legal equality with marriage
Abortion on demand
No fault divorce
Sexual intercourse outside and before
marriage
1960
Hormonal contraception (the pill)
The world’s slant road—looking ahead
(social changes)
legalising of pederasty
lowering of age of consent
polyamorous or group ‘marriage’
personal choice of gender identity
deconstruction of binary gender (m/f)
‘safe schools’ program
gender selection, designer babies
identity loss e.g .in birth records
same sex marriage
2015
The world’s slant road—looking ahead
(legal changes)
Destruction of Western nations as Christian nations
Totalitarian social control
Censoring of opposition through litigation
Banning the Bible as contrary to laws of the land
Outlawing of divine authority (religious exemptions)
Control of religious institutions through funding
2015
Re-education of professionals, conformity
required for employment
Where will it all end?
The last thing to fly out of Pandora’s Box was something good—
Hope!!
In Hosea's time God's judgement was administered with the
promise of mercy.
I will heal their apostasy;
I will love them freely,
for my anger has turned from them.
…They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow;
they shall flourish like the grain;
they shall blossom like the vine; Hosea 14:1,7
As society, with the church tagging along, opens Pandora’s box
and reaps the whirlwind, unrestrained godlessness shows its
real fruits and begins to be understood for what it is.
As the world gets darker the light shines brighter. As things get
worse people begin to reconsider the direction we have taken.
Public repentance and prayer
Then hope can be born and God’s mercy can be earnestly
sought and thankfully received.
Public repentance becomes possible
"Come, let us return to the Lord;
for he has torn us, that he may heal us;
he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.
Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord;
his going out is sure as the dawn;
he will come to us as the showers,
as the spring rains that water the earth." Hosea 6:1-3
Getting into the war room
But we don’t have to wait until then!
This is a spiritual battle
For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to
the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have
divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every
lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every
thought captive to obey Christ, 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
See the film War room. The war room is the prayer closet.
The primacy of prayer — get into the war room !!
‘Union’ prayer meetings – of different groups in the UC
– public, ecumenical meetings
Whoever is wise,
let him understand these things
Hosea’s plea
Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
whoever is discerning, let him know them;
for the ways of the Lord are right,
and the upright walk in them,
but transgressors stumble in them.
Hosea 14:9