About the Time You Thought it was Okay to be a Methodist Once Again

EDITOR'S Note: In the three articles presented today, this one is the most disturbing, in my opinion. Someone, in another blog I read from time to time has stated his belief that "the Baptists are the most rotten of all". And while that may be true, at least the Baptists do not mince words: they tell you right from the start that you are going to go to hell if you are homosexual. In that respect however, they are a lot more honest than the United Methodists who like to jerk your chain and tell you what a great person you are, then the minute your back is turned stab you with a knife if you try to actually take them up on their claims of (your) goodness. Just try to find a position of some responsibility in the United Methodist Church ... like a pastor for instance, as the woman in this report tried to do. I am certain the person who tattled on her felt she was doing the 'right thing' by exposing the lesbian and saving the Methodist Church from the 'sinner'. That is why so many of us have given much consideration to the Methodist Church but wound up staying away. Some of us really and truly want to give of ourselves to Christ and the church and do things to help others. But don't try it where the Methodists are concerned; their talking about 'all are welcome here' is just so much bologna. PAT]

She found home in a new church
By Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY
The Rev. Jo Gayle Hudson will always grieve for the faith she grew up in.
But the United Methodist Church, the religion that taught her about social justice, the one in which she felt called by God to be a pastor, won't let lesbians such as Hudson serve in the pulpit.

She was in the closet when she was ordained a deacon and associate pastor. Just weeks before her ordination as an elder, she was "outed."

"Like many closeted gays, you truly believe if you are good enough, love well enough and work hard enough, everyone will overlook that one little thing about you that is just your normal life."

Instead, she had to find a new faith home.

Hudson switched to the United Church of Christ. It's similar to Methodism theologically, she says, but structured differently. Churches are autonomous, and one "had the courage to call an out lesbian."

Seven years later, in 2004, she was invited to preach at the pioneering gay church in Dallas, the Cathedral of Hope.

Immediately, "I felt the spirit. I felt at home.

"This is a church with a passion for radical inclusion, a passion for justice, an extravagant welcome," says Hudson, 52, now the Cathedral's rector and senior pastor.

"Every week I hear people say, with joy and relief in their voice, 'You've saved my life.' "

Says Hudson, joy and relief in her own voice: "God creates out of chaos. God does new things."

Find this article at:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2006-06-12-god-gays-hudson_x.htm