Eighty percent of congregation quits after Indiana church forces out gay choir director

[SecularMotion]

Adam Fraley told The Herald Bulletin that he worked for the United Methodist Church in Alexandria for six years and attended with his partner. When a new minister took over the church last year, Fraley said that he resigned because of pressure about his sexual orientation.

United Methodist Church law allows LGBT people to attend church services but says “self-avowed, practicing homosexuals are not to be certified as candidates, ordained as ministers, or appointed to serve.”

Many members of the church, who supported Fraley, were at odds over what it meant to “serve.”

Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church Communication Director told The Herald Bulletin that LGBT people were only prohibited from being ordained as ministers and that all other posts could be decided by church leadership.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/13/eighty-percent-of-congregation-quits-after-indiana-church-forces-out-gay-choir-director/

[Warren Stupidity]

1. Good for them.

[hrmjustin]

2. Good!

[Historic NY]

3. Finally

[skepticscott]

4. Why are people always so surprised

when the bigoted organizations they belong to turn out to be...bigoted?

[uriel1972]

5. Up until that point they seemed happy with discrimination against LGBT people...

So human, to only care when you see it touches someone you know of. Still better late than never... I guess.

[trotsky]

6. Excellent.

I wish more people would do this. It would definitely help change occur in bigoted churches.

[cleanhippie]

7. Too bad so many others lack the courage to do this.

Imagine the change that could be effected if Catholics did this.

[cbayer]

8. Very cool. Would love to see more of this.

[skepticscott]

9. This is what anti-theism accomplishes

Is this another of the causes you support and that anti-theism harms?

[trotsky]

10. Another view on this:

No. I Won’t Give Churchgoers Cookies For Doing the Minimally Decent Thing.
http://freethoughtblogs.com/entequilaesverdad/2014/01/14/no-i-wont-give-churchgoers-cookies-for-doing-the-minimally-decent-thing/

I’m not going to give them unstinting praise for doing what tens of thousands of other Christians have done when they had a quibble with their church, and splitting, thus leading to the wide variety of Christian denominations who plague our world today. I’ve seen 80% of a church schism over whether or not they should go doorknocking after church on Sunday afternoons. I’m supposed to be impressed when 80% walk over basic human rights? Puh-leeze.

...

No, here’s my response to them:

You lot did the minimally decent thing. You stood by a man who was wronged, and that is good. But what I want to know is this: why did you leave your church in the hands of the bigot who forced him out? Eighty percent of you could have ensured that asshole didn’t have a job. You could have found a more enlightened minister, and then rehired your choir director, and taught the bigots a lasting lesson. That would have been praiseworthy. Think of that the next time you encounter this situation – which you will, because nothing’s changed.

[cleanhippie]

11. Kicking to remind other believers that they have the power to effect change in their church.