Other readers here may not be aware that in my professional life, I work for two churches, so I am, therefore, a supporter and strong advocate of organized religion.
Many of my current crop of friends are people I've met in one way or another through the complex dance of "dating" - or whatever word you want to use to describe social activities among people who are potentially interested in each other romantically at some point down the road.
I've written before on here that my experience has shown that Christianity is anathema to all but a very small percentage of gay people under 40. This might be because gay people are young and generally don't have children, because people past high school age being drawn to the prevailing religion of our culture in any significant way. However, it seems like when people start to have kids, I've observed that young people start to come back to church, presumably because they want their children to be raised with religious values, even if they themselves weren't all that serious about them before. Most denominations "gave up" gays to their "sin", so it's not surprising that gays don't want to have anything to do with the church that has already condemned them.
Given all of these factors, I've noticed some interesting things. They young gay people I do know who are showing up for church are really, really serious about it. They seem to be the only ones that have been able to machete through the brush of marginalization and misunderstanding to arrive at a place where they can take their faith seriously in the context of organized religion.
Also, because attitudes towards gays have come a long way in some mainline Christian churches, young gay people who are coming to church are not necessarily supportive of the same types of "liberal" theology that the older generations tend to promote. They feel welcome enough that they don't have to set aside traditional teachings as a necessary precondition for belonging in the church.
Even more surprisingly, some of them are even politically conservative as well - which I don't see as much of in mainline Protestant churches - especially of the more liberal varieties. (I would count the Episcopal Church in with this mix.)
I'm definitely seeing a trend here, and I think it's an important one, because it tells us a few things:
- First, the Episcopal Church is working through it's issues, and it's coming out of them in a way where the historic vision of what the Church has always taught is being embraced and promoted within a truly pluralistic and fully inclusive context.
- Second, our denomination needs very quickly find the resources to nurture and take full advantage of the serious faith these young people are bringing to the table.
- Third, if more gay people are engaging with their faith in a serious way, our denomination needs to have solid teachings, social structures, and liturgies that guide gay people in acceptable ways of doing "dating" and relationships.
- Fourth, if young gay people are leading the way in taking their faith seriously and wrestling with these big questions, let's make sure we do the favor of recognizing them as pioneers among their generation in bringing young people of all walks of life back into the church.
When I was 6 years old, and my father dropped me off at the local church as a punishment for happily calling Grandma at 6AM in the morning, he unwittingly kicked me into the door of a place of deep healing and solace. This church - this gathering of people - was a place where people were expected to treat each other as they would want to be treated, which meant that the multiple types of abuse and rejection I experienced in every other facet of my young life were not going to be ultimately tolerated in this place. And they were not.
So, I met God, because I encountered the love of the Body of Christ, the Church. I encountered the love of my Lord Jesus Christ within the context of organized religion. To this day, this is the way that I connect with God - through the Church. I know of no other way that I can effectively "plug into" what I have come to understand as God; I'm just not that talented, disciplined, enlightened, or whatever enough on my own to do that. I'm not convinced that anybody really is.
If I encounter something of infinite and indescribable importance and meaning through the Church, it makes tremendous sense for me to devote my life to support the work of the Church, since I know this - I testify to this - that this is a way I have encountered the power of God in a direct and deep way.
When I "Wish to see Jesus", as I (photo?) -blogged about yesterday, I know this can happen when I walk through the doors of the church and meet God in corporate worship, and in particular, in the worship of the Episcopal Church, which then inspires me to work for God and God's Realm when I go back out into the world.
I can do nothing else - when I see God's light, God's star, even if it is only a faint glimmer far in the distance, I am going to follow that star. I must. That is the way of Life. It compels me, it draws me, and I know that my soul is restless in my blindness of heart unless I am actively walking towards God's star.
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