Making things right - Ash Wednesday

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. On Ash Wednesday we focus on repentance and reconciliation.

Ninety years ago a tragedy took place in Birmingham; the murder of Father James Edwin Coyle by a Methodist preacher.  The Catholic priest had married the preacher's daughter to a Puerto Rican man. The crime was about race, religion, and hatred. The trial that ensued was about ignoring justice, the Ku Klux Klan, and scandal. The Methodist Church was about silence.

 Father James E. Coyle

The United Methodist Church has finally made things right.

At Highlands United Methodist Church last night Bishop William Willimon delivered a message of repentance for a crime committed so long ago.  In prayer, he offered:

"We ask forgiveness for the indifference of our beloved Methodist Church in the unjust death of Father James Coyle, a servant of God among us, whose ministry was tragically ended. Heal us, we pray, of dissension and hatred for brothers and sisters of other faiths. Reconcile us to those whom we have wronged or who have wronged us. Embolden us to witness to the love of Jesus Christ by loving others as he loved us."

The Methodist clergyman, E. R. Stephenson, had ties to the Ku Klux Klan. The KKK at the time was very anti-Catholic, and in Birmingham there existed a secret anti-catholic political society called the True Americans. Father Coyle defended the Catholic Church and promoted racial harmony amid public persecution of the Church.

Father Coyle had married Stephenson's daughter to a Puerto Rican man, Pedro Gussman. Stephenson's acquittal was a nationwide scandal; a black eye for the city of Birmingham, which has seen so many black eyes.

There is no record of the Methodist Church or any other group ever disciplining Stephenson for this crime.

Now that has been corrected. Through this service the grace and forgiveness of God has been unveiled in a most profound way.

The service included the Rev. Alex Steinmiller, C.P., president of Holy Family Cristo Rey Catholic High School, who said (and I'm paraphrasing), "There is no statute of limitations on forgiveness and reconciliation."

James Pinto, the director of The Father James E. Coyle Memorial Project, spoke as well. He had earlier in the day spoken to a 100 year old woman who had been a parishioner of  Father Coyle and who remembered being ministered to by the priest. This provided a connection to the event, and to a time very different from our own in so many ways, but not unlike ours in others.

Mr. Pinto also read some letters from Catholic officials. One of these mentioned that all of the "disenfranchised" now stand in "solidarity with Father Coyle."

During this Lenten season let the Church (Catholic, Methodists and others) consider the disenfranchisment of the LGBT community. We stand in solidarity with Father Coyle, and with a Jesus who brought his love and extends grace to all.

I look forward to the day when the church extends an apology to the LGBT community and seeks reconciliation with those who it has estranged from its ranks. As was said, there is no statute of limitations for reconciliation. If ninety years of silence can be erased, two thousand years of wrongdoing can be also.

In the meantime, read John Shore's Open Letter From Christians to Gay People.

Catholic Influence

Catholic ideology is really in the news this week, mostly as a result of the HHS policy that requires employers to provide birth control at no cost. As it stands now, Catholic and other churches are exempted, but Catholic owned hospitals and universities are not. The premise is that churches employ members of their own religion, but hospitals do not, and their employees (like everyone else) should have access to contraception.

Also in the news was the overturning of Prop 8 in California by a Federal Appeals Court. This is being framed by conservatives ( including Republican presidential candidate and Catholic Rick Santorum) as a split court decision overturning the will of 14 million voters in California.

What do Catholics think about these issues?

Several reports state that 98% of Catholics use or have used in the past some form of birth control.

Now we learn that most Catholics support the White House position on the issue.

Public Religion Research Institute released a poll yesterday which asked participants to respond to the following: 

All Employers should be Required to Provide their Employees with Health Care Plans that Cover Contraception or Birth Control at No Cost

Fifty eight percent of Catholics agree. That is higher than the percentage of “All Americans" (55%) that agree with the requirement.

At the same time 59% of all Catholics (and 57% of all Americans) agree with the exemption for Catholic churches and other places of worship.

The same polling group also reports that the majority of Catholics (52%) as well as mainline protestants (51%) now favor allowing same sex couples to marry. White evangelical Protestants and African American Protestants still oppose same sex marriage (76% and 60% respectively).

I don’t believe that the Catholic Church is in danger of losing its position as a worldwide power of religion.

But it does look like the Catholic church is losing its influence over Americans.

In the same poll, 69% of Millennials (18-29 year old) agree that religious groups are alienating young people by being too judgmental about gay and lesbian issues.

And Catholic women are ignoring Church teaching in their use of birth control. 

Here's the deal. Many religious leaders, including the Pope and other Catholic Bishops, ignore hard science and social science in their policy development. 

Science and sociology tell us that birth control is necessary and warranted in this country (and world wide) to help prevent unwanted and unplanned pregnancies as well as for population control in other overcrowded countries.

Science also tells us that gay people are here because of  natural reasons and not by choice and that acceptance of LGBT people contributes to better mental and physical health for the group.

Religion needs to catch up with its followers in living in the 21st Century. This can be done while still holding to the core values of their faith traditions. This applies not just to the Catholic Church, but to the United Methodist Church and other denominations as well. 

Religion by its very nature tries to adhere to the status quo. But all one has to do is look back at the early Christians or Christianity in the Middle Ages or Christianity in Early America or Christianity at the turn of the 20th Century to realize that the Church can, and does, and will, change.

Doing the Methodist thing

I have volunteered to make some cookies and some slaw for Discovery United Methodist Church for Wednesday night when they are assisting with feeding the homeless at Firehouse Shelter, and Bobby and I will serving that evening as well.

Almost 3000 people are estimated to be homeless in the Birmingham area. Firehouse Shelter can house more than 175 men. More than 90% of their clients leave their programs for permanent or transitional housing, or for needed medical treatment.

Firehouse Shelter is the only agency in the area that serves three hot meals every day to its homeless guests. (There will be hot food - more than just slaw and cookies - Wednesday night).

This is one of those things that the United Methodist Church does; a program to help those less fortunate, whatever the reason, without judgment.

Earlier this month Tea Party founder Judson Phillips posted this on his blog. You can read his entire hateful and misinformed post here.

When I was in Washington this past Friday, I walked by the United Methodist Building, next to the Russell Office Building. The sign in front of the United Methodist Building said, “Pass the DREAM Act.”

I have a DREAM. That is, no more United Methodist Church.

He goes on to label the UMC the "first church of Karl Marx." He criticizes the Methodists for being anti-war, for promoting a healthy nation and for allowing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to be a "member in good standing".

Never mind that Jesus was a socialist, who advocated for the poor, who was deemed the prince of peace, and who welcomed all.

As United Methodists we do our part to improve the world, to promote peace, and are concerned about those who are less fortunate, and then act on that concern.

Phillips' blog post is just another Teabagger rant that we should read, in order to be informed, but then ignored.

Contact Discovery UMC or me if you want to lend a hand by cooking some food or serving on Wednesday.