Another Free Pass By Rev. Mike Tupper
I’m getting another free pass from my
Bishop. Is this a good thing or not? Should I celebrate this or not?
I received my first free pass a year
ago. I signed the marriage license at the same sex wedding of my daughter in
August, 2014. A complaint was filed. The conclusion of the supervisory response
process was a just resolution. This resolution encouraged me to continue my advocacy
work instead of resulting in any negative consequences for me.
I signed another marriage license for
a same sex couple in July, 2015. This was the wedding of Rev. Hutchison who had
been forced to resign his pastorate at Cassopolis UMC four days earlier. Once again
a complaint was filed against me. This time I chose not to take another free
pass during the Supervisory Response process. The Bishop passed the complaint
on to a counsel for the church. Three months have now elapsed. The Book of
Discipline and Judicial Council are clear that that counsel for the church is
to collect evidence and give it to the Committee on Investigation for them to
decide whether to send the case to trial. In my case, the counsel for the
church has the evidence (copy of signed marriage license) and is not passing it
on to the Committee on Investigation.
Therefore, I’ve received another free
pass from my Bishop. Is this a good thing or not?
Many people will say this is a good
thing. It’s a way for progressive bishops to handle the parts of the BOD they
don’t agree with. It allows our pastors to officiate at weddings for all people
without worrying about any negative consequences. As a result, hundreds of same
sex weddings have been officiated at by United Methodist pastors. We can
celebrate this as a step forward for our church and God’s kingdom of justice
for all.
Others will argue that free passes are
not a good thing, especially as we approach General Conference. The free passes
hide the size of the ecclesial disobedient (biblically obedient) movement in
our church. It silences those who are trying to publicly witness to the
injustice of the present laws in our BOD. Free passes encourage the delegates
at General Conference to continue with the status quo and not make any changes
to the BOD this year.
I truly appreciate the gift of another
free pass from my Bishop. But I’m torn about whether I should celebrate this as
a good thing.
I believe I would rather take the
consequences of my action. I want to stand in solidarity with Rev. Meyer and
Rev. Hutchison who do not receive free passes. I want to stand in solidarity
with my daughter.
My continued prayer is the Lord would help
our church find a way to end our 44 year war and open our doors to all people.
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