As a community of faith, as the people of RHCC, we are always on a journey, traveling with God’s grace and guidance from one place to another. And along the way, we too raise our questions and our concerns. It is part of the human process, part of what it means to be God’s people who walk in the wilderness. These murmurings, these groanings of the soul arise from our need. We are hungry and we are thirsty for an answer or for a way to live with the questions that God brings before us.

In every major decision our congregation has made – for a new minister, for the renovation of Chapin Hall, questions and murmurings are part of the program. And that’s true for the Open and Affirming process that we are currently engaged in. Open and Affirming is about hospitality and welcome; and our current process is one of coming to understand what it means for a church to declare that people of all sexual orientations are welcome in congregational life and ministry.

Jonathan and I have heard several “murmurings in the wilderness” that we want to address as part of this morning’s sermon. We have sought to be faithful ministers, listening to the struggles of the heart and soul that many of you have shared with us and with the ONA committee. Today’s sermon might not respond to all your murmurings, or a new groaning of the soul might emerge from what you hear this morning. Know that this conversation, friends, continues as the Open and Affirming Process continues.

The Open and Affirming Process is a journey of stages, and each of these stages takes time. And it is the question of time that has been one of the ongoing murmurings that Jonathan and I have heard. Some have wondered, Why is the process taking so long? Others have murmured that there are still many questions left unanswered and more time is definitely needed. So, how long will we continue? You know the Israelites journeyed in the desert for 40 years…not to worry – I think we can promise the process won’t take that long!

The ONA process began in 2006 when the committee was established by the deacons. The first church program was held a year ago. The amount of time necessary for ONA is hard to pinpoint. That’s because it is a process of discernment, of looking and listening with our hearts and minds to each other and to the Spirit of God among us, to know when to step forward or when to settle in for a while. That careful listening belongs to all of us – members, ministers, and the folks on the ONA committee. You have just received a mailing from the committee outlining questions still remaining to be addressed, and that will happen over the next several months.

Just one other note on time – it is always the right time to share thoughts and concerns honestly, openly and compassionately. Jonathan and I encourage you to carefully reflect and pray on your feelings and thoughts on the issues and speak to one of us or to a member of the committee. The murmurings of the Israelites were aired in the open among all the leaders and the people. It is through this openness that leadership was able to respond and ultimately, God acted in grace and goodness.

Jonathan
Some other murmuring we’ve heard very clearly has been about why so much energy has been going into ONA when there are so many other issues and concerns that are deserving of the congregation’s attention—the fact that there are other individuals and groups who experience prejudice, too; that there are pressing issues like poverty and homelessness and energy costs and health care; and that closer to home, we’re needing to pay attention to some fundamental questions our own church is facing: how to keep kids involved after confirmation, revitalizing the Church School and stewardship and adult education, and enabling a new generation of leaders to step forward. How come, people ask, there is all this attention paid to ONA, when it’s really just one among many issues that matter to people of faith?

Now, those are definitely murmur-worthy questions. As leaders I think we can offer some perspective. This question of how our church welcomes and includes all people is where it is today with ONA because a real-life situation arose here. A person in our church wanted to have a same-sex civil union, and we hadn’t figured out if that was something we wanted to do as a church. It came to the Deacons, and because they didn’t want to have to disappoint someone again without having considered the question, and because the topic of ONA had been named in the Visioning process a few years back, they thought the time was right to start. And it’s taking as much energy as it is because just about everyone in the church family has really strong feelings on the issues, and it takes time to connect with those feelings and express them and to hear what others are saying. That seems to be the way the Spirit works: when people get fired up—as they often do in lots of directions—the energy required is considerable. But absolutely—there are other justice issues and RHCC concerns that need that same kind of energy. We are moving forward with those other challenges, but maybe the murmuring is an opportunity to get them on the front burner, too.

Donna
There has also been quite a bit of murmuring about what Scripture has to say in this instance. As a Christian community, we turn to the Bible as a source of guidance and wisdom as we look at justice issues and other concerns that affect our church and our world. “What does the Bible say?” is the question that we have heard many people raise, and the ONA committee has sponsored two programs related this murmuring – one on biblical interpretation in general and one “Homosexuality and the Bible” with Dr. Wayne Rollins.

In the Scripture - in the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament and the New Testament – there are several sections that some interpret as prohibition against homosexuality. Other scholars and seekers have placed these same verses in historical and communal context and sought to demonstrate that they do not refer to faithful and committed same sex relationships. Still others point to not to any particular passages, but to the ethic as lived by Jesus Christ, who welcomed those who were cast aside and encouraged all to love not only their neighbors, but also the ones that have been named the “enemy.” Friends, good people will disagree on various interpretations of the Biblical text. Some read and pray with the bible literally, believing that every word is true and has been inspired by God. Others read and pray looking not always for specific prohibitions or permissions, but as a general guide for a way of living. Regardless of our interpretation, Christians trust that through our honest and open dialogue with Scripture and one another, the God the Bible gives witness to will continue to inspire us to new understanding and new relationship with God and each other.

Jonathan
Another frequent question we hear has to do with the “affirming” part of “Open and Affirming.” Some folks say that they are open to welcoming people of different sexual orientations, but they don’t want to affirm that behavior, or don’t want their church to affirm it, as if to say that to “affirm” anything other than heterosexuality is to “advocate” for it. But in this instance, even though Donna and I continue our own discernment on this, we understand “affirm” to mean something a bit different. I affirm, for example, the reality that God moves in the lives of all people, not just those who worship like I do, or who interpret the Bible like I do, or who have beliefs about who Jesus Christ is that are like mine. But I also know that there are forms of worship, or interpretations of Scripture, or beliefs about Jesus that make me very uncomfortable when I encounter them. To me, “affirming” other sexual orientations doesn’t mean necessarily being comfortable with them.

To affirm a person is to support them in their choices, not to make their choices your own. I don’t think that to declare oneself “open and affirming” means you have to get comfortable with all forms of human sexuality, or come to some kind of full understanding of them. That’s likely never going to happen, a circumstance as improbable as the two genders once and for all resolving all those Mars-Venus differences. To me, the “affirming” in “open and affirming” means more that one respects the sexuality of all people, and that in church life one takes the humble attitude and walks beside all members together, living the full spectrum of joys and costs of discipleship. One can still be certain that another sexual orientation isn’t right for you, and might not be what you’d choose for others, but those feelings never should eclipse the deeper understanding of God’s one family together, and the dignity and rights of all God’s children. In the coming days, I think we’ll need to continue our conversations about how each of us understands this term “affirming.”

Donna
As we are continuing our conversations about the meaning and nature of “affirming,” people have begun to look toward a possible end. Jonathan is going to address the question of congregational process and decision making in a minute, but let me first respond to a murmuring that I know both of us have heard. It’s the question of change. What would change, people want to know, if we were to become and open and affirming congregation? In talking with ONA churches, we’ve discovered that indeed, change does happen in the congregation. Most places have found that a few people leave the church while at the same time some new people join. New members include not only gays and lesbians but also others who want to be in a congregation that welcomes all people. In every case I’ve heard of, congregations are grateful for energy and gifts of new members but there has not been a significant shift in the feel or spirit of a congregation. Remember, ONA is just one part of a congregation’s identity, and people join and become active for other reasons as well – a spirit of friendliness, good music, meaningful worship, and opportunities for service. That would be true, I think, for us as well.

Other changes I’ve witnessed in ONA churches include the church’s written material or outside sign designating “open and affirming;” or a bulletin board in the church hall posting materials for ongoing learning and dialogue. Because we are a UCC church, any changes would come through conversation and congregational process.

One lasting change I’ve heard described is the deepening of community among members. Whenever folks engage in an honest, open conversation about matters of life and faith and ask God to be part of the process, there surely will be change. In fact, I believe that a year into this process, we have already been transformed. We have discovered new things about each other – our backgrounds, our faith, our hopes and our dreams. We have had some difficult conversations exploring issues of sexuality and Scripture and have deepened our ability to listen to one another. We’ve learned about commitment to one another and to the church even in the midst of a variety of feelings and viewpoints. The process has not always been easy, but Jonathan and I believe that God has been working among us.

Jonathan
No fully Congregational murmuring could be complete without questions about process and lines of decision-making and voting. We’ve heard all sorts of ideas expressed about what’s likely to happen, or what should happen, so here’s what Donna and I believe is going to happen. The Open and Affirming Committee was charged by the Deacons to do just what they’re doing: lead a process of congregational conversation and learning about the Open and Affirming designation. When the ONA Committee figures that job is done, they will make a report to the Deacons, and perhaps that report will include a recommendation about next steps. Either way, it will then be the Deacons’ decision what to do with that report: should the issue come to a congregational vote, or not? And if not, then what alternatives to a vote might there be? And whatever the Deacons decide, they will present that decision to the Church Council and look for that group’s wisdom and advice. If it does come to a vote, it will be the Deacons and the Council who will figure out the best process for that, not the ONA Committee.

At this point, nothing has been decided, because we’re only on Step One—learning and conversation. Step One is in the hands of the ONA Committee. Once Step One is complete, the ONA Committee turns it over to the Deacons and they are done. Then it’s up to the Deacons and Council to figure out what to do next. And I’m pretty sure that those two groups, as wise as they are, will provide opportunities for input from the members before moving ahead with any kind of final decision making or voting that may happen.

No matter where or how each of us has been murmuring like the Israelites, it all really comes down to everyone wanting to do the best and faithful thing for this congregation in this time and place. In the midst of all the strong feelings, and concerns, and ideas, we’re asking the same question the Israelites did: we want to know: is the Lord with us or not? The answer for them was a definitive “Yes!” as made real in the gush of the water the people wanted so badly. The covenant between God and the people was never broken; no one was lost over this lack of water problem, even though it was pretty dicey for a time. Brothers and sisters, God is with us, too, even—and maybe especially—when it seems our understandings of God’s will are so different. But covenant—between us and God, and between us as people of the faith—will not be broken here, either. We need to continue to trust each other enough to speak what we need to say, and to listen to what we hear others say. We murmur because we all care so much, and that caring is the faithfulness to covenant that God will honor, and God will reciprocate with the guidance this congregation is thirsting for—guidance that may be as unexpected and grace-filled as water from a rock.