Assembly '97 News Home page Documents	Uniting Sexuality and Faith Introduction to the revised sexuality report, by the Rev. Alistair Macrae, Chairperson Assembly Task Group on Sexuality, at the Assembly Standing Committee meeting in March 1997. The title "Uniting Sexuality and Faith" stems in part from our perception that for most of Christian history the church has perpetuated the spirit/body dualism that has plagued Christian theology and other religious and philosophical systems. The title and content are in effect saying, let us not continue to separate what God has joined together. The recovery of a more "Hebraic" view of the unity of the human person as body, mind and spirit, and a more profound appreciation of the incarnation of the Son of God as a sexual spiritual human being, will aid us as we seek to unite sexuality and faith. We can pray and hope that such a reunion might enable us better to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength; that is, to love God with every dimension of our being; and serve the world with the compassion and the passion of Jesus. Within our church there are fears that the church will be taking its bearings not from the sources of faith as our tradition understands them to be, but by listening to a fallen world and seeking to gain some spurious credibility with secular culture. There is a concern that we will seek to fashion Jesus after our own image. I long for a church which will express the twin thrusts of Jesus' ministry. The call to all people to repentance, to shaping our lives according to the values of the Kingdom of God; and for the church to express his inclusiveness, to give concrete, tangible expression to this God who loves the world and is prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice to woo us into friendship with God. We must never forget the two great solidarities of human existence viewed theologically. Our solidarity in grace: we are all the objects of God's grace and mercy in Jesus Christ. And our solidarity in sin. What might our church communities look and feel like if we lived out these truths? When I was asked to be part of this Task Group my first reaction was one of self-pity. What have I done to deserve this? Images of crucifixion flashed into my mind. I've got a reasonable theologia crucis but my ideal scenario features Jesus, not me or my colleagues! The calls by some in the church for a clear annunciation of policy with regard to homosexual people and their status in the church will, if heeded by Assembly, alienate a significant number in our church, whatever the decision may be. If the Assembly chooses at this time not to make definitive rulings and leave say, the question of eligibility of gay and lesbian candidates for ministry to Presbyteries, there will be a significant number of members who will feel that the church has lost its way and has demonstrated its moral and theological impotence. So one way or another there may be crucifixion ahead. I'm beginning to be reconciled to that. My main concern is that if there is any crucifixion that it be to good purpose; if you like, in the service of the gospel. Only if this is the case can we have grounds to trust that there will be resurrection and renewal for the church. I have no doubt that this issue symbolises a watershed in the life of the Uniting Church. It is a time of both uncertainty and possibility. The New Testament word for such a time is kairos. Such times call for deep discernment, wisdom and an intentional waiting upon God. It calls for patience and gentleness with those with whom we disagree. It requires a generous measure of personal humility. At one end of the spectrum of responses we hear emphasis on the word truth. With that word comes a whole package of other words; boundaries, clear revelation, called-outness. At the other end of the spectrum a favourite word is grace: with that word comes often a fairly fuzzy use of the word love, 'inclusiveness' is invoked like a shibboleth. Both emphases have their place. Both are part of the historical struggle of both Israel and the Church. Such struggle lies at the heart of the struggle between the Ezras who after the exile wanted to bring in a regime of extreme exclusivity and radical purity; and the writer of Jonah who wrote his subversive tract against the policies of Ezra and Nehemiah in the name of the God who was also the God of Ninevah and the nations. It is the same struggle in the New Testament between Peter and Paul and the fierce debates over the inclusion of Gentiles in the church. Grace and truth. We do well to remember that grace and truth cannot be mutually exclusive. Emphasis on truth without grace corrupts into judgementalism and self righteousness that is inimical to the gospel of Jesus. Grace without truth, cheap grace, offers no fundamental hope, no healing for those seeking the transforming grace of Jesus in their lives. We seek in this discussion to seek the spirit of the One of whom it was said: “grace n truth came in Jesus Christ.” Members of the Task Group have experienced the five years of our work as both blessing and curse. We have been exposed to the glory of the church in many wonderful people sharing their stories, their faith, their insights, their graciousness even while in disagreement with some of our suggested directions. We have also witnessed the shame of the church, the dark side which proceeds from ignorance and fear. We have heard people straining at theological gnats and neglecting the weightier matters of justice, love and mercy. 'Uniting Sexuality and Faith' is a different document to the Interim Report. We have read the responses. As we have written in the Introduction: 'we were not asked to conduct a survey of opinions of members of our church nor to undertake market research to discover how the UCA might present the most palatable approach to sexuality for the secular world. Instead we were asked to assist church members make faithful decisions relating to sexuality and to help people allow the light of the gospel to shine into our created nature as spiritual/sexual beings called to glorify God in every dimension of our lives'. Those hoping for radically different conclusions in this Report may be disappointed. We are well aware that at some points we are calling for a reappraisal of traditional church teaching. We have heeded the call to make a stronger theological and biblical case for change at some points. We have accepted the criticism that at points the Interim Report reflected a liberal individualistic approach to ethics and we seek here to ground our ethical thinking in the Christian community and more explicitly in the gospel. We have articulated what our reformed tradition sees as the heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ: "justification by grace through faith". Recovery of this truth sheds light not so much upon what concrete conclusions we might draw but upon how we conduct the discussion. Central to Jesus' teaching ministry was the Reign of God. This receives more prominence in this Report. Jesus called people into friendship with God and to live as a community of friends. This is a neglected dimension of Jesus' teaching which again, we believe, might bear much fruit in our thinking about sexuality and the nature of the church. full recommendations of the Assembly Task Group on Sexuality sexuality proposals introduced in Assembly one small step on sexuality policy recognise with sadness inability to reach further agreement commitment of Church to be inclusive

"The Uniting Church affirms that it belongs to the people of GOD on the way to the promised end." Basis of Union, Revised edition published 1992