Here is the reality, just for your education.
http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=glbt&sc2=news&sc3=&id=72174Others have voiced their disappointment that Wright never accepted the invitation to join UCC’s Open and Affirming Program. Open and affirming churches have publicly stated that they welcome LGBT people.
However, according to the UCC Coalition for LGBT Concerns board member Rev. Mike Schuenemeyer, Trinity’s failure to hop on board is very common. In fact, there are several thousand churches that have not accepted the invitation over the years. According to Schuenemeyer, the Open and Affirming Program is a movement within the denomination, and there has been a steady increase of church’s adopting open and affirming policies over the years. However, in order to be recognized as an open and affirming church, a church has to vote in an inclusive policy, and they can do that in a number of ways.
"We have a lot of churches that may offer a welcome, but just don’t have it in their culture, in general, to vote an action on anything, much less an action about sexual orientation," Schuenemeyer said.
"Just because they have voted on it doesn’t mean that they haven’t been working at it, and there haven’t been folks in leadership who haven’t been trying to help the congregation build toward an understanding of values and fusing their sense of values with what it means to be welcoming to people who are lesbian, gay and bisexual," Schuenemeyer said. "That’s a cultural shift, and you have to respect the culture of a congregation.
"When you look at the positive things Jeremiah Wright has said in support of LGBT rights, you can know that he was working his leadership of the church in a very radical way, trying to move things along in that congregation," he continued, adding that he has witnessed sermons of Wright’s that have addressed his opposition to a federal ban on same-sex marriage, his opposition to anti-gay violence and his support of those living with HIV/AIDS.
Schuenemeyer recognizes there are congregation members who are frustrated that it isn’t moving forward as quickly as they’d like. "But it’s also okay to say that steps have been made," said Schuenemeyer. "It may happen at some time, and even if it doesn’t, there are people who find themselves welcome at that congregation."
Wadley said Trinity and Wright do not support separatism, and as an out, gay man, he supports Trinity "100 percent." "You have people who don’t look like us judging what is being said," Wadley said
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