A sermon for the Hamilton Pride Church Service in Centenary Church, Hamilton, Ontario
preached on June 15, 2008
by Rev. Wayne Irwin
Text: 1 John 4:16b-21

"God is love,
and those who abide in love abide in God,
and God abides in them.
Love has been perfected among us in this:
that we may have boldness on the day of judgment,
because as he is, so are we
in this world.
There is no fear in love,
but perfect love casts out fear;
for fear has to do with punishment,
and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.
We love because God first loved us.
Those who say, "I love God," and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars;
for those who do not love a brother or sister
whom they have seen,
cannot love God
whom they have not seen.
The commandment we have from God is this:
those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also."

The United Church of Canada,
the largest Protestant church in this country,
came into existence 83 years ago, in 1925,
as the first example
of evangelical churches in Canada,
or anywhere else in the world,
forming a union of faith communities
committed to fostering a spirit of unity
among Christian churches.

The United Church was birthed that year.
And it was but a toddler, four years old,
when the Great Depression occurred, in 1929,
knocking so many from a comfortable life
into bread lines across this land.
Hence the United Church
identified itself with those in distress,
and matured to become a faith community
particularly emphasizing compassion
for the oppressed, the diminished,
and the ostracized . . . in the Spirit of Jesus.

In that same year, 1929,
women in Canada won the right
to be regarded as "persons" in law. First time.
And subsequently the United Church
ordained the first woman, Lydia Gruchy,
six years later, in 1935.
Because the United Church believed
that to refuse was theologically indefensible,
especially given that in the Christian story,
which informs our church decisions,
women were given the honour
of being the first
to encounter the resurrected Christ.

In the 1950's, twenty or so years later,
the United Church was again first in Canada
to recognize in its policies
that marriage breakdown
can also, sometimes,
be an occurrence "made in heaven."
That vows are made for the persons involved,
not the persons for the vows.
That marriage breakdown does not deserve
a response of ostracism within the church
or within society.

This decision was also based
on a foundational policy
of taking the Bible seriously,
and of living out the gospel teachings
that tell us . . . that each of us
is counted equally worthy in God's eyes,
and not because of any goodness on our part,
but only because of the goodness of God,
only because of the prior Love of God . . . for us,
without reference to any merit
or to any particular response from us.

God doesn't love us because we go to church.
God loves us before we go to church.
We go to church to say 'Thank You!'

And it was The United Church of Canada
again, that was first
among Canadian churches
to establish policy
relating to its selection
of candidates for the order of ministry,
from which sexual orientation was removed
from its list of items
that could cause a person to be disqualified.
That was twenty years ago, in 1988.

Anne Squire was Moderator that year.
And within our United Church,
the national policy
is established by a court
that is known as the General Council.
An elected body of about 400 persons
that meets once every three years.
And the person it chooses to chair its meetings
is known as 'The Moderator.'

For the United Church, our Moderator
is the one who represents us across the world
in the same way that the Pope
represents the Roman Catholic Church
and the Patriarch
represents the Orthodox Church.
And the Archbishop of Canterbury
represents the Church of England.

Any member of the United Church
can be elected Moderator . . .
whether order of ministry or lay.
We have had several women be Moderator.
One Black man. One Aboriginal.

And Anne Squire,
the second woman chosen.
had been involved for several years
in the national church debate
on whether or not everyone was heterosexual.
And she was one who had declared
herself unwilling to vote
until she had studied the issue.
So she organized a retreat in the Ottawa area
to do just that,
to look at the biblical, theological,
medical and social aspects
of human sexuality.

And in the end
her regional committee decided
there was no defensible reason
for withholding ordination
on the basis of sexual orientation.

However, the group recognized
that the whole of the United Church
was not yet ready
to come to the same conclusion.
This was in 1980
The whole of the church
needed to do its homework.
And it did.
A national study was mandated. Undertaken.
And in 1984, it came to the same conclusion.

But the whole church was still not ready.
It mandated a third study.
And the results of this third study,
published in 1988,
went even further in its support.
And by this time Anne Squires
had become Moderator of the Church.

And she writes in her memoirs
that there were three things
that helped her survive her term . . .

to survive the hate mail that came,
the obscene telephone calls,
the threats, the insults,
the foul language,
the media attention,
and the pressure to take the question off
the General Council agenda.

Three things that helped her survive.

Firstly, she had done her homework.
Had studied it all extensively.
Was very sure of her position.
Why it was the appropriate Christian position.

Secondly she had spent long hours in prayer. Always emerging, she said,
feeling affirmed in her position.

And thirdly, she knew she had the support
of many, many persons across this country
who understood,
and who would be available to her
to help her if or when she needed them.

She writes that
when her term as Moderator was over,
she returned home to silence.
Because no one in her home church
wanted to discuss the issue.
No one wanted to be involved in further debate.
Even though she knew
that many in her local church
would have supported
becoming an Affirming Congregation.

Not every congregation agreed
with the national policy.
There was much educating to do.

And then she was invited to preach
at the service in Toronto
when Trinity-St. Paul's United Church
on Bloor Street,
became an Affirming Church.

And in that sermon, she made the point
that the truth about sexual orientation,
has to be communicated and defended.
Particularly by heterosexual people.
Particularly by Christian people,
because it is only
in the honest description of a sickness
that a cure can be developed.
And the sickness here
is in the misinformed opinions
and responses of so many people.
Particularly Christians.

The United Church sees a responsibility here
for educating the church and the world.
And it is daring to do it.
And facing ostracism from other churches
for doing it.

But that is nothing new.
The United Church
follows in the footsteps
of its English Puritan
and Scottish Reformation forebears,
challenging the establishment,
speaking truth to power,
championing literacy,
and education, and knowledge.

In that sermon Anne Squire quoted
one of our United Church's
brightest theologians, Douglas John Hall,
professor emeritus at McGill University,
renowned for his examination
as to how Christian belief interacts
with North American culture and history.

Hall insists that a truth
cannot just be understood.
It must be "stood under."
It must be lived.
Because it is not just an idea in the wind.
It is a spiritual Reality.
A truth is a "Thou."

The very "Thou" that birthed creation.
The very Reality
that became incarnate in Jesus.
The very personal Sacred Spirit
that lives within us all.


And our Christian responsibility
is to become ourselves
its incarnation in the world.
To become ourselves
its manifestation in human life today.
For the sake of the world God loves.

What is required of us, Hall says,
is what the prophets described
as the action of that ever-flowing stream,
the mission, the ministry that insists upon . . .
that demands . . . and that initiates . . .
that works tirelessly towards
that someday arrival in The Promised Land.

Hence "Affirming United Churches."
Like this one.
Daring to live under God's Truth
as though we have already arrived.
Celebrating it in our liturgy. Holy Communion.
The Bread for the Journey. The Wine of Arrival.

Centenary committed to being safe community
for anyone yearning
. . . for acceptance . . . for respect.
For anyone hungry . . . for hope.
Committed to living the Gospel, the Good News
of God's unconditional Love.

Centenary declaring that everyone . . . anyone
especially you . . . be welcome here,
Symbolizing thereby our common welcome
at the Banqueting Table of God.

Daring to be united,
and working to be uniting
across the full spectrum of human experience.
And so this day,
at the close of Pride Week in Hamilton,
I encourage each of you
to continue conscientiously
to dare to journey with us.
We need each of you with us
as we take our next steps.

Amen.