God Only Knows

What makes lesbians fight to stay in a church that condemns homosexuality? And should that church remain resolute, or bend to the latest trends?

A A A Comments By Margaret Downing Thursday, May 2 2002

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Donna compares what they went through to the struggle of Rosa Parks, the African-American who years ago wouldn't give up her seat to a white man on a bus in the segregated South.

"We are Rosa Parks. We understood where we sat. We understood we wouldn't be in the ministry. We understood we couldn't be members or ministers or do anything but attend. We accepted that. It still got us church and worship and the fellowship. We still wanted to ride the bus. But now that's not even okay anymore. You're telling us to move. We don't want to move."

Margaret Downing

Donna and Marti believe they can be good Christians and lesbians at the same time.

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Michael sees it entirely differently. Christians are called upon to judge fellow believers. He is sure that if Jesus came back today, he'd be with the most troubled members of society. "I think he would offer healing, and I think he would call them to change." Jesus did not condemn the adulterous woman, Michael says, but he did tell her: "Now go and sin no more."

Marti and Donna felt that over time they could help Michael and his church see homosexuality not as a sin but as a valid lifestyle. Michael and his church felt that through love and a system of withholding rewards such as church ministry and Communion, they could win these two lesbians over to their way of thinking.

Each side talks offhandedly about getting messages from God. Each side is absolutely firm in his or her stand.

Surely a church has the right to determine what its own beliefs will be, especially when there are so many other churches to choose from.

But if you consider the possibility that God talks to Michael Palandro, can you dismiss out of hand that he might be talking to Marti Rickard as well? What if she's the one who's right, the one who got God's message and didn't scramble it?

Short of dying, there's no immediate way to figure out who's the theological winner in this one. Marti and Donna are productive members of society, in a loving, monogamous relationship, providing a stable home for Donna's 14-year-old daughter. But because of five or six "clobber" passages in the Bible that appear to condemn homosexuality, that's not enough to keep them in good standing at the Vineyard. A murderer could go there, if he repented. A thief could go to the Vineyard if he stopped stealing and expressed remorse.

But Marti and Donna see no sin in what they are. And that is the biggest sin of all for the Vineyard. So much for the vision of Christ's unconditional love, hey?

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