{"id":408,"date":"2012-04-25T12:13:34","date_gmt":"2012-04-25T19:13:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/gc2012\/?p=408"},"modified":"2012-04-25T12:13:34","modified_gmt":"2012-04-25T19:13:34","slug":"an-open-letter-from-an-open-lesbian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/an-open-letter-from-an-open-lesbian\/","title":{"rendered":"An Open Letter from an Open Lesbian"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amory Peck addresses the 2012 General Conference in Tampa, Florida at part of the Laity Address. Photo by PNW Director of Connectional Minsitries, Rev. David Valera.<\/em><\/p>\n

Dear Friends,<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019d like you to know a bit about how I\u2019m feeling as I approach Holy Conferencing on human sexuality at the General Conference. \u00a0The main feeling is dread. \u00a0As one of the LGBT persons who will be attending, it\u2019s hard to head into a conversation where I\u2019m seen as \u201cthe problem.\u201d \u00a0Where I, and the others, will be identified as the troublesome \u201cthey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even though I\u2019m out to everyone in my delegation, and known as a lesbian to many in my jurisdiction, I\u2019ll have to decide during the Holy Conversation whether to come out, yet again. \u00a0If I do so early in the conversation, some around me will be uncomfortable about speaking openly. \u00a0If I wait until later in the conversation, some will think I\u2019ve tricked them into revealing their biases or prejudices. \u00a0And, if I don\u2019t self-identify, I\u2019ll leave feeling as if I\u2019ve let myself down. \u00a0That\u2019s a fair amount of tension to carry into a conversation.<\/p>\n

That is a tension that we carry a good deal of the time. \u00a0We repeatedly must decide whether to be open or to hold back from speaking truthfully or completely.<\/p>\n

For example, I am honored to be one of three chosen to deliver this year\u2019s Laity Address. \u00a0It will be a highlight of my church service. \u00a0But, I will deliver my message knowing that I will be disappointing many of my lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender friends who yearn to hear the truth of inclusion spoken. \u00a0I can\u2019t do that \u2014 my manuscript wouldn\u2019t have been selected if I had submitted the message I\u2019d most like to deliver. \u00a0I mention that because it is how gays in the church, especially our gay clergy, feel far too often \u2014 gagged by church rules and unable to speak truthfully.<\/p>\n

But, along with dread, I also have a goodly amount of optimism about the time of conversation. \u00a0As people of differing worldviews meet one another, connections and shared values can sometimes be found. \u00a0I\u2019ll be praying that will be so \u2014 knowing that the Holy Spirit has prepared the church for change.<\/p>\n

With faith in all that will be,<\/p>\n

Amory Peck<\/strong>
\nLaity Speaker
\nGeneral Conference 2012<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For those interested in watching this morning’s Laity address, please click HERE<\/a>. Amory’s portion begins around 1:25:00.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0This letter originally appeared on gc12.org<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amory Peck addresses the 2012 General Conference in Tampa, Florida at part of the Laity Address. Photo by PNW Director of Connectional Minsitries, Rev. David Valera. Dear Friends, I\u2019d like you to know a bit about how I\u2019m feeling as I approach Holy Conferencing on human sexuality at the General Conference. \u00a0The main feeling is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":409,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6,5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-408","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-conversation","8":"category-pnw-delegation"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/amory-peck.jpeg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2l75j-6A","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":411,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408\/revisions\/411"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}