Background
On October 28th, 2021 Community of Christ announced we were creating a new website for “leaders, financial officers, and priesthood members in the next several months.” This website, which would eventually come to be called “Our Ministry Tools“, would “include administrative tools, such as policies, guidelines, how-to instructions, and more.” From what I can tell, the next time the church mentioned this new website was on February 25th, 2022 when we announced that it would be rolling out on March 1st, 2022. We again reiterated that “this site provides up-to-date church policies as well as priesthood and leadership resources.”
I was particularly eager for the rollout of this website, because I wanted to see the church finally publish 3 policies that have been rather difficult for the public to find.
- The Cohabitation Policy
- The National Conference Interim LGBT Policies (Canada/Australia and USA)
- The procedure for transitioning “Interim” national policies to “Official” national policies (page 7)
The church’s lack of transparency has made it difficult for LGBT folks, like me, to work towards further inclusion and acceptance in the church. Our Ministry Tools was supposed to bring that transparency, and enable the LGBT community to work towards peace and justice within our own church.
However, upon release, I was disappointed to find out that these policies again weren’t listed anywhere for the public to read. Since I believe these policies are crucial to further peace, justice, acceptance, and inclusion of LGBT folks in Community of Christ, I have found archived versions and have now made them publicly available in the list above.
Why Transparency is Important
Interim Policies
I spoke with several other people who also noticed that the church’s website omitted these documents. One friend told me that “they’re working on it”, but honestly, as an LGBT member of Community of Christ, I am starting to notice some hollow promises that take that hope away. Many don’t know this (because the policies have been erased from the church’s websites) but the interim policies which gave LGBT folks access to the priesthood and sacrament of marriage, were supposed to be made official policies by 2016 at the latest. It is now 2022, and we still only have interim policies.
Many straight and cis-gender people don’t seem to understand why this causes anxiety among the LGBT community if there’s no functional difference between interim and official policies. My goal here is ultimately transparency, so I would like to take a moment to try and clear up this miscommunication.
In the secular world, LGBT folks have a history of having their rights systematically recognized only to have them voided. We have had the right to marry be given and then stripped more times than you can shake a stick at. Ultimately, we were denied this in the United States until 2015. Having this uncertainty regarding our rights was and still is tiresome and burdensome.
We as a church in the USA, Canada, and Australia, decided nearly 10 years ago that LGBT folks had certain rights within our church, namely access to the sacrament of marriage and the ability to be a part of the priesthood. We LGBT folks were told that our rights were supposed to be made official policies 6 years ago, but they remain interim policies to this day. The fact that our rights aren’t officially recognized yet gives many of us flashbacks to when our rights were taken away in the secular world. It makes us worry that even our church may be willing to strip our rights in the future. It doesn’t help that our rights are determined by a policy which is currently described as “interim”, which is synonymous with the words “temporary”, “short-term”, and “provisional”.
Cohabitation
Even if our rights were officially recognized, there is other work to be done. The LGBT community has lacked legal access to the sacrament of marriage until fairly recently, and to say that many of us have a complicated relationship with it is an understatement. We would really like to be extended grace, understanding, compassion, and the ability to explore our role within our ecclesiastical polity while taking our time to commit to engaging in the sacrament of marriage. However, in Community of Christ, the cultural nuances and historical discrimination has been ignored, and we have been given an ultimatum if we wish to join the priesthood.
- Break up with a long-term romantic partner whom we love and are commited to
- Be forced to engage in a sacrament that we’re not ready for yet
To make matters worse, this policy has not been in a single easily-accessible place. Even the copy I found came from a friend who had access to a training manual that isn’t publicly available yet. This has left this policy relatively unknown and unaddressed. There have been LGBT members of the church who didn’t even know about it until they are presented a priesthood call with it’s accompanying ultimatum. This stunning lack of understanding and compassion has caused several to leave the church. Admittedly, I am also deeply disturbed by this; I see our church espouse peace and justice, but fail to practice it within its own walls.
Conclusion
“Our Ministry Tools” was seen by many in the LGBT community as a step towards reconciliation. We had hoped that the church would simply publicly admit what its policies are so we would know where we need to continue our work. The fact that IHQ either wont admit or can’t keep track of what the church’s policies are just further displays why we probably shouldn’t have these policies to begin with.
To close, I would like to leave you with 2 scripture verses:
“Let the church again be admonished that the task of establishing Zion presses heavily upon us. Barriers and hindrances to the achievement of this goal should be removed as speedily as possible and practicable. To lay securely the foundations for Zion and her buildings, the work should be accomplished in peace and harmony. Unity should prevail. To this end all the Saints should work together in the rich fraternity which can and will prevail among them when they keep faithfully the commandments. Great blessings are in store for the church if it will in faith and saintly devotion go forward in its tasks.”
– Doctrine and Covenants 138: 3
“From the earliest days you have been given a sacred principle that declares the inestimable worth of all persons. Do not forget. The One who created all humankind grieves at the shameful divisions within the human family. A prophetic people must work tirelessly to tear down walls of separation and to build bridges of understanding. You hold precious lives in your hands. Be gentle and gracious with one another. A community is no stronger than the weakest within it. Even as the One you follow reached out to those who were rejected and marginalized, so must the community that bears his name.”
– Doctrine and Covenants 162: 6
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