In the last few weeks there has been an encouraging development in the San Francisco Stake. Mitch Mayne from the Bay Area is comfortable in describing himself as a gay Mormon. He has been called as Executive Secretary to the Bishop of a San Francisco ward. He wrote this recently on his blog. Mitch is here talking about a talk given by a member of the San Francisco Stake High Council and about he (Mitch) being part of a leadership team with the goal of seeking out gay members and helping them be active in the Church.
Mitch: This talk was delivered on Saturday, September 10th here in the Bay Area. The speaker—and the author—were Matt Mosman of the San Francisco Stake High Council (shared with his permission, of course). I am pleased to call him a member of my leadership team, but, I think, more pleased to call him a friend. And while I could *tell* you how amazing and inspiring I find him, I think it would be more effective to *show* you. His words do his spirit and testimony a justice mine never could.
This is an excerpt from the talk by Matt Mosman:
“I want to take just a minute and talk for a second about a recent event here in the San Francisco stake, and how it presents us with an opportunity to adjust.
A few Sundays ago Bishop Fletcher (formerly President Fletcher) called a gay man, Mitch Mayne, to be his executive secretary in the Bay Ward. This decision has gotten news coverage nationwide.
I want to first talk about what this calling is not: this is not a change of any kind in church policy. At least as early as 2007, Elder Holland explicitly stated that a person who is attracted to members of the same sex, but who is not acting on that attraction, should enjoy every benefit of church membership, including temple activity. It would be easy to argue, in fact, that this is a policy that has been in place since the church’s inception: any person, no matter what their tendencies, who is living a life in accordance with the gospel’s teachings has always been considered worthy.
It is also not new: gay men are serving elsewhere in positions of more responsibility than Mitch is, and there is at least one gay man serving as a worker in the Oakland temple.
What may be new, in fact, is only this: Mitch is pretty open about it. He has written a blog for years about what it is like to be Mormon and gay, and he is about as direct and plain-spoken about his life as anyone you’re likely to meet. It’s worth noting here, by the way: he is also a wonderful, highly spiritual guy, and I’m almost certain that you’d like him very much.
So it’s not a change. But while it’s not a change, it may in fact be an adjustment.
The fight over Proposition 8 definitely hurt our standing with the gay community, but what is more sad (and unthinkable) is that I think it very quietly might also have hurt their standing with us. For a while there, they were on the opposite side. They were the enemy.
And I’ve listened over the years to folks in our wards who seem to have forgotten, first, that if Prop 8 was a war, it was a Civil War, pitting brother against brother; and second, that it was a debate over public policy, not over how we treat our gay brothers and sisters.
So how should you adjust? By opening your arms just a little bit wider, to encircle these brothers and sisters. They are that, you know. They are the son or daughter of some Relief Society President in Tempe, AZ who worries about them and wants very much for you to watch over and care for them. They’ve spent their whole young lives in church; they might have served a mission somewhere, probably honorably. And life’s been no picnic for them, either.
Seek them out. Encourage them to re-join us. Welcome them with open arms. And remember that no matter what their current situation, in any case they’ll join a congregation that consists, the last time I checked, of people just like them, all struggling to figure out God’s plan for them and trying their best to follow it..
For some, that will be an adjustment. But it will be a loving, big-hearted, Christlike adjustment, and those are the best kind.”
Find more on Mitch’s blog: http://mitchmayne.blogspot.com/2011/09/on-change.html
