News media contact: Tim Tanton, UMNS, Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5470
MONTPELIER, VT. July 29, 1999 -- When local church leaders heard that a controversial church in Kansas was bringing its "picket ministry" to Vermont, they knew they had to respond.
The ecumenical community of Montpelier is planning a worship service to affirm their unity in the message of God’s love, in response to the expected presence of picketers proclaiming hate. The protesters, from Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, are expected to rally in Montpelier Aug. 3, as the Vermont Supreme Court considers a case involving homosexual marriages.
Westboro and its leader, the Rev. Fred Phelps, have gained notoriety for staging demonstrations around the country in which they condemn homosexuals with inflammatory rhetoric. Last year, they picketed the funeral of slain college student Matthew Shepard with signs bearing slogans such as "fags burn in hell." Westboro's World Wide Web site includes a photo illustration of Shepard being consumed by the "flames of hell" and proclaims that its members preach hate because "the Bible preaches hate." Shepard died Oct. 12 in Wyoming after being severely beaten by two men. Authorities said he was targeted because he was gay.
Trinity United Methodist Church in Montpelier will host an "Ecumenical Service of Love and Justice" Aug. 2. The service is intended to "confront the presence of hatred with the presence of faithful love," said the Rev. Mitchell Hay, pastor.
The case before the Vermont Supreme Court raises the possibility of homosexual marriages being legalized. The Westboro church's Web site describes the purpose of the "picket ministry" in this way: "WBC will picket Vermont in solemn religious protest and warning. The preachers of Vermont are mostly to blame for the sodomite decadence, moral degeneracy and depravity now gripping that hapless, doomed State."
Hay emphasizes that the ecumenical community of Montpelier has chosen to respond with a worship service, rather than a counter-protest. The presence of counter-protesters, he said, tends to "draw more attention to Phelps and his message of hate, which is exactly what he wants. We want to confront that hatred with the message of God's love."
Vermont is in the Troy Annual (regional) Conference of the United Methodist Church. Troy was a Reconciling Conference for 12 years, until that designation was outlawed by a 1999 decision by the Judicial Council, the denomination's supreme court. At their recent annual meeting, Troy members voted to continue their "historic and vital affirmation of local congregations, pastors and laity who choose to participate in the Reconciling Congregations Program," through which churches declare their openness to all people regardless of race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation.
*Nye is media editor for the Troy Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church.
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