Unheard Voices: Stories of LGBTI+ Clergy in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa

Abstract

In every age, potentially divisive controversies arise that the church has to deal with. Placed squarely before the church of today is the issue of sexual orientation and the ambiguous response to this question made by the church so far. In line with the theme of the World Council of Churches' Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace, with a special focus on gender justice, this article brings to the centre the oral testimonies of queer people in the conversation on same-sex unions – a debate that has mainly been driven by heterosexual men. This article, which details the personal stories of several Methodist clergy who identify variously as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and other (LGBTI+), gives us a chance to hear voices that up to now have been unheard. Some of it is not easy reading. There is pain, misunderstanding, rejection, and fear. Sometimes LGBTI+ people are objectified. One can forget that behind labels are human beings, people with feelings, struggles, and wounds. The stories in this article reveal the pain of some vulnerable people. Perhaps meeting them through their stories can promote further understanding and bring us, if not to one mind, then to a deepened level of respect for a view that may be different from our own.