They disrupted the proceedings with chants of “Stop hating, stop dividing, stop pandering!” and “Wrong side of history!” Pastor Jeff Miner was escorted out of the Senate chamber shortly after the protests began, and not long after the entire group was ordered to leave and escorted out. They held a brief prayer gathering in the Capitol Rotunda.

The protest was covered by Fox59 and the Indianapolis Star, so look for a report on tonight’s news, in tomorrow’s Star, or on their websites.

Posted on Monday afternoon
Fox59.com: Church organizes protest against gay marriage amendment ban.
IndyStar.com: Ind. Senate gallery closes after gay-wed outbursts

Rev. Jeff Miner
Jesus Metropolitan Community Church
2950 East 55th Place
Indianapolis, IN 46220
www.JesusMCC.org
(317) 260-9620

Released Monday morning, March 28, 2011.

When the Indiana Senate convenes today, a large group will be present to vigorously protest Senate action on H.J.R. 6 — legislation that would amend Indiana’s Constitution to discriminate against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people.

The protest is being organized by Jesus Metropolitan Community Church, Indianapolis. Many congregants will take time off work to travel to the Statehouse to “bear spiritual witness” against the legislation.

Rev. Jeff Miner, Senior Pastor, says, “At a time when our State faces so many challenges, I can’t believe the Republican Party of Indiana is insisting on legislation that promotes hate and division. What they’re doing is evil. It’s pandering to the religious right. Using the Constitution to target a group of people for discrimination is un-American and un-Christian. In our country, all people should be treated equally under the law.”

Protestors will carry signs asking: “Would Jesus discriminate?”

Their protest chants will include: “Stop hating, stop dividing, stop pandering!”; “Wrong side of history!”; and “Jobs, not hate!”

Melody Merida, Minister of Congregational Care, says, “In the past, every time legislators have voted to discriminate, history has judged them harshly. We want to remind our legislators that both God and history will hold them accountable for their vote. Sometimes the legislature tries to do something so wrong, so awful, God’s people have to cry out against it.”

Jesus Metropolitan Community Church is a congregation of 400 located on the northeast side of Indianapolis. We are a church that is passionate about Jesus and serious about the Bible. Because of that, we celebrate the full diversity of God’s creation. We believe Christians should be leading the charge for equality, not resisting it.

On March 23, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to send H.R. 6, without amendment, to the full Senate for a vote on Monday. H.R. 6 will begin a process to amend Indiana’s Constitution to deny LGBT couples equal protection under the law. Using the Constitution to deny rights is as low as it gets.

Although the Senate is certain to vote in favor, we have a spiritual obligation to bear witness against this evil act. We also want to send a signal that, if legislators continue to push forward in this process, they will pay a heavy price.

Our plan is to pack the balcony and chant slogans until we’re ordered to leave the balcony. Once that happens, we’ll chant outside the governor’s office, then hold a brief prayer vigil in the rotunda. (We will not do anything illegal or anything that could lead to arrest. This will be a peaceful demonstration.)

If you can be there (Monday, from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm), please email pastorjeff@jesusmcc.org ASAP! We need a minimum of 50.

There will be an organizing meeting for participants at church Sunday evening at 6:00 pm to make sure everyone knows what to expect, and is well coordinated, for Monday. Please share this email with any inside and outside the church who might be interested.

(An earlier version of this notice included incorrect times. The times listed above are correct.)

I am Rev. Jeff Miner, Chair of a statewide coalition of justice-seeking clergy and congregations called ICON, the Interfaith Coalition On Nondiscrimination. I also serve as Senior Pastor of Jesus Metropolitan Community Church, Indianapolis.

It makes me weary to stand before you today. We’ve done this before. But hate keeps raising its ugly head. When we should be looking forward, you keep trying to tug us backward.

Three brief points.

First, a multitude of people of faith in Indiana are disgusted with what you are doing here.

Today I will distribute a letter signed by 137 Hoosier clergy from across the state — clergy who represent thousands of Hoosiers — who are begging you to stop hating, stop hurting, and stop dividing people. Focus on something positive; do something life-giving.

Second, what you’re doing has nothing to do with defending the Bible or marriage.

Throughout history the Bible has often been twisted to justify discrimination — against women, against African Americans, against Jews, and now against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people. It seems that God gets blamed every time we sinful humans want to justify hurting another unpopular minority.

The truth is, God is love — that’s what the Bible teaches. And the acid test of our love, Jesus taught, is how we treat those who are most vulnerable in society. But in complete and utter disregard for these vital teachings, you are about to strip a whole class of people of their basic civil rights. As a follower of Jesus, I am confident that if he were testifying today, he would scold you and weep, and would say to gay, lesbian and transgender people everywhere — I have come to save you . . . from my followers.

Does anyone here really believe that straight marriages are falling apart because of gay people? Is anybody here really that silly? Let’s cut through the hypocrisy. This legislation is about pandering to the prejudices of extremists on the religious right. And pandering is a sin.

Third, you will be held accountable by God and history for the vote you cast today.

Those who vote yes will be on the wrong side of history. Your name will go down in infamy with leaders like those in Indiana in the 1920s who pandered to racism. And some day your great-grand children will be ashamed. I beg you, don’t do this to your legacy.

God of mercy, God of justice, help these legislators to see how much their actions are hurting people. Change their hearts, O God. Turn them into courageous leaders who care more about justice than votes. Amen.

We’ve been through this process before. The same amendment was adopted by the legislature in 2005, but failed when it came back to the legislature in 2007. Indiana is the only state that has successfully defeated an attempt to amend its Constitution to discriminate against gay and lesbian people. Our church was a key factor in that defeat, working with a coalition of churches and synagogues we founded (ICON, the Interfaith Coalition on Nondiscrimination), and a coalition of civil rights groups (IE, Indiana Equality).

Now, once again, we must rise up to defend fairness. As before, our Church will be at the center of the effort, working closely with coalition partners. On February 3, volunteers in our Church office processed a letter, mailed to every single Indiana legislator, vigorously opposing this new effort. The letter was signed by 137 clergy from across the State of Indiana! This letter will surprise many legislators who think all people of faith oppose LGBT rights.

Because Republicans control both the Indiana House and Senate, it will be very difficult to stop passage of the proposal this session. Although you are welcome to attend the House Hearing on Monday, no big push is planned for that event. The next big event will take place on IE’s Lobby Day on Monday, February 21 (Presidents Day), at the Statehouse. Training will be provided in the morning, then in the afternoon we will speak to our legislators in groups. To register, go to IndianaEquality.org.

We are in active dialogue with our IE and ICON coalition partners about how Jesus MCC can be most helpful in this session of Indiana’s legislature. Let’s begin lifting prayers for God’s help and seeking God’s wisdom for how to proceed.

The books were donated by Jesus MCC and distributed by Steve Parelli, Executive Director of Other Sheep, a Christian organization dedicated to empowering sexual minorities throughout the world with the Good News of God’s unconditional love, especially in places where resources and organizational support are scarce. Steve distributed 110 copies of The Children Are Free (coauthored by Pastor Jeff Miner and Tyler Connoley) at the conference in Vienna to 56 LGBT activists and leaders from the following countries:

• Botswana, Burkina, Burundi, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe;
• China, Korea, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, Thailand;
• Brazil, Dominica, Haiti, St. Lucia, Nicaragua, Belgium, England, France, Italy, Norway, and Tonga.

In some cases, where an immediate use of extra copies of the book was warranted, individuals were given up to ten copies for distribution back home. For example, a former Baptist Bible college student in Southeast Asia received ten copies to distribute to fellow college students and professors to whom he had come out as a gay Christian. Within a month or so of his return from the ILGA conference, this man wrote to Other Sheep, sharing the contact information of seven fellow students to whom he had given the book. These students had requested follow-up with Other Sheep and expressed interest in dialogue to learn more on the topic of homosexuality and the Bible.

The Children Are Free is available online and in the church bookstore. You can learn more about Other Sheep at their website.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Two years ago, over 30 generous donors to the Jesus MCC Justice Fund made it possible for us to hire a full-time Justice Minister, Dan Funk, to lobby legislators and conduct grassroots organizing of fair minded people of faith throughout Indiana to go toe-to-toe with the religious right. For years the religious right had been busy building powerful advocacy organizations that bash GLBT people and drove the public policy debate. Meanwhile, affirming people of faith had barely said a word. But, that has changed!

In 2005, who would have imagined that Bloomington, Columbus and Indianapolis would have civil rights protections that include sexual orientation and gender identity? Who would have believed that we could successfully turn back anti-GLBT legislative proposals such as the constitutional amendment to define marriage and state-sanctioned reproduction that would have denied lesbians couples the right to start a family?

Of course, the Justice Minister didn’t accomplish these things on his own. But because of his work, people of faith who support the fair treatment of GLBT Hoosiers were heard as never before. This was a key part of the equation for success.

As the gay marriage debate rages on, Inlaws & Outlaws, a new film by Drew Emery goes beyond the rhetoric and straight to the heart. Whether loving inside or outside of marriage, struggling to get in or suing to get out, we follow the lives of ordinary folks as they figure out their own path to happily ever after — with more than a few surprises along the way.

The film starts with a simple premise: whether you’re gay or straight, everyone has a relationship with marriage. When the film begins, you don’t know who’s gay or straight, and who’s with whom. But by cleverly weaving the various threads into a collective narrative, by the end of the film, you’ve got it all figured out, but you no longer care who’s gay or isn’t, and you’re rooting for everyone.

Honest, irreverent and compelling, Inlaws & Outlaws takes one of our time’s most divisive topics and turns it into the feel-good movie that’s as charming as it is irresistible.

Make plans to see this film on Tuesday, July 17 at 7:00 pm here at Jesus MCC. Tickets are available in advance for $10 each at the church on Sundays. Only 200 tickets are available for this one show — so purchase your tickets today!

Would Jesus Discriminate? Round 3

People have heard it preached for years that homosexuals are condemned as wicked and perverse people but for many there’s a quiet voice that asks a nagging question — how does such a hateful message square with religious teachings that stress love and full acceptance?

Rev. Jeff Miner, Senior Pastor of Jesus Metropolitan Community Church, Indianapolis, believes that quiet voice in our hearts and minds is trying to tell us something about the difference between bigotry and religious truth.

In the past, Americans experienced that same nagging question when certain religious teachings were misused to justify bans against interracial marriage or denying equal rights for women.

Disguising bigotry as religious truth was wrong yesterday and it’s wrong today — and that is the essence of the third phase of a billboard campaign that Miner’s church is co-sponsoring with the national civil rights organization and his national church organization.

The billboard message is simple: Don’t confuse bigotry against gays and lesbians with religious truth.

“We think a lot of people are troubled by that nagging question they hear in their soul every time someone uses the Bible to bash gays,” Miner said. “It’s a question that we are going to ask publicly again and again and again — from taxi cab drivers to presidential candidates. And there is a very important follow-up question which forms the basis for this segment of the campaign.

“If you interpret the Bible to justify treating gay and lesbian people as unequal, is that not identical to how people have interpreted the Bible to justify slavery, segregation and the subjugation of women in the past?”

Absolutely, says Mitchell Gold, founder of Faith In America.

“There was a time when most Christians believed slavery was of God,” he said. “There was a time when most Christians believed women should not be allowed to vote. There was a time when most Christians believed that interracial marriage was wrong. Each position was elaborately supported with biblical arguments. In our hearts we know that it’s wrong. With our minds, we can learn from those times in history when it was used against others.”

Each billboard invites readers to go to www.WouldJesusDiscriminate.com — a web-site that provides detailed analysis of what the Bible says about homosexuality and the history of faith-based discrimination — not just against gays, but also African Americans, women, and interracial couples.

This is now the third 30-day round of billboards. In all three rounds, the tagline on each billboard has been the same: Would Jesus discriminate? “Instinctively, people understand that Jesus would never discriminate,” says Rev. Cindi Love, Executive Director of Metropolitan Community Churches worldwide. “It makes no sense to tell people that God rejects them simply because of their sexual orientation. Jesus would never do that—and everybody knows it.”

“We will not be deterred,” Rev. Miner said. “We will keep sharing a positive, Bible-based message of hope regardless how mean-spirited the opposition gets.” Rev. Miner indicated that Round 3 will include a few “surprises.” He declined to elaborate, so as not to tip off those determined to censor. “Stay tuned,” he said. “We’re going to be as creative as the early Christians were in sharing God’s message of love for all people.”

The campaign is being coordinated locally by Jesus Metropolitan Community Church of Indianapolis, with critical support from Faith In America and Metropolitan Community Churches worldwide. Faith In America is a national organization devoted to ending religious bigotry against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people.

Jesus MCC bills itself as “a church that is passionate about Jesus and the Bible, but not afraid of diversity or independent thought.” It is part of a denomination — Metropolitan Community Churches — with a long history of outreach to the gay and transgender community. Jesus MCC is the largest church of its type anywhere in the Midwest.

For more information, please contact

Jesus Metropolitan Community Church, Indianapolis
Rev. Jeff Miner, (317) 722-0000, pastorjeff@jesusmcc.org

Faith In America
Jimmy Creech, Executive Director, (919) 606-6736

Metropolitan Community Churches Worldwide
Rev. Dr. Cindi Love, Executive Director, (972) 358-5907

The goal of Round 2 was to increase awareness of passages in the Bible that affirm GLBT people. During the 30 days of Round 2, we had 22 billboards across Indianapolis highlighting affirming passages. More than 320,000 vehicles passed by these billboards each day! We also placed 1,400 yard signs, wore t-shirts, and displayed bumper stickers! Each sign, shirt, and sticker pointed to our web site—www.WouldJesusDiscriminate.com.

Round 2 was a huge success, stimulating enormous awareness and lots of conversations. Highlights include:

• A front-page story in the Indianapolis Star that reached several hundred thousand readers.
• TV news stories on Channels 6 (ABC), 13 (NBC), and 59 (FOX).
• Two radio interviews of Pastor Jeff on AM 1310, an Indianapolis Christian radio station, an interview on Indianapolis public radio, WFYI, and interviews with WIBC NewsRadio and Family News in Focus, a James Dobson production.
• A detailed Associated Press story that ran in newspapers like the Chicago Tribune, the Louisville Courier Journal, the Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette, and the South Bend Tribune.
• A panel discussion and debate at Wabash College, which will soon be available for viewing on WouldJesusDiscriminate.com.
• The cover story for the Chicago Free Press — Chicago’s gay newspaper — proclaiming that gays were finding good news in the Bible via our campaign.
• Coverage on dozens of blogs.
• Heavy traffic to our web site, with over 37,000 visitors.

As a result of all this, it is likely that more than a million people have heard about affirming Bible passages in the last 30 days through the incredible efforts of the congregation of Jesus MCC! Way to go church! Central Indiana is being changed by the power of your witness. Round 3 will begin mid-June. Please keep lifting prayers.