The Portland Tribune asked yesterday: What’s the Rev Running for? Well, nothing.  Jim Redden put forth the question in this context:

The Rev. Chuck Currie must be glued to his computer. The liberal minister of Sunnyside Church and University Park Church is frequently the first to email a comment to the press about breaking social news. He did it again on Wednesday when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

Currie’s remarks supporting the court’s ruling were the first to reach Portland Tribune, arriving just 10 minutes after the breaking news alert from the Washington Post and more than 45 minutes before those from Gov. John Kitzhaber, who also supported the ruling.

It took more than another hour for Mayor Charlie Hales to email his support for the ruling, followed by praise from Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian 20 minutes later — slightly more than two hours after Currie’s email.

Like millions of Americans, I was glued to my computer yesterday morning – watching SCOTUS Blog, actually – to hear what decisions the court might make.

The United Church of Christ, the denomination in which I am ordained, became the first mainline Christian denomination to endorse marriage equality back in 2005, noting:

The message of the Gospel is the lens through which the whole of scripture is to be interpreted. Love and compassion, justice and peace are at the very core of the life and ministry of Jesus. It is a message that always bends toward inclusion. The biblical story recounts the ways in which inclusion and welcome to God's community is ever expanding -- from the story of Abraham and Sarah, to the inclusive ministry of Jesus, to the baptism of Cornelius, to the missionary journeys of Paul throughout the Greco- Roman world. The liberating work of the Spirit as witnessed in the activities of Jesus' ministry has been to address the situations and structures of exclusion, injustice and oppression that diminish God's people and keep them from realizing the full gift of human personhood in the context of human communion.

My two current churches, reconciling congregations in the United Methodist Church, are strong supporters of the LGBTQ community.

It is important for clergy to speak out on moral issues.  Otherwise, we leave a void filled by the religious right.  The Portland Tribune’s own coverage of the reaction to the SCOTUS decision on DOMA quotes no religious leaders supporting the decision.  Instead, they quoted the Oregon Family Council, a conservative body that claims to articulate Christian values while operating a political action committee that gives 100% of their money to GOP candidates.  My churches don’t get involved in partisan politics (though as an individual I have sometimes made personal endorsements in races). 

What we do is take an active role in advocating on social issues – from marriage equality, to immigration reform, to voting rights, to ending gun violence.  We do this from our deepest understandings of what it means to be faithful people in a democratic society.   

It is important to know that faith leaders across Oregon and the nation are speaking out in favor of marriage equality.  That story got missed yesterday by a lot of the media, including CNN.

As a minister ordained to preach and teach the Gospel, I support the Supreme Court ruling today invalidating the Defense of Marriage Act. Homosexuality is not a sin. It is a sin to discriminate -- against gays, people of color, women, children, immigrants... It is a sin to exclude whereas Jesus welcomed. The Greatest Commandment is to love. Christians and other people of faith should welcome this decision even as we should work to undue the damage inflicted on the civil rights of Americans by the court’s decision yesterday to dismantle the heart of the Voting Rights Act. Truly, this Supreme Court has a very mixed record where civil rights are involved.

- Rev. Chuck Currie, Minister, Sunnyside Church and University Park Church, Portland, Ore.

Portland's Parkrose Community United Church of Christ celebrated 100 years of ministry yesterday. I was sorry to miss the celebration service for this faithful, progressive Christian community that I had the honor of serving for three years but I did send the following message to be shared during the worship service: 

"Back in 2006 – when I first arrived for what was originally planned as a short stint as your interim minister – the future of Parkrose Community United Church of Christ was uncertain. The people of this church, not unlike the brave crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise, wouldn’t accept defeat, however. Instead you made difficult and bold decisions that have brought you into a new home, in partnership with another congregation, and in ministry with our city’s homeless community. Building up the Kingdom of God became more important to you than maintaining just one building. You answered God’s call to be open and affirming to all. For some of you, this work will be your legacy. And because of that this church will remain foundational for youth in this community for years to come. As a former pastor of Parkrose Community United Church of Christ, I continue to hold you in prayer (and to miss you) as I watch from a distance as this special community of faith continues to grow and respond to the still speaking God."

It would not surprise me if one day Parkrose Community United Church of Christ celebrated two hundred years of faithful ministry. The church is filled with wonderful lay leaders and the gifts of ministry brought forward by The Rev. Don Frueh.  

This morning the people of University Park Church and Sunnyside Church had a special joint worship service before members and friends took part in the Portland Pride Parade.

You can watch the video of my sermon homily on Matthew 25:31-46 here.  The text is below the fold.

There Are No Strangers In God's House: A Homily on Matthew 25:31-46 by Rev. Chuck Currie from The Rev. Chuck Currie on Vimeo.

The people of University Park Church and Sunnyside Church invite you to “A Pre-Pride Parade Worship Service” - a special joint worship service of the two congregations, which will be held at University Park Church (4775 N. Lombard) on Sunday, June 16th at 9:30. 

View this service on Facebook. Invite family, neighbors and friends.

Directly after the service the members from the two churches will head downtown to join the Community of Welcoming Congregations in marching in the annual Portland Pride Parade. All are welcome. 

Sunnyside Church and University Park Church are progressive and Reconciling Congregations in the United Methodist Church. Preaching that morning will be The Rev. Chuck Currie, a minister in the United Church of Christ, who serves as the minister of both congregations in an ecumenical partnership. Rev. Currie is a contributor to The Huffington Post whose ministry has focused on opportunity and hope for those living in poverty, and for the civil rights of all. 

University Park Church, located at 4775 N. Lombard, worships Sunday morning at 9:30 am. The congregation is known as a place of radical hospitality and has been a beacon of justice for the LGBTQ community.

Sunnyside Church, where worship is held each Sunday at 11 am (except June 16th- when there will be no service at Sunnyside) is the home of the Common Cup Family Shelter, and has long been involved in the fight to end homelessness. The congregation also hosts a community meal program, an affordable day care program, and Camp Fire’s summer program. Sunnyside is located at 3520 SE Yamhill. 

Today volunteers across Oregon fanned out to begin talking to neighbors about marriage equality – one of the great civil rights issues of our time.  In Portland, supporters of marriage equality gathered at Sunnyside Church to hear U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and Air Force Lt. Col. Linda Campbell tell the tragic – but ultimately victorious story – of how Campbell’s partner died of cancer, but because they were not married the couple was at first denied the right to be buried together until Senator Merkley won a battle, but not a precedent, to let them rest together for eternity when the time comes in a national cemetery.

Homosexuality is not a sin but bigotry and discrimination are.  Holy Scripture is used to deny gays and lesbians the most basic of civil rights protection in many communities, including employment protections, but such use of Scripture is theological malpractice.  I was honored to host today’s Portland group at Sunnyside Church and to offer a welcome.  Just a generation ago people used the Bible to oppose inter-racial marriages in the United States.  Today the same theological arguments are employed to oppose marriage equality for gays and lesbians.  But Jesus never spoke of this issue.  What he did command was that we love our neighbor as we love God.  Legal discrimination against gays and lesbians is not consistent with the teachings of Jesus.   

This is an issue being faced by people all across our nation.  In the past, opponents of equality for gays and lesbians could count on religious leaders as allies.  Not anymore.  The United Church of Christ, where I am an ordained minister, became the first mainline denomination to endorse marriage equality back in 2005.  Many Christian leaders have followed since.

Sunnyside Church and University Park Church, the two Reconciling Congregations in the United Methodist Church that I serve in ecumenical partnership, will be holding a joint worship service on Sunday, June 16th at 9:30 am at University Park Church (4775 N. Lombard) before the Portland Pride Parade.  Our churches will then be marching with the Community of Welcoming Congregations in the parade.  We invite all in area to join us in worship and for the parade.     

To learn more about Oregon’s campaign for marriage equality visit: http://www.oregonunitedformarriage.org

Listen to the story about today's event from Oregon Public Broadcasting: