Here were some thoughts I put down to say.
I got up to the microphone twice, but both times someone else called the question and I didn't get to speak at all. I didn't mind, too much, as many others articulated my position quite well.
How can we be part of a dialogue that is open to the option of endorsing sin? If you believe Scripture syas homosexual acts are sin, then you cannot reject this overture, because to do so tolerates something which Scripture does not. We say Jesus is Lord. If we believe that, and if our Lord tells us not to go down this road, we do not have the option to go, out of our feelings for others. What do we do when our feelings conflict with our Lord's commands?
With controversy roiling the church, the General Synod got together in Acts 15, talked it over, took a decision, and wrote to the churches, saying in Acts 15:28 that it "seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us." The controversy wasn't settled for years, but the Spirit had led them into truth, and the church knew the direction in which to minister to Gentiles (welcome them in, but teach them to refrain from certain things, sexual immorality being one). I would suggest we (RCA today) follow the Acts 15 pattern by carefully considering the issue, as we have done well for the past 30 years, and now taking a decision and then continuing discussion and ministry guided by that decision. Our dialogue is not currently guided by our past decisions, as the Acts 15 church's ministry to Gentiles was.
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