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 Mitch Mayne, who is openly gay, hopes his newly assumed Mormon leadership position will increase understanding.
September 24th, 2011
10:00 PM ET
Church leadership post for an openly gay MormonBy Jessica Ravitz, CNN (CNN) - Early on in life, Mitch Mayne knew exactly who he was. He would race home from school to watch reruns of “Star Trek” and swoon over his crush, Captain Kirk. At 8, after his parents converted, he was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a faith he embraced. Even after he drifted away from the LDS Church following his parents’ divorce, he came back to Mormonism on his own in his mid-20s. It is where he feels spiritually at home, irrespective of the fact that, for the past 10 years, he’s been openly gay. “I’m a man that lives in two worlds that a lot of people don’t think intersect,” Mayne said. “Both sides of myself exist in me. It’s part of my DNA, part of my makeup.” Actively Mormon and openly gay: It's the sort of combo that might leave people wondering. After all, the LDS Church teaches that homosexuality, specifically if same-sex attractions are acted upon, is a sin. And the church has actively backed measures to ban same-sex marriages. Now, Mayne finds himself in the spotlight as he embarks on a journey he says “belongs to all of us.” In mid-August he was selected, or called (as Mormons say) by local church officials to serve in an LDS Church leadership position in San Francisco. Mayne’s appointment may have generated attention, but he’s not the first gay Mormon to assume a leadership role in the church. In Seattle, Washington, and Oakland, California, gay men have reportedly served in LDS Church leadership roles, Peggy Fletcher Stack wrote in her piece about Mayne in The Salt Lake Tribune. What makes Mayne unique, Stack said, is that he "may be the first local LDS leader to announce his orientation over the pulpit.” Late last month, from the pulpit, Mayne revealed - to anyone who didn't already know - who he is:
Mayne shared these words during a farewell address to the Oakland ward he long attended, amid an announcement that he would be leaving because he had been named the executive secretary to the bishop of the Bay Ward. It is a role in which he'll offer administrative help but also take part in shaping congregational work. “While that’s not a big accomplishment in and of itself,” Mayne said, “it is a remarkable accomplishment for the simple fact that maybe for the first time, a man was called to a priesthood leadership position not in spite of the fact that he is gay, but partly because he is gay.” For those unfamiliar with LDS Church vernacular, a ward is essentially a congregation or, to use Catholic terminology, a parish. Various wards fall under the auspices of a stake, the rough equivalent of a diocese. In this case, the Bay Ward is one of three wards that make up the San Francisco Stake. The LDS Church, which entrusts local leaders to determine local callings, does not pay clergy, nor does it send would-be bishops to seminary. So Mayne, like the bishop who called him to serve, is a volunteer who works for the church on top of his full-time corporate communications job. Don Fletcher, an ophthalmologist, said that when he was called last month to serve as the bishop and leader of the Bay Ward he wanted to make sure every Latter-day Saint in his ward knew they were welcome, including the vast majority who weren't showing up. Of the 950 members on the books, only 150 were appearing in the pews. Because the Bay Ward serves a geographic area in San Francisco that includes the famously gay, rainbow-flag-waving Castro neighborhood, it stands to reason that a segment of those not attending church are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. Among those who have been absent are members who grew up steeped in Mormonism, faithfully served as missionaries and have families still active in the church. For Fletcher, making members of the LGBT community feel comfortable enough to walk through his congregation's doors is personal. Fletcher has a gay family member with AIDS and says he has seen firsthand how isolating that can be in the Mormon world. “I love my church and have a lot of faith, but culturally we haven’t done a good job in dealing with people who are gay when they face life challenges,” whether that be coming out, depression or struggles with suicide or illness, Fletcher said. “I wanted to address it in the ward I live in.” The response in his ward, and from other Mormons he has heard from, has been nothing but positive, "uniformly, no exception," the bishop said. And, he added with a laugh, in the past month he’s broadened his own knowledge – or, rather, his lingo base - learning about “the ‘Moho community,' Mormons who are homosexual. That was a new one to me.” The LDS Church's top leadership, and by extension many Mormons sitting in pews, heavily supported the campaign behind Proposition 8, the 2008 California initiative to ban same-sex marriage, which is currently tied up in the state’s high court. Church doctrine says members should avoid sexual relations until marriage, which only can exist between a man and a woman. But the church’s involvement in the Prop 8 battle, and the Mormons who financially fueled the effort, created rifts in wards, spawned protests outside LDS temples and pushed some members, likely already on the churchgoing fence, out the door. The Oakland First Ward, which Mayne attended for more than a decade, held a series of meetings to help heal those post-Prop 8 wounds. He said he sees his new church position in San Francisco’s Bay Ward as an extension of such bridge-building and a positive evolution from where he once was. The appointment will allow him to do extensive outreach in the LGBT and Mormon communities. “It’s been hard to be a gay Mormon,” Mayne said. In the course of his life, he said he came out "no less than three times to bishops and stake presidents, and each time I was pushed back into the closet. … This is an opportunity to take my own pain and challenges and make it an opportunity to help. How can I not do that?” He and Fletcher have already seen dividends from Mayne's calling. On a recent Sunday, Fletcher said he looked out to see seven formerly absent members take their seats in the pews because Mayne is there. “I talked to a couple that hadn’t been to church in 20 years,” Fletcher said. “I’m not reinventing doctrine. I’m just trying to put in place what Jesus Christ would have us doing. … Even if you’re in a gay relationship and have no interest in living all the commandments, you’re still welcome in church, by all means.” The development has stirred up discussion far beyond California. In one week, Mayne said, his personal website, which links to a blog in which he writes openly about who he is, received 30,000 views from 67 countries. “I’m not a lone wolf on this,” he said. “I just happen to be a face of it. … There is a place for everyone at our savior’s table.” But not everyone is as confident that Mayne’s calling will make a difference. “I’m conflicted about this,” said Eric Ethington of Salt Lake City, the founder of the LGBT blog PRIDEinUtah. “On the one hand, I view this as a positive step forward for the church, a church that has a history of extreme persecutions against the LGBT community,” he said. “But on the other hand, I worry about LGBT people … because the church teaches you that you cannot reach your full potential and have full acceptance in the church unless you marry someone of the opposite sex.” Ethington was raised in the LDS Church and says he was kicked out of the house when he came out at 17. He later closeted himself and married a woman in an LDS temple, only to divorce a couple of years later after realizing he was kidding himself. “I can’t share (Mitch’s) optimism, but I share his hope,” he said. “Whether the church is ever going to change its policies, that’s a question for (LDS Church President) Thomas Monson. But one thing I hope the church will do, and maybe Mitch can help with this, is educate local leadership. Some kids are gay. … And that’s OK.” Ethington pointed out, though, that Mayne, who was in a longtime monogamous relationship until a year ago, was only able to get his church calling because he’s not currently with someone. “If he falls in love again and wants to be with that man, he won’t be allowed to serve,” he said. Matt Mosman, a high councilor with the San Francisco Stake, said that if Mayne were to find himself in another romantic relationship, there would be an expectation that he would step down. But the expectation that Mayne will abstain from premarital sex while in a leadership role, Mosman added, is no different from what would be expected of a single man who is not gay. “The idea that a gay man who is not currently active in a gay relationship could serve actively in a high-ranking calling – that is a policy in the Mormon church that you could argue has been around since the church’s inception,” said Mosman, who works in corporate development. For now, Mayne looks forward to his service and to promoting conversations and understanding. He will not, however, commit to a life of celibacy and hopes, “for all my gay brothers and sisters,” that same-sex marriage will someday be an option. “I’m not saying I have an intent to go out and sin,” he said. “Here’s where I am; I am able and willing to serve. But I don’t have a crystal ball and don’t know what the future holds.” soundoff (1,700 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Next »
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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Gay or straight, Mormonism is still a business cult fronting as a religion !!! And it was founded by one of the great con artists of all time, one Joe Smith with his mythical horn-blowing friend Moroni.
And how, might i ask, is this a business cult fronting as a religion? you do realize that no church leader makes a profit off the church, don't you?
So what, he is gay. Let it be.
If you people are going to 'love' and 'adore' the gays then you better start loving other perverse lifestyles too. bunch of freaks!
What does that even mean? What is my "perverse lifestyle"?
Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.-Leviticus 18:22.
@Keith – the bible condones slavery(Lev. 25:44), beating slaves(Exodus 21:20), incest(Genesis 19:33-36), r@pe victims being required to marry the r@pist(Deuteronomy 22:28-29), treating women and children as property(Genesis 19:8, 1 Timothy 2:11-14, 1 Corinthians 14:33-35), requires battered women to remain married to abusive husbands(Matthew 19:9, 1 Corinthians 7:10-12), condones jihad type warfare where all children are ki11ed save the virgins who are a 'reward'(Numbers 31:15), and makes no mention at all of child molestation, the worst possible crime.
It's obviously not the LITERAL Word of God.
You don't have one, perverseness is pretty natural for you.
Rojer, you fashion a god to suit your own wants and desires. That's idolatry.
Rojer=Roger, my mistake, sorry.
Rojer, you fashion a god to suit your own wants and desires. That's idolatry.
Actually you could accuse anyone of that. No one takes the bible literally (I hope) considering some of the barbaric nonsense that's in it that couldn't possibly have come from God. Try prayer.
@Roger
It's true that some of the bible passages must not be taken literally, BUT...Leviticus 18:22 is clear as crystal and bright as the high noon.
nit pick nit pick. christians are really getting good at it. the bible is not the literal word of god, it's not even the metaphorical word of god. it's a bunch of fictional fairytales written down by men who had about as good of a grasp of science and the natural world as say, maybe a year old infant. religion then comes along and uses this book to enslave the minds of the masses. man it would've been awesome if god said what to actually take to heart in his infallibile and perfect message to humankind! hmm, today i think i'll ignore that "love thy neighbor" part and just stick to that "commit genocide in the name of the lord" part. i mean, that love thy neighbor thing probably wasn't meant to be taken literally...
I can give you some passages in the Bible that Jesus "Himself" commanded us to love thy neighbor. How about you can you provide here a single verse that Jesus or God "Himself" commanded people to commit genocide?
What you are doing is an abomination in the sight of God – he still love's you though and all I can do is pray for you that you see the error of your ways and repent
Sorry, you don't get to decide what Christianity is for all Christians. The United Church of Christ, Unitarians, Unity Churches, MCC, Episcopols, Anglicans, about half the Lutherans and many of the more progressive Presbyterians and Methodists would like to be able to practice their Freedom of Religion and marry gays and lesbians in their churches.
Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that friendship with the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. James 4:4. I.E. the false aspostate "churches" you just named who are departing from the truth.
Exodus 21:20 “Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, 21 but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property.
2 Timothy 3:15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures (THE OLD TESTAMENT), which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Roger, you choose a lifestyle that clearly is in open rebellion against God. Why?
wow, are you too blind, deaf and stupid to not see that being gay is natural, not a choice?
@Keith – I certainly didn't choose to be gay. I found in puberty that I was and spent years trying to change that. It can't be changed. God saved my life and removed the desire to drink from me, a hopeless alcoholic with a miraculous spiritual experience – but He never gave me the slightest attraction to the opposite gender, even though I begged and prayed and worked. Finally He led me to self-acceptance.
"Truth"Prevails, that's right jump right to the name calling...but you forgot redneck, bigot, uneducated, intolerant-those all important trump-card words that supercede any intelligent arguement. You're soooo smart, I wish I could be just like you. Maybe not.
Roger, all due respect, but I don't think God would lead you to accept a lifestyle that He forbids. Sometimes we mistake God not sending "instant correction" as God's acceptance for something. I know. I've made some major blunders in my life thinking that just because I didn't receive a "no" from God that it somehow must be okay. Only to find out later-boy did I just screw up.
Natural? yes, maybe. Normal? definitley NO!
Really Keith? Bigot is not name calling...it becomes a fact! Calling someone stupid for not knowing the facts and instead basing what they think to be true is a fact (speaking without knowledge)... there is not any excuse in this world for not educating yourself on basic matters. Sorry we can't all fall for the delusions you hold so dear or have such a close relationship with the imaginary world but we have decided to live in the real world and left the fairy tales behind with our childhood.
TruthPrevails, FYI, dumb can be taught-stupid can't
Are you sure that what you were saying is a fact and you're not basing it on what you believe is true?
TruthPrevails, If you are referring to the Bible as "fairytales", my response is this: The older I get, and the more I study the Word of God, the more I see that when I thought I knew much-I knew nothing. God becomes more "real" each time I study His Word. The only fairytale is to believe that His Word is false and therefore God must not exist. That is a lie contrived by the god of this world, and the father of lies, Satan. I am not the one who has been blinded by the god of this world here.
@Keith: I guess this is a matter of agreeing to disagree. You can't convince me and I can't convince you!
Hey Keith, so do you also believe in the tooth fairy and santa claus? They make about as much sense as turning water into wine and getting executed and coming back to life. You can cite your little head off from your book of fables, but in the end you are left with nothing. Do you need this mythology to get through the day? A little meditation will give you the same effect without demanding you to believe in a bunch of fragmented fairy tale scrolls whipped together by a corrupt pope in the fourth century.
Here comes God again. Is there really one out there? We cultivate ourselves to get enlightened and look inward and see how many sins we have rather than how many sins others people have. That is how we practice rather than seeing what other people's sin and tell them not to live that way. Look to the mirror and see who you need to perfect first for no one will give you merits or demerits except yourself. If only everyone look at their own deficient, this world will be a better place to live.
Good for him.
Nothing good about it.
@Calvin – Why not?
Apparently this is now the single most important issue facing the nation, judging by the observation that every other article on CNN lately has something to do with being gay.
You're exaggerating.
Gay of the day. That is what CNN is about.
CNN is an anti Christian channel. it always praises other religions and always finds faults with Christianity. now it is trying to show that it is ok to be a gay and a christian priest. It is against the teachings of Our Lord. Shame on you Jessica!!!!!!!!!!!
The Church condemns not the gays but (only) the act thereof.
What did Christ and Paul say about the likelihood that ANYONE can handle lifelong celibacy even though it's preferable? They said most men can't handle it and it's better to marry than to burn with passion. But you think gays are somehow ALL equipped for a life of celibacy?
The church wants gays not to celibate throughout their lives. It only wants them to marry the right person (normally) for them.
I hope you mean marry the right person of the same gender – not the opposite gender.
Is that normal for you?
so to appease the delusions they should remain quiet?
On the contrary, the church encourages them to go out in the open and speak up. But still, they must make a choice.
Who cares? Gay or not gay! Just live your lives in a good way and remember the golden rule!
Well that's not the religious way.
Thank god I'm not religious.
Actively doing unspeakable acts with another man and believing Joseph Smith found golden tablets from Gawd? This is one messed up dude.
You don't know how to read.
I know an openly gay mormon. A lot more common than you might think.
Well then, I've got some news for you. They are sinners.
@Rachel: how is it a sin (term used loosely given that it only pertains to christian delusions)? Being gay is purely natural. Your statement holds an aura of bigotry!
"Being gay is purely natural."
Says who, YOU?
I would have to say that unlike you I have done enough research in to this to state it is not my opinion or observation being stated here.
Maybe read the following article and see what the professionals have to say.
I would have to say that unlike you I have done enough research in to this to state it is not my opinion or observation being stated here.
Maybe read the following article and see what the professionals have to say. http://www.gayline.gen.nz/natural.htm
Natural? maybe...Normal? Definitely, NOT!
You can't change who these people are and if they are happy, then who is anyone to judge them? What you perceive as normal may be far different than what others perceive to be normal.
Anything that does not conforms with norms, mores, custom, standards, laws etc. is definitely NOT normal.
conform*
it does conform with the laws and the norm or have you been living under a bridge?
What norms that it conforms with? What laws, in what state? Utah? you gotta be kidding!
The count is two and oh.The Bachmanns' clinic might help with the one strike but with Mormonism,stupid goes clear to the bone.God bless
The Bachman Clinic is a waste of good land!
why?
Mormon is an awful religion toward gays and they hate your guts
The article and the facts about the church say otherwise.
People can recognize every mythology but their own.
Well said.
Now that CNN believes Romney will be the ultimate nominee for the Republican Party. Here come all of the Mormon articles to try to show the religion in a bad light in one way or another. They will stoop to any level to keep their Marxist choice for president in office. They didn't do stories about Obama and the Musilim school he attended as a child, nor did they do stories about Jeremiah Wright's hate filled church that Obama attended. They just sidestepped that just like they sidestepped how Obama had no experience and now look where we are! With our Country continually losing hundreds of thousands of jobs each week. With no end in sight. Yet they will still try to do Obama's bidding!
You do know CNN has a search feature. You can see that you are wrong.
OMG Joe, you still think the president is a muslim??? wake up that was just bull by the haters. he was born and raised in hawaii by christians. time to get past that.
@tommydelsol. Are you illiterate?? Did I say he was a Muslim?? I said he attended a Muslim school as a child which is a fact! That does not make him a Muslim. You really should educate yourself.
Ahh! A conspiracy plot to immerse the masses in partisan politics for the benefit of Mit Romney's GOP blaha blaha blaha blahah
He's an idiot. Mormonism is horribly bigoted towards gays.
I don't think Gays should have to live a celebate life for religion. How is that a great choice for a Gay person?
I'm sorry, celebacy is not normal or healthy.
The t-i-tle says, "Church leadership post for an openly gay Mormon"
Idiots can't read.
Well that's what you think, why not keep it by yourself and let others live their own?
Because this is a discussion forum that has invited comments, so don't tell me to "shut up" because you don’t like what I say or my opinion. I don’t like you perspective either.
"If you can't say anything intelligent, don't roll out the religious propaganda you've heard over and over again from the pulpit to stop people from critically thinking about what religion is really teaching us."
Does (the above quote) rings a bell?
If there's somebody here that have been telling anybody to "shut-up" whenever their thoughts doesn't conform with his/her/its, definitely, it wasn't me. Apparently, it's YOU!
GOD loves us but he does not love sin! The death of Jesus is proof of where the unrepentant life will lead. Jesus became sin for all of us and paid for it in full. However Jesus completing his mission rose from the dead to glory. A like of sin will result in death or in other words cut off from GOD.
Religion works on the premise that we all believe that God exists and the Bible is historical fact, but sweetie, that's just not the case. In fact there is no evidence of Gods existence and the bible in not evidence of anything except a record of prevailing religious philophies written from a certain perspective selling/promoting a certain religions agenda.
Of course this person is responding to a Mormon who does believe in God, so your comment really is beside the point.
No. Jesus never said anything like that. Paul made it all up. Jesus was a Jew, and his followers were Jews. Period.
You know what, I don't care if they can find some "poster child" for their, we accept gays propaganda. The fact is, that living a celibate life and denying yourself all the comforts and pleasures of a committed loving relationship, is a sacrifice religions (especially Mormonism) are all to willing for "YOU" to make to "Satisfy" their requirements.
Consider the source, these are people who claim that it's not "their requirements" but Gods, and they are Gods only legitimate representatives on earth? In a religion founded by the Con-man/suspected narcissist Joseph Smith, and a serial polygamist Bring-um Young!
This is Christianity, a belief in Jesus as revealed in scripture. No one is forced to believe this. If you dont want to at least try to follow the tenets of Christ then dont pretend to be a Christian.
I would ask you to please check your facts. This story has some definate holes in it.
The bottom line is: If your Son or Daughter turned out to be gay, would you still love them and treat them as your precious child? If not, then you aren't a true parent. If God does not love those who are gay, then he is not a true 'Father' and is not worthy of being our God. Power does not equal good, nor does it ensure loyalty by virtue.
You are being subjective. God loves those who are gay but He wants them to change. God loves killers but He does't not justify the killing. If you have children that does terribly wrong, you still love him but will you encourage or allow him to do what is wrong?
And who can understand God's mind? His plan is deeper than the ocean and higher than the sky. Our state of mind is impossible to hold the wonder of His plan.
I totally agree with Morinaga. Gay acts are a sin, no matter how you try to justify it. Those who practice this behavior will have to answer to God upon Judgement Day, and it won't be pretty.
Being gay is a choice and it your choices that will either get you through the pearly gates........... or not.
To Morinaga,
Eye roll and by-the way a big “oh brother“. If you can't say anything intelligent, don't roll out the religious propaganda you've heard over and over again from the pulpit to stop people from critically thinking about what religion is really teaching us. In short religion teaches us that it's OK to be intolerant and hate the sin not the sinner, brought to you by the same religions that sponsored intolerance/fear and conducted witch hunts in earlier times. This is what religion teaches, fear (of anything different), intolerance (for anything you don’t understand) and persecution of innocents just because the don’t follow the script and play the role religion has assigned for them.
I wonder how you do eyes rolling when you're too blind to see the truth.
If my son or daughter turned out to be a dealer user or smoker, I would love them too, but I sure would not encourage the destructive behavior.
"Rachel
I totally agree with Morinaga. Gay acts are a sin, no matter how you try to justify it. Those who practice this behavior will have to answer to God upon Judgement Day, and it won't be pretty.
Being gay is a choice and it your choices that will either get you through the pearly gates........... or not."
You uneducated freak!! Being gay is not a choice...being gay is natural and as natural as being heterose-xual. These people will not answer to anyone but themselves. It is hard for gay's as is without bigot's like you stepping all over them! Your buybull does not get to dictate what the professionals have already trumped,,,no issue with being gay, they are as good as the next person and have as many rights.
You're a bigot, there is not other way to put it.
Natural? yes, maybe...Normal? Definitely, NOT!
natural |ˈna ch ərəl|
adjective
1 existing in or caused by nature; not made or caused by humankind :
How can two men or two women having intercourse be natural? Can the two make babies?