Central America Revisited – Day Eleven

I now think we are definitely on Central American time. We were supposed to be picked up around 8:30 this morning and our dialogue start at 9:00. Juan’s father picked me up this morning at 9:15 and our session started around 10:00. It was understandable though because several Salvadoran pastors were driving in from different locations. It was good to finally get started on the dialogue. We shared in an ice breaker where we had to pair up with someone from the other country and share our name, where we are from, something about our church, and then something we have in common. Since we had more pastors from Virginia than El Salvador, some of us were in groups of three. Craig and I talked with Armando (or Armandito as some of the other pastors referred to him). It was interesting that all three of us have two children.

Our topic today was homosexuality. Today we focused on our personal experience with homosexuals and then later we were given specific Biblical texts to discuss in small groups. After lunch, we had the opportunity to meet Brian Dubberly, Director of the Salvadoran Mission Project and the GBGM representative to Central America, Alena (I didn’t hear her last name). They both shared brief introductions and then they left because they had work to do.

We shared our discussion with the larger group. Tomorrow we will be focusing on membership, marriage, and ordination for homosexuals. I think we all found this to be a difficult topic in that we all have hearts that desire to share the love of God and yet we come from backgrounds that have been very judgmental and rule oriented, especially in regards to homosexuality. The objective of our dialogue is not to come to conclusions, but rather to gain an understanding of one another’s perspectives. One thing we all shared was the conflict between our heads and our hearts.

It is interesting that despite our different cultural contexts, we all share a passion for sharing the love of God with everyone. The “rules” to live by cause tension and division within our churches and exclude many people because of the lack of love shown when the “rules” are enforced. I know we won’t come to any earth shaking conclusions in our discussions, but it is good to at least have an openness to discuss difficult topics within the church.

After returning home, I have spent most of the evening in my room. Dinner was ready around 7:00p.m., but after I was served, everyone retreated to their rooms. I decided it best to return to my room as well. Tomorrow should be an interesting day.

(Posted after return home because of no internet access)