Reconciling Ministries Network Ex-Employee Files ‘Gender Identity Discrimination’ Complaint Against Pro-LGBT Methodist Group

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Reconciling Ministries Network Ex-Employee Files ‘Gender Identity Discrimination’ Complaint Against Pro-LGBT Methodist Group

United Methodist (Photo: UMNS/Paul Jeffrey)

Christian Post Report – Dozens of demonstrators demanding a more inclusive church hold vigil at the edge of the May 3 session of the 2012 United Methodist General Conference in Tampa, Florida.

A former employee of an organization seeking to promote acceptance of transgender and other sexual identities in the United Methodist Church is charging that the organization has itself exhibited transgender discrimination, according to a case filed with the Cook County Commission on Human Rights.

Reconciling Ministries Network, a pro-LGBT Methodist group boasting the support of hundreds of congregations throughout the country, had a complaint filed against it last month before the Commission on Human Rights.

Andy Oliver, the former director of communications for RMN, accused the group’s executive director of unjustly firing him following his refusal to engage in an action he considered discriminatory on the basis of gender identity.

According to the complaint, which was provided to The Christian Post via FOIA request, Oliver claims he was harassed and eventually dismissed by Executive Director Matt Berryman after filing a grievance within the organization back in February.

  • Trinity UMC
    (Photo: David S. Baker)
    Trinity United Methodist Church of Springfield, Massachusetts.

“I filed a grievance with RMN’s Personnel Committee objecting to and refusing to participate in what I reasonably believed amounted to gender identity discrimination,” reads the complaint.

“Specifically I stated that I believed RMN’s Executive Director, Matt Berryman, was trying to ‘bully’ me into changing a subordinate’s job title despite that I believed that the title change constituted discrimination based on the subordinate’s transgender status.”

Oliver further alleged in his complaint that over the next couple months he was “subjected to unjustified adverse employment actions” that included “more severe scrutiny” of his work and eventually being fired “without giving me any justification at all.”

“I believe that I was terminated in retaliation for reporting what I believed to be gender identity discrimination,” continued Oliver.

A representative of the Cook County Commission on Human Rights told CP that since the complaint was still being investigated, they could not comment.

Both Andy Oliver and Reconciling Ministries Network were contacted by CP for this story, but neither returned comment by press time.

Founded in September 1982 at a gathering in Boston, Massachusetts, RMN is a group that lobbies for the United Methodist Church to change its position on homosexuality.

Presently, the UMC officially considers homosexuality “incompatible with Christian teaching” and bars clergy from officiating gay marriages or being in same-sex relationships.

Based in Chicago, RMN has hundreds of “reconciling congregations,” or churches within the UMC that officially concur with their mission to be more inclusive of the LGBT community.

In a blog entry posted earlier this month, Oliver explained that despite the troubles “I stay committed to the values of RMN, to its staff, and the important work they do every day.”

“It deeply grieves me that I don’t get to be there beside them, and whereas presently it doesn’t get to be my focus, I stay committed to full inclusion in the full life of the UMC for LGBTQ persons,” wrote Oliver.

Source : Christian Post

Taliban Bombers and Gunmen Attack Afghan Parliament, Wounding Dozens of Civilians, Including Women and Children

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Taliban Bombers and Gunmen Attack Afghan Parliament, Wounding Dozens of Civilians, Including Women and Children

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  • Afghanistan(Photo: Reuters/Naqibullah Faiq)
Members of parliament are evacuated after an attack on the Afghan parliament building in Kabul, Afghanistan, June 22, 20Christian Post Report – 15. A Taliban suicide bomber and six gunmen attacked the Afghan parliament on Monday as lawmakers met to consider a new defense minister, and another district in the volatile north fell to the militants as they intensified a summer offensive.
  • Afghanistan(Photo: Reuters/Omar Sobhani)
    • Members of Afghan security forces stand at the site of an attack near the Afghan parliament in Kabul, Afghanistan, June 22, 20Christian Post Report – 15. A Taliban suicide bomber and six gunmen attacked the Afghan parliament on Monday, wounding at least Christian Post Report – 19 people and sending a plume of black smoke across Kabul, as a second district in two days fell to the Islamist group in the north.
  • Afghan security forces arrive at the site of an attack near the Afghan parliament in Kabul, Afghanistan June 22, 20<b>Christian Post Report</b> – 15.” title=”Afghan security forces arrive at the site of an attack near the Afghan parliament in Kabul, Afghanistan June 22, 20<b>Christian Post Report</b> – 15.” src=”http://images.christianpost.com/full/84530/afghan-security-forces-arrive-at-the-site-of-an-attack-near-the-afghan-parliament-in-kabul-afghanistan-june-22-20<b>Christian Post Report</b> – 15.jpg?w=6<b>Christian Post Report</b> – 15″ class=”imgPhoto” width=”6<b>Christian Post Report</b> – 15″ /><div class=(Photo: Reuters/Mohammad Ismail)
    • Afghan security forces arrive at the site of an attack near the Afghan parliament in Kabul, Afghanistan June 22, 20Christian Post Report – 15.
  • Afghanistan(Photo: Reuters/Omar Sobhani)
    • Municipality workers remove the body of a dead Taliban insurgent as security forces carry out an inspection at the site of an attack near the Afghan parliament in Kabul, Afghanistan, June 22, 20Christian Post Report – 15. A Taliban suicide bomber and six gunmen attacked the Afghan parliament on Monday, wounding at least Christian Post Report – 19 people and sending a plume of black smoke across Kabul, as a second district in two days fell to the Islamist group in the north.

    Taliban bombers and gunmen attacked the Afghan parliament on Monday but were stopped by security forces who killed all seven attackers. A suicide bomber hit the entrance of the building, while others detonated explosives and fired rockets, wounding at least 3Christian Post Report – 1 civilians in the process, including two women and two children.

    The Associated Press reported that the Taliban has captured two northern districts in the past two days and is active on multiple fronts in the country. The assault on the parliament was reportedly aimed at lawmakers who were meeting inside to the discuss the appointment of a defense minister.

    Arif Rahmani, a member of parliament, told CNN that the politicians were inside a meeting hall when the first explosion struck, but none were seriously harmed.

    Police spokesman Ebadullah Karimi added that all lawmakers were evacuated from the parliament, while the Taliban gunmen involved in the attack, who had rockets and AK-47 machine guns, were all killed.

    Hundreds of children from a nearby school were also evacuated as a precautionary measure.

    The attack has drawn condemnation from the U.N. mission in the country, which called it “a clear and deliberate affront to democracy in Afghanistan,” while the U.S. Embassy said that the assault “showed “blatant disrespect for democracy and the rule of law.”

    The Taliban took control of a second district in the northern Kunduz province just hours earlier, where it has been especially active. It also captured Dasht-e-Archi district following a surge of hundreds of militants who fought their way to the center of the adjacent district of Chardara, Reuters added.

    “The Taliban managed to take it over this morning as the area has been surrounded for days,” said Nasruddin Saeedi, the district governor who escaped to the provincial capital, Kunduz city.

    “There are many foreign fighters with heavy machine guns. We have asked for reinforcements, but none arrived.”

    Back in November 20Christian Post Report – 14 the Taliban carried out a major suicide bomb attack during a volleyball game in Afghanistan, which killed at least 50 people. The attack occurred only days after President Barack Obama extended the combat role of American soldiers in Afghanistan into 20Christian Post Report – 15.

    Though the U.S. has pulled out most of the forces it had deployed in Afghanistan last decade, it still maintains close to 9,800 combat troops in the country for security purposes.

    A senior administration official, who wasn’t named, said at the time that the American troops will not be actively hunting down Taliban members.

    “We will no longer target belligerents solely because they are members of the Taliban,” the official said. “To the extent that Taliban members directly threaten the United States and coalition forces in Afghanistan or provide direct support to al-Qaeda, however, we will take appropriate measures to keep Americans safe.”

    Source : Christian Post