Letters

<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   HAVE YOUR SAY Feel strongly about something? Share it with the community by writing a letter to the editor. You’ll need to include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) We reserve the right to edit letters, but if you keep yours to 250 words or less, we won’t ask you to shorten it. If your letter is published, please wait 30 days before submitting another. Send it to: E-mail: letters@heraldnet.com Mail: Letters section The Herald P.O. Box 930 Everett, WA 98206 Fax: 425-339-3458 Have a question about letters? Contact Carol MacPherson (cmacpherson@heraldnet.com or 425-339-3472).   Published: Sunday, July 5, 2009 CHURCHES Wrong to imply others are phobic I would like to take exception to the statements in the June 27 article, "Gay-friendly shift at 2 churches." The article indicates that the United Methodist denomination has prohibitions against gay/lesbian membership. This is not true. The following is taken from the official United Methodist Web site: "In its Book of Discipline, the (United Methodist) church declares the practice to be "incompatible with Christian teaching." But while the church has proscriptions against ordination of "practicing" homosexual clergy and clergy conducting same-sex ceremonies in United Methodist churches, it has no specific law about church membership and homosexual practice." Membership decisions are made on an individual basis. The tone of the article would leave you to believe that the rest of us are a group of homophobic hypocrites, which is also not true. The Reverend Smith should know better than that. William Lempe Snohomish

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