The National Congregations Study, which also was conducted in 1998 and 2006-2007 among a total of 2,740 congregations, gathered information from a nationally representative sample of 1,331 congregations for the 2012 study. Duke University sociologist Mark Chaves, the study director, presented some initial findings at the joint meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion and the Religious Research Association in Boston. Most interesting: nearly three in ten U.S. congregations now permit gays and lesbians in committed relationships to hold volunteer leadership positions, a major increase from the 19% of congregations in 2006-2007 that allowed such opportunities.
More findings:
• 27% of congregations in the 2012 study allowed gays and lesbians in committed relationships to hold volunteer leadership positions, up from 19% in the 2006-2007 study.
• Nearly half, or 48%, of congregations in 2012 reported that gays and lesbians in committed relationships may be full-fledged members; in the 2006-2007 study, 38% of congregations allowed such membership privileges.
• 17% of congregations reported having openly gay and lesbian worshipers. But those congregations were also relatively larger, so 31% of people in congregations are part of communities with gays and lesbians who are open about their orientation.
I believe what this study found is that those in the gay lifestyle, just like the rest of us, have an innate desire to be somehow connected with the transcendent. As compared to the earlier survey, church attendance is presently on the rise for those in the gay community. This is most likely because, since the 1970s, when the gay liberation movement went into overdrive, the promise of instant love, quick sex, and masculine bonding has proven rare and fleeting; especially after the massacre of AIDS and the rising rates of disease and drug abuse in the gay world. Desperate, they are looking for something else. My heartbreak: that these men and women have not been called to the Catholic Church. Why? Because I know that Catholicism has the answer. Sadly, this message is just not being shared. Over the years, I have spoken with countless gay men and women, who are earnestly searching for the Truth – only, they have not found it in their local Catholic parish. This is often a problem, not relating to any lack of charity, but because many Catholics (clergy and laity alike,) are uninformed about what the Catholic Church actually teaches in this area and, most importantly, how to incorporate those teachings into everyday life. What I would like to see is: that every Catholic parish have some sort of liaison to the gay community (a person deeply set in The Catechism, of high moral character, and devoted to an intense prayer life,) that could reach out to those who are sincerely seeking God. I think it’s a small step, but one that must be made.
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