Sleeping outside demonstrates how the United Methodist Church’s doors aren’t open to all.
The Reverend Michael Tupper of Parchment United Methodist Church in Michigan has been sleeping outside since November 30 in opposition to the church’s anti-LGBT stance.
Tupper plans to continue sleeping outside for 175 consecutive nights and says his “ultimate goal is to raise awareness of the problems of discrimination and to inspire people to make a change to allow for LGBTQ persons to be married in our church and to allow LGBTQ persons to serve as pastors in our church.”
Usually, the Reverend camps in his front yard but he is taking his message on the road. Tupper plans to visit Methodist offices around the United States. He has already camped outside the offices in Indianapolis and Madison, Wisconsin. He will be visiting Methodist offices in Des Moines, Iowa and Columbus, Ohio.
The last stop on Tupper’s itinerary is the Methodist Church’s General Conference in Portland, Oregon where clergy members will discuss the church’s stance on LGBT pastors.
This is not the first time Tupper has shown public opposition to his church’s position. Tupper signed his lesbian daughter’s marriage license in 2014 and signed the marriage license of a gay pastor last summer.
A sign next to his tent reads “Sleeping outside because The United Methodist Church’s doors aren’t open to everyone.” The sign and act of sleeping outside is “a symbol of how our denomination is responding to LGBTQ persons and pushing them outside the church.”