After participating in an AIDS walk many years ago, our church youth group was required to do a debriefing session to ensure the youth had not been traumatized by anything they had seen. Reflecting on the walk, one young man shared, "If Jesus was alive, he would have walked with us."
Read MoreWhy did I do what I did? Fear. Honestly fear... not of "getting in trouble" or offending someone... but fear of what I would lose. The structural system we live in causes me to fear losing my ministry position/ordination, my parsonage/housing allowance, my retirement account, my ability to support my family if I do what I believe is right and gospel-centered. Fear is a very un-Christian reason for doing anything, and it haunts me.
Read MoreRev. Jonathan Fuller shares an advent reflection in this difficult year. “Honestly, 2020 has really challenged my understanding of God. It’s grief like we’ve never known before. Grief over lost loved ones, lost opportunities, lost jobs, lost relationships. Grief over a Church still divided by LGBTQ+ inclusion, by racism and classism, by political affiliations.”
Read MoreAs a queer Christian, I have never wondered if God loves me because of who I love. I have wondered if The Christian Church as an institution does, though. John Wesley observed that “love is the fulfilling of the law, the end of the commandment. It is not only the first and great command, but all the commandments in one.” When we act inclusively, for justice, for mercy, and in solidarity they will know us by our love.
Read MoreWe are not showing love when we say we love but do not completely include. If someone is not able to do everything in the church because of something about who they are, then they are not being loved. They are not.
Read MoreIn the midst of COVID-19, I hear the phrase over and over again, "I just want to return to normal." Normal though is a place of racism and homophobia and discrimination and the inability to see the image of God in all creation. Let's not go back - but instead let's move forward, out of the ashes, into the new movement that sprouts up among us.
Read MoreDid we make the right decision a year ago? Yes, we did. Without any reservation and despite the grief I feel for those who left, it was the right thing to do. Sometimes following Jesus requires necessary grief.
Read MoreLike so many of us, General Conference delegate Martha Stokes is grieving the 15-month delay to August 2021. But she also reflects that during this time of waiting, “new guiding words and themes might emerge. And maybe, just maybe, the Holy Spirit is moving in the most mysterious of ways.”
Read MoreAmanda McDermott reminds us of the importance of every part of the Body of Christ in the life of the church. “If we’re trying to show Jesus’ light to the world, how can we do that if we are removing an important part of our spectrum of light? The answer is: We can’t.”
Read MoreWith this month's #RESISTHARM theme being light, we’re sharing this reflection from Martha Stokes. “Easter for me has always started in the dark...until this year when a novel coronavirus may be just what it takes to focus on the True Light of Resurrection Day.” Martha recognized that the light is actually outside the walls of the church building, something many of our LGBTQ+ kin know all too well as they have often found more grace and light outside of our churches than inside of our walls. Martha calls us to greater action, to truly live as Jesus lived.
Read MoreI want you to know that I am still hopeful. Let’s take this next year to continue sowing seeds and reaping harvests of love, belonging, and inclusion. We can arrive at General Conference in 2021 even more organized and ready to birth a renewed church centered in Christ’s unconditional love.
Read MoreChelsea Morse shares a very personal experience, demonstrating the importance of pronouns. “May we all seek to love one another and resist harm by truly seeing one another the way Jesus sees us: as beloved.”
Read MoreThe Rev. David Hindman shares his thoughts following his participation as the centrist/progressive voice at a town hall meeting with the WCA in the York River District. His insights are helpful, especially if you are planning to attend one of the upcoming town hall meetings across our Conference.
Read MoreRev. Mitzi Manning reflects on her choice to remain single and celibate while serving as a deacon in the UMC. “It should NOT have been necessary to lead such a lonely, inauthentic life while I was following my call. I pray that we will end the harm and stop trying to second-guess God’s call on the lives of LGBTQ United Methodists.”
Read MoreA call to all laity: “We urge you to offer your positive and faithful leadership to your congregation in sharing open and respectful conversation as we move toward the General Conference in May. Your lay leadership teams and committees need to be knowledgeable about what is taking place in the life of the denomination.”
Read MoreIn 2005, Rives and her partner Nancy were considering legal consecrated marriage. They weren’t sure “we would live long enough to see legal marriage in the USA or the UMC,” so they headed to Canada for a destination wedding. Fifteen years later, Rives is still “hopeful for a future where those who choose to officiate weddings or to be married themselves will not need to worry about anything other than ‘Do we have the rings in our pockets?’”
Read MoreWhen the UMC decided to uphold the restrictions for the LGBTQ+ community outlined in the Book of Discipline, it all came flooding back - feeling dirty, less than, unwanted, and feeling unworthy of God’s love and grace. I watch as church leadership cling to views on who I am and how my very being affects the church, as if my being fully included at my place of worship, making church and faith a part of my marriage, and working on my relationship with God somehow threatens them or their institution.
Read MoreAs an LGBTQ+ couple grappled with the current discrimination and exclusion of the LGBTQ+ community from the UMC, they made a tough decision. “We did not want to be the reason anyone left our church,” they shared. “This feeling was one of the reasons we stepped back and did not come to church for a while.”
Read MoreOnce I made up my mind three years ago that I would no longer say no to a couple who asked me to marry them, I prayed that I would have the strength to live through the consequences, whatever they be.
Read MoreJim Hill shares what he learned at the Wesleyan Covenant Association’s informational meeting on November 3 at Laurel Hill UMC in Henrico, VA. The WCA proclaimed that “a new seed is being planted for a new traditional Methodist expression.”
Read More