Central Conferences

When we were in Fort Worth four years ago, deciding about the structure of our worldwide church, I knew then that our beloved United Methodist Church would soon be in trouble.  I worked at the time as a chaplain to one of our United Methodist colleges.  I loved everything about my job, the discussions, the service, the love of our students for real active faith.  The young adults that I know want a church that does more walking than talking in the service of love.  They honestly don't care about how much money you have, what country you are from, whether you have tattoos or dread locks or Abercrombie and Finch clothes or good-will clothes.  They don't care if you are a vegetarian or a omnivore, or if you are left-handed or right-handed, or if you are a democrat or a republican.  Nor do they care about the sexual orientation of their friends.  In other words, being different is appreciated, not something to fear.  They see communities of faith that don't share this worldview as being archaic and for the most part, they pity our churches that operate from the fears of "other".  They know the beauty of sharing life in appreciation of diversity.  Diversity is not a dirty word, but a word that describes their reality. 

My take on today, as we debated so many issues in legislative committees, was that our church is going to choose to operate out of fear and scarcity, rather than love and abundance.  Our fear is that if we even admit that we are at an impasse for now-- that "faithful Christians disagree on the Christian understanding of homosexuality"-- our African churches will become obsolete.  Nevermind that the United States UM churches will continue losing members, especially in the next decade, to the point that we will be closing churches faster than we can even imagine.  The next generation will not be a part of a church that continues to hold a negative perception about our GLBT friends and family.  They will not put up with a church that will not embrace fully their friends and family in the life of the church.  Our US churches funds the whole worldwide church at a rate of 99%.  That means that our local churches in the United States pays 99% of the 605 million dollars needed to operate a global church.  If the US church continues losing membership (as is projected at alarming rates), the African churches will have little funding.  If we continue to pass legislation that alienates the next generation of potential church-goers, we will not have the money to float the entire global church.  So as the African churches continue to grow because of the "incompatibility statements," being kept solidly in place in the Book of Discipline, the US churches will continue to lose members.  Even good ole southern churches that rest in the Bible belt will lose the young people, mark my word.

I have to say that I am very disheartened after today.  There is still a chance to eliminate the negative language concerning homosexuality, but I have serious doubts that it will change.  And we will have another 4 years of membership decline. 

In other legislative news, the "Call to Action" did not pass or fail in legislative committee, so the whole issue will be debated on the floor of General Conference (pray for us!, it will be a marathon).  Also, coming out of legislation committees is the approval of eliminating the "guaranteed appointment".  Whew.

Good news, I got to hug Janice Virtue's neck.  I got to laugh with Dawn Hand.  I ate a fabulous meal with Ken, Pam, Amelia, Jennifer, Jennifer, Mildred and Nancy.  And tomorrow I am going to worship at Hyde Park United Methodist church.  I miss my Oakley folks, and I know Ashley will do well tomorrow as they worship together. 

G'night folks!