But Joseph said to them . . . “Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today.”
Genesis 50:20
We have been a Reconciling Congregation for five years. But until very recently we had never displayed a Rainbow Flag. We never discussed it. But we’re New Englanders and we have an innate resistance to making a display of our religious convictions. Its just how we're built.
That changed rather abruptly after the Special Session of General Conference 2019 concluded at the end of February and we heard with finality that the delegates had voted (by a narrow margin) that they hated their LGBTQIA siblings even more than they loved Jesus.
We decided that we needed to have a Rainbow Flag in front of the church. We thought it was important to differentiate ourselves from those folks at General Conference. We are United Methodists (and still mostly proud of it), but we are not those people.
We did not have a real flag, but Pastor Carol, always a woman of action, searched through the Sunday School closet and found a rainbow colored fabric we had used to make a “coat of many colors” for Joseph in a children’s musical a few years ago.
It was not a very good representation of a rainbow flag, but it did make me think about the juxtaposition of the flag with Joseph and his many colored coat.
And Joseph’s words to his brothers.
Many years after they sold him into slavery in Egypt, and after he had risen from slavery into prominence in Egypt, his brothers came to him in a time of famine begging him for food. When they recognized him they expected brutal retribution, but he gave them forgiveness instead.
They intended to do harm and yet good came of it.
With the power and prominence he gained in Egypt, Joseph basically saved the world from famine.
I don’t believe that God “planned” the triumph of traditionalism at General Conference but I do believe that something good can come from it.
Two recent gatherings give me hope.
On May 17-18 350 activists met at Lake Harriet UMC in Minneapolis. Calling themselves “Our Movement Forward,” they adopted a statement that serves as a preamble to a longer proclamation completed by organizers after the summit:
“We dream of a just and loving church — one that is relevant, growing, and ignited by the life-giving and world-changing power of the Holy Spirit,” the preamble says. “Our passion for justice is only surpassed by our hope in Christ Jesus. And as people of faith, we proclaim that the Good News of Jesus Christ is for all.”Then on May 20-22 600 Progressives and Centrists met at the Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas for a gathering called “UMC Next.”
The group affirmed four core principles:
- To be passionate followers of Jesus Christ, committed to a Wesleyan vision of Christianity.
- To resist evil, injustice and oppression in all forms and toward all people and build a church which affirms the full participation of all ages, nations, races, classes, cultures, gender identities, sexual orientations and abilities.
- To reject the Traditional Plan approved at General Conference 2019 as inconsistent with the gospel of Jesus Christ and resist its implementation.
- To work to eliminate discriminatory language and the restrictions and penalties in the Book of Discipline regarding LGBTQ individuals.
The truth is that we should have gotten here sooner. Much sooner. And it should not have taken the debacle of General Conference to force the issue. But this is where we are. And in spite of the stony road that brought us to this point, there is hope for the future.
Rev. Dr. Adam Hamilton, Lead Pastor of the Church of the Resurrection and one of the conveners of UMC Next, echoed Joseph’s words to his brothers when he observed that this was one of the unintended benefits of the adoption of the Traditionalist Plan by the 2019 General Conference was that it pushed centrist churches to take action. Now, he said, the centrists are saying, “not anymore.” Those churches find themselves with no choice but to take a stand. And they are saying, “We’re not going to be quiet anymore. We’re a church for everyone.”
When asked what the UMC Next participants meant by their commitment to “reject the Traditional Plan” and “resist its implementation,” he said that some annual conferences will ordain LGBTQ persons as clergy, and that “thousands and thousands of churches will stand with LGBTQ people.”
And then he summarized that by saying, “We’re headed toward forming a church that my granddaughter will be proud to be a member of.”
Thank you for reading. Your thoughts and comments are always
welcome. Please feel free to share on social media as you wish.
I am glad to know this meeting occurred and hopefully will bring true Unity to all Methodists.
ReplyDeleteI do Believe God will bring Good out of this difficult to live with decision that was made by the GC 2019.
Your post contains self-contradictory statements. You say, "We are United Methodists," and yet you also refer to "the debacle of General Conference." If you are United Methodist, then you pledge to uphold the discipline of the Church, which is what the General Conference defines it to be. If you believe the GC was in error, then you have only two options you can follow with integrity: (1) accept the will of the GC, and *while* *maintaining* *its* *discipline*, you can work to make the changes you desire, or (2) you and your congregation can take the gracious exit that the same GC voted in.
ReplyDeleteThis makes me hopeful. I was a Confessing Movement person until I had a Damascus Road experience as I was working General Conference in Pittsburgh, and met Jesus in the face of a Lesbian friend. The scales fell from my eyes, and I have never looked back. As Saul then Paul, had Ananias and other mentors who brought his out of his blindness to the truth of the Living Christ, I was blessed with a cadre of Faithful Mentors who brought me into the light of a loving accepting and inclusive faith. I had real hope of "Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors", that is until GC2019. I hope that the sleep giant is awoken and is ready to live up to our charge as Wesleyan's and “Do all the good you can,
ReplyDeleteBy all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”
Thank you for such a moving testimony!
DeleteThank you for this beautiful illustration!! You may want to correct Adam Hamilton's prefixes. I don't believe he has a Dr. yet. :-)
ReplyDelete