Mourn Crucifixion, Rejoice in Resurrection!
The Methodist version of C-Span has been live for the past two weeks and it has been enthralling.
Amidst lengthy processes of nominations and elections, confusion over rules and petitions, and reports from the denomination’s general agencies, there have been numerous electrifying moments on the plenary floor.
A truly shocking volume of historic legislation has been passed by the General Conference of The United Methodist Church in its two weeks. Some of that legislation affirms what the Spirit has been trying to tell us all along:
That LGBTQ+ siblings in Christ are beloved children of God. They are created to be in loving relationship with one another – including through the covenant of marriage - and can be called by God to serve the church as clergy.
This week, The United Methodist Church ended it’s 52-year-old anti-gay stance. It lifted the 40-year-old ban on queer clergy. It removed the penalties on clergy or churches for holding same-sex weddings.
This brings the denomination in alignment with how we have been living into our call to be Church here in the west for many years. New light is truly shining! Our denomination is finally recognizing, welcoming, and seeing our queer siblings in all their sacred worth. Can we get an amen?!
We’ll send a special comprehensive General Conference email update to you all tomorrow with a more full picture of what has taken place in these days.
As this congregation knows very well, for as long as the bans, penalties, and harmful stance and language have been in the Book of Discipline, a movement has worked to reverse the policies of our church that harm LGBTQ+ people.
However, no amount of reversal can reverse the harm that has already been done. Just as Christ’s resurrection did not reverse the horror of the crucifixion or what it means to us as Easter people, neither does our forward momentum today allow us to forget the harm of yesterday.
Alongside the shouts and tears of joy, is grief for all God’s queer beloved whom the church has harmed and turned away. We will lament and repent of this harm for the rest of our days. This is just as the call to lament and repent of all sites of crucifixion within our church and within our world.
As we celebrate the transformation of our church, we carry these somber stories.
We invite you to join a Service of Celebration and Healing on Wednesday, May 8 at 7 p.m. in the Chapel. As we move from protest of our denomination’s stance and policies on LGBTQ+ folks toward celebration of this leap toward LGBTQ+ inclusion, we’ll sing, pray, hear stories, and share our hopes for the future.
As I write this, the delegates to the General Conference continue to deliberate important petitions related to all aspects of the life of the church, some of which are still related to this topic. Their deliberations will conclude with a review and (hopeful) approval of the budget of the denomination on the final day of General Conference on Friday, May 3.
My friends, I ask you to pray. To pray in thanksgiving for the work of this week. To pray in lament for the harm the church has done in its past. To pray in hope for the future positive witness of God’s beloved church, including the remaining work of the General Conference. To pray in connection with all who continue to suffer in our world. Finally, to pray for all those we have not named or have not thought of, but whom God has always known and always held.
And all God’s beautiful and beloved children will say: Amen.
Peace,
Karyn