This afternoon, the Faith and Order legislative committee passed an amendment to paragraph 304.3 in the Book of Discipline that discusses qualifications for ordained ministry. The change actually removes language that would bar a “self-avowed practicing homosexual” and removes language that talks about from service and instead inserts this language: I have a LOT of…
The Body of Christ
we are the church
truth and repentance #gc2012
Last night, our General Conference participated in an act of repentance toward healing relationships with Indigenous Peoples. I’m not entirely sure what I expected from the service of worship, but it was more somber and prophetic than I had imagined. There was less imagery and pageantry and more thoughtfulness and truth-telling. And the language used…
standing motions #gc2012
Two weeks ago, a young person in Northwest Iowa killed himself after being bullied. He had recently come out that he was gay to classmates, friends and family. Our students in Marengo are often vicious towards one another and hurt their peers every day with words and actions that are not kind or compassionate… especially…
a day in the life of a reserve delegate #gc2012
The morning starts at 6:45 with showers and hotel room coffee and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich made from groceries I picked up yesterday. As a reserve, I get to observe most of the time, and so when I arrived at the conference at 8am, I made my way to the Superintendency committee. I’m…
invocation of the spirit #gc2012
One of the most amazing moments in worship this afternoon was to see bishops of our church gathered around the communion table in the center of the people and to hear them invoke the power of the holy spirit. I recite those words every week at our communion service. I say them once a month…
A global church #gc2012
This Sunday, the African Ministry from St. Mark’s UMC came and joined our congregation for worship. Well, they didn’t just join us… they led us. Pastor Dieudonne preached, the choir sang, the little boys danced, and it was an exciting, uplifting time of worship. One of the things that really stuck with me was that…
Confessions before General Conference
In the past few weeks, between holy week services and fundraiser dinners and youth group and church meetings and the normal day to day business of pastoring, I’ve been trying to get a handle on the general conference legislation. It is actually difficult to try to digest it all. There are 1400+ pages in the…
GC04: The Call to Action for the US Church?
Taylor Burton-Edwards reminded me a few weeks ago that there needs to be a distinction made by the Call to Action and all of the proposals that have been issued forth. It think that it is helpful to see the CtA as a sort of vision that has been cast but that does not necessarily include specific proposals.…