Hope For Tomorrow

- Rev. John Oda -

Hundreds of people worked very hard in the months and in fact years leading up to this General Conference. But as the General Conference unfolded my hope dwindled. My optimism grew as a proposal from Rev. Adam Hamilton, the pastor of the Church of the Resurrection in Kansas, was brought forth. His proposal acknowledged “our disagreement on a huge issue that is separating churches in North America today.”

I and others took to the floor of the General Conference. We broke the bar and essentially shut the General Conference down. As I stood at the communion table, I closed my eyes and wept. In my mind I pictured all of my friends who were gay and lesbian, many of whom were standing next to me. I imagined all of the young people, especially the young LGBT people, who had been watching the actions of the General Conference online. The church had failed them. My hope was shattered; my hope smashed, my hope was gone.

I was ready to leave The United Methodist Church. They could keep their bloody anti-gay and dying church. Why should I stay in a homophobic church? Why should I continue to support a church that actually took a vote on whether or not God’s unconditional love reaches everyone-and only passed it by 56%? I kept saying to myself, “This isn’t The United Methodist Church that I know and love!”

And then I realized, this is precisely one of the reasons why I must stay. This is NOT The United Methodist Church back home that I know and love. This is precisely one of the reasons I now have hope for tomorrow. Rev. Bonnie Beckonchrist, the Chair of RMN, said to me later that afternoon, “My hope is not in the larger UMC, it is in my church back home.”

My own church, Lake Park UMC, is full of loving people who care for all people – gay and straight. We affirm the LGBT community. In fact our church is getting ready to launch an LGBT Bible Study this month.

I remain hopeful for tomorrow not because I agree with nor will I uphold the Book of Discipline but because I know back home the reality is a much different story. I will also remain hopeful because of the Reconciling Ministries Network which brings hope to thousands and thousands of people, including myself. I will remain hopeful because of people like Jan Olson, Board Member of Affirmation, who told me, “I stay because if I don’t who is going to continue the fight?” I too will stay to fight another day.

It was Martin Luther King Jr. who said, “We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope.” And from Romans 12:12, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”

My sincere prayer for all of us is that we will continue to be the all inclusive church for today and tomorrow even if The United Methodist Church is one step behind us. And I hope to see you all at the Reconciling Ministries Network Convocation in 2013!

Rev. John Oda is a past Chair of Reconciling Ministries Network, current Board Member and Chair of the Grassroots Committee. He is the pastor of Lake Park United Methodist Church in Oakland, California.

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Beyond General Conference

Rachel Harvey, Deaconess and Associate Executive Director of Reconciling Ministries Network, offers words of hope after General Conference as well as a glimpse of RMN’s plans for the next quadrennium. Listen to Rachel and consider how you’ll advance justice for LGBT people in The United Methodist Church.

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Neighbor News

Looking for a fuller account of General Conference? Check out the Love Your Neighbor News, the daily newspaper of the Love Your Neighbor Coalition during General Conference:

http://www.generalconference2012.org/
neighbornews.html

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Bishop Talbert: A Call For Biblical Disobedience

“I declare to you that the derogatory language and restrictive laws in the Book of Discipline are immoral, and unjust and no longer deserve our loyalty and obedience. [...]

“I call on the clergy who have signed the pledge to stand firm in their resolve to perform marriages among same-sex couples and to do so in the normal course of their pastoral duties. Encourage your congregations to support you by taking actions to support you in your efforts to be faithful to the Gospel by taking action [to use] your local church facilities for such marriages.”

- Bishop Melvin Talbert

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Videos & Images

Check out dozens of short videos from General Conference on the Coalition website:

http://www.generalconference2012.org/videos.html

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Support RMN

As you know, expenses expand and we did more at this General Conference than during any previous General Conference to get our messages to the delegates and to the larger world:

• Daily distribution of the Love Your Neighbor News newspaper to all delegates and observers;
• Web-broadcast videos to help tell our stories;
• Daily meals at the Tabernacle to provide hospitality to delegates; and
• Translation of resources as well as provision of translators to delegates.

Will you make a donation today to help cover the unanticipated expenses of General Conference?

Without your support, RMN could not accomplish any of this justice-seeking work. Thank you for your consideration and support of a just and fully-inclusive United Methodist Church. Donate today!

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There Is Strength In Preparation 

Unable to make it to Tampa? Follow along at home!

The official General Conference At-Home Kit of the Love Your Neighbor Coalition is up and running online. Visit www.generalconference2012.org/homekit.html for news links, video streams, calendar events, and lists of ways to get involved at home.

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There Is Strength In Serving 

I am the un-named woman in petition 20635-GC – ¶ 1314-G.

I was walking down the street on January 27, 2012 when I learned that the right wing had sent a petition to General Conference calling for restrictions to be placed on Deaconesses and Home Missioners serving in The United Methodist Church. John Lomperis, author of the petition, asks the General Conference to restrict Deaconesses and Home Missioners from serving in appointments that are “incompatible with the doctrinal standards or social principles of The United Methodist Church.” He names my appointment with RMN and states that “such embarrassing institutional hypocrisy shrinks The United Methodist Church.”

When I first read the petition I felt a rush of emotions. Initially I felt like a fierce activist. How many people have their ministry named in a General Conference petition? As the news spread I received congratulatory emails, phone calls, and Facebook posts from friends who saw this as a badge of honor. As the possible implications of the petition began to sink in I experienced a deep sadness and outrage which was also mirrored by many friends and members of my Deaconess/Home Missioner and Home Missionary community. The work and ministry I engage in daily as the Associate Executive Director of Reconciling Ministries Network is an embodiment of my call.

I still feel a mash-up of emotions, but two seem to have risen to the surface as we approach General Conference — love and confusion.

Re-reading the petition calling for restrictions on Deaconesses and Home Missioners, I am concerned that the author didn’t read the paragraph he’s asking the General Conference delegates to alter and/or has never met a Deaconess or Home Missioner. In paragraph 1314.1 of the Book of Discipline, Deaconesses and Home Missioners are given a mandate as followers of Jesus Christ to:

• alleviate suffering
• eradicate causes of injustice and all that robs life of dignity and worth
• facilitate the development of full human potential
• share in building global community through the church universal

For 124 years Deaconesses (and, more recently in our history, Home Missioners) have served in cutting-edge ministries with communities and in places the church would not, was afraid to, or didn’t think it needed to go. For 124 years the Deaconess and Home Missioner community has covenanted to live out these mandates, causing not a shrinking but an un-measurable expansion of the ministries of Jesus. For 124 years the Deaconess and Home Missioner community has called the church to be more than an institution or set of standards on paper. I step into a long line of people calling the church to embody God’s love in the church and world.

I love being a Deaconess. This deep love for my church and community calls me not to cling to an institution but to stand in solidarity with those calling for The United Methodist Church to boldly and prophetically follow the gospel of Jesus, who taught us to love our neighbor as ourselves. What some might call an embarrassing stepping out of line with our church standards, I know, like Jesus and thousands of Deaconesses and Home Missioners, is dancing to the long line of music that’s been calling for justice and peace for all God’s children. One day the dissident cords of injustice against my lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender sisters and brothers will end, and like so many Deaconesses before me I will have been proud to serve with them along the journey.

I serve neither for gratitude nor reward but from gratitude and love; my reward is that I may serve. ~Deaconess and Home Missioner motto

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There Is Strength In Love

United Methodists around the world are praying and working together for full inclusion of all of God’s children in the church. There is a new wind blowing, and many are feeling empowered through strength of the Holy Spirit to break their silence.

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There Is Strength In Witnessing

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There Is Strength In Prayer 

Spread the word: we need your prayers! All are invited to send fabric prayer strips to help us transform the fence around our coalition meeting space into a colorful wall of prayers.

CLICK HERE for instructions on hosting a gathering, creating prayer strips, and sending your prayer strips to Tampa.

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There Is Strength In Believing 

A movie of some time ago had the title, “How Stella Got Her Groove Back.” In may ways, The United Methodist Church has lost its groove. We are reflective of the debates and differences and ineffectiveness that we see in both of the major political parties in the United States. If it has the will, General Conference could become for America and the world a model of prayerful reflection, discussion, compromise, decision making, and reconciliation. If we believe, General Conference could live up to the words of John Wesley: that “the world is our parish.”

Once it was thought by many that we were “America’s church.” We were proud that there Methodist/United Methodist congregations in every county in the nation. We sought to live an inclusive social Gospel that pushed us to wrestle with what it meant to be an authentically inclusive denomination. There was a moment in our history when the mere existence of The Methodist Church prompted Time magazine to put Bishop Gerald Kennedy on its cover as a prelude to a cover story about us. Now, we are much more than “America’s church.” We are the “world’s church.” What witness will General Conference make that will be worthy of attention by the media of the world, and what will younger United Methodists circulate in social media?

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There Is Strength In Words 

Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Fort Worth — my personal journey through General Conference territory so far. Like all other delegates I have memories of voluminous materials, exhaustive study, and excited anticipation. Like all other delegates I have memories of incredibly long days and unbelievably short nights. And, like many delegates – and scores of observers – I have memories of hurt, pain, and a goodly amount of angry disappointment.

Now it’s about time to pack up and head to Tampa. My spirits are high as I head to General Conference 2012. I know I have the prayers of my congregation. I am a member of a supportive delegation and part of a like-minded jurisdiction. Waiting for me in Florida will be Love Your Neighbor. The coalition, stronger and broader than ever, will guide, prod, love and, literally, hold me up.

I’m heading out with butterflies in my stomach, for I’m one of three giving this year’s Laity Address. I’m honored to have been selected, but I head into the experience with a sense that I’m going to let down numbers of people thrilled to see an open lesbian stand on the stage. If I had submitted the manuscript that lives in my heart, I would not have been chosen as a presenter. My unspoken words sadden me. I do rejoice, though, in my opportunity to stand for the gifts LGBT lay people and clergy give to their UMC day after day.

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There Is Strength In Numbers 

Just days after Black and Asian caucuses in The United Methodist Church joined the Common Witness Coalition to work at the crossroads of issues, the denomination’s Native American caucus joined the coalition for full inclusion.

The mission of the Native American International Caucus is to sensitize The United Methodist Church about customs and religious expressions of Native Americans; to educate, inform and discuss critical issues that affect Native Americans; and, to advocate for full participation of United Methodist Native Americans at all levels of the church and in the life of the church. Through educating, informing and engaging the church in dialogue about the issues, the NAIC advocates for justice in issues that confront Native people, making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world as part of The United Methodist Church.

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There Is Strength In Listening 

As I think about my hopes for General Conference, I am reminded of the parable of The Great Banquet. A king prepares a large feast and invites many people to attend, but they make light of it and refuse. Several of them even respond with violence and kill the king’s servants – the messengers, in other words. The king, after seeking revenge, responds by inviting everyone on the streets to attend, regardless of their social standing or moral designation.

This may seem like an odd passage to come to mind for a meeting of our global church, but we are also a people who have been invited to a feast. We have been invited to participate in the celebration of life and community together as Easter people. It is only through grace that we receive this invitation, for we know that our place in the church is not determined by social standing or some measure of our worth. And yet, to attend this feast we must be prepared. We must prepare ourselves to be with others, which requires something of us: that we not make light of the tasks we are given as members of this church. As we participate in this feast, we are also required to hear the messengers, whomever they may be. We are not to respond with violence or fear, as the invitees of the parable did, but with grace and respect.

This is my greatest hope for General Conference: that we hear each other with grace and respect, and in doing so, that we experience the sacred in our midst.

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There Is Strength In Reconciliation 

Welcome the Official Reconciling Community of the New Jersey Annual Conference!

This exciting Annual Conference team first gathered in April 2005 for two workshops on local and community work. In the seven years since, they have gathered annually for workshops, lunches, and retreats. In 2010 the community first drafted a reconciling statement. This year they created a formal team for ongoing work and adopted their edited statement:

We, the Reconciling Community of the Greater New Jersey Conference of The United Methodist Church, affirm our belief in the equality of all people regardless of their race, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, social or economic status, physical and mental ability, or religious affiliation. We are all God’s beloved children. We commit to meet annually and will explore ways to guide and support the further formation of Reconciling Communities, both independent of and within congregations of the Greater New Jersey Conference of The United Methodist Church.

“People are joining daily, and we are on our way,” reports Ann Freeman Price, chapter convener.

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There Is Strength In Reading 

Are the laws of the Old Testament authoritative for Christians today? This is the question that Cheryl B. Anderson tackles in her latest book, Ancient Laws and Contemporary Controversies: The Need for Inclusive Biblical Interpretation.

The issue is crucial: some Christians believe the New Testament abolishes Old Testament law, or that Protestant reformers such as John Wesley rejected the law. Acknowledging the troublesome nature of some Old Testament law (especially as it applies to women, the poor, and homosexuals), Anderson suggests that contemporary controversies are the result of groups expressing their own realities and faith perspectives.

In calling for a broader interpretation of the Bible, Anderson suggests that as we learn to consider the realities of others, we learn to live out the true meaning of love with one another and our world, and when this occurs, “a prophetic Christian identity is obtained in the creation of the beloved community.”

Anderson is an associate professor of the Old Testament at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and an ordained elder in The United Methodist Church.

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There Is Strength In Learning

For additional insight and inspiration:

• Ancient Laws and Contemporary Controversies: The Need for Inclusive Biblical Interpretation 
• This book, written by Reconciling United Methodist Dr. Cheryl Anderson, addresses the deeply problematic nature of some Old Testament laws, especially as they apply to women, the poor, and homosexuality, and attempts to answer the question of whether Old Testament laws should be considered authoritative for Christians today.
• Dr. Anderson is a featured speaker at the Lighten the Burden IV AIDS Conference on the first day of General Conference. For more information, visit the link below.
• Lighten the Burden IV AIDS Conference, featuring the voices of Reconciling United Methodists Dr. Cheryl Anderson, Bishop Yvette Flunder, and Rev. Lydia E. Muñoz.
• Rethink Inclusion
• A fantastic Web site with tools to help people understand why the inclusion of LGBT people in the church is important
• “Incompatible with Christian Teaching” DVD
• This film, written and directed by Joe Kuehne, produced and edited by Anne P. Brown, has seen over fifty screenings in twenty-three states, and now it is available for purchase on DVD. Order your copy today!

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A Time For Welcoming 

On Friday, March 9th, The National Federation of Asian American United Methodists (NFAAUM), which represents ten ethnic groups in the church, including Cambodian, Chinese, Filipino, Formosan, Hmong, Japanese, Korean, Lao, South Asian, and Vietnamese United Methodists, decided to become a full coalition partner.

We at RMN, together with our allies at Affirmation: United Methodists, Black Methodists for Church Renewal (BMCR), and Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA), look forward to working together as we strive for a more diverse, inclusive, just, and welcoming United Methodist Church!

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A Time For Work

- Dr. Dorothee Benz 

The following is an excerpt of a sermon given by Dorothee Benz titled, “A Good Man and an Earnest Question,” in March of 2012. Read the full text and listen to the audio of the sermon as originally delivered.
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Imagine the scene: The teacher is leaving. His lecture is done, the Q&A is over, he’s in the parking lot packing up his car, getting ready to head home. And a man comes running up to him, out of breath. He has a burning question on his mind and he didn’t get called on during the discussion but he just knows he must catch the teacher before he leaves town.

He kneels down – he’s a huge fan – and he asks: “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

He’s a good man, and it’s an earnest question.

The phrase “eternal life” is used interchangeably with “kingdom of God” and “kingdom of heaven” throughout the synoptic Gospels. It is about living into, establishing the kingdom – the reign – the dominion – of God and doing it now. In that way, it is about living into and working for God’s vision for the world. This is most explicit in the Lord’s prayer: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

So the man’s question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” is a question about what it takes to be part of the kingdom, what it takes to do the work of the kingdom, to have that richer, purposeful life, to work for God’s vision in the world.

And Jesus says to him, “You know the commandments, keep them.”

He says to Jesus, “I have kept all these since my youth.”

It’s not a cocky response. He’s there after hours. He has doubts that he’s doing enough.

But he’s a good man. He’s lived an upright life; he’s done right by his family, his neighbors, friends, his employees, his customers. He coaches Little League, he organizes the annual charity dinner for the local hospital, he goes to church every Sunday.

And Jesus sees all that. Mark says, “Jesus, looking at him, loved him.” Jesus doesn’t discount any of what the man has done when he says this next thing to him:

“You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then, come, follow me.”

It’s not that what the man has done is bad, it’s just that Jesus is saying there’s more. If you truly want to experience eternal life, if you want to be part of the kingdom, to build the kingdom, to do God’s work in the world, there is more; and this is what it is.

Our good man is shocked. He’s devastated. And he goes away, the story says, “grieving, for he had many possessions.”

Can you imagine? Give up everything?

I want to suggest to you that one way to understand and apply this story in our lives is not to focus only on literal economic wealth, but to think about currencies of power and privilege throughout our lives – whether that be economic power, institutional power, community status or social privilege that we have because of our race or sex, our ethnicity or sexuality.

What Jesus is calling us to do in this story is to look deeper at who we are and what we have. How do we fit into the many social structures we each are a part of, to recognize the various dimensions of privilege and power in our lives? Following Jesus puts all of that into play.

The white person who remains silent when her neighbors are talking about “those illegals” at the block party, even though she knows her silence means they will think she agrees.

The up-and-coming manager who crosses the picket line because the CEO sent a memo saying all non-union workers were to report to duty as normal, even though he knows that crossing that line means the strike will be broken and the workers won’t get the healthcare their families so desperately need.

The United Methodist bishops who say they are opposed to the church’s prejudice and discrimination against LGBT people but then say that they are “obligated” to uphold the Book of Discipline, the UMC rule book that codifies that discrimination, and to prosecute anyone who violates its unjust provisions.

Jesus is speaking to them no less than to anybody else when he says, “Go, give up what you have and follow me. Risk your institutional privilege and stand with the oppressed.” Refuse to perpetuate the lies and laws that label gays and lesbians “incompatible with Christian teaching” and bar us from ministry, from marriage and even from membership in the church at the discretion of a pastor.

That is the work of the kingdom.

Those bishops, like the Rich Young Ruler, have (so far) walked away, grieving. Without fail, they express their sorrow and anguish at the “situation” and the pain it has caused so many people. They are stuck in their grief, they cannot move the work of the kingdom forward; it is so very, very hard to give up that institutional power, to risk their privilege.

In the story, after the man goes away grieving, Jesus piles on with one of the Bible’s most famous one-liners: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God”- as if we weren’t already feeling like this was impossible. Indeed, disciples had the same reaction and asked, “Then who can be saved?”

If the story ended here, it would be a bitter tale about our inability to give up power and privilege for the pursuit of justice. And most of human history confirms this sad narrative.

But Jesus says to his disciples, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”

Do you believe that? Do you believe that God can inspire mortals to great acts of daring for human freedom?

I do.

God is here, now, in The United Methodist Church, making a new and wonderful thing possible. Throughout the country, in 13 annual conferences, over 1,100 United Methodist ministers have become part of regional marriage initiatives to extend their ministry to ALL couples, gay and straight, and offer weddings to ALL couples on an equal basis. They are willing to risk their jobs and their careers to offer pastoral care to those our denomination has labeled as less than. Yes, all things are possible for God.

While our bishops are stuck in their grieving, unable to risk their privilege to stand with LGBT people, these ministers have found the divine inspiration and courage to refuse to discriminate; and in doing so they are breathing new life into the church.

The question for all of us is, what things will we let God make possible in our lives?

Where are the places we are called to risk the power and privilege we have to do the work of God’s kingdom? Is it in the PTA? The city council? At work? Is it at First United Methodist Church? The Annual Conference? General Conference?

In the end, it boils down to two earnest questions:

Do you want to inherit eternal life?

Do you believe all things are possible for God?

Amen.

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Dr. Dorothee Benz is chair of Methodists In New Directions (MIND) and a leading strategist in the movement to end the UMC’s prejudice and discrimination against LGBT people.

READ THE FULL SERMON.

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A Time For Change

M. Garlinda Burton, journalist, educator, advocate, motivational speaker, Reconciling United Methodist, and General Secretary of the General Commission on the Status and Role of Women of The United Methodist Church (GCSRW), gave the sermon below at Sing A New Song, the joint gathering of Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA) and Reconciling Ministries Network, on August 28, 2011. “Open your heart” and listen.

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A Time For Song

- Mittie Quinn, BWARM 

We recall that at the turn of the 20th century – just over 100 years ago – women weren’t allowed to vote and wouldn’t be allowed until passage of the Women’s Suffrage Amendment in 1919. Fast forward a few years to 1953 – when women weren’t hired for certain jobs and although they could be ordained, they weren’t allowed to perform the sacraments. Much of the opposition we hear today to our efforts for full inclusion of LGBT brothers and sisters has an eerily similar ring: “How could a pastor who is (female, black, gay, lesbian. . .) understand me?” or “Everyone is always welcome (just some more than others),” “they’re different,” “they might tempt men,” “they might corrupt our churches,” or, “the Bible says couples were ordained to procreate. . . how can women do that if they’re out working?” and so on. Prior to 1988, the year that our present (and likely last) print-hymnal was published, male composers dominated the pages and our pulpits. We hardly even knew what “inclusive” language was all about, and we certainly didn’t understand it.

As early as the 1850s, women’s words began to appear in hymnody. Their words and names began to creep into church liturgy. I will only highlight a few. Who knew that women hymnists were behind some of our oldest and dearest hymns. Listen now to a few of the stories of these women of history and hymnody, who, along their journeys, led the way to a church that more fully included women.

On the day that Anna Warner was born in 1827, her mother died from complications of childbirth. Her father, a wealthy lawyer, provided economically for Anna and her sister, but the Panic of 1836 (an economic crisis that led to the first Great Depression) resulted in the loss of most of their wealth. Anna and her sister, Susan, began to write poems and short stories to sell as their contribution to the family welfare. Susan’s first novel, The Wide Wide World, was hailed as the second most popular novel of the time, second only to Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The sisters collaborated on many fiction and children’s books, including a novel about a dying boy who was comforted by the soothing, poetic words of his teacher, who said, “Jesus loves you, this I know.” Two years later, a leading hymn writer by the name of William Bradbury set the teacher’s words to music.

“Jesus Loves Me, This I Know”
Words: Anna Warner, 1857
Tune: William Bradbury, 1860

This hymn has taken on new meaning for many of us in the BWAC because of testimony given by Jill Joubert. Jill talks about raising her children, taking them to Sunday School, and learning this hymn. As they grew and realized they were gay and the church stuck to its stance about “homosexuality being incompatible with Christian teaching,” Jill asked herself, “What do I say now about Jesus? That the hymn lies? That Jesus didn’t love her children anymore?” I asked Jill to think about some new words for this song. She shares them today for the first time:

Jesus loves me as I am
For I’m part of His great plan
Jesus loves me and I’m gay
For He knows I’m born this way

Chorus

Jesus loves my family too
For we worship Him like you
Two moms or two dads – ok
We still worship Him and pray

Chorus

Gay or straight He loves us all
Gives us strength when we may fall
Jesus loves us everyone
For He is God’s blessed Son

Chorus

Gay, straight, bi, transgender too
Jesus loves us why won’t you
He does not discriminate
Let’s get rid of all this hate!

Chorus

- Words by Jill Joubert, 2012

No conversation about women hymn-heroines would be complete without mention of Frances Crosby. “Fanny” was a lyricist born in 1820. She is described as a “lifelong Methodist,” and despite the era of her birth was one of the most prolific hymn writers in history. She wrote over 8000 hymns. One source suggested that Fanny was so prolific that she used over 200 different pseudonyms so that publishers would publish all her work because they were reluctant to have too many hymns by the same person. Like Anna Warner, Fanny lost a parent during her first year of life. Her father died when she was just eight months old. Soon after, a medical treatment gone bad led to total blindness before her first birthday. But none of this slowed her down. By age ten, fifteen years before Braille was invented, she had memorized the first four books in both the Old and New Testaments. Despite her life challenges, Fanny grew to be a dynamic speaker and preacher as well as writer. Some sources suggest that she was one of the best known women in the United States at that time. She learned to play piano, guitar, and to sing; she attended, and later taught, at the New York State School for the Blind. As a young adult, she traveled to DC to lobby the government to support education for the blind, likely part of the effort to establish Gallaudet School and College.

Fanny composed her poems entirely in her head – and someone else transcribed them for her. In the case of this hymn, the melody was composed by her friend, Phoebe Knapp, who played the tune on the piano a few times and then asked what it said to Fanny. Fanny replied, “Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine.” This hymn has been included, unaltered, in the official UM Hymnal since its first appearance in 1889.

“Blessed Assurance”
Words: Frances Crosby, 1873
Tune: Phoebe Knapp

Anna Warner died at the age of eighty-eight on January 22, 1915. Fanny Cosby died just three weeks later, on February 12, at age ninety-five. Neither lived to see Women’s Suffrage passed in 1919.

Fast forward seventy years. Our current hymnal was ordered by an act of the United Methodist General Conference in 1984. A lengthy and orderly process (we are Methodists, after all) ensued. A committee was created and they worked tirelessly from January 1985 to October 1987 to develop a new hymnal that: 1) included hymns from the Evangelical United Brethren tradition, 2) included hymns from various ethnic groups, 3) used inclusive and non-discriminatory language while respecting the language of traditional hymns, and 4) bore in mind the needs of small membership churches. A subtext to their work was to include more women composers and lyricists, and to that end they commissioned thirteen poets to create new texts and four composers to create new tunes. Ruth Duck was one of those commissioned hymnists. Rev. Duck was born in DC and is a professor of worship at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary in Illinois. Lucky for us, the hymnal supplement, The Faith We Sing, incorporates more of Rev. Duck’s hymns. The words speak for themselves.

“When God Restored Our Common Life”
Words: Ruth Duck, 1992 (Psalm 126)
Tune: Resignation

So, why do these hymns bring me hope? They remind me of the journey that women took in order to become “mainstream” in the UMC. The inclusion of more and more of them in our hymnals reminds me that women’s participation began as a small mustard seed and grew and grew until women were accepted and included in full participation in the UMC. These hymns wrap me like a warm, soft blanket, especially when I feel discouraged about the efforts of BWARM and RMN to strike offensive language about LGBT persons from the Book of Discipline, or their work to move the UMC toward a kin-dom of God where all are accepted. These hymns offer comfort when I feel discouraged or drained from witnessing to those who disagree with my understanding of God’s family, or with those who have a different understanding about the Bible and the Promise of God’s covenant. These hymns remind me that women started on the margins and have slowly but steadily – like yeast – been a catalyst for change in the UMC. And so, they give me hope that some day that covenant will be fulfilled, that promise will be claimed, and ALL of God’s children will sit at the UM table. Let us pray:

PRAYER: Oh God of All, we give you thanks for the gifts of music, and today we especially give thanks for the words and music given to us by these women. Their music reminds us of your spirit flowing through us, that you love mercy, seek justice, and want us to walk humbly through this world. Bless us as we continue to do your work so that the kin-dom of heaven may come upon the earth.

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A Time For Preparation 

The official mobile app of General Conference 2012 is now available for your Android device. Like the iPhone/iPad version, it features live streaming of conference sessions and worship, news stories, photos and videos related to General Conference, petition information, schedules, maps of the convention center and downtown Tampa, lists, locations, and phone numbers of Tampa restaurants, pharmacies, transportation, and others points of interest, and information about General Conference sponsors and exhibitors. Also, it pairs well with the official mobile app of The United Methodist Church. Download them both, and come to Tampa prepared!

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A Time For Love

- Rev. Lois McCullen Parr 

When the news was filled with William and Kate’s wedding a year ago, I kept thinking about the daughter of a lesbian couple in our congregation. She’s in Sunday School, the children’s choir. Her moms are church leaders and volunteers in the community.

I kept thinking about how unfair it is that she sees a man and a woman decked out for the wedding of the decade and she wonders why her moms can’t get married in the church. She’ll wonder why God’s blessing isn’t offered for her moms, for her family. She’ll wonder why, for her parents, someone has told her that God isn’t invited to the wedding.

This little girl heard a preacher on the radio who was shouting about the sin of gay people, about how God doesn’t approve of them, and she asked one of her moms about it.

“That’s not my God!” she said. “My God calls everyone ‘beloved,’” she said, reciting the welcome statement from our congregation’s Sunday worship.

I wonder about her, how the damage done by a radio preacher and the media saturation that says that marriage is only between a man and woman will affect her as she grows older. How much of an uphill battle will she face as her loving family crosses the cultural landscape of the “father-daughter dance?”

How many times will we, her church family, need to remind her that those messages that do harm are wrong – that, in fact, God loves all families, including hers?

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A Time For Silence

– Will Green 

GLBT people know what it is like to spend holidays alone. Maybe we weren’t invited home so that no one else would feel “uncomfortable.” Maybe we were told that we could only come to the party if we not bring ANYONE as a guest. . . specifically the person who meant the most to us. Or maybe we showed up but knew that we were not really welcome. GLBT people know what it is like to spend holidays alone.

This Good Friday I will spend time alone. It isn’t because my family and church don’t affirm me or because I’m in the closet. I’ll be alone because Good Friday is a time for silence, for solitude, and for searching. On Good Friday I will spend time alone.

I will pray for myself in the desert wilderness of life. I will pray for many of you as we prepare to gather in Tampa. I will pray for people everywhere who know what it is like to be alone.

And I will be with Jesus Christ, who knows what is like to be alone.

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A Time For Solidarity

- Rev. Gil Caldwell 

To my friends who are distressed by the revelation that the National Organization for Marriage has a deliberate “game plan” to enlist blacks in their efforts to prevent marriage equality:

I remember comparable efforts during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. Then, there were those who sought to enlist blacks to support efforts to prevent racial integration. And when I read of the desire of NOM “to drive a wedge between gays and blacks – two key Democratic constituencies” (New York Times, 3/27/12), I thought of what it would mean if they were successful in doing so. We who are black were being urged by NOM to separate ourselves from Bayard Rustin, Barbara Jordan, James Baldwin, Wanda Sykes, Rev. Yvette Flunder, Don Lemon, Sheryl Swoopes, Countee Cullen, Johnny Mathis, and many, many other black lesbians and gay men, living and dead. The contradiction of any group that seeks to drive a wedge in the “family” of a group of people who share a common racial history and heritage is beyond belief.

But because of the narrow and demeaning perspective that many of those in the anti-marriage equality movement have of same-gender loving persons it is no surpise to me that, for them, black LGBTQ persons are rendered invisible. One of the disturbing realties in these moments when gay rights are moving forward is that at times organizations like NOM, and sadly some gay rights organizations, give the impression that there are no black gay persons or gay communities. This is compounded when some black persons within the church and beyond the church appear to be so anti-marriage equality and anti-gay that they forget that they are limiting the rights of the gay black persons in their families, churches, and communities.

The resistance to marriage equality for same-sex couples has caused me to remember the wisdom of that sage Yogi Berra, who said, “It’s déjà vu all over again.” The National Organization for Marriage is not unlike those persons and groups who in another time were anti-interracial marriage. These persons and groups used Scripture, culture, history, and the “protection of traditional marriage” as rationale for their opposition, particularly to the marriage of a black person to a white person. NOM, you are a living illustration of the cliché, “THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY REMAIN THE SAME.” Shame on you!

Gilbert H. Caldwell is a retired United Methodist minister, a veteran of the Black Civil Rights Movement, a founding member of Black Methodists for Church Renewal, an outspoken advocate for the civil rights of LGBT people and a founding partner of Truth in Progress.

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Gilbert H. Caldwell is a retired United Methodist minister, a veteran of the Black Civil Rights Movement, a founding member of Black Methodists for Church Renewal, an outspoken advocate for the civil rights of LGBT people and a founding partner of Truth in Progress.

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A Time For Learning

For additional insight and inspiration:

• Ancient Laws and Contemporary Controversies: The Need for Inclusive Biblical Interpretation 
• This book, written by Reconciling United Methodist Dr. Cheryl Anderson, addresses the deeply problematic nature of some Old Testament laws, especially as they apply to women, the poor, and homosexuality, and attempts to answer the question of whether Old Testament laws should be considered authoritative for Christians today.
• Dr. Anderson is a featured speaker at the Lighten the Burden IV AIDS Conference on the first day of General Conference. For more information, visit the link below.
• Lighten the Burden IV AIDS Conference, featuring the voices of Reconciling United Methodists Dr. Cheryl Anderson, Bishop Yvette Flunder, and Rev. Lydia E. Muñoz.
• Love on Trial
• The official Web site and central location for information related to the life and trial of Rev. Amy DeLong
• Rethink Inclusion
• A fantastic Web site with tools to help people understand why the inclusion of LGBT people in the church is important
• “Incompatible with Christian Teaching” DVD
• This film, written and directed by Joe Kuehne, produced and edited by Anne P. Brown, has seen over fifty screenings in twenty-three states, and now it is available for purchase on DVD. Order your copy today!

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Love Your Neighbor Tabernacle 

A tabernacle is a dwelling, a temporary shelter, and in our faith story the tabernacle is not only a tent sanctuary used by the Israelites during the Exodus, but also how the Gospel of John describes Jesus as among us.

It is fitting as we mark forty years of the “incompatibility” wilderness, that the Love Your Neighbor coalition’s center of activities will be a tabernacle located across the street from the Tampa Convention Center where the General Conference of The United Methodist Church is being held. In this 100′x 40′ air-conditioned dwelling, we will host delegates, organize volunteers, eat, pray, strategize, plan, and launch action.

Speakers include both young adults and retired bishops, central conference leaders as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender leaders. Leaders will bring their experience on ordination equality, marriage equality, immigration, nonviolent action, church restructuring, gender equality worldwide, and more. Translators will be working in French, Portuguese, Shona, Zulu, Tagalog, Cebuano, Bicol, and Ilocano to expand our welcome. A partial list of presenters includes: Albert Otshudi Long, Julie Todd, Lorenza Andrade Smith, Bishops Ott and Rader, Rifat Kassis, David Weekley, Garlinda Burton, and Brad Laurvick.

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Love Your Neighbor Worship

Love Your Neighbor welcomes Dr. James Cone as our preacher at our noon service on April 29 at the Straz Performing Arts Center. Dr. Cone will speak from his life experience and connect that experience to our hopes today. Dr. Cone was recently interviewed by Bill Moyers on his book, The Cross and the Lynching Tree. The worship service will be “streamed” and posted online.

Our worship team is coordinated by Rev. Delyn Celec. Delyn was a part of the denominational worship team leading General Conference in 2008 and continues her work at Shenandoah University. This past year she was “extraordinarily” ordained by Church Within a Church.

Rev. Tanya Linn Bennett, professor of worship at Drew University, is designing our service. Tanya most recently designed the amazing services reconcilers experienced in Ohio at Sing a New Song.

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Daily Tasks and Opportunities for Volunteers

If you’ve never been to a General Conference, you might be struggling to imagine what coalition volunteers ACTUALLY do. What tasks and activities will volunteers take part in every day?

Some tasks take place each day, like blogging, monitoring discussions, and helping keep the Tabernacle space in good condition, and others will take place once or only after a specific event. Volunteers are needed who are willing to do little tasks and big ones, who want to work directly with delegates, and who wish to help behind-the-scenes, who want to come for 36 hours or the entire two weeks! While there will be too many events and opportunities for us to list them all, here are some of the many things that Love Your Neighbor coalition members will be doing while we are in Tampa:

• Greet delegates during breaks
• Pass out daily newsletters to delegates
• Tell your story to a delegate
• Share messages through signs, silent witnesses, praying in committee rooms, etc.
• Update Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, and other social media
• Participate in daily street theater witness
• Clean and set up the Tabernacle for hospitality
• Dance, Sing, shout, and celebrate in rallies
• Pray with delegates or other volunteers
• Monitor the progress of legislation
• Listen to the discussions by the General Conference
• Encourage one another
• Write blog posts, press releases and newsletter articles
• Post and share media (pictures, videos, audio recordings) online
• Worship and sing together
• Stay up late planning daily strategies
• Help the coalition office with copies, sending letters, etc.

Ready to volunteer? If you haven’t already, sign up at http://gc12.org/action/volunteer-at-general-conference/. If you don’t have a place to stay, view these alternatives.

 

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Street Theater! 

Wait, what exactly IS street theater?

Imagine yourself walking down the sidewalk next to the Tampa Convention Center. All of a sudden, you notice a smelly, dirty person lying on the ground and moaning. Even more shocking, you watch a passerby look down at the one who is suffering, glance at a huge wristwatch, and walk away! What will you do? Just as you decide to go investigate the scene, a flaming rainbow cape catches your attention: a bold, queer hero stops to see if the one who is suffering is alright, and they begin speaking in oddly loud voices. At that moment, as they talk of making time to look out for others in need, you suddenly realize, this was no simple encounter but an opportunity to ask yourself, “Am I ready and willing to help any neighbor I see in need? Who is my neighbor?”

Street theater includes a number of methods of performing a short skit, catalyzing meaningful discussion, or offering the opportunity for a crowd in a public setting to consider a discussion question together. Love Your Neighbor volunteers in Tampa will have the opportunity to present sketches and dramatic interpretations of the Good Samaritan Story. Some of these dramatic presentations will reinterpret the question, “Who is my neighbor?” by reminding us of those who currently are ignored, abused, oppressed, and hurt by church policies, culture, and legal systems. Others will share the ways in which the UMC already lives out God’s vision for our church as the Good Samaritan who stops and takes time for persons who have been “set upon and left in a ditch.” Volunteers are needed to participate in drawing attention, act in this street theater, inspiring, and leading discussions which reflect upon the sketches, helping to prepare and encourage one another. If this is something that interests you, please contact Marla Marcum at marla.marcum@gmail.com.

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Action: Send Your Prayers to General Conference 

The Love Your Neighbor Tabernacle needs your prayers…literally. As we (continue to) transform our church and world into the full expression of Christ’s inclusive love we’ll physically transform the fence around the Tabernacle into a prayer wall. Just as the Good Samaritan bound the wounds of the person who fell among robbers, our prayers and witness offer healing and hope to our world over run with physical and spiritual violence.

Reconciling churches, communities, campus ministries and individuals are invited to send fabric prayer strips for the Love Your Neighbor prayer wall. If you or a member of your community journies to General Conference, send your fabric prayers with them for the wall. If you can’t make it to the tabernacle, mail your prayer strips to the RMN office or Howard Johnson Hotel (mailing information below) and a Love Your Neighbor volunteer will attach your prayers to the wall during General Conference.

How to get involved:

• Create a fabric prayer strip
• Select a fabric or use scraps you have from other projects
• Written prayers show up best on bright colored fabric (patterned or plain)
• Cut a strip of fabric no larger than 2″ wide x 30″ long
• Write your prayer on one side of the fabric
• Permanent markers work best but bleed through fabric so remember to protect your writing surface
• Celebrate in Worship
• Invite members of the community to write prayers on fabric strips during a worship service. Use a song or the Litany of Loving to frame your action
• Send your prayers
• Commission volunteers to carry your fabric prayer strips to the tabernacle when they volunteer at General Conference
• Mail your fabric prayer strips to the RMN office or Love Your Neighbor hotel (Howard Johnson) according to arrival date
• Arrive March 23, 2012 – April 18, 2012 – Reconciling Ministries Network c/o Meg Carey, 3801 North Keeler Ave, Fl 3, Chicago, IL 60641
• Arrive April 19, 2012-May 2, 2012 – Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel, c/o Meg Carey (LYN office), 111 West Fortune St, Tampa, Florida 33602

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Action: Young People 

If you are a young person, student or even an older youth, and you would like to have a direct impact on the General Conference, MOSAIC wants to invite you to Tampa!

At this General Conference, delegates will make budgeting and restructuring decisions which have the potential to either expand or abolish youth and young adult ministries across our church. Youth and young adults are needed to remind delegates that youth and young adult ministries are vital to making disciples for the transformation of the world! To emphasize the current leadership of young people in our movement and church, we will have a powerful first-day young adult presence. During the entire conference, young adults will remain visible leaders in coalition meetings and teams, dancing and singing witnesses, holding a rally to encourage coalition volunteers, as well as offering hospitality and daily meetings for young delegates and volunteers!

Are you interested in dancing, singing, meeting new people, organizing rallies, and changing the world? If so, we need you! Please email Audrey today!

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Action: Marriage Equality and an Altar for All 

All laity and clergy at General Conference, whether delegates or not, are invited to attend a celebration of the nearly 1,200 clergy across 13 annual conferences who have organized for marriage equality. The “Altar for All” celebration will take place Friday, May 4, at 12 noon, in the Love Your Neighbor Tabernacle. The celebration honors clergy who are committed to celebrating partnerships, unions, and legal marriages for LGBT couples, and offers an invitation for more clergy to join them.

Participants in the “Altar for All” celebration will honor faithful witness and invite everyone to renew their vows of faithful and loving covenants:

• Baptismal vows to follow Jesus and resist oppression
• Membership vows to witness our faith
• Ordination vows to be in ministry with all
• Couples vows to love one another.

If you are clergy and want to participate in this public event either by supporting or enacting the Altar for All, please RSVP to Matt Mustard at mmustard@foundryumc.org.
Also, if you are clergy and want to organize an equal marriage movement in your annual conference, please contact Matt as well.

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Action: Support RMN

More than ever before, you can help RMN put a generation’s worth of hope and strength into action in Tampa! Will you consider making a gift to RMN to help end the 40 years of LGBT discrimination? Your gift will support scholarships to young adults to attend General Conference, translators for Central Conference delegates, printing and mailing of resources for General Conference delegates, and much more. Please make an online donation today. However you choose to give, thank you for your support!

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Who Is My Neighbor?

– Rev. David Weekley

When the legal expert asks Jesus this question he is looking for limits beyond which he would not have to show compassion. But Jesus’ reply through the story we commonly call “The Good Samaritan breaks all boundaries. This is an “over the top” story that challenges every person in every generation who refers to themselves as a follower of Jesus. It is a story that challenges me. The common title of this parable, “The Good Samaritan” is an oxymoron itself. In Jesus’ day Samaritans were among the most reviled outcasts residing alongside the Jewish community. Upstanding Jews such as the legal expert who asks this question believed Samaritans followed bad theology and engaged in corrupt worship.

As a transgender man I sometimes find myself among people who treat me like a Samaritan. I enter a room or gathering such as Annual Conference and some step back, refuse to talk, or, worse yet, ask why I am included in the community at all. At such times it is I who am challenged by The Good Samaritan story. In these places Jesus asks me to extend hospitality and compassion to the most wounded, fearful, and desperate people I encounter on my journey even as they rebuff me. Sometimes this means continuing to pray for those who reject me as their pastor simply because of who I am. At other times it means remaining in conversation with those who I know have spoken untruths about me to others. Moving forward with compassion rather than returning fear and hate with the same towards those who have threatened my vocation, the well-being of my family, and my personal health is often difficult. But this is what Jesus asks of me in his response to the simple question, “Who is my neighbor?” I continue struggling with this story even as I reach out to victims who do not even know they are wounded and in need of healing from wounds that lead them to react to me with fear, anger, hatred, and ill-will. All are my neighbors, Jesus says. This reply to the legal expert thousands of years ago disturbs me today because, as I think the legal expert hoped, I too would like some limitations, some boundaries beyond which I can dismiss those who call me unworthy, unwelcome, unChristian. But Jesus will not let me do this. So in answer to that simple four word question, “Who is my neighbor?” I am forced, compelled by my faith to answer even those who do not want to hear it, “You are.”
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Rev. David Weekley is an openly transgender clergy serving The United Methodist Church. His book, In from the Wilderness: Sherman (She-r-Man), was published in February 2011.

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Welcome BMCR to the Love Your Neighbor Coalition! 

Last week, Black Methodists for Church Renewal (BMCR) voted during their annual national gathering to join the Love Your Neighbor Common Witness Coalition of Reconciling Ministries Network (RMN), Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA), and Affirmation. This is a historic partnership and opportunity for all of our organizations to grow together as neighbors – striving for justice around issues of race, gender, global partnerships, peace, stewardship of creation, economic justice, and LGBT inclusion.

As we ask, “Who Is My Neighbor?” we also ask what it means to be neighbors with coalition partners. RMN Executive Director Rev. Troy Plummer states, “This new partnership with BMCR gives us an opportunity to live more deeply into RMN’s anti-racist, anti-supremacist values. Being partners means being allies to one another as we change the world together.” RMN gives thanks to many, especially Bishop Mel Talbert and Rev. Gil Caldwell, for their work spanning decades advancing racial justice and inclusion for all people, including LGBT persons, in The United Methodist Church. We are grateful for this moment to challenge the wedges which keep oppressed communities from collaborating for justice.

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Journey to Hope

RMN’s very own Rachel Harvey recently participated in the United Methodist Communications‘ Lenten series for young adults titled, Journey to Hope. Rachel’s video, released this week, describes how the story of the Good Samaritan transformed her life. Please check it out and add your comments about where you find hope in The United Methodist Church. Here’s a brief preview:

“In my church growing up, there were three people of color: my dad, my brother, and me. It wasn’t until I was a teenager and I can remember the moment when I learned that there were people of color in the Bible. And I learned this through a footnote in my Teen Study Bible where it said that the Samaritans were of mixed race. I remember going home and just crying because this book, this story, was so important to me and had become central to who I knew I was. I had learned from my parents that as Christians our role is to play the Good Samaritan. This was the first time that I saw physically that I could be a part of the story.”

About Journey to Hope:
Laura and Brian Rossbert, Reconciling United Methodists from Nashville, Tennessee, invite you on a seven-week Journey to Hope to discover the hope that can be found in the midst of life’s most difficult circumstances. By pausing to explore everyday circumstances, you’ll discover how faith in Christ is relevant to every day. In just a few minutes each week, Journey to Hope will inspire you to see real life situations with fresh eyes.

Each week, you will hear different stories from passionate people sharing how hope has changed their lives in unexpected ways. You will also have opportunities to share your own personal experiences and insights.

Weekly topics are as follows:

Week 1: Relationships
Week 2: Self-Esteem
Week 3: Work
Week 4: Temptation
Week 5: Money
Week 6: Suffering
Week 7: Hope

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RUM Reflections

The upcoming Katalyst features the reflections of Reconciling United Methodists from all over the country on the question, “Who is my neighbor?”

Here’s a preview:

The widow, the orphan, the stranger in the land, the one who is hungry, thirsty, in prison. . . That part is easy. I perform “acts of charity” and advocate for justice to the extent that my time and energy will allow. But my homophobic legislators, politicians who interpret the Bible to further their own agenda, those who put wealth ahead of the environment, religious leaders who claim to have the inside track to knowledge of God’s will, otherwise decent people who question whether those who are struggling with poverty or addiction “deserve’ our help. . . do they have to be my neighbor, too? That’s where my faith is sorely tested and often found wanting.

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Mission Trip: Tampa

- Ann Craig

In a follow-up letter after the General Conference briefings in Tampa, Zimbabwe, and the Philippines, delegates are being asked to stand at the crossroads and look at Scripture anew to decide on issues of war and peace, climate change, women’s leadership, immigration, and inclusion of LGBT Christians. The Holy Spirit is at work in our hearts and our church. The Spirit is guiding us to love our neighbors.

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The official mobile app of General Conference is available for free on iTunes! It features live streaming of conference sessions and worship, news stories, photos and videos related to General Conference, petition information, schedules, maps of the convention center and downtown Tampa, lists, locations, and phone numbers of Tampa restaurants, pharmacies, transportation, and others points of interest, and information about General Conference sponsors and exhibitors.

This app was specifically designed for the iPhone and iPad, but an Android version will be available soon.

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See You at the River

- Tyler Sit 

Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.” But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, “I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?” He turned and went away in a rage.
(2 Kings 5:10-12)

One day, Naaman, who was a foreigner and not a Jew, approached Elisha asking to be rid of his leprosy. Easy Breezy, Elisha replied, “Dip yourself in the Jordan River seven times and God will clean you right up.”

Naaman was less than thrilled with the proposition. The Jordan River? Not even the nice rivers in Damascus? And isn’t seven times a little excessive?

He huffily stomped away.

What is it about that sudden burst of resistance that is so much more alluring than the steady plod towards doing what is right? There’s certainly something to be said about egos and feeling too important for menial tasks, but I think there are more interesting readings we can cull from this story, especially in light of the LGBTQ movement.

Like the Good Samaritan in the Gospels, Elisha extends healing and grace across lines of race and religion. In this story, we see Elisha doing and telling Naaman just what is needed for his healing. God does not just want to swoop into our lives when we are in need, only to let us go about living our daily lives. God values process, contemplation, confession, and praise. When we are afflicted, we can never return to the time when we weren’t afflicted. Rather, we must boldly step into a new identity with new wisdom and growth.

To be sure, LGBTQ people aren’t like the leper because of who they are, for surely sexual orientation and gender identity are gifts from God. Rather, the affliction that LGBTQ people face is bitterness from injustice, disillusionment from normativity, and apathy from frustrating ecclesial and political realities.

At the height of despair, it sure would be nice to have God swoop in and fix everything up. I wonder, though, if that would deprive us from the insights that we in the movement might be able to gain from these situations — insights about ourselves, the church, and the world. I wonder if we would be able to savor the small victories quite as much if we didn’t know how much sweat and tears went into them.

I wonder if our bitterness is like undeveloped film, which just needs to be dipped again and again until its meaning becomes clear.

So let’s go down to the Jordan, my friends. Let’s rise from political pettiness and find meaning in the process. When affliction arises, may God give us the contemplation to dip again and again until we ourselves are transformed, and, by extension, our world.

I’ll see you at the river.
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Tyler Sit is in the MDiv program at the Candler School of Theology (Atlanta, GA). He is also the LGBTQ Outreach Coordinator for the World Student Christian Federation – North America, an enthusiastic member of RMN, and nature enthusiast.

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New RCs

The United Methodist Wesley Foundation of The University of Minnesota Twin Cities Campus Ministry 

On February 14, 2012, after three weeks of discussion, the students of the University of Minnesota’s Wesley Foundation voted to become a Reconciling Campus Ministry. The vote was unanimous, and after adopting the following statement of inclusion they celebrated by singing “In the Midst of New Dimensions.”

We, The United Methodist Wesley Foundation of The University of Minnesota Twin Cities Campus Ministry, affirm ourselves to be a reconciling organization. We enforce the notion that in order to have true community, discipleship, and service-oriented sense of justice, we must be welcoming of all people.

Community is one of the most essential aspects of the church. In order to form a strong community all who are called to participate must be welcomed with open arms. It is the Creator’s business to call people into any position of this community and not the right of any of God’s creation to deny any other member of that divine calling. In order to found ourselves as a community of faith we must be bonded together like a rock or else disintegrate like the separated granules of sand. The U of M Wesley Foundation is thus dedicated to a non-discriminatory community that accepts all people, embracing diversity in all forms.

The discipleship of the Wesley Foundation is centered around a process of respective understanding and growth. This discipleship is one that we invited all people to participate in. Together we will investigate the personal relationships of a person with their faith, and the love, compassion, and acceptance that is required for such an exploration. We believe God’s love is welcoming to all people and that discipleship is not ever meant to be a tool for intolerance or exclusion but rather development and attachment.

We carry these concepts one step further by actively participating in Jesus’ call to service and social justice. We work towards a principle of radical hospitality. Our duty is to reconcile the church with humanity by creating a world of love, peace, equality, and generosity. By grace and by deed we intend to generate an organization that has the strength, enthusiasm, and resource to create a significant benefit for the communities around us and beyond us.

We are a community of love and grace open to people of all sexual orientations and gender identities, races and ethnicities, differing abilities, diverse economic levels, ages, and personal backgrounds, whether they be students, faculty, staff, community members, or visitors. We welcome all people and commit to be a community in which differences, whether in theology, ideology, political affiliation, academic interests, ministerial gifts, or spiritual callings, can form a community of discipleship and service.

Learn more about the Wesley Foundation online at www.gopherwesley.com.

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In the News

Bishop Celebrates Washington Marriage Equality
Recently, Bishop Grant Hagiya of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska AnnualConferences publicly expressed his disagreement with UM policy regarding same-sex marriage. We at Reconciling Ministries Network, together with our friends at Methodist Federation for Social Action, Affirmation: United Methodists, and Black Methodists for Church Renewal, would like to thank Bishop Hagiya for speaking out in favor of our cause.

Read Bishop Hagiya’s letter.

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Resources

For additional insight and inspiration:

• In from the Wilderness: Sherman (She-r-Man) by Rev. David Weekley, an openly transgender clergy serving The United Methodist Church
• Rethink Inclusion
• A fantastic Web site with tools to help people understand why the inclusion of LGBT people in the church is important
• “Incompatible with Christian Teaching” DVD
• This film, written and directed by Joe Kuehne, produced and edited by Anne P. Brown, and shot by Kurt Powers and Anne P. Brown, has seen over fifty screenings in twenty-three states, and on March 15th it will be available for purchase on DVD. To order a copy, visit http://www.annepbrown.com/Film%3A_Incompatible_with_Christian_Teaching.html.

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Upcoming Events

Communing With Our Trans Kindred – A Conversation for the Black Church
Sponsored by the African American Roundtable, TransFaith Online, and Many Voices
March 24, 2012
Admission: $45 (reduced rate)/ Scholarships: $25
Register online at http://transkindred.eventbrite.com/

Building an Inclusive Church: Training Opportunities March 10, 2012: Washburn, WI  
April 12-14, 2012: New Brunswick, NJ
May 3-5, 2012: Lancaster, PA
Full scholarships available!
For more information and to register, visit http://www.welcomingresources.org/communityorg.htm.

4th Annual Jack Crum Conference on Prophetic Ministry 
Sponsored by Methodist Federation for Social Action
April 14, 2012
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. EDT
Fairmont United Methodist Church
2501 Clark Avenue
Raleigh, NC 27607

Lighten the Burden IV 
AIDS Conference
Sponsored by the United Methodist Global AIDS Fund Committee
April 23, 2012
8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Hyde Park UMC
500 West Platt Street
Tampa, FL 33606
(813) 253-5388

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