TEN SOUND BYTES FOR REFLECTING ON UMC GENERAL CONFERENCE

Please plagiarize freely when talking to grass roots people about the state of the UMC as a denomination.

1. "The church is fundamentally local - even as we are connected with diverse sisters and brothers across the globe. Let's focus on the consensus for faith and ministry that we have here, locally. God is busy here, and we should not get too distracted from the work, HERE."

2. "We will be living with one another in heaven, regardless of whether we quit this, split from that, or stay associated with this over here. You can quit the UMC, run as far from denominational affiliation as you wish. You can sit on your couch alone on Sundays with the blinds closed - and still we are all one Body. And no level of disagreement about sexual ethics changes this fact. All of the people involved love Jesus. Christians are just diverse. We don't get to choose family."

3. "There are many strands to the Methodist movement, many reaching far beyond the UMC - hopefully, our bishops will be able to lead us to adjust the nature of our connections in a way that no part of Methodism is damaged further."

4. "You know, if they get rid of the anti-gay stuff in the Discipline, the delegates from Africa would face holy hell when they get home. They are people too, and their churches matter too."

5. "Pray for your enemies - and based on the behavior at General Conference, people were operating as if they were enemies. Lots of folks. So let's don't pretend that in the church we don't have enemies. God does not buy that for a minute. Jesus asked us to pray for the people with whom we find ourselves in opposition. And if we aren't doing that earnestly and honestly, I don't think our other prayers have much Christian integrity."

6. "So they chop us up into a new central conference or multiple such conferences, or into multiple denominations with eucharistic respect one for the other... that's not the end of the world, especially if it helps us to collaborate and to stop fighting one another. We don't fight Lutherans or Baptists. And we are not actively trying to merge with them either. The Body of Christ transcends our connectional organizations."

7. "I just pray that the UM bishops seize upon this moment and take a very assertive approach to offer us a way forward. Pray for the bishops - if they want a United Methodist Church, they are going to have to work at this. And God help them, if they think they can hold many more trials and have a UMC left when this is over."

8. "In fifty years, none of this will matter nearly so much - because the trajectory of the US sector of the denomination as a whole is currently so bleak. Its almost like a fight on the deck of the Titanic. (Refer back to point number 1 - the best action is LOCAL.).

9. To pastors and churches whose conscience requires them to break the UM Discipline in favor of the Gospel, as they understand it with integrity, and in harmony with the emerging consensus in mainline American Christianity: "Do what you need to do - don't cower. Break a few rules. Follow Jesus. God knows Jesus broke a few rules in his day, for the sake of the Gospel."

10. And if anyone tries to shame the UMC using comparisons to the UCC or ELCA or PCUSA, please remind them: "We are a global church, with a significant third world sector. They are not."

Enough said.