WHAT TO SAY ON SUNDAY

The events of the UMC Special General Conference earlier this week have the American press abuzz, alarming our parishioners and our children (most of whom pay little attention to denominational drama most of the time).

Here is what happened. Almost nothing and Everything!! Stronger, more problematic language in the Discipline, and emerging clarity from the Judicial Council that a clergy executive session with a conscience cannot be overruled in voting in a candidate for orders. (The latter point should be reaffirmed in April.)

What to say for Sunday: We are in the birth canal of a new church. That's the sound byte. It is true for every single United Methodist congregation from California to northwest Iowa to The Congo.  In American Methodism, we are so reflective of the broad middle culturally. And this conference awakened people in that middle who had never written an LGBTQ friendly blog or sermon in their life.  Their Do No Harm DNA was offended. And some are now organizing. On the left, on the right and in the middle.

When someone calls to say they quit your church over this: hear their pain and honor their choice.  But promise them you want to revisit this with them in a month or so. Because the birth canal is scary. You get that. But it's also exciting and hopeful. And you love them too much to let go of them this week, membership or not.

I don't know of one local church who is changing anything they believe in, or sending anymore money to support anything that offends their conscience. So, in the short term, nothing changes locally.

But collectively, before much longer, it likely will only get better, for most of us.

I, for one, have never been more hopeful for the right, the left and the big middle in American Methodism. The Africans are seriously at risk in all this financially.  (The denominational agencies may experience the most upheaval.) And, all of us are at risk!  Babies don't always survive this ride.  But birth is good. New birth is holy.

Perhaps most of us will be in new districts, with different connections five years hence. Two or three Wesleyan global alliances may come out of this.  And once we are done, and the dust settles, we will soon be cooperating on flood relief and feeding the hungry once again, and maybe even in evangelistic endeavor.

And, we will be reenergized to start new ministry.  We will soon see growth and innovation in all quarters, as is typical of young movements.

Be of good cheer. And hold on to one another. It's a wild ride. But it is a necessary one.

(And special appreciation for the prayers of all my UCC, PCUSA, Baptist and ELCA friends in this crazy Methodist moment!!)