General Conference 2008

GC Newsletter: Friday, May 2, 2008

The 2008 General Conference Proclamation
Read by Audrey Krumbach
Written by Reconciling Ministries Witness Team
Click here

The communion table at the center of our worship life has been shrouded as a reminder that the body is broken.  We wear black to acknowledge that the body is broken.  And if you recognize that brokenness, you are invited to come to the table, to add a black cloth to the shroud, and to offer your prayer for brokenness of the church.      
Rev. David W. Meredith

My name is Melvin Talbert.  I am one of your bishops.  In this General Conference we have been reminded that in 1939 this church took an action that separated my sisters and brothers into a separate jurisdiction. That action was wrong. That action was a sin against God. Thank God we have moved through and discontinued that segregated structure.  But my sisters and brothers, here we are again. In the name of Jesus Christ, we have taken an action that is wrong.   At least for the Central Jurisdiction we remained within a structure and we worked out the relationships. But for these sisters and brothers we have chosen to leave them out rather than invite them into work out our relationships in the name of Christ.   I can do no other than to say what’s on my heart.  General Conference, General Conference, This is wrong. I invite you to reconsider.   
Bishop Melvin Talbert

GC Newsletter: Thursday, May 1, 2008

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!

Luke 13:34

GC Newsletter: Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Membership Brochure: Please Read

Being handed out with this newsletter is a brochure "Concerning Church Membership and Authority of The Pastor," by Rev. Dr. Gayle Felton, the chief author of By Water and the Spirit and This Gift of Water. We urge you to take a few minutes to read it and reflect on it.

Membership Restrictions Serious Business

If the provisions in the Book of Discipline which allowed the unfortunate ruling by the Judicial Council in 1032 are not changed, or are made more explicit, the Common Witness coalition (MFSA, RMN, and Affirmation) are prepared to protest in a non-violent witness. SoulForce, an ecumenical group whose purpose "is freedom for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people from religious and political oppression through the practice of relentless nonviolent resistance," is providing non-violence training at 8 p.m. tonight at the Clocktower meeting room. Civil Rights legends James Lawson and Gil Caldwell pointed out how violence is at the root of all the "-isms," and in order to transform people, non-violent resistance, the way of King and Gandhi, is most effective.

Membership is important to GLBT persons, because it enables full inclusion in the life of the church, the Body of Christ, and provides opportunities for serious Christian service. Without full membership the One Family Tree is missing branches.

Commissioning and Briefings Changed

There will NOT be an 11am commissioning service/briefing at First Christian Church on Wednesday or Thursday. Everyone is invited to the plenary session of the General Conference. There WILL be briefing @ Clocktower following plenary decisions regarding Reconciling concerns.

Global Church Restructuring Moves Ahead

In a development that RMN watched with interest, the Conference continued to seriously consider the needs of a worldwide United Methodist Church. The final form of legislation has some promise to free parts of the church for more full and complete ministry. "It was a positive development," said Jennifer Soule, RMN General Counsel.

The General Conference approved a plan for a new task force of 20 members with six coming from the initial study group, to study financial issues as well as structure, and to bring a report before the 2012.

GC Newsletter: Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Moderates Elected to Judicial Council

General Conference delegates yesterday elected five members of the Judicial Council, the church's "supreme court" and 12 alternates. All five were on a list of suggestions put forward by the Council of Bishops and which RMN also supported.

Elected were Reuben Reyes, Angela Brown, Kathi Austin-Mahle, F. Belton Joyner and William B. Lawrence. "Competent, fair, balanced" were words heard to describe these folks. This is the kind of person RMN has been praying for. We are confident that reason and fairness from the new Judicial Council will help our great church sort out some differing opinions regarding our Book of Discipline.Angela Brown (California-Nevada Conference) and Ruben Reyes (Philippines Central Conference) were chosen for the two available lay positions. Revs. Kathi Austin-Mahle (Minnesota Conference) and F. Belton Joyner (North Carolina Conference) and William B. Lawrence, (North Texas Conference) were elected for the three clergy positions.

Active laity, Brown has Navy Reserve and legal experience as an assistant district attorney. Reyes is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. Both are life-long UMs.

Austin-Mahle currently is coordinator of congregational resourcing for the Minnesota Conference and has extensive experience in General and Jurisdictional Conferences. Joyner is a retired clergy member of the North Carolina Conference, is a popular United Methodist author, and has extensive experience in the church, including Judicial Council as alternate. Lawrence, Dean of Perkins School of Theology in Dallas, has served as a director of the General Commission on Religion and Race and has seminary experience with Duke University Divinity School and Candler School of Theology in Atlanta.

Six Lay and six clergy alternates were also elected.  Online service UM Nexus has more info: www.umnexus.org/?p=75.

Book Signing and Stoles at First Christian!

Karen Oliveto, co-pastor at Glide Memorial UMC, will sign her book Holy Conversations: Talking about Homosexuality, a congregational resource, by Karen Oliveto, Kelly Turney and Traci West, today from 12 - 1:30 pm on Tuesday at First Christian Church. While you're there, pick up a stole: The Parents Reconciling Network urges those who are able to participate in the witness of presence to wear Reconciling rainbow stoles now through the rest of the Conference. The rainbow has been a symbol of diversity, inclusivity, and hope for GLBT persons for many years.

Another Gifted Candidate Denied

As is the case all across our denomination, the present prohibition on gay and lesbian persons being ordained or appointed is shutting the doors to service as gifted gay and lesbian people are denied entry into the candidacy process when they are honest about who they are.

One of the most recent is DeLyn Celec, a music minister and seminary student at Drew. She related her story last week to RMN. The complete story is on the RMN Blog, generalconference2008.org/2008/week17/. Less than two weeks ago, she was denied candidacy for ordination due to her sexual orientation.

She was seeking certification as a candidate and appeared before her district committee on ministry, ready to answer questions about her beliefs and theology. Members generously complimented her ministry. She had led every person on the committee in worship one place or another. But when the DS started off by noting the web site celebrating her union with her partner Sarah, it began to not look good. Many committee members looked away, while she confirmed the facts and DeLyn's understanding of paragraph 304.3. She was given a chance to withdraw, which she declined; she wanted them to confront their responsibility for this injustice. "I have remained faithful to my call," she said.

She takes comfort now, in that those committee members might remember her face at the meeting, eager to talk about ministry, but they "never made it past the sex." The interview was over at 10:32 a.m.

Unexpected Blessing

Have you been blessed with an anointing and blessing this past week? Hopefully our gift to you has been helpful to you in your spiritual life and your ability to focus on the difficult issues you are dealing with. Does it make a difference now that you know who we are who have been blessing you? Would it make a difference to you to know that some of your spiritual leadership supports same-gender loving persons? We hope that this experience will reassure you that GLBT persons have been blessed by God and bless you.

Young Adults Ring Out For Justice

At 10:32, Methodist Students for an All-Inclusive Church (MoSAIC), the young adult organization, will remind conference attendees of Decision 1032 of the Judicial Council and its consequences. The ruling said that pastors had the discretionary authority to deny membership to anyone. Originally instituted during the civil rights era to allow pastors to allow black people to become members when their parishioners were reluctant, the practice now is allowing pastors to deny membership to GLBT persons.

So when you hear the reminder, think of how the United Methodist Church has closed its hearts, minds, doors and ears, and vote to allow all to join who are willing to take the vows of membership.

GC Newsletter: Monday, April 28, 2008

Legislative Committee Approves New ¶161.G

We applaud the work of the human sexuality subcommittee who worked hard to craft their best understanding of all the petitions which were before them relating to the gift of human sexuality. The proposed new paragraph acknowledges the "fire in our disagreements" and sees it pointing "to a deeper human mystery than we knew."  The statement believes "that the Spirit has brought our collective conscience to acknowledge this mystery more honestly" and asks us "to make our claims with greater humility." The statement asks "the Church, United Methodist and others, and the world, to refrain from judgment regarding homosexual persons and practices until the Spirit leads us to a new insight. In the meantime, let us seek to welcome, know, forgive, and love one another as Christ has accepted us, that God may be glorified through everything in our lives."

We commend their work, for it is an honest reflection of where the UM Church is, and we hope that the plenary gathering approves this wording. It is a step in the right direction and gives us all some breathing room to engage in further holy conferencing.

Judicial Council elections begin today.  Please keep in your prayers the thoughtful selection of those who will interpret the Discipline in a wise, fair-minded manner. Pray also for the delegates who will be making these important decisions.

Injustice Anywhere, Injustice Everywhere

Soulforce sponsored a panel of Rev. Gil Caldwell, active in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and in the national civil rights movement. The other panelist, Rev. James Lawson, was a student of Ghandi and one that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called the leading non-violence theorist in the world.  The panelists wrestled with the connections between the "isms": racism, anti-semitism, sexism, heterosexism, homophobia, agism, able-ism, etc.  "They all come from the same kind of place," Caldwell reflected, saying that we will not get rid of heterosexism until the root of all the "isms" is unearthed.  He wondered "if those who have been placed outside the gate have an even greater responsibility to heal a sick society." Lawson reminded hearers that the old ways of exclusion are still with us; the Central Jurisdiction was dissolved, but the people didn't change--the exclusion just shifted to another "scapegoat": homosexual persons.  People just continued "the old ways of exclusion of some human beings."  He suggested that some are "committed to a domination and control type of religion, a religion about Jesus not a religion of Jesus," and that all of us need to go back to the religion of Jesus. In fact, the underlying spirit of all the isms and the impulse to exclude others is violence, and until we face that we will not be able to right all the things that need "righting."

Preacher: "People Do Change"

From gay bashing to being an advocate, Rev. Dr. Don Guest, Co-Pastor of Glide Memorial UMC in San Francisco, told of his being challenged by Dr. Traci West (now Associate Professor of Ethics and African American Studies at Drew University Theological School) to look at his Moody Bible Institute training differently. She challenged him to see that full inclusion of persons into the church was simply the right thing to do!  He learned three things from her:

We are all subject to the reproof, the correction, and the encouragement of the Holy Spirit
Our personal preferences, feelings, and beliefs can never be decisive in ethics, that we need to be transformed by the heart of the gospel. The grace of the gospel is more important than all else.
He said that Wesley "risked tearing up his own movement,” risked splitting the church, losing members, and the entire South, because the grace of the Gospel was more important to John Wesley than the Methodist movement. All those who hear, believe, and act on the unconditional love of God are Jesus' family.  "Stop excluding folks! … It's one table, one Lord, one baptism, and one human family!"

Stoles available from Reconciling Parents

Reconciling stoles, in stained-glass rainbow colors, are available at the resource table during breakfast and lunch at First Christian Church. (First Christian Church, 612 Throckmorton)

Opening of Proposed ¶ 161.G

“We recognize that sexuality is God's good gift to all persons. We believe persons may be fully human only when that gift is acknowledged and affirmed by themselves, the church, and society. We call all persons to the disciplined, responsible fulfillment of themselves, others, and society in the stewardship of this gift.”

GC Newsletter: Sunday, April 27

You are cordially invited to worship with
the Reconciling Ministries Network
Sunday afternoon, April 27, 2008, at 2 p.m. at
First United Methodist Church, 800 West 5th Street, Fort Worth Texas

Leaders:   
Bishop Hee-Soo Jung,
Northern Illinois Annual Conference
Rev. Dr. Don Guest, Co-Pastor,
Glide Memorial United Methodist      
Rev. Dr. Heather Murray Elkins,
Drew University

No R.S.V.P. necessary

There will be a van circling, from 1-1:45 p.m., from Park Central Hotel to First UMC for worship for those who need. Also, others who might help give rides, please line-up with the other drivers.

Cell Phone Giveaway Video on YouTube

Video shows Central Conference delegates receiving cell phones at luncheon by Institute for Religion and Democracy. More at GeneralConference2008.org.

Young People Envision Fully Inclusive Church

"I have so many friends that will not come to church with me because they believe the church does not want them and God does not want them," Joey Heath told the crowd.  "If we are going to have policies like [Decision 1032], then we are going to have to stand before God and explain why we turned his children away," he continued.  Joey Heath is the young adult who was denied membership in a South Georgia Church he liked and wanted to join after graduation from college.  Heath told how he grew up in the church, at 11 was elected to the district youth council and then the conference youth council, then Wesley Foundation leadership.  When he came out at the Wesley Foundation, he was asked to step down from leadership.

Heath reminded the crowd that "John Wesley once said 'all the world is my parish.' We must be united in making all of the world our parish, including our lesbian, our gay, our bisexual, our transgender, our black, our white...our whatever!” These labels too often divide us and keep us from coming together as the body of Christ at his table.

Rachel Birkhahn-Rommelfanger, American University senior at the "Young Adults Speak Out" event yesterday emphasized "The generation is changing. We're in a different place and we want be listened to.  We would like the church to meet us where we are.  I know that it's hard to change, but I want you all to know that the change is coming.  Young people have chosen a future of hope: that all people will be welcome in our church today."

That was the theme of much of the witness of the young adults who spoke at the event, which started at First Christian Church and continued with a two-route march to the General Worth Park in front of the Convention Center.

Sean Delmar, a master's student and transgender person at Boston, on the deacon track, observed, "I see a church that is already doing what it is supposed to be doing.  Some of you have already heard my story, about how when I was in the midst of becoming a man and I did not know the love of Jesus, the local bishop's office reached out and said, 'how can we help you?' When I had no hope, this church reached out and said 'How can we love you?'"

If this church can find ways to do this kind of loving and welcoming, the young persons we so much want will begin to come back and transform this great church.  Will you help?
Outside Hecklers Harass Young Adults

Friday evening when the young people held their 24- hour drumming circle, several self-identified Christians appeared to protest against LGBT people with signs and shouting. They attempted to exhibit superior understanding of the Bible and quickly escalated their attacks to denounce women with short hair and women in leadership positions.

Early in the evening, Reconciling parents formed a line between the groups facing in to the drums and joining in the faithful witness. For a time several young people engaged the protesters to divert the attacks and reduce the harm.

These folks were not United Methodists. But their actions are related to the same message we hear in the UMC when LGBT people are excluded from full participation in quiet ways… by votes, by inaction of friends, by silence, by being portrayed as “extreme” when we desire to belong at our local churches.

Homosexuality is not sin. We thank the young people for showing the path to authentic and exuberant welcome.

GC Newsletter: Saturday, April 26

Young UM Was Denied Membership

Joey Heath wanted to transfer his membership to a church near the college he graduated from.  First his pastor said ’no,’ then the District Superintendent said ’no,’ and finally the Bishop said ’no.’ Joey Heath, a United Methodist young adult was denied membership in a South Georgia United Methodist Church.

Joey will speak today at 1:30 p.m. in the General Worth Square, just across the main entrance to the Convention Center.  This will be a continuation of the Young Adult Weekend which began yesterday at noon with a drumming circle.

Joey Heath gave his witness, available in video on the blog. He describes how he grew up United Methodist, and was a member at his home church ever since confirmation.  After college, he wanted to join a church he liked. The pastor there said it would be inappropriate for him to join, or even transfer, his membership from his childhood church. Hear Joey’s story at 1:30 today.

Legislative Committee Officers

We’re very pleased with the legislative committee officers elected.  They represent the diversity found within our UM connection and will ensure fair and open conversation for holy conferencing. The church recognizes the strength of all the branches in our One Family Tree.  Even when we have differences we can respect each other.  We hold them all in prayer during this time of discernment.

Scientific Research: How Useable for Ethics?

A presentation yesterday, a sincere attempt to respond to those “confused about same-sex attractions,” gave some helpful distinctions about some of the components of sexuality, and acknowledged the speaker's point of view was focused on behavior, not orientation.  He acknowledged that same-sex attractions were a naturally-occurring thing, but acting on them could get in the way of a deep spiritual life. He encouraged integration of the human person and pointed out that same-sex attractions were just one facet of that.

We of RMN appreciate this kind of thoughtful analysis but question both the starting point in a limited form of biblical ethics and the conclusion of suppressing loving behavior directed at a committed partner of one's own gender.

This approach does not help the integration of body, mind, and spirit. Instead it creates a false dichotomy between a quality of being and a healthy, psychological response to that being. When society forces a false dichotomy on the LGBT community, the results are high rates of suicide and homelessness among LGBT youth. Such thinking enabled the Church to ignore 2004 Resolution 158, Teen Sexual Identity and Suicide Risk.

GC Newsletter: Friday, April 25

Young People Call For "Interactivity"

The six young people delivering the first ever Young People's Address suggested that this General Conference could learn from the experience of young people.  Rebecca Farnum, West Michigan, told how, at the Global Convocation of Young People in South Africa, they learned about holy conferencing, developing principles and guidelines that could help them "talk with each other rather than over each other." 

She said, "We wanted each individual to have a voice, each perspective to be represented and respected, and each understanding of God to be understood...It worked for the young people gathered in Johannesburg.  It can work for those of us gathered here in Fort Worth.  Listen to God.  Listen to each other:  let God work!"  Matt Lockett, Pacific Northwest, prayed "in our voices let there be room for You."

Annie Arnoldy from Rocky Mountain, said, "What I know about the church is that it yearns for young people.  What I know about young adults is that young adults yearn for a place to belong."  What's most important is, "open up your thought about the identity of young people and offer a place to belong."  Kira Volkova, of the Northern Europe Central Conference, echoed the same theme.  Arnoldy expanded it beyond young persons:  "this is the hope of our churches: to be places to belong.  This is God doing a new thing"

Jason Rathod, Nebraska, and Andrew Craig, Rocky Mountain, reminded the assembly that "God has sown the earth with wonderful people" and that we are "beautiful children of God beloved in God's life."  Craig reassured us all that "God will take care of you" -- and sang the Word.  They suggested that "if we are not afraid, then this church can rise up and transform the world for the glory of God."
Annie Arnoldy asked for risk: "Risking community means that my theology does not stand in the way of knowing who you are. My inability to communicate with you means that I need to work on that skill, not that you don't have anything valuable to say."

Since the young adults named GLBT five times, we hope that delegates to this Conference can finally share honestly in Holy Conferencing fears and hopes and trust the Word through these young people:  "If we are not afraid, then this church can rise up and transform the world...  This is the hope of our churches:  to be places to belong."  We hope that this Conference can finally say to its GLBT members, "this is a place for you to belong."

Young Adult Weekend Starts Tomorrow!

After such an inspiring and challenging address from the young people, you can celebrate young adults through a number of activities this weekend.

Fairness for gay and transgender church members motivates youth in a 24-hour drumming vigil on Fort Worth Square and will culminate in a youth rally at First Christian Church. A "prayer action" will ensue at the entrances to the Fort Worth Convention Center where the United Methodist General Conference is meeting at its every-four-years session to vote on policies. For over thirty years it has debated gay issues. Only a 5% shift could rescind anti-gay policies.

Half of all homeless youth living on the streets of major cities are gay. Gay and questioning youth are three times as likely as their straight peers to commit suicide.

GC Newsletter: Thursday, April 24

No Marshmallow Hope Here

After a campaign to oust reconcilers Marcia and Mark, the team of McFee and Miller showed why the General Conference commission chose them.  The Spirit filled the arena through their liturgy and music.  Then Bishop Huie preached the word on the Conference theme (“A Future With Hope”), giving us a unique image of marshmallow hope.

Reconciling Ministries has the sure confidence of a future reality of an inclusive United Methodist Church.  Marshmallow hope melts.  Reconcilers draw their hope from God's deep well of love and grace.  Such hope conquers fear, challenges oppression, and builds a future known but not yet realized.
Sensitivity Training?

When diversity training excludes gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender people, and people with disabilities, we wonder how sensitive it can be?  With such an exhaustive list of examples, such an omission was disappointing and painful. Branches were broken off the One Family Tree.

Adding to our pain was watching our out, gay music leader sing these words,

All part of God's body
you are important
I need you to survive
I won't harm you with my words

Were those tears we saw?  Hope that sings through tears withstands the fires of exclusion.  No marshmallow hope here.

Omission harms, exclusion harms, silence harms.

Young People Driven Away

A new groundbreaking study by Barna Research found that young people 16 to 29 think modern-day Christianity is judgmental, hypocritical and anti-gay. What's more, they found, many Christians don't even want to call themselves "Christian" because of the baggage that accompanies the label.

The new book published by The Barna Group, UnChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity, found that church attitudes about people in general and gays in particular are driving a negative image of the Christian faith among people ages 16-29.

David Kinnaman, Barna Group president and author of the book, said, "The anti-homosexual perception has now become sort of the Geiger counter of Christians' ability to love and work with people," they said.
The vast majority of non-Christians — 91% — said Christianity had an anti-gay image, followed by 87% who said it was judgmental and 85% who said it was hypocritical.

One of the biggest surprises for researchers was the extent to which respondents — one in four non-Christians — said that modern-day Christianity was no longer like Jesus.

"It started to become more clear to us that what they're experiencing related to Christianity is some of the very things that Jesus warned religious people about," he said. "Which is, avoiding removing the log from your own eye before trying to take the speck out of someone else's."

To have a future with hope, we must end the 36-year prohibitions forbidding full participation of GLBT people making outsiders and insiders! We must recognize we are One Family Tree and listen to our young people.

GC Newsletter: Wednesday, April 23

“A Future With Hope” - “One Family Tree”

The theme for the 2008 General Conference of The United Methodist Church, "A Future With Hope," comes from a verse that seems to be written for expectant Reconciling people, Jeremiah 29:11.

Reconciling United Methodists are certainly a people of hope. Scripture supports our bold confidence in these words of Jeremiah and throughout the Gospels and Epistles of the New Testament: We claim the promise of inclusion as children of God.

Our hope in Christ envisions "One Family Tree" that thrives as persons of all sexual orientations and gender identities make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

Such a tree must certainly be more than one color! Such a tree must have many branches, and be deeply rooted.

One Family Tree draws from the living water: our hope goes deep into the well of baptism, deep into God's love made clear to us in Jesus.

We proclaim "There is: One Body, One Spirit, One Hope, One Savior, One Faith, and One Baptism." Ephesians 4:4-5.

LGBTQ Pastoral Care Hotline Available
612-353-7445

A LGBTQ Pastoral Care Hotline sponsored by Affirmation Council will be staffed from April 24th through Friday May 2. Clergy will answer the phone at 612-353-7445, and can offer a phone clergy counselor to discuss the challenges of being at General Conference.  Watch for Chaplains wearing baseball caps at lunch each day in the First Christian Church. Appointments are welcome, or just come up and say hi.

United Methodist Parent Honored

Parents of LGBTQ persons held a press conference today, and honored a long-time UM member and parent of a lesbian daughter, Helen King, with the Hilton Award, named in honor of parents Bruce and Ginny Hilton.  Speakers included Rev. Bill Taylor, a UM minister forced to take a leave after refusing to reject his gay son, and Bishop Ray Chamberlain,  Southeastern Jurisdiction.