On Thursday night, our District Superintendent shared the following with clergy in our weekly email. It was helpful to me, and I hope it will be for you:
Tomorrow morning Meri Lyn and I leave for St. Louis and the special General Conference. As with most important dates in life, it has seemed that this weekend would never arrive. But now it sure feels like it has come in a hurry!
None of us know what decisions may be made between Sunday morning and the end of the day Tuesday. But after a year of reading material from many perspectives, talking to many people, and seeking guidance in prayer, I am convinced of these things:
First, there is no action that the General Conference can take that will please everyone. No matter what decisions are made (or if there is no decision made), someone will feel wounded. If there was something we could do that would leave everyone feeling blessed, I would gladly vote for it. So far as I can tell, we do not have that option.
Second, we are being sent to St. Louis to find a path that will get us past this debate. We have been asked to find A Way Forward. To put it another way, our church is not bringing 864 delegates (and many support personnel) from around the world at a cost of $3,600,000 to decide that we should remain just as we are today.
Third, since some will be disappointed no matter the result, and since we have been charged with making a decision, I believe our task is to ask God to lead us to those decisions that produce the greatest blessing and the fewest wounds.
Finally, next Wednesday the sun will still come up, God will still rule over creation, and we will still have work to do. So be at peace. Whatever else may change in the coming days, Jesus will still be Lord!
Rev. Tim Rogers, Superintendent of the Marion District of the United Methodist Church
Today (Sunday) is the first day of decision-making work. On behalf of our delegates and our world wide church, we pray that God will grant hearts that are calm, minds that are focused, and spirits open to God’s leading – that in the end, God’s will might be done. As soon as possible after all voting is done, we will make every effort to get that information out to you.
Like many of you, I am on edge wondering what will happen. Recently, one of you recalled the turmoil of the merger in 1968 that produced the United Methodist Church. Someone else recalled the tensions of the civil rights movement within the church. We will get through this.
None of us knows if or when local churches will vote on anything, or if they do, what will the vote be about. None of us knows what time frame we could be looking at for implementing whatever the outcome of this General Conference is.
I lack the prescience to know any outcomes, and in the unknowing, I think of the Hebrew people who wandered the promised land for 40 years. I remember how they grumbled and expressed distrust, and I am doing my best to be faithful and to remember that the same God who knows our future has declared eternal love for us in the life, death and resurrection of Christ.
Faithfully,
Pastor Scarlett