Recently I spent time with someone who worked hard at General Conference so that the United Methodist Church would no longer say, "homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching." That was in 1976. When asked if she would go back to General Conference the next time she asked, "Why?" (She did end up going back again to work for change and that was the year that the only motel Affirmation volunteers could find to rent rooms to them in Indianapolis was at a motel that normally charged hourly rates.)
Once again, in 2016 the United Methodist Church will not alter its statements regarding homosexuality. The UMC will continue to declare "homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching." But for those who ask "when will things ever change?", I have a few responses to share.
First, things will change when we are no longer willing to discriminate because we are told to. That means knowing what we believe and not being ashamed to live it out.
Secondly, things will change when church leadership values people's lives more than their own careers and status. That means risking loss and not telling ourselves that "we are working for change from the inside.' We are not working for change from the inside, we are killing ourselves from the inside.
Third, things will change when people are able to follow the Spirit and their conscience with more trust than the fear they have about getting in trouble. That means being more open to what you will gain than to what you will lose.
Fourth, things will change when we shift the focus from wining votes to loving others. That means taking the gospel more seriously than general conference.
Fifth, things will change when straight and closeted people stop blaming GLBTQ people for the way things are. That means paying more attention to one's own sins and less attention to the behavior of others.
Finally, things will change when The United Methodist Church is defined by God's mercy and grace rather than its own spiritual malpractice. That means repentance, conversion and rebirth. All the electronic voting machines on earth cannot make that happen without love from above.
The Rev. Will Green is pastor of Ballard Vale United Church, an open and affirming United Church of Christ and United Methodist congregation near Andover, Mass. This article is reprinted with the author's permission from a recent Facebook post.