Photo by Paul Jeffrey, UMNS
Fred Brewington Protest
Allegations of silencing LGBTQ advocates formed one sign of the deep divisions in the 2016 General Conference. Delegate Fred Brewington (at microphone) asks the 2016 United Methodist General Conference meeting in Portland, Ore., to apologize to fellow delegate Dorothee Benz (second from right) after she was ruled out of order while trying to speak about issues of human sexuality in an earlier session.
The messages coming out of Portland are heart wrenching. General Conference is being described as brutal, destructive, a nightmare and a horror show. "It's worse than we could have even imagined." My heart aches for those in the midst of this pain.
It would be worse, much worse in my view, however, if the truth of our horrible brokenness wasn't being revealed. This is what happened at GC 2004 when a "Unity Statement" was crafted and read before the plenary. We were not unified then and we are not unified now. The "Unity Statement" made me angry, irate actually, and any attempt to claim that we are one church now would feel the same. We are not one church. We are broken, splintered and bleeding.
We have essentially been two churches for a very long time. And now, thanks to outspoken people who refuse to be silenced, we can no longer pretend this isn’t so.
There is a freedom that comes with acknowledging this truth. It makes space for us to move forward into what we are being called to be. Let the conservatives (Good News, IRD, Confessing Movement, Renewal Movement) have their rules and their dogma and their mandatory punishments. That is not a church I recognize nor a church in which I wish to participate.
It’s time to take risks, to follow Jesus, to rest in the assurance that it is not rules and regulations, even if we call those rules and regulations “covenant,” that enable us to be in ministry to a hurting world.
I believe God is calling us to do a new thing. It’s time to take risks, to follow Jesus, to rest in the assurance that it is not rules and regulations, even if we call those rules and regulations “covenant,” that enable us to be in ministry to a hurting world. It is empathy and love, kindness and mercy, humility and tenderness that will keep us in love with one another and enable us to share the Good News of God’s love with all those we encounter.
As we seek to discern God’s call and to respond faithfully, let’s make sure we begin by asking who it is that is part of the conversation. As God births something new in our midst, who are the midwives that must be present to call the new church into being?
Letting go is never easy. Discerning and imagining what it is that God is calling us to do and to be, can be overwhelming. But I believe the time has come.
I pray that those representing us in Portland have the wisdom to open a pathway for us to explore this possibility. And if indeed it is time to become more than one denomination, I pray we all have the courage to step into the unknown, and the wisdom to become partners with God in building that which will be.
The Rev. Kathryn J. Johnson serves as Program Director at Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. She is the former executive director of Methodist Federation for Social Action. This essay is republished with the author's permission from a Facebook post.