In May of this year, Rev. Richelle Goff of Upper New York Annual Conference (my home conference) was informed by our bishop, Mark J. Webb, that she, and she alone, would not be renominated to the Board of Ordained ministry because of her church's vote to allow and celebrate same-sex weddings. Below is the text of a petition that I ask you to sign and share if you are able.
Petition to Bishop Webb for the Renomination of Rev. Richelle Goff:
“Let us for each other care,
Each the other’s burdens bear;
To thy church the pattern give,
Show how true believers live.”
—Charles Wesley, Hymns and Sacred Poems
(Bristol: Felix Farley, 1749), 1:248
In the Spirit of Charles Wesley, we the undersigned clergy and laity of the Upper New York Annual Conference, joined by United Methodist siblings from across the Connection, seek to carry the burden of our sibling Rev. Richelle Goff in order to pattern ourselves—and the Church in Upper New York (UNY)—in the ways of love.
Rev. Goff is the only member of the Board of Ordained Ministry in UNY who will not be renominated by the bishop to continue her faithful service to the Board. We believe that the rationale for her departure, which will be briefly described below, is neither attuned to the Wesleyan call to pattern ourselves after the love and grace of God, nor is it in line with the expressed voice of the majority of people in UNY.
After years of faithful service, in May of this year Rev. Goff was personally informed by Bishop Mark J. Webb, the resident bishop of UNY, that she, and she alone, would no longer be asked to serve on the Board of Ordained Ministry. In his rationale, the bishop cited the recent vote by Fairport First UMC, where Rev. Goff is appointed, a vote that affirmed the church's openness to allow and celebrate same-sex weddings in their building. The bishop’s decision to end Rev. Goff’s service was solely based, he stated to Rev. Goff, on Fairport FUMC’s decision and her affirmation of same-sex weddings, not on the quality of her service nor the authenticity of her call.
At the 2019 session of the Annual Conference in UNY, the Conference voted to condemn the Traditional Plan by an overwhelming majority (UNYAC2019.2), and requested, “that given the forthcoming structural change, we encourage Bishop Webb, the Board of Ordained Ministry, … as an act of grace, impose an immediate moratorium on any punitive action related to LGBTQ Clergy and same-gender weddings to co-exist within the Church” (UNYAC2019.3).
Following both the vision of Charles Wesley for the Church and the voice of the people of UNY, as expressed in UNYAC2019.2 and UNYAC2019.3, we hereby request that Bishop Mark J. Webb reconsider his decision and renominate Richelle Goff to the Board of Ordained Ministry.
Mike DuBose Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News
J.J. Warren 2019
Jeffrey “J.J.” Warren of the Upper New York Conference speaks in favor of full inclusion for LGBTQ people in the life of The United Methodist Church during the 2019 United Methodist General Conference in St. Louis. He joined other young adult delegates in writing and circulating a petition calling for the postponed General Conference not to be at the start of the school year. (File photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.)
J.J. Warren is a seminary student at Boston University School of Theology, a graduate of New York’s Sarah Lawrence College (’19), and a certified candidate for ordination in The United Methodist Church (UMC). After making an impassioned plea for the inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons at the UMC’s top law-making assembly, J.J.’s speech went viral, and his advocacy has been covered by HuffPost, NBC, Brut Media, and WXXI Radio. His first book, Reclaiming Church: A Call to Action for Religious Rejects, is available from Abingdon Press.