UMARC Panel
Courtesy Graphic
March 21, 2024,
Centennial, Colo. – Following all the turmoil of denominational disaffiliations and church schism, will United Methodism overcome its historic anti-LGBTQ+ policies and embrace a more inclusive mission and ministry for the future?
Exploration of these and other questions will be the subject of a free Zoom webinar sponsored by the United Methodist Association of Retired Clergy and Friends (UMARC) on Tuesday, April 9, two weeks before the opening of General Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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Keynoters include the Rev. Adam Hamilton, senior pastor of the 24,000-member Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, and Bishop Karen P. Oliveto, episcopal leader of the Mountain Sky Conference based Denver, Colo., and the first openly lesbian bishop in the denomination.
Register for the Zoom webinar at www.umarc.org for a conversation focused on “The Resurrection of an Inclusive Church: United Methodism’s Upcoming General Conference.” The two-hour session begins at 5 pm Mountain Standard Time (7 pm. Eastern).
Other well-known speakers include Rev. Dr. Israel Alvaran of the Philippines Annual Conference; the Rev. Dr. Lydia Muñoz of the National Hispanic/Latino Ministry; the Rev. Dr. Mark R. Holland of Mainstream UMC; and Dr. Randall Miller, a leading layman from the California-Nevada Conference. Facilitators will be UMARC co-chairs, the Rev. Dr. Harvey Martz, retired senior pastor, St. Andrew United Methodist Church in Highlands Ranch, Colo., and the Rev. Dr. Donald E. Messer, executive director of the Center for Health and Hope in Centennial.
Drs. Martz and Messer note that “United Methodism was created in 1968 to move the church beyond segregation and exclusion towards inclusiveness. But that dream got curtailed by persistent racism and anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. The upcoming General Conference offers a hopeful window of opportunity for the resurrection of an inclusive community of faith.”