U.M. See? Part I

This one may take more than one blog post. I have to explain, then I have to do. That may not make sense now, but hopefully it will when I start writing.

I am not a very political person. I find it hard to follow conversations sometimes, because they deal with things I’m not altogether up on. That’s certainly the case with the latest in the UMC happenings. But I’m going to forge ahead anyway, and try to explain what’s going on in the UMC (“I have to explain”), and then I’m going to try to put down how I feel about the situation and how I think about it myself (“then I have to do”).

Recently, the UMC had a special General Conference. Normally, this is a yearly meeting of the church worldwide(?) to decide things that might change things pertinent to the denomination. This year, one of the things that came up was whether or not to change the wording in the Book of Discipline (like it sounds–it contains matters of protocol for the church). The Book of Discipline states that marriages can only be between one man and one woman. The Book of Discipline states that only heterosexual people can become ordained. And, the Book of Discipline states that clergy may not perform marriages between any but heterosexual couples.

This year, one of the things on the docket for the General Conference was to decide whether to change the language as it now stands to include LGBTQIA constituents. So, marriages could take place between other than just one man and one woman, as is now the law in the United States. Anybody could seek ordination, regardless of sexuality. And, clergy could perform marriages between other than just one man and one woman. The decision was voted down.

There are many churches and individuals who are chagrined by this vote. Post-General Conference Episcopal visits have been taking place since the special-called General Conference voted down the possible changes. I attended one of these “Episcopal visits” back in March. My impression was that the churches who are pro-LGBTQIA are not interested in going anywhere, i.e., leaving the denomination. Rather, they want to work to sway the majority to see sexuality in a different light when it comes to Christianity, and specifically Methodism.

One of the things that I heard from what people said at the March meeting I attended, was that we have to speak our truth–our experience of our own Christianity, as it pertains to our experience with LGBTQIA humans. This said, I would like to end this part of the blog, and continue on with my own statement.