Pastor Pat recently sent an e-mail about the decisions of the recent Special General Conference of the United Methodist Church. She describes what happened, what it means (and what it doesn’t) and where we go from here.
Here is the text of her message:
Greetings All!
If you have been following the Special General Conference Session you have seen the Traditional Plan was the decided way forward. This plan at a minimum includes more restrictive and prohibitive language regarding human sexuality and calls for pastors to sign a document stating their intent or surrender their orders. I want to first assure you that while this is the current decision, nothing will be immediately changing.
The regular General Conference is scheduled for 2020 and no General Conference is bound to the actions of another. Therefore in all reality we must wait until the outcome of the 2020 General Conference to truly see what will be our way forward.
In the days ahead you may encounter folk who will celebrate the decision and others who will feel they can no longer be a part of this denomination. I encourage you to be in prayer for all. There are no winners, there is much pain.
I invite you to pray that in the days ahead we earnestly seek God’s will for our lives and our denomination. I invite you to remain steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. I invite you to remember that even in the midst of this there are still those who need to be fed, clothed and comforted.
No matter the decision we are still called to be God’s hands and feet, and God’s heart to a hurting world. God is not finished and we cannot quit.
Pastor Pat
There will be many opportunities for discussion on this and many other topics in the time ahead, the first being this Sunday in church! Join us! We’ll be glad to see ya!