Sermon June 23, 2019 Scripture: Luke 8: 26-39 When Andra and I talked about our report about Annual Conference, she asked me to give some history. So, I want to give you a little background. The General Conference of our denomination meets every four years to adopt and revise the Book of Discipline which is the regulations and official stances of our denomination. General Conference is made up of delegates elected by the different Annual Conferences based upon their membership. In 2020 our Conference will have two voting delegates. In the 1970’s for the first time words were added to our Book of Disciple by General Conference that stated that the practice of homosexuality was incompatible to Christian teachings. Our Bishop Elaine was a youth observer at one of those General Conferences and remembers that there was debate about whether the Bible actually condemns the homosexual relationships we know today. So it was decided to say incompatible with Christian teachings because, as Albert Outler the professor of Wesley studies who proposed the language suggested Christian teachings do change over time. But since that time the language of our Discipline has become rather set in stone. Attempts at each General Conference since then to change, modify or overturn this language and the language that prohibits ordination and marriage of GLBTQ persons have not succeeded. Some Annual Conferences over the years have decided to adopt different understandings of Christian tradition and teachings and include the experiences and ministries of LGBTQ persons. Our Annual Conference has been part of that movement for a long time. I can remember many heartfelt discussions and sharing around the topic over my 30 + years. Other Conferences in the Western Jurisdiction have also taken this stance. The movement in our denomination has been called the Reconciling Movement. Many local churches across the country and in our conference have decided to become Reconciling Congregations who are open to full inclusion of GLBTQ persons in their ministries and practices. At the 2016 General Conference in Portland the conference decided to ask the Council of Bishops to come up with a plan for how the church could best work through this controversial issue. The proposal was to hold a special General Conference in 2019 to look just at the issue of human sexuality and the inclusion or not of the LGBTQ community in the life of our denomination. There was a Commission on the Way Forward made up of a wide range of points of view and perspectives who worked on some plans to present to this Conference. One of our clergy members Donna Pritchard worked long hours on this...
Read MoreRecent Posts

Archives

- February 2021
- January 2021
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- June 2019
- February 2019
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- February 2018
- June 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
Categories

- 1 Samuel sermons
- Advent/ Christmas
- Baptism
- church values
- David Series 2018
- Discipleship
- Easter
- Easter season 2016
- Ephesians
- Faiths of Abraham series
- Forgiveness Luke 15
- Islam
- Judaism
- Lent 2016
- lent 2017
- Lent 2018
- Lent Easter 2015
- Meals Ministry
- Mother's Day
- Pastor in Chile 2015
- peacemaking
- Safe Sanctuaries
- sermons
- Stewardship
- Talent Show
- talk with pastor
- The Cross of Christ
- Uncategorized
- vision