#Umc general conference 2019 live stream series#

I wrote post after post in anger and pain and defiance and hope and love. But the General Conference ruling lit a fire in me that I could no longer ignore. It was something I’d recognized in myself for a long time, but had always resisted or dismissed. A sign to put outside our own doors, telling anyone and everyone who passed that they were not alone.Īs I painted our yellow door, Krystal approached me and asked if I was aware of my call to ministry I said yes, I was. It was nice to have something visible to do. The pain in the room was palpable, but the painting was fun and the hope was fierce. Our door-painting party in Flinn Hall was a bittersweet occasion, yet resolute. Methodist churches all over the country began to put up art installations, simple but impossible to ignore: six doors, each painted a different color of the rainbow, emblazoned with the message “God’s doors are open to all.” It was a beautiful act of resistance and solidarity and naturally, Open jumped on the bandwagon right away. But that turned out to be a very important thing.īecause, in Jonathan’s words: “A shipwreck can wreck you, but it can also resurrect you.”Ī few days after General Conference, a remarkable thing began to happen.

#Umc general conference 2019 live stream series#

Jonathan’s sermon was particularly well-timed it was part of a series called “How to Survive a Shipwreck.” And boy, had our ship been wrecked. Everywhere you looked there were rainbow articles of clothing. It is seared in my mind as bright and hot as the hundred little candles we lit in solidarity with our LGBTQIA+ siblings the world over, especially those who did not have safe places to worship as we did. I will remember forever the Sunday which followed the St. Especially in our beloved community, which has made its name on embracing and empowering LGBTQ-identifying folks as beautifully and colorfully made, on purpose, by a God who loves us just as we are. Instead of passing the more liberal One Church Plan, which seemed like a shoo-in, the General Conference (the legislative body of the church) voted in favor of the Traditionalist Plan, which has been described by many as “draconian.” This plan reinforced the discriminatory language against LGBTQ individuals in the Book of Discipline (the governing documents of the Church), essentially barring the ordination of LGBTQIA+ individuals and threatening pastors who performed same-sex marriages with punishment. What actually happened completely blindsided a lot of people, myself included.

The Special General Conference of the United Methodist Church (UMC) on the “issue” of human sexuality was coming up in early February and we, like many who love Methodism, were hopeful that the larger church would follow in Open’s footsteps of loving and embracing all as children of God regardless of gender, orientation, or identity. Hi all, and welcome to Open’s Year in Review for 2019! We’ve got a lot of ground to cover, so let’s jump right in.Ģ019 started with a lot of hope.