All Church Meeting

On August 31st, my home church, Fort Pierce First United Methodist Church, will be having an all church, open meeting to discuss the future of the church.

I am pretty sure that the discussion will revolve around the choices that United Methodist congregations have now, to stay or go.  Actually there are three choices that UM churches can make.

1.  Leave the denomination to join the new, conservative denomination "The Global Methodist Church."  107 Florida UM Churches have indicated that this is their choice.   That is just at 15% of the total number of UM churches in Florida.  Churches making this choice will not ordain gay people.  They will not marry them.  Gay people will continue to be treated as second class humans.  [and let that description tip you off to my position on this...]

2.  The second choice, rarely discussed, is to leave the denomination and become independent.  In Missouri, 30 churches have left, none of them joining the Global Methodist Church.  The possibilities here are endless, but the point is that you can leave and become Grace Church or Community Church or whatever you want to call yourselves.  No Bishop, no DS, no apportionments.  So structure, no connectional missions.  No extended church family.

3.  The third choice is for the congregation to stay in the United Methodist Church.  This will mean that over the next few years, we would become a denomination that welcomes gay people, ordains them for ministry, and celebrates their marriages.  And other than that, the UMC will go on as before.

However it all shakes out, at least the warring will finally be over.  At least everyone will finally, after 40 years or so, be able to follow their mission as they see it, without the distraction of fights about doctrine regarding sexuality.

Personally, I am staying United Methodist.  I don't understand everything that every person does, but I firmly believe that it is past time for the church to end the shaming of others.  No more shaming of divorced people, no more shaming of women clergy, no more shaming of gay people.  Jesus did not shame anyone.

If I can attend the meeting I will, but I pray that our church leaders and congregation will always pursue the principles of love, grace and inclusion.  Those three stand at the core of Christianity.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.