12 Jan The United Methodist Connection

Greetings Westwood Family,

Like me, you may have read news articles about splits and division in the United Methodist Church in recent weeks and months. Last month, a New York Times story described what’s been happening through the lens of a large church in Texas that’s leaving the denomination. In some regions of the US, a significant portion of congregations have left the UMC; for the most part, it is conservative congregations who have exited the denomination.

In our California-Pacific (Cal-Pac) Annual Conference, there have been just three congregations that separated from the UMC. I see a number of reasons this is the case–including the value we hold in the churches of our region for diversities of language, ethnicity, economics, and culture, as well as gender identity and sexual orientation. Our Annual Conference has long named and practiced a commitment to inclusion of LGBTQ+ siblings, a commitment that has only deepened in recent years, regardless of what the worldwide denomination has said.

We still have work to do–even (especially) in a congregation like ours, that has clearly and loudly named its desire to be inclusive. We continue to learn more about each other and our neighbors, and to grow in grace as we learn better ways to welcome each other, to advocate with those who have been marginalized and are under threat, and to unlearn the habits and language that have caused harm.

Our United Methodist system has always been structured around connection. We are bound together with our UMC neighbors in systems of accountability and ministry that prevent us from acting alone as congregations; we don’t hold or own our church property, but we bear responsibility to use it faithfully, for the mission of the broader church. I am grateful that we are encouraged by our California-Pacific Annual Conference to be a congregation that welcomes and values all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Of course, there’s always more going on that what we talk about publicly; the New York Times article I mentioned quotes Bishop Tom Bickerton, President of our Council of Bishops: “’We’ve learned this is not as much about human sexuality as we thought,’ he said. ‘This is about power, control and money.’” Some of the groups that have loudly encouraged congregations to leave the denomination are the same groups that have long sought to diminish the voice of our denomination in politics, especially related to social justice issues.

So, we persist.

Our UMC will finally meet for a worldwide General Conference this coming April, where we will again have an opportunity to remove harmful anti-LGBTQ+ language and policies in our Book of Discipline; Westwood member Rachel Gipson and I will both attend as elected members of our Cal-Pac delegation. We will also consider proposals to change our structure, so that churches inside the US and outside the US would have similar authority to adapt rules and policies that make sense in their context. And, we will take up a whole lot of other proposals, too–the General Conference hasn’t had a regular session since 2016, so there’s a lot to talk about.

I encourage you to hold our church in your prayers. I pray for encouragement for regions of the church that have been dramatically reshaped as congregations have left–that they also have new clarity, commitment, and joy among those who have stayed. I pray for all our LGBTQ+ siblings, including clergy who are still not safe in many places in our church, and all those who have not heard a clear word about God’s celebration of their Queer identity from the church. I pray for leaders as they navigate the anxieties of this moment, that we would remain grounded in deep faithfulness to the call of our Gospel toward love.

Thank you for being a part of a congregation that seeks to be a welcoming community. I’m glad to be in this with you.

grace and peace,
Pastor Molly