Piloting Faith: What is happening in St. Louis impacts all of us...

A Word for the Day...

This week delegates in the United Methodist Church are gathered in St. Louis, Missouri for their General Conference. They will be debating proposals to allow openly LGBTQ people to serve as clergy and to recognize same-sex marriage in the church. This might not seem like a big deal, but the debate is threatening to tear the UMC apart. That would be a huge blow to strength of the Mainline Church in the United States. It impacts all of us.

For many of us, this is not a debate. Our answer is "yes." Love is love is love. But for many of the voting members of the global UMC church, it's not so simple. Their theology, like ours, is tied to an understanding of the Gospel also influenced by patriarchy, colonialism, and cultural customs. They are finding their way through two fundamental shifts: a more open and loving understanding of Jesus' ministry and new definitions of equality, power, and privilege. The problem is: when you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.

I was a casualty of that debate almost 20 years ago when, as a UMC pastor, I met and married my wife. I still feel enormous compassion for the theological journey. I understand the need to take our scriptures seriously, though I don't know that they were ever intended to be taken literally. I did the hard work in seminary to ensure that my theology was grounded in scholarship while also steeped in love.

I am done with the debate. LGBTQ people are made in the image of God - full stop. So, my prayer, and I hope yours, is that this week in St. Louis, we celebrate with our UMC friends their public declaration that Jesus' core message was simple: love wins. And we move on to working on the issues Jesus actually cared about...like welcoming the stranger and caring for the poor.

- Rev. Cameron Trimble, author of Piloting Church: Helping Your Congregation Take Flight

Prayer for the Week

Sacred One,

You sometimes feel so far away. We see death and disaster in the news, and everywhere, people are arguing, always arguing. And yet Jesus said that your domain - the only true and enduring reality - is also among us.

May your presence become real to us in the midst of our despair.

Even in my own heart, I hold grudges, nurse anxieties, withhold compassion, and put myself first. Too often, my heart is not a hospitable place for your Spirit. I resist your presence there, too.

May your presence become real to us in the midst of our despair.

Empower your people to see where your way of life is already showing up. Help us to become passionate agents in this continuing unfolding of your will for all things.

Amen.

(adapted from The Prayer Wheel by Patton Dodd, Jana Riess, and David Van Biema)