“… The weight of denominational discrimination threatens to overcome even the blessings of an affirming local fellowship…”
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Some of you straight folk get uncomfortable hearing words like "straight" and "queer," and then don't care for acronyms like "LGBT." Some of you would rather I stopped talking about queerness and sexuality. If that's you, buckle up and keep reading…
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…Deep wrestling.
Can I bring myself to climb the steps, to kneel, to be ordained under the blessing of the UMC?
How can I?
How can I not?
But how can I?
So much wrestling…
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…We ended our time at UMNext singing “I Surrender All.” I felt the weight of this song in a familiar yet newly painful way. The weight of knowing that as people stood there, so many were not willing to surrender much at all. They were not willing to surrender their money, colosseum, and privileges. And yet, they are asking those of us at the margins to surrender our very selves for the sake of their comfort…
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… There is nothing to debate. The burden of changing hearts and minds must not be unfairly placed on the oppressed. POC+Q+T Methodists have no obligation to educate those who cause them harm…
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UMCNext might have been more inclusive than the status quo, but it already has and will continue to produce exclusions because it is being built for the preservation of power and prestige, not for the sake of embodying the gospel of collective liberation.
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Invocation for Our Movement Forward + “A Gathering Prayer for Liberation” by Rev. Anna Blaedel
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I write this post not to absolve myself of the sins I have made against God’s beloved children by not being in radical solidary to everyone pushed to the margins by the patriarchy. I write this post to confess my sins and to encourage others like myself (white, straight, middle class cisgender) to start this painful, humbling process of self-examination. I am still learning and hope that people continue to lovingly educate and provide feedback as I move forward to the person that God has called me to be…
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…These days are not easy, or clear, or simple. The answers are not the same for everyone, nor should they be. The only "wrong" answer is turning away from the harm, washing y/our hands from the impacts of white supremacy and queer/transphobia, particularly in whatever ways your privilege encourages…
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… Therefore, I hereby request to discontinue my candidacy for ordained ministry until such a time arrives when every person can be celebrated fully for who they are in our denomination, regardless of whom or how they love. I am a disciple of the Incarnate One who lived life in and among the margins of society and who is calling me to take this next step in my ministry journey…
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Most Sunday mornings, I end up standing at the back of New City’s worship space. I welcome people who come in after worship has started. I make sure the door stays slightly ajar because it locks automatically if pulled all the way shut. From this vantage point, I can see and count who is in the room (at least when everyone is seated, otherwise I’m too short to see much of anything). From this vantage point, I get to watch as people who may have no experience of church or have traumatic experience of church are welcomed into a community in which collective healing and liberation are practiced…
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An announcement, a decision, a plea:
Dear ones, the etymological root of “decision” is traced to “cut.” Decisions cut off some possibilities, in order to enable other possibilities to become. Loss, sharp and inevitable, results from our decisions and indecisions, our actions and inactions. So does the invitation into new life.
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