Read MoreThis past Sunday, I realized that the empty that had been celebrated previously had to be considered differently. There can be freedom and celebration in empty: Five, ten, twenty years of sobriety; the experience of the first evangelists (the women who discovered that Jesus was no longer in the tomb); and the liberation of justice restored as corporate sin is emptied and destroyed. There too can be dying alone in empty. Disconnection in empty. Loneliness in empty.
…It is possible now, even after decades of the present conflict and more than two centuries of discrimination, to become a church deeply steeped in the liberating Gospel of Christ Jesus of Nazareth, one that embodies — finally — our baptismal vows to reject “evil, injustice, and oppression”…
Read More“I was a delegate to the 2016 General Conference. Going into that conference, if you would have told me we could vote on what would eventually become the One Church Plan, I’d have voted for it enthusiastically…”
Read More…on the “Protocol of Reconciliation & Grace Through Separation”
A public response from UM-Forward — a collective of United Methodist laity, clergy, and scholars who envision liberation, which is a posture toward the future, grounded in past struggle and present resilience that proclaims: we are loved into freedom.
Read MoreThe truth is: I had hoped more would be possible.
This resolution is not just.
None of this is ok.
And, I believe, I have done what I can.
… It is necessary, especially among Christian people, to recover the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, of radical and transformational love; to confront the religious models of legalism and the exploitation of guilt, resentment, fear, and hatred. The path to be followed necessarily traverses the challenge to develop new models of community living of faith, based on hope, friendship, creativity, and beauty, and seeking to build a new reality from the outlook of love, peace, solidarity, and justice…
Read MoreTime to shit or get off the pot. People have to hear where you stand on this POLICY debate. Especially if you’re an “ally.” Too many want the label of ally but not the WORK of ally. I hear people lament: “Why can’t we just move past this?” Well, it’s because your scary ass won’t do the work to move past this…
Read More… To cut through the noise, is to cut through the well-crafted narratives of power that silence those, whom like John the Baptist, have been calling for repentance from the antiqueer, white supremacist, and patriarchal destruction for decades.
In these coming months, beloveds, beware and be aware…
… More is needed, though, to ensure that potential is realized and to minimize harm in the process of the envisioned realignment of conferences, congregations, clergy, and denominational bodies…
Read More… It is sinfully insufficient to advocate for a modified UMC that is slightly less homophobic, fails to confront white supremacy and institutional racism, and preserves a myriad of other systemic injustices…
Read More… Anna and Tyler testified to the sacred worth of queer and trans life and love and called out the harm done by the church through pervasive and persistent efforts to prosecute, persecute, and purge queer people from the church…
Read MoreRead MoreWe urge our fellow Asbury administrative leaders, faculty, current and fellow alumni to repent of this sin and to join us in standing in solidarity with our LGBTQ+ siblings in Christ.
Further, we ask for the current administration of Asbury Theological Seminary, as well as past presidents, to publicly repent from the harm done against LGBTQ+ people in the United Methodist Church as well as LGBTQ+ students who have attended Asbury in the past and who attend Asbury currently.
