2016

In 2016, when the General Conference of the United Methodist Church gathers in Portland, Oregon, I will be 71 years old.  I have been a card-carrying member of the the UMC since 1968 (and before that, a member of the Evangelical United Brethren Church...the EUB and the Methodist Churches merged in 1968, forming the UMC).  I have been a pastor in the UMC since 1974...and in 2016 will have been retired from the profession for a year.

The logo for the 2016 General Conference is "Therefore Go."  The Scriptural basis for the logo is found in Matthew 28:19-20...Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.”

So the 2016 General Conference is built around Jesus saying to his early followers (the Church fancies itself the successor to that group): "Go. Train others in all I have commanded you." 

And the only "commandments" I recall Jesus offering were these: Love God and Love Neighbor, and Love One Another as I Have Loved You.

Nice.  Simple.  Easy to remember.

Very hard to pull off.

And in relation to the God's sons and daughters who are homosexual the UMC has yet to pull it off.

However, every General Conference (the get-togethers take place every four years) has the opportunity to right previous wrongs and set a new course...has the opportunity to enact wonderful ways for its membership to Love God...Love Neighbor...Love One Another Like God Loves Us.

And so, in 2016 the General Conference of the United Methodist Church has an opportunity to show a 71 year old current member that it can pull off loving all people, regardless of their sexual orientation, the kind of love that God showed all of us in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

To continue our current position regarding homosexuality as "incompatible with Christian teaching," is no longer tolerable...if it ever was.

I hope my denomination is smart about this issue next May in Portland.