March 11, 2020
Friends,
March is the #ResistHarm month of Lament. Lament is not a word we often use in our everyday lives. We don’t like to acknowledge our shortcomings or the ways we have fallen short of our call to love God and love our neighbors. In lives filled with social media and personal branding, to lament would be to expose something negative and intimate about ourselves. But the purpose of lament is to acknowledge the sin in our lives for the world to see. To lament is to declare that we hold a collective shame or grief that can only be healed by the power of Jesus Christ. To lament is to honestly face the depth of our brokenness and cry out for the only One who can make us whole. Laments can be found throughout our Scriptures, but they are in precious short supply in our world. Nevertheless, we believe that laments are gravely needed.
In this season of Lent and resisting harm, we lament. We lament that toxic theology has wounded our witness in the world. We lament that the God of love has been hijacked and turned into a God of exclusion. We lament that holy Scripture has been weaponized against people who desire to serve God with all of their hearts, minds, and souls. We lament that the Body of Christ has not been a welcoming place to all of God’s children. We lament and we cry out to God much like the Psalmist long ago, “How long, O Lord?”
But also, we read in 1 Thessalonians that we “do not mourn as those who have no hope.” We know that Jesus Christ is faithful even in our despair. We know that God has promised to turn our mourning into dancing. While we are in a season of mourning and lament now, hope is on the horizon and a new day is dawning on the people called Methodist. As we prepare our hearts for the resurrection on Easter, we also find ourselves in a season of preparation for the future of our beloved church. While lamenting may be unfamiliar for us, we embrace it this Lent as it leads to the hope which springs eternal.
We invite you to read Rev. Mitzi Manning's very personal lament about her difficult choice to remain single and celibate while serving as a deacon in the UMC. “It should NOT have been necessary to lead such a lonely, inauthentic life while I was following my call. I pray that we will end the harm and stop trying to second-guess God’s call on the lives of LGBTQ United Methodists.” Click here to read her story.
As we move toward General Conference, there are multiple information sessions around the Virginia Conference to learn more about the proposed Protocol. To see a full list on the conference website, click here. Rev. David Hindman recently attended a session, representing the progressive / centrist perspective. Click here to read his reflections.
Plans are also well underway for the Virginia Annual Conference in Roanoke in June. Lay and Clergy delegates are needed to volunteer to serve on a Teller team to count ballots when critical votes are taken. It is possible that very important motions/votes will come before us at this Annual Conference, especially if the Protocol is passed by General Conference, so it is important that we have a large number of trusted and trained tellers. If you are willing to volunteer, please contact your District Office as soon as possible and give them your name. Click here for district contact information.
Thanks for being a part of this movement of the Holy Spirit in Virginia and beyond.
Grace and Peace,
Josh Blakely
Rev. Beth Givens
Rev. Kendra Grimes
Alison Malloy
Rev. Jonathan Page
Ashley Parker