Dear Church,

I look forward to the day when my Sower article doesn't have to be about General Conference 2019. But that's simply where we are and I feel a certain burden to help everyone stay informed. So bear with me.

In a few weeks, Terry Eaton and I will be heading to Pacific Northwest Annual Conference in Puyallup. Undoubtedly, the fallout from General Conference 2019 will be our top item. The latest news I can share is that the Judicial Council did review the petitions that passed GC2019 and ruled that some of the Traditional Plan was constitutional (in alignment with our Book of Discipline) and some of it was not. The water gets murkier still. Furthermore, two additional gatherings have taken place of various groups trying to figure out 'what's next?'

The first of those gatherings was called UM-Forward and was organized by members of the UM Queer Clergy Caucus. About 350 LGBTQ+ and ethnic minority United Methodists gathered for prayer, worship and conversation about the ways they may want to remain in or depart from the denomination. Their meeting was live streamed on Facebook and the replays of worship and panel conversations are still up. Search "UM-Forward" on Facebook. They created a proclamation at the conclusion of their meeting which can be found on their website  um-forward.org.

The second gathering was called UMNext and was held immediately following UM-Forward. It was organized by a group of prominent UM leaders including Rev. Adam Hamilton, pastor of the largest UM church, Church of the Resurrection in suburban Kansas City. UMNext was billed as a gathering of 'progressive and centrist' United Methodists seeking to decide how to respond to General Conference 2019. UMNext was by invitation only and was closed to both the public and the media. Part of the secrecy was to protect people who may have faced backlash in their annual conferences. Nevertheless 600 UMs gathered including 10 from PNW. They tried to discern ways to remain in the UMC despite increasing rejection of LGBTQ+ people in the Traditionalist Plan. You can meet the organizers of the event as well as read the resulting commitments of the attendees at  umcnext.org. 

Our Bishop Elaine Stanovsky was the only bishop to attend both gatherings and our DS Rev. Kathleen Weber also attended both gatherings. I trust that with their sense of the multiple ongoing conversations that at Annual Conference we will gain some clarity as to the future of the United Methodist Church. Stay tuned to future Sower articles. The Bishop shared some of her reflections on her blog at  greaternw.org/moving-forward-to-whats-next/. 

In the meantime, our purpose remains to Love God, Love People, Serve Both. That means that our summer of outreach to the people at Orchards Glen will not be hampered by this strife in the denomination. It means that our witness of grace and peace in the greater Vancouver area will not be changed by any denominational statute. It means that the commitments we have already made to one another as members of this body remain: to increase each other's faith, confirm each other's hope and perfect one another in love. Think about the state of the world altogether: wars, divisions, poverty, refugees all over the planet, the planet itself suffering intense sickness. This world is in dire need of a community like ours, not just to to exist, but to be actively pointing to the living God who reconciles to one another. Let us not be distracted by these recent turns of events. But let us keep focused on the mission that God has laid upon our hearts. It's a great and important time to be a Christian.

Peace,

Christopher