Dear Ocala First UMC Members and Friends,
A lot has transpired over the summer regarding our denomination, including the Florida Annual Conference. We wanted to take the opportunity to provide some information and important links to you as we begin a season of discernment leading up to General Conference in 2024.
The Executive Committee is meeting on Tuesday, August 2. We believe that our congregation needs to take the next steps in an intentional process for conversation, discernment, and decision-making. This work properly flows through the Executive Committee, so expect to hear further updates throughout the month of August. What follows is some of the information the Executive Committee has before them.
One significant concern we want to address is the circulation of information online, and through text and email chains, that creates misperceptions and misinformation. If you read something that concerns you, please reach out to us so that we can verify the information and address the related concerns.
In July, the news broke of a lawsuit by 106 United Methodist Churches in Florida to avoid following Para. 2553 in the Discipline as a way to leave the denomination. Having read most of the secular news articles, we think this one from United Methodist News Service is most helpful since it has the built-in familiarity with how our denomination works. The article also includes many additional links for further background reading.
Here is the official response from the Florida Conference, as well as, an FAQ article:
And given the amount of misinformation circulating online, particularly regarding The United Methodist Church changing its doctrine and discipline, here is a series of articles that addresses the most frequently cited questions regarding The United Methodist Church.
And lastly, the Texas Annual Conference created a comparison chart for the use of local congregations. Rather than quoting talking points from either denomination, it simply cites the Disciplines of each. They include a note separate from this document that not all the churches leaving the denomination are choosing to join the Global Methodist Church.
We know that our members stand in different places in relation to LGBTQ inclusion. It has been our desire to have all active members at the table – those who support our church with their prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness – as this congregation listens for God’s direction and considers how it may be faithful both to its legacy and its future.
We continue to appeal to Christian maturity expressed through humility, respect, and grace. May we be open to listen to each other, see the image of God in each other, and care for one another’s souls. We must be one people, rooted in scripture, centered in Christ, serving in love, and united in the essentials.
We are committed to our church family and to the season that is before us. And we continue to believe that what unites us is our love of Jesus and our commitment to make a gospel impact within our community, particularly in the lives of our young people and the vulnerable.
Grace and Peace,
Anne and David
