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Dear Asbury Family,


This summer, the Discernment Team at Asbury has been hard at work preparing for a season of research and prayer. If you are not aware of the Discernment Team at Asbury, the purpose of this team is to learn more about our congregation and its views and thereby provide guidance to the Church Council on what is best for our Church in our denomination's developing stance on human sexuality. As a reminder, the Discernment Team does not have any decision-making power but will act as an information-gathering resource to make recommendations to the Church Council and, if needed, the Church Conference.


The Discernment team has been divided into two subgroups: a Survey Group and a Listening Session Group. This Fall, we will begin surveying our congregation and holding listening sessions in order to give everyone a chance to share their views, hopes, and dreams for Asbury. 


Asbury has a rich history as a church open to many different views. You might call Asbury a “Big Tent" church. This is what makes Asbury so special! However, it can make decisions on polarizing issues very complicated. The discernment process has been established to help our church family have an organized and fair process with clear communication made to all leadership structures and to the church at large. We are committed to doing our best to provide the most accurate information about our church family so that our leadership teams can make sound decisions for Asbury. 


We understand that it may seem as if we are moving slowly as news of some of our sister congregations entering into the deliberative stages of the process of disaffiliation from our denomination. It is important to remember that the vast majority of United Methodist congregations are not in the disaffiliation process. The position of Human Sexuality in the United Methodist Church has been consistent since 1972 and can only be changed by the General Conference which meets again in 2024. There are still questions about whether or not the position of the denomination will change or whether or not there will be more freedom within the denomination to "agree to disagree" as John Wesley once said. 


Please continue to pray for our church and for our denomination as well as our committees and teams. You can stay connected to the discernment process by going to asburybham.org/discernment.