Draw the Circle Wide
Poetry Friday
Beloveds,
In 1972 something terrible happened in The United Methodist Church. Five words - homosexuality is incompatible with Christianity - were inserted into the Book of Discipline. Some people thought they could exclude certain people from the love of God. And, when those words were not enough to keep LGBTQIA+ people out of the church, there was even more discriminatory language and rules added.
Let me tell you the good news, you can try to legislate people out of the love of God but God has other plans! The Bible tells us that LOVE has the last word. So what happened? It split the denomination and the people who thought they could legislate discrimination took their toys and started their own denomination called the GMC, however, not without causing as much chaos as possible.
You cannot underestimate how the Spirit moves. I witnessed the winds of Pentecost moving in the last few weeks. The visceral hate speeches gone and in place of that, a spirit of working together. Fifty two years of bad theology is being erased bit by bit. I have seen people celebrating and working together across cultures, languages, geographic continents, and ideologies. There is much work to still be done to begin to heal the harm that has been done. Even though I was married 6 years ago in a UMC church, this is the first day that my marriage will be recognized by the UMC. It’s going to take a while for change to sink in and for me to really believe it. Actions speak louder than words.
Among the joy, there is much sadness that it has taken this long. The church has missed out on so much. And, there is much grief. We grieve those brought up on charges, those who left or were pushed out, and those who died or committed suicide waiting for change. And, I also want to acknowledge that this is not the only denomination that has caused harm to LGBTQIA+ people. We stand on those who came before and to those who worked so hard to make this time happen, queer and allies. I stand here grateful.
So, let us be the church and draw the circle wide. Let us make the table longer and celebrate the Spirit blowing over and through us.
Blessings,
Jace
This is not poetry today…. or is it? I take this moment to post some things from General Conference so I can remember. I want to remember the pure joy of singing together, the moments of realization that barriers of 52 years were being torn down. These are just a few moments of rejoicing, grief, and sadness. We can’t “put this behind us”. We must name it and work on healing to be the church we want it to be.
You are beloved. Beloved. BELOVED.
Love is powerful.
To be recognized as a child of God with discriminatory language removed….
there are no words.
Only tears of joy and sadness and grief.
May you always know you are beloved.
Praise be!!!!!