Friday, March 14, 2008

General Conference Blog

There is a new blog up and running about the upcoming General Conference in 2008.

Filled with reflections, poetry and comments, it is a great place to prepare oneself for the coming conference. Many of our own CWMers regularly post on the blog.

Meditate On That

Sit here, wait

to see what comes

What comes when I meditate on General Conference

meditate on general conference

I decide

“meditate” & “General Conference”

do not belong in the same sentence....


Read more, here.

Love the Dog

I love dogs. I love their loud lapping at water bowls, their incessant enthusiasm, and their unabashed enjoyment of belly scratches. (I also love underdogs and hot dogs, but I think that’s a different topic!).

Read more, here.

Unity

The theme for this General Conference is "A Future with Hope." However, if you have been following the articles in the official UM media, and the language coming from many of the bishops and general agencies, the real buzzword of GC 2008, is unity.

Read more, here.

Truth Crushed to Earth Will Rise Again

As General Conference approaches, I find myself going to my bookshelf and taking out A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King. The Reconciling movement is asking the General Conference to remove all discriminatory language in the Book of Discipline aimed at lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. We are bringing the truth about ourselves to the United Methodist Church, the truth that we are the beloved creation of God and that God celebrates our lives, our love and wants to use us to bring reconciliation to the world. We have brought our truth with great vulnerability streaming YouTube videos that give the world an intimate look inside our movement.

Read more, here.

Transgender Intro: The UMC & Gender

Decades of debate about the place of gay and lesbian people in the UMC means that most United Methodists are aware of a range of sexual orientations: gay, lesbian, straight, bisexual. But as our church prepares to gather for General Conference, we’ll likely be talking about a kind of diversity that is much less familiar: gender diversity. It may seem pretty commonsensical that people are either male or female, so some may be wondering: What’s all this talk about “transgender” people?

Read more, here.

Why I Stay. . .

As I prepare for General Conference, I am confronted with a question from many of my friends. "Why do you stay in the United Methodist Church?" As a young(ish) (31) gay man who is not called to ordained ministry, it seems easy enough to walk away from this church that keeps telling me through both its actions and words that I am unwelcome and unwanted. If I am completely honest, this is a question that I am continuously trying to answer for myself. My list changes almost daily, but these are the big reasons why I stay.

Read more, here.

Doing my homework

I’m a General Conference delegate who is under thirty years old. “Under thirty years old” isn’t one of the first ways I usually categorize myself, but it seems to be appropriate in this context. I’ll turn twenty-eight during General Conference. You don’t need to get me anything; just don’t make it illegal for me to be a member of your church, that’s really all I want.

Read more, here.


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