Sign to Support Our LGBTQ Siblings in the Susquehanna Conference and to Support Full Inclusion
- Target:
- Clergy, laity in the Susquehanna Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church
- Region:
- United States of America
- Website:
- www.facebook.com
The General Conference voted. The Judicial Council has ruled. The United Methodist Church is now officially anti-LGBTQ. Join hundreds of Susquehanna Conference laity and clergy by signing this statement of apology and support for LGBTQ people in the church.
We are joining tens of thousands of mainstream United Methodists across the connection that are apologizing to our LGBTQ siblings, and supporting full inclusion of LGBTQ people in every aspect of life in the church as we seek to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
We believe in the words of Jesus, that “God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:17 NRSV) It is vital that we follow this command, coming on the night that he was betrayed, that we unconditionally love each other.
Add your voice to this movement of the Holy Spirit. Please sign and share this statement with others in the Susquehanna Conference.
We plan to present this statement of apology and support to Bishop Park during the Susquehanna Annual Conference, May 31-June 1, in Hershey.
Rev. Gregory A. Milinovich
Rev. Heather M. Baker-McAllister
Rev. Mark Reisinger
Rev. L. Fitzgerald Reist, II
Rev. J. T. Young
Rev. Craig Gommer
Laurence Nelson
Stephen Drachler
Photo Credit: United Methodist News Service
A letter to Our LGBTQ Siblings and Allies from Supportive
Susquehanna Conference United Methodist Clergy and Laity
“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of our calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:4-6)
God loves you. We love you. Unconditionally. We are saddened and regret the decisions of the most recent General Conference that have deepened the harm done to LGBTQ persons by The United Methodist Church. We seek your forgiveness and confess that we have too often remained silent in the midst of wrongs being committed to our siblings-in-Christ.
The decisions – tightening restrictions on the ordination of LGBTQ clergy, prohibiting United Methodist clergy from conducting same-sex weddings, banning our churches from hosting same sex-weddings, and adding punitive measures – do not represent our vision of a United Methodist Church truly committed to making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world
We believe that God expects more of us as a church. We are speaking out against this injustice out of our Biblically-rooted and Wesleyan commitment to seek justice, and our baptismal and membership vows to “resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever form it presents itself.”
As we say this, we also believe the church can, and must, be a place where people can worship, fellowship and love Jesus together even as they disagree. That is at the heart of Wesley’s teachings.
We commit ourselves to act out of love for all, including our LGBTQ siblings. We commit ourselves to a renewed spirit of serving Christ, remembering that Methodism began as a spiritual movement to renew a decaying institutional church and serve the outcast, the marginalized, and the poor.
Signed by Clergy and Laity of the Susquehanna Annual Conference.
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The Sign to Support Our LGBTQ Siblings in the Susquehanna Conference and to Support Full Inclusion petition to Clergy, laity in the Susquehanna Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church was written by Susquehanna Conference Reconciling Ministry and is in the category Religion at GoPetition.