Beloveds, I am slowly getting into the rhythm of things and am catching up with emails and phone messages and texts, even as I continue to prepare for the upcoming 2020 General Conference of the United Methodist Church. While I have been trying to keep you informed with all that is happening, I feel it is also important that we, as a congregation, also have our own conversations and think of where we would want to be as a congregation and who would we want to align with, post May 2020.
A national movement that I am apart of is UMForward, who has offered the NEW (New Expressions Worldwide) Plan. But there is similar work happening locally. A couple folk from our Annual Conference have been inviting congregations to come together -- to speak to each other and together discern where we see ourselves after May of this year.
“Leap of Faith” invites us to discern, pray and if we feel prepared, to take the leap of faith, with many other congregations, into the future -- which truly is unknown but we leap in the confidence that God will be with us into this new expression, this new formation, this new future that will allow us to freely and fully live into the gospel of Jesus Christ and be liberated from the colonized faith that has historically been oppressing the people in the margins.
Stepping into the unknown is never easy. I am uncertain. I don’t know where we will really land. But, I am willing to take the step forward. I have invited David Braden, one of the two organizers of "Leap of Faith," to speak to us during worship this Sunday, and then stay afterwards for further conversation, and I invite you to please come with an openness of mind and heart to engage in healthy conversation. As I say -- we do not have too many answers, but we are willing to take the step out into the unknown and invite others to join. Beloved, Broadway has a reputation of standing up for justice. We will continue to do so in faith.
I hope to see you at church, and I pray that God will give all of us the strength we need for each day to do the work that we are called to do. And remember, I am always your partner in justice.
