“The disagreement became so sharp that they parted company; Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and set out, the believers commending him to the grace of the Lord. He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.” – Acts 15:39-41
I dropped my kids off for their first day of school this morning, so it’s really fall. That means it’s time to turn some more of my attention to the connectional United Methodist Church and the work ahead.
I have been elected to my annual conference’s delegation to General Conference 2020. I’m excited to serve in this capacity, at a time of such potential for transformation in the denomination. I hope that this year marks the beginning of breaking open our church into new life– two or more (I hope two) movements in the Methodist tradition, setting one another free to be in ministry in our various contexts as we are called. Like Paul and Barnabas, going their separate ways, I believe we can– even in the midst of our sharp disagreements– bless one another in the name of God and go forth to strengthen the church wherever we are.
In the past, I’ve used this blogging platform as a way to process, reflect, share ideas, and generally externally-process about General Conference. I think this shared reflection is especially needed (at least for me) this year, because so much of the GC’s work will need to be collaborative and rooted in grassroots organization, drawing perspectives from across boundaries and “sharp disagreements.” So I will again turn to the open-sourced web on the internet to share and to listen, and I invite you to join me.
We Your People, Ours the Journey 
I share your hope, but believe the true understanding of the positions on both sides has not come totally into the light. It appears there is a manipulation going on for reasons other than faith. I have not heard a good explanation of the history of this divide nor why it surfaced when it did, nor how it became so divisive. Is there a good summary somewhere we can study? It strikes me that Methodism has an opportunity to be a model to the political/social divide that is paralyzing the world and so many countries and organizations today.
Take a breath and remove the emotion to get to the factors underneath. They appear to be earthly, not centered on Christ.