Video Sermon: Grown Together

I also created a video of last Sunday's sermon, "Grown Together." With lots of love and thanksgiving to Jim and his family. Love you magnificent women!

Fragments for the Fragmented

Late last week, I was contacted by fellow pastor and blogger Drew "Pastor Mack," who was planning to write about the communion witness in which I participated at General Conference on May 3. He asked for my permission and to further pick my brain a bit, which I gladly granted, and I feel that his…

I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one…

Monday night was magic. We had our first Twitter Chat for #DreamUMC, the conversation born out of the strong desire to keep shaping the future of our denomination in the wake of General Conference. You can read the full archive of the chat here, or you can view bullet points of answers to the questions…

I’m still here

And that's a choice. I'm a Taurus (in fact-- shameless plug for well wishes-- my birthday is tomorrow). If you believe anything at all about astrology, that should tell you that I am stubborn. Perhaps my decision yet again to remain United Methodist in the wake of the past two weeks is simply a manifestation…

Diary of a Delegate: in the end, Hope.

In the Greek myth of Pandora's Box (from Hesiod's Works and Days), Pandora opens a container from which all the world's evils spill, never to be contained. But there is a glimmer of possibility, because last of all things in the box is the most powerful force: hope. Perhaps for those of you who attended…

Diary of a Delegate: She Moves in Mysterious Ways

(continued from previous post) When Judicial Ruling 1210 was handed down at about 4:15 pm on Friday (with the General Conference scheduled to recess at 5 and then return for a two-hour legislative session before adjournment), creative chaos ensued. One of my fellow Church and Society B committee members called for a five minute recess,…

Diary of a Delegate: And on the Tenth Day, the Spirit Arrived.

Friends, you heard my pain, frustration, brokenness and even some anger in my last post. The people I care about and the issues and petitions that mattered to us took terrible hits over the first nine and a half days of General Conference. Yes, we failed to change the UMC's policy on homosexuality being incompatible…

Diary of a Delegate: Yeah, so that happened

Earlier this week I tweeted: just because it's expected doesn't make it hurt any less. We-- whoever "we" are-- did not expect to win any ground on the church's position about homosexuality this quadrennium. But I'm a believer in the resurrection promise. That sometimes means that I every so often and ever so naively hold…

This is the day

This is the day that the Holy One has made. This is the day that we vote about homosexuality again, and grace again, and fear and violence again, and learn what will prevail in the eyes of the broken church. But it's just a day. Tomorrow is another. We are the church. Broken, limping, maimed.…

Diary of a Delegate: Day Three – Tears

Yes, I know. Technically, I could subtitle any day at General Conference, or anywhere else for that matter, with that word. I'm a crier. It's me. But Thursday there were more tears than usual. I'll give a shout out to Adam Hamilton, who after a lot of critique of the proposal he helped present, agreed…