A Letter to NH Governor Hassan

On Monday, Governor Maggie Hassan (NH), issued this statement through her communications director: “The Governor believes that the federal government should halt acceptance of refugees from Syria until intelligence and defense officials can assure that the process for vetting all refugees, including those from Syria, is as strong as possible to ensure the safety of…

An Invitation from the New England Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church

Here is the full text of the motion I made, as amended and adopted by the 2014 session of the New England Annual Conference: An Invitation The New England Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church strives to be an inclusive conference that celebrates, develops, and affirms God-given gifts for lay and ordained ministry. We…

Let the penalty fix the “crime”

Here we go again... A month after the Board of Ordained Ministry in Pennsylvania stripped Rev. Frank Schaefer of his ordination credentials for officiating at his son's wedding and refusing to state he would follow the entirety of the Book of Discipline in the future, the United Methodist Church is back at it again. The…

The courage of couples

Tim Schaefer takes the stand today. Tim's father, Rev. Frank Schaefer, was found guilty yesterday in a United Methodist Church trial for officiating at Tim's wedding to his similarly-gendered partner six years ago. An inactive member of Schaefer's church, angry because his mother and Schaefer had a disagreement which led to her being fired from…

Embodiment and Authenticity (Talking Taboo)

Over a year ago, I wrote an essay for an amazing compilation, Talking Taboo: American Christian Women Get Frank About Faith (Erin Lane & Enuma Okoro, eds), which officially launches today. I'm overjoyed to be included in this book, a huge collaborative effort, and looking at the other authors I'm humbled and a little confused…

Link love

Here is an column about the #DreamUMC movement I wrote for UM Reporter. I'm still working on a summary of last week's chat-- hopefully by the end of the day, and Jeremy is hard at work on the break down of work/interest groups. Stay tuned to the facebook page and twitter account!

We All Have a Dream…

The DreamUMC conversation is more than two months old, and growing in some exciting ways. We are putting words and ideas to action, and finding new partners across denominational lines. Background Coming out of the 2012 General Conference, many delegates, volunteers, and folks who had followed the proceedings from afar looked for a way to…

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…

Link Love – DreamUMC

Here's a great article about our DreamUMC conversation. Our next chat is in a week: May 28, 9 pm Eastern (not 10 pm, as initially stated in the article).

Diary of a Delegate: Link Dump

Here's some stuff to read and listen to and share. "Twitter and Guaranteed Appointment" radio interview (Laura Allen, United Methodist News Service) "United Methodist Bishops Must Take Action Against Protesters" (Rick Silva, Boston Observer) General Conference main site with lots of pictures and video and information (umc.org) Legislation I literally wrote (as the recording secretary…