#BeUMC – “One bread, one body, one Lord of all.
One cup of blessing which we bless.
And we, though many, throughout the earth, we are one body in this one Lord!”
- St. Louis Jesuits
#BeUMC is the United Methodist rally call in this season of disaffiliations and change. With this encouraging mantra, members and churches were asked to reflect and embrace what it means to remain in the UMC (inclusion, reconciliation, mutuality to name a few). Many would say #BeUMC was accomplished at this May’s 2024 General Conference (GC) in Charlotte, NC as significant legislative changes represented a pivotal moment in our denomination’s history. I want to personally rejoice over two of these historic changes.
LGBTQ full inclusion was ratified. The UMC voted to drop its ban on the ordination of queer clergy and to allow for marriages of consenting adults regardless of their gender identities. Pastors will continue to determine a couple’s readiness to enter a marriage covenant. In a similar vein, the GC legislation explicitly protects the right of clergy and churches to determine if same-sex weddings will or will not be allowed on property owned by a local church. As a Reconciling Ministries Network church, KUMC has already affirmed our willingness to conduct marriages regardless of gender identities.
The UMC adopted Revised Social Principles reflecting a change in our denomination’s stance on LGBTQ persons. GC Delegates eliminated that “the practice of homosexuality…is incompatible with Christian teaching.” And in the same vote, delegates affirmed “marriage as a sacred, life-long commitment that brings two people’s (consenting adults) faith into a union of one another and into deeper relationship with God.”
I celebrate the change for Deacons to preside at the sacraments – Holy Communion and Baptism. As CoChair of the Upper NY Order of Deacons, we have long sought mutuality of sacramental responsibilities with our clergy siblings, Elders and Local Licensed Pastors. As the deacon Philip baptized the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:26-29, deacons can now consecrate the sacraments as an outward sign of God’s grace in their ministries of Word, service, justice, and compassion.
So my friends in Christ, I encourage you to rejoice in God’s inclusive actions within our denomination. And while not everyone may be in total agreement with these legislative changes, be mindful that we are all God’s unique creation and of our unity in #BeUMC. For we are…“one bread, one body, one Lord of all, one cup of blessing which we bless. And we, though many, throughout the earth, we are one body in this one Lord!”
May joy in the Lord be your strength!
Pastor Becky
