Greetings in Christ!
On August 18, Broadmeadow's Board of Stewards met and made the decision to enter into a time of discernment over whether our church will become a Reconciling congregation.
For those of you who don't know what that means, the Reconciling Ministries Network is a group of congregations, individuals, and organizations within the United Methodist Church who are publicly fully-affirming of LGBTQ+ people and ministries. As you probably do know, the United Methodist Book of Discipline states that same sex relationships are "incompatable with Christian teaching" and bars "self-affirming homosexuals" from serving as clergy. Becoming a Reconciling congregation would mean that we, as a congregation, publicly and intentionally disagree with the denomination's position and seek to welcome LGBTQ+ persons into our faith community and work for inclusion within the wider denomination. It would not affect our standing or membership within the United Methodist Church.
I think we are all aware of the disagreements within the UMC over how we minister to and with LGBTQ+ persons. These disagreements have, at times, been acrimonious in ways that do not become the Church of Jesus Christ. It has been my experience, so far, that Broadmeadow is able to navigate disagreement with a spirit of mutual love, and it is my prayer that we continue to do so.
This decision will ultimately be up to the entire congregation. We will be having a church-wide meeting on Sunday, Sept. 15, after worship to answer questions and discuss how to move forward with our discernment together. We will not be making any kind of decision that day. I hope we'll see you all there.
In the meantime, please feel free to go to the RMN's website: www.rmnetwork.org to find out more; go straight to http://bit.ly/RMNInfo to download some helpful tools (much of which is currently found in the narthex for you to take), or shoot me a message. I'll be glad to have a conversation and answer any questions.
Most of all, please be in prayer for discernment for all of us.
God bless!