All tagged united methodist church
“And now, in the darkness, having spent the day surrounded by silence, the weight of this transition is sitting heavy on me. I have texted some friends, and in the course of that exchange, I realized how much my pep talks about this pastoral transition sound like eHarmony commercials. I am trying to sell myself on the success and longevity of relationships that start online. And once I made that connection, I could not help but think…
‘Did the people of my congregation swipe left, or swipe right?’”
After I share these insights, person after person has asked me this question: “Has all this given you any insight into what will happen to us in May?” Then they sort of laugh, as if there was any chance that such a thing would be possible. And then I say, “Yes, it has. I am not worried.” That is usually when they look at me like I have lost my mind. And then they want to know why in the world I would say something like that. So here is why.
“After worship, the woman caught me. ‘I decided to tell her the truth. I decided to tell her I had spent too many years in the closet. I was never going to be able to come out of that closet in my other church. For all the problems with Methodism, I at least know I am okay to be out of the closet. And you know what? She told me she had quit going to church because she started taking some medicine for depression and they told her she was weak if she needed those pills and she didn’t have enough faith. I am so glad you told me to talk to her. I think we have a real connection now.’”
Many [symbols] are written as something called hidden transcripts. Hidden transcripts appear to say one thing to the public, but for those who are savvy, for those who have followed the clues and have knowledge to understand what is really being said, those public declarations say something else entirely. They say, “I am done following a corrupt and contaminated empire that is more interested in preserving power than in serving the greater good.”
This woman knows I live an hour from Little Rock. She also knows I am a United Methodist pastor…. She knows I am fully invested in my denomination, and she knows I can’t live out my call in her denomination. And yet, despite all that, she invited me to her church anyway.
Methodists: sit up and take note.
