These are my thoughts and hopes for the church--
In a world where divisiveness
is rampant, there is little to model unity and we believe the church is being
called to reveal to the world a way to move forward in the midst of difference.
While resolutions are being
put forward to change the wording in the Book of Discipline, and statements are
being made suggesting schism, we desire
to create plans and possibilities for moving forward even without complete
resolution and agreement. Yet still moving forward in the messiness of
theology- in the messiness of what it means to be church. And are we yet alive? We believe we are and can continue to
be.
How can we inspire and
share with others that even in all of this, it is still worth it to be this
messy, imperfect, Body of Christ, that may muddle through and loving one
another especially when it is hard to do so?
How can we reveal that we do not give up- that church is not just an
idea, but a reality of people who come together to love not because it is easy, but because the Holy Spirit makes it
possible and our lives are richer for it. How can we reveal the kingdom of God
when we are so focused on our own animosity and disagreements?
We do not argue over
how we understand the trinity, the divinity of Jesus, the mystery of the
sacraments, the truth of the resurrection- why should we debate this? These
were Wesley's essentials, if we cannot think alike we can love alike and
"if your heart is with my heart, take my hand."
We confess that we
have failed to listen to one another and we have allowed our egos to rule,
rather than our hearts. Too often, we
seek to be right, rather than to learn.
We seek to claim who is on God’s side rather than to love. We repent of our earthly desire to win debates,
and ask God to help us love one another even when we do not agree. We commit to pray for God to work through us
to create a third way where we may be one in unity in the midst of our
differences.
We covenant together to Love the Lord our God with all our heart, with
all our soul and with all our strength and with all our mind and to love our neighbor as we love our selves, not because we agree with our neighbor, but because we were Created by love to love, Jesus calls us to love, and the Holy Spirit empowers and equips us to love.
We covenant to focus our time and energy on the mission Jesus Christ has given us to make disciples and to transform the world.
