Pastor Chris' Letter May 2017

Dear Trinity Family,
As I write my letter this month, the news for our nation, our world, and our church (United Methodist Church) signals our divided state. This week the United Methodist Church has been making news for two events that are shaping the corporate church’s future.

The first of these is the announcement that the bishops have set a date for the special General Conference session to be held in St. Louis in 2019. This special session of the law-making body of the church came after the vote at the 2016 General Conference to have the bishops develop a way to deal with the current divide in the United
Methodist Church around the issue of homosexuality. Out of this vote, the bishops formed a 32 member team called “A Way Forward.” Their job is to discuss this issue in the church and share their findings with the council of bishops. This will be the only topic to be discussed at this special General Conference. 

The second of these stories comes from the Judicial Council’s meeting at the end of April. The Judicial Council functions as the highest court in the United Methodist Church. They function somewhat like the Supreme Court to rule on lower court’s rulings and to vote on the constitutionality (whether it matches the church’s constitution and discipline) of rules set by the General and Jurisdictional Conference. As part of their meeting, they are discussing a motion of declaratory decision. A declaratory decision is that the court has been asked to determine if an action or rule is constitutional. This motion was presented by the South Central Jurisdiction after the Western Jurisdiction’s election of Bishop Karen Oliveto, the denomination’s first openly gay bishop, in July of 2016.

Both of these stories show our dividedness as a nation and as a people of God. The thing that breaks my heart is that I know, in both of these cases, that no matter what the decision people will be happy and people will be crushed. I have included in the newsletter a message from our Bishop Julius Trimble. He encourages us to do what people of faith do and that is to pray.

I am encouraged by our Indiana Annual Conference who seeks to embody this “More Excellent Way” of praying and uniting in spite of our differences. Because of this our theme for Annual Conference this year is “Together: We. Are. More.”  It is my hope that as we look at our community and our church that we might embody this concept:  to see what it is we have in common rather than what separates us and to see what we can do together. In his letter our bishop reminds us of Paul’s words to the church at Ephesus, “Try always to be led along TOGETHER by the Holy Spirit and so be at peace with one another.” (Ephesians 4:3 – Life Application Bible.) This should always guide us that we are stronger as the body of Christ together. So I invite you to join me in prayer for our church (Trinity), our community, our denomination (United Methodist), and our country that we would be reminded that TOGETHER WE ARE MORE.


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