I’m Talking and I Can’t Shut Up

When I was in the 7thgrade, my brother gave me a t-shirt with this saying on it.  Apparently, it still applies.

Tonight we met in our legislative committees for the first time, and divided into sub-committees and working groups.  I’m on the Local Church Committee, which has 82 members speaking English, German, French, Russian, Portuguese and Swahili.  We deal with all petitions (proposed changes) relating to the “organization of the local church and its membership, programs, boards, councils, commissions, committees, etc., or relating to local church property.” 

One of the hot topics raised in this committee is membership criteria, primarily in response to Judicial Council Decision 1032 where a pastor was allowed to deny a person membership to the church due to his sexual orientation. 

Long story short, as our sub-committee focusing on membership was dividing into working groups, I piped in a few times offering suggestions to help with the process.  So…as our chair assigned folks to lead each working group, he asked me to lead the Church Membership Eligibility group.  My big mouth gets me into trouble again! 

Friends – my working group is focused only on paragraph 214, but this will likely be one of the most debated topics.  The 13 petitions range from “…shall not be denied membership due to sexual orientation” to “allow membership at the pastor’s discretion if lifestyle is compatible with Christian teachings”.

I am honored for this opportunity, not just because it is a topic of great interest to me, but because after hearing two days of emphasis on the need for Holy Conferencing, Respectful Dialogue and Christian Conversations, I have been concerned with how we, as a General Conference, will apply these guidelines.  I will be able to (God-willing) help guide our 15 person working group to model the use of the Holy Conferencing guidelines, with the hope that we can find common ground. 

Please, keep me, our working group, and the General Conference in your prayers!

p.s. I will post on the 4 Focus Groups I referenced at some point…it’s late again…I should sleep.