I leave Monday for General Conference in Portland. I appreciate your prayers for all of us who will be doing our best to discern the Spirit’s calling on us. This week’s newsletter contains information about how you can stay connected with General Conference over the next two weeks.
I will leave holding two truths in tension. On one hand, the work we will do is very important. It shapes the ministry of the United Methodist Church. Whether we will be fully inclusive, what values we will lift up, how we fund ministries around the world, these topics and more are vital to our whole denomination. On the other hand, the work we do isn’t as important as some might think. Our Book of Discipline recognizes that the local church is the primary place where God’s work is done. That won’t change. We will maintain our core identity at St. Paul’s no matter what actions General Conference takes. We will still provide a place of hospitality and hope. We will still be a center for mission in Kansas City and around the world. We will still be a place filled with God’s love.
So pray for us that we will make the right decisions and that we will conference faithfully, but also pray that we will act with humility to remember that God will be God no matter what.