Corrupted or Conforming, God Loves the Church
Bishop Elaine JW Stanovsky’s General Conference Blog
Installment 1 | February 20, 2019
Who will we be in a week? What will become of The United Methodist Church at the special called General Conference that begins on Saturday, February 23rd? Elected lay and clergy delegates from across the United States, Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Philippines will gather to decide the future of The United Methodist Church, after nearly 50 years of disagreement and antagonism over the role of LGBTQ persons in the Church, and in the household of God’s creation.
I’ll be flying to St. Louis by the time you read this, preparing to turn a corner as a church between Saturday and Tuesday. Over the weekend friends sent me off with a hymn by Brian Wren that speaks of God’s love of the deeply flawed Church. I share it today—#590 in your United Methodist Hymnal and also available online here on Hymnary—as a blessing for all who watch, wait, witness, and wonder who we will be a week from today. I travel with the promise that our God “outwits us, spinning gold from straw.”
Come, Holy Spirit, come. Make of us something we do not have the power to ask or imagine.
Sue ostrOs
We sang this hymn this morning at Mill plain
Christ Bears the Church – Greater Northwest Area of The United Methodist Church
[…] note: This blog piece, riffing off the same Brian Wren hymn Bishop Elaine wrote about earlier this week, originally appeared in the University Temple UMC Newsletter. It is reprinted with […]
Hennessey Michael Jerome
May God guide you in your decision.
Janey Smith
Our United Methodist Church will continue with leadership like you to hold a promise for God’s love for all people.
rmohney41969
Dear Bishop, Our concerns and prayers go with you and the rest of delegates – we all have have a deep love for our church, individually and collectively. May it open its doors to honor all. God be with you!
Jan Shannon
Blessings and prayers go with you.