By Kimberly Woods
A simple question has been asked a lot by folks attending, voting, and watching General Conference proceedings today.
What happened?
I won’t break down petition by petition or plan by plan, but a whole lot of votes were cast, speeches were made, and hearts are hurting.
Traditional Plan, with some amendments goes for approval to the plenary session, as do two plans for Disaffiliation. The Wespath pensions petition was also amended and approved for plenary discussion.
One Church Plan, the plan recommended by a majority of Bishops and the plan crafted by the Commission on the Way Forward, was not approved by the legislative committee by a narrow margin.
Simple Plan was given time for discussion and it too was not approved by the legislative committee, roughly 40% for & 60% against.
So what happens now? What are we doing tomorrow?
Some say the signs are there, that the church is “sticking to tradition” or that “OCP is dead.”
By no means.
We still have work to do.
God is not done with this General conference, even if we may be ready to throw in the towel.
Voices will still be heard. LGBTQ+ family will still have the chance to share their stories. We still have business to attend to hear.
We heard passionate speeches from the floor & many spoke of love and unity. We will still hear that tomorrow.
Tomorrow is coming. It isn’t over until it’s over.
We will not stop speaking.
We will not walk away from one another like this.
There is still work to be done.
To my friends who are hurting, your pain is valid. I hear you and I hurt with you. I see you. You are beloved and you are worthy.
Do not let injustice be your guide.
To the observers of the conference, those who feel they do not have a voice, your voice matters and you have a place at the table.
My prayer for tomorrow is that we truly allow the Spirit to fill us, to guide us. Let us be aware of one another, be accountable to one another.
Let’s do something.
Our actions speak louder than words, so let our actions show that we are a church made of and founded on the love of God and the love of neighbor.
Blessings.
LGBTQ+ persons sharing the history of the church and practices that show discrimination and marginalization, speaking to the idea of Tradition.