The recent vote taken at an international United Methodist church convention regarding LGBTQ rights has been highly publicized – far more than I would have considered necessary – but that’s the world we live in.<\/p>\n
Yes, I was disappointed by it.\u00a0 No, I’m not going to switch churches over it.\u00a0\u00a0Why?\u00a0 There are a few reasons.<\/p>\n
#1 It doesn’t reflect the UMC church I have come to know and love.\u00a0 We are inclusion.\u00a0 We are bringing everyone together.\u00a0 We are welcoming to all.\u00a0 That is beautiful and special.\u00a0 I have faith that we will continue to be that place of love and acceptance in the community that we strive to\u00a0 be in our service to our Savior by being in service to our neighbors.<\/p>\n
#2 It doesn’t affect my personal beliefs.\u00a0 My personal beliefs, like everyone else’s, are based on a complex equation that includes personal experiences, personal relationship with God (or lack thereof), education, family and upbringing, and many other things.\u00a0 They aren’t up for a vote.<\/p>\n
#3\u00a0 Most people don’t fully live by 100% of their church’s published beliefs.\u00a0 \u00a0Almost all of us know otherwise devout Catholics that use birth control.\u00a0 \u00a0Many of us know Baptists who occasionally have a cocktail.\u00a0 \u00a0I know Lutherans who want women pastors.\u00a0 Just like any other organization, it’s simply insane to expect all members to be in complete lockstep on everything.<\/p>\n
So, that’s my stance.\u00a0 I know that not everyone will agree with me.\u00a0 And I’m OK with that.\u00a0 \u00a0I know what my heart tells me and the rest is between me and the Lord.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The recent vote taken at an international United Methodist church convention regarding LGBTQ rights has been highly publicized – far more than I would have considered necessary – but that’s the world we live in. Yes, I was disappointed by it.\u00a0 No, I’m not going to switch churches over it.\u00a0\u00a0Why?\u00a0 There are a few reasons. #1 It doesn’t reflect the… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2330,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faith","category-issues"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t