I’m sitting in the chapel of an old church that was closed last
summer. The sanctuary is visible from
where I sit. It’s so quiet. The only
sounds are the clicking of a clock and a train whistle in the distance.
A friend and I left the Boise area this morning and stopping only for
lunch, gas, and a pit stop; we made it to Portland a little after 4 p.m. My friend dropped me off at Peace House, a
community house. Sarah, who belongs to a
church in Idaho Falls, was already there along with Pat, the resident
cook. We helped her chop up vegetables
for the salad.
Soon the house residents began to show up, along with another guest
named Providence. We learned that he was
from the Congo and had come to our church conference to share his music.
After a delicious dinner and good conversation, our host drove Sarah,
Providence, and me to the old church and showed us our beds. After we were settled, he drove Sarah and me
to the Jupiter Hotel for a meeting of volunteers.
We are all in Portland for the United Methodist General
Conference. This Conference is the
governing body of our church and only happens every 4 years. People come from all over the world for this
meeting. I am a volunteer for the Love
Your Neighbor Coalition, a collection of groups working to make our church more
inclusive. Homosexuality is a very
difficult subject and could split our church.
On our drive to Portland I learned that 111 United Methodist clergy and
candidates had come out in a letter to the church. The Reconciling Ministries Network website,
where it was shared, had actually crashed after this announcement. This is an incredibly brave step for these
people. We are waiting to see what
happens next. Many of us will be there to
support them.
Written on 5/9/2016
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