Finally, 52 years after those exclusionary words were added to our Social Principles, they have been removed. Other restrictions on LGBTQ people also have been removed from the Book of Discipline. As well, the proposals that removed the exclusionary language passed by such large margins in legislative committees that they ended up on consent calendars. And those consent calendars also were adopted by wide margins (sometimes higher than 90%). As a denomination, we have finally beat our swords into plowshares, and our spears into pruning hooks. 
 

“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” —Ephesians 4:3 

Dear Friends of the Iowa Annual Conference, 

The 2024 General Conference has approved regionalization, quietly and overwhelmingly, by a final vote of 78.13% in the affirmative. It did so in a way that will help maintain the unity of our global church while increasing our ability to make local decisions about ministry. 

General Conference has officially begun. And we come into this time with great hope for our church. We come hoping for outcomes that will move us forward as a more equitable church, a more gracious church, a church making space for all people, no matter race or culture, economic or immigration status, gender, gender identity, or sexuality.  Some of us also come with fear that the actions or inactions of our General Conference will cause further harm or drive us apart. None of us knows what will happen.  

In our living room, there is a recessed opening above the fireplace where a television should go. It is just wide enough for a 40-inch TV. And, in the recess, are all of the necessary outlets. There is no TV there, however. And to hide the outlets, I have placed a map. It is a framed map of the Underground Railroad, the name given to the routes enslaved Africans took to escape slavery. More than 100,000 Africans took those routes in the 1800s in search of freedom.

I write this just before the final disaffiliation votes of the Iowa Annual Conference. This Saturday we will release 59 more churches from our connection, in addition to the 84 that disaffiliated in May and one the previous annual conference. And paragraph 2553 of the Book of Discipline will sunset at the end of this year, bringing us to the final chapter of a painful process.