A Strong Witness from Lay Leaders ©

Friday, May 13^th, the Laity Address was given at the General Conference of the United Methodist Church in Portland, Oregon.  Listening to Lay Leaders from Upper New York, Virginia, Missouri, Tennessee, Zimbabwe, and the Great Plains Conference, delegates and observers heard a strong call to engage in evangelistically sharing Christ and the Christian faith.  It was a remarkably clear challenge to re-engage in explicitly sharing salvation in Christ. Consider a variety of notable quotes:

• “Our ongoing challenge comes from the need to embrace all that discipleship entails.”
• “Discipleship is not just about helping out when we have the time or energy, it is about offering Christ.”
• “Hold true to the foundational commitments to Jesus.”
• “Engaging others means being willing to step out of our comfort zones to make Christ known to others.”

I invite readers of this blog to take the time to listen to the Laity Address by clicking here. Amid the continuing spiritually uplifting worship and the bright lights of witness like that offered Friday by the Laity, the various committees of General Conference continue to struggle with their work. There are great continued calls to love all!  Who can disagree with the great need to love and to reach out in love?  We are called by Christ himself to love God and love our neighbor.  Yet, there is much debated about what it properly means to love.  The call is to love people but not necessarily the practices they engage in.  This debate focuses around the issue of how to respond to issues around LGBTQ life expressions. I continue to be struck by how wide the worldwide witness we have is. A subtheme behind our arguments about rules, practices and church law is perhaps the wider issue of how we live together as a worldwide church.  At times it feels like almost anything said or written is going to offend someone.  Prayers are needed as we struggle with the twined calls to love and holiness.