{"id":1182,"date":"2019-03-02T11:23:59","date_gmt":"2019-03-02T16:23:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/?p=1182"},"modified":"2019-03-02T11:57:41","modified_gmt":"2019-03-02T16:57:41","slug":"to-my-umc-siblings-follow-your-gift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/to-my-umc-siblings-follow-your-gift\/","title":{"rendered":"To My UMC Siblings: Follow Your Gift"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Let me begin by saying I was once a United Methodist, baptized as a teenager into the communion. I left when the church didn’t reflect my commitment to and passion for civil rights and women’s rights and against the Viet Nam War. At 17 and today, the most urgent needs of humanity ground my understanding of a life in Christ.<\/p>\n

At 25, as a lesbian, feminist, justice-seeker I experienced a call to ministry. The year was 1977. My book tells the story of how I figured out what that meant. Well, I still am, all these years later, nonetheless… \u00a0may I offer the insights of my journey?<\/p>\n

I became a Presbyterian (now PCUSA) because their structure and theology, in theory, offered a way to challenge their then anti-gay stance. I learned a lot about what it means to challenge a church you love. Today, with love, offering comfort to your grief, and standing with you in your passion and anger, I want to offer whatever small wisdom I have garnered:<\/p>\n

The most important thing you can do is honor one another by holding the tension that there is no ‘one right way’ to respond to the events of the General Conference. \u00a0Some will be called to stay. Some will be called to leave. Some will be kicked out. Some will leave their faith – and perhaps not just the UMC but the Christian faith. All these choices must be honored because each experience of faith in community is different, no matter how shared.<\/p>\n

For some, what has happened reflects continued abuse and rejection. It is okay to leave.
\nFor some, it is a family argument. It’s okay to stay.
\nFor some it is a betrayal. It’s okay to question or even reject Christianity.
\nWhat matters is that you remain authentic to your journey.<\/p>\n

Some of you have the gifts to stay and fight: the intellect, the history, the strength, the spiritual grounding, to take on an institution that summoned you to your spiritual journey. It will require your deepest, most Christ-like self.<\/p>\n

Some of you have the gifts to leave. The intellect, history, the strength, the spiritual grounding to strike off into uncharted territory. No telling where it might take you- to what denomination or if you will sail untethered. It will require your deepest, most Christ-like self.<\/p>\n

Some of you have the gifts to refuse to be abused or betrayed: the intellect, the history, the strength, the spiritual grounding to remove yourself from those things that have hurt and controlled you. While your experience is not necessarily a universal one, \u00a0many have been abused or betrayed by institutional Christian power structures. If this is your truth, speak it. You are not obligated to protect your abuser.\u00a0It will require your deepest, most Christ-like self.<\/p>\n

As your journey through this time of anger and grief, please know that you are held in the prayers of many in your city and state and around the world. The answers you discover as you move through this painful time must be your answers. There are no wrong answers. Your history and your gifts must direct you. However you proceed, may you always be held gently in the heart of Godde.<\/p>\n