from 7H
Mars and the Moon from 7H
The United Methodist Church had their quadrennial churchwide conference, just concluded, facing among other things the sexuality issues that other denominations deal with. They have the same difficulties as other folks in coming to agreed decisions, referring the same-sex issue to committee for further study, in lieu of determinative votes that would have led to schism; so, pushing the matter down the road. Despising the rages of entrenched certainty that other churches, including ours, have experienced, and the breakups, I sort of admire the Methodists for what they did this time. It isn’t that they’ve agreed to disagree and remain together, they’ve backed off for the moment.
The Episcopal Church has dealt with the issue and predictably split for it. That was not pleasant for a Christian body, especially in that the two sides seem generally, with exceptions, to have ended up with ongoing enmity, hostility, mistrust. Unfortunate and sad. This morning I read through the ELCA decision statement, about forty pages, which seems to agree that they don’t agree among themselves, and I couldn’t find anything definitive, maybe I missed it.
The UMC statement I read this morning says they have full communion with the Moravian Church, as does our Episcopal Church. However, neither grammatical (predicate nominative) nor mathematical (if a=b and b=c then a=c) principals apply in that the UMC action does not mean that the Episcopal Church and the United Methodist Church are in full communion with each other.
If the American political scene is a contemptible circus and the world scene is a self-destroying nightmare, I am nevertheless glad to be living when American churches are trying to live into the Summary of the Law, or at least are discussing, exploring and considering. And sometimes referring to committee to allow Time for tempers to cool and certainties to temper.
Trinity Sunday today. One of my favorites.
Jeremy's shot. That's Mars off to the right of the full moon last evening.
DThos+