I am still holding my breath.
It’s probably my age.
It’s definitely my PTSD.
What is happening at General Conference is truly headspinning and filled with such joy for our FUTURE.
But there is one final sin of the PAST, yet to go.
I’m still holding my breath for the removal of our Social Principles’ “Incompatibility Clause,” our Original Sin of 1972.
And it is past time to dig it out at the root. Personally, I shall not exhale until it is gone.
I’ll be at Kessler Park United Methodist Church by 7:50 am to watch North Texas’ own Shandon Klein lead CG through the discussion. Join me if you wish.
Every harmful legislative Kudzu related to the LGBTQ community has sprung forth from those original roots.
Every. Single. One.
This General Conference has undone stunning amounts of harm, and unleashed stunning amounts of joy and hope for the future.
They have cut back the weeds of the 1980s harm: Ban on “self-avowed, practicing homosexuals” as clergy.
They have cut back the weeds of the 1990s harm: Ban on performing same sex marriages/ceremonies by ministers.
They have cut back the weeds of the 2000s harm: Expanding the ban on performing marriages, and the ban on funds to “caucus groups” to Annual Conferences.
They have stripped out the screw-turning, yet desperate, control of the Traditionalist plan penalties for clergy, candidates, and Bishops …and about a half dozen more impressively evil additions to our polity over the years.
But as of this hour, the Original Sin remains: The Social Principles’ Statement on “Incompatibility.”
None of these harms grew all at once. Our harmful Disciplinary Kudzu slithered and slipped its way into our system over time, quadrennia over quadrennia. But make no mistake, ALL OF IT did so on the theological back of the original incompatibility clause.
Yesterday, some folks erroneously suggested “Incompatibility” was gone. While completely understanding the point they were making, it’s not yet true….
Almost, but not yet.
Why does it matter?
Because Conservatives deftly lifted “Incompatibility,” and expanded it every chance they got.
Because they twisted its original meaning beyond all recognition.
Because they intentionally made it “jump the shark” from Social Principles and into law.
It was a dastardly evil plan, quadrennia over quadrennia, and it worked.
And, yes, I understand they have now left our denomination.
So, yes, almost all of that has mercifully been undone.
But one more very important, and not-at-all symbolic, step remains.
It’s time to pull out the legislative roots of our 1972 sin.
Time for all of “Incompatability” to go.
Time to “Finish the Journey.”