The main order of business on the second day of annual conference, Thursday, June 10, was discussion and debate of resolutions in legislative sections, and LGBT issues took center stage for most of the four hours that Section 3 met. The four resolutions that MIND had initiated and drafted were all passed and will come to the plenary floor Friday. Several other resolutions concerning LGBT people, which MIND supported, also passed, as did an important petition co-sponsored by MIND calling the church to action in opposition to the recently passed anti-immigrant law in Arizona. Legislative section members also voted to support the New York City living wage campaign.
There was, as in past years, a minority of opposition to our cause of justice for LGBT people. In one instance, someone took strong offense at the passage in the resolution on hate crimes that names the UMC’s official prejudice and discrimination as factors that contribute to a hostile and dangerous environment for LGBT people. An amendment to strike that language was narrowly defeated and provoked a passionate response from MIND supporters, who emphasized that the church’s words and actions do have an effect in the larger society.
A highlight of the day was the MFSA dinner, which this year honored Rev. Joe Agne and Deaconess Dana Jones for their tireless advocacy for the Social Gospel. In her remarks Jones reflected on her career as a journalist and her call to tell the stories of the voiceless. She shared this realization with the assembled listeners: “God is not objective. God takes sides. And God ask us to take sides.”
For his part, Agne called for a response of ecclesial disobedience to the “abusive and unjust” anti-gay rules of the UMC. He reflected on Martin Luther King’s prophetic insistence that we have an obligation to disobey unjust laws, and on the critical condition of the church resulting from the loss of the gifts of so many LGBT people and allies. He ended by leading us in singing Holly Near’s gay rights anthem “We Are a Gentle, Angry People.”
Friday’s agenda is a full one for both the conference and MIND. Plenary debate of resolutions will start today, and it is clear from the schedule that conference planners have not allotted sufficient time for meaningful discussion. It’s not clear how that will be addressed. Meanwhile, MIND’s lunch with keynote speaker Mark Milller will be the highlight of our day.
Friday is also MIND t-shirt day, when we ask everyone to wear our distinctive purple shirts as a visible witness for an inclusive church. At the ordination service, we will once again hand out blue armbands to lift up those called by God to ordained ministry but rejected by the church.