Thoughts on Judicial Council Verdicts

posted April 27, 2019

Friends, by now you may have heard that the Judicial Council has presented its findings. We are saddened but not surprised that these include affirmation of the harm and punishment inflicted by the Traditional Plan, as several of its provisions have been deemed legal and enforceable. You can read a good summary of the council’s findings here.

We deplore all of it. The mean spiritedness of prioritizing punishment over making disciples. The continued harm and marginalization to LGBTQ siblings. The use of threats and intimidation to prevent clergy from ministering to all of God’s children. The active, ongoing damage to the body of Christ, and a focus on institutionalism where love is no longer part of the conversation.

We will not let this go unchallenged, and so we are reaching out to remind you that we are just one week away from the first of MIND’s spring organizing meetings. We hope you will join us as part of the movement for justice and inclusion. At this crucial moment in United Methodist history, as our denomination is being reshaped, and as we forge a new future as an annual conference and as a global church, there is much work to be done.

We will be meeting in six different locations over the next three weekends, so that we can involve as many people as we can, as conveniently as possible:

Sunday, May 5, 3-5 PM: Mary Taylor UMC
168-176 S Broad St, Milford, CT 06460

Sunday, May 5, 3-5 PM: Centerport UMC
97 Little Neck Rd, Centerport, NY 11721
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Saturday, May 11, 3-5 PM: Yorktown UMC
2300 Crompond Rd, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598

Saturday, May 11, 3-5 PM: Catskill UMC
40 Woodland Ave, Catskill, NY 12414
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Sunday, May 19, 3-5 PM: Park Avenue UMC
106 East 86th St, New York, NY 10028

Sunday, May 19, 3-5 PM: Park Slope UMC
410 6th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215

Please join us at one of these locations to hear about the work that our organizations are doing, our plans for our work in the New York Annual Conference, hopes and strategies for the way ahead.  Each session will include a video presentation covering major topics in our work, updates by MIND/QCC leaders, and a time for questions and answers as well as discussion of what each of us may be called to do at this critical moment.

Thank you for being a part of this important work. We hope to see you in May!