Dear Friends,

2020 General Conference Historic Vote!

[General Conference is the top lawmaking assembly of The United Methodist Church and the only entity that speaks for the denomination. It convenes every four years, with delegates from the denomination’s regions around the world.]

This is BIG folks! The postponed 2020 General Conference of The United Methodist Church, held in Charlotte, North Carolina from April 23-May 3, 2024, marked a significant moment in our Methodist history.

Rev. Frank Wulf, Cal-Pac delegate wrote, “Many of us who participated in the 2024 General Conference heard the Spirit of God speaking as the presiding officers announced the results of our votes. We heard that Spirit-word in languages we understand: French, Kiswahili, Tagalong, Portuguese, English, Spanish, German, Russian… But we also heard it in the language of our hearts. So even though we were amazed, wondering what had actually happened, we started to believe that God really is beginning to do something new in our beloved United Methodist Church.”

This gathering saw the approval of Worldwide Regionalization, the removal of restrictive language regarding LGBTQIA+ individuals, the adoption of the Revised Social Principles, and the conclusion of disaffiliation policies, among other substantial changes.

Our Conference delegate to the General Conference, Dr. Rev. Kristin Stoneking, shared following the historic vote, “We started the morning singing ‘There’s a song in every silence…at the last a victory’ and ‘We’ll tell the story of how we’ve overcome.’ And do we have a story to tell! We’ve made it clear that all of God’s children are beloved and free to serve and respond to God’s call.”

What this means is LGBTQIA+ individuals can now openly declare who they are and become an ordained clergy in The United Methodist Church. Moreover, clergy like me can officiate Holy Matrimony of gay couples without fear of repercussion for violating the Book of Discipline. And finally, we can proclaim the liberating message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ on the mountain top that we lean in on radical inclusion welcoming to humans of all races, genders, and sexual orientations who are affirmed and accepted as a full participant in the life and work of The United Methodist Church. Glory hallelujah! AMEN!!!

My colleague and the first openly gay Bishop Karen Oliveto (from our Conference) and the Bishop Minerva Carcaño both will be retiring this year. Our Conference will receive a new bishop on September 1^st.

Here is the condensed version of Legislative Recap: General Conference 2024

MAJOR ACTION
Removal of Restrictive Language Related to LGBTQ People
The General Conference voted by overwhelming majorities to remove from the United Methodist Book of Discipline discriminatory language and bans related to ministry by, with and for “self-avowed practicing” gay and lesbian people. Actions included:

• Removal of the language that the “practice of homosexuality … is incompatible with Christian teaching.”
• Removal of the ban on the ordination and appointment of “self-avowed practicing homosexual” clergy.
• Removal of language that made the ordination of “self-avowed practicing homosexual” clergy and the performance of same-sex weddings chargeable offenses.
• Removal of mandatory minimum penalties for clergy holding same-sex weddings.

These changes bring the Book of Discipline back to a neutral place where one group is not singled out for discrimination. It holds space for differing opinions within The United Methodist Church by avoiding broad mandates.

Adoption of Revised Social Principles
Delegates approved the first overhaul of the denomination’s Social Principles in nearly 50 years. The Social Principles, contained in both the Book of Discipline and Book of Resolutions, are statements that reflect official United Methodist teachings on a wide range of topics. They are not church law but are intended to inform United Methodist witness on issues of the day with a biblical foundation. The 2012 General Conference approved revising the Social Principles, setting in motion a process that involved input from people around the world. In addition to the language changes regarding human sexuality and inclusiveness, the Social Principles address the importance of advocating for human dignity and combating racism and other threats, caring for creation and the environment, standing against social ills, and supporting healthy community in all its forms, including economic, social and political.

Disaffiliation Policy and Re-affiliation Measure Approved
They finalized the Disaffiliation Policy for local churches wanting to leave the denomination over homosexual policy. They also required annual conferences affected by disaffiliation to develop grace-filled policies for reaffiliation of churches that want to rejoin the denomination.

We can now proudly belong to the United Methodist Church that has come into an alignment with God’s vision for the Church. I thank all the committed hard-working people who tirelessly worked for this day to arrive. As the late 20^th century American theologian wrote, “Motive is love and instrument is justice.” Let us give God thanks and celebrate this day!

“The arc of history is long,
but it bends towards justice.”
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

In Christ,
John

Cicada shedding exoskeleton

Dear Friends,

Spring is upon us. Finally.

Destruction Before Creation

The late Joseph Campbell, the 20^th century American scholar on comparative mythology and comparative religion once said, “Destruction before creation,” reminding us that the first thing that happens when we take a bold stand for a bright future is a loss of your former life. The toppling of the existing structures of your life to make way for the new ones God is calling in. 

Yet if you’re not careful, you can see this as a time to hold on tight. To do all you can to keep that which is now being taken. You’ll forget you wished for a breakthrough.

And you’ll do things like go back into an uninspired, mediocre life, start clinging to a compromise, or resign yourself to settling for less rather than risk losing your livelihood. Like Lot’s wife, in doing so, you’ll turn into a pillar of salt. Crystallizing into a shadow of who you came here to be, and what you came here to create. 

To realize a breakthrough 
you’ll have to trust God and let God. 

Letting go of who you’ve known yourself to be
for the possibility of who you might become. 

Letting go of the life you’ve known
for the life you are calling in. 

You can’t build a mansion on top of a shack. 
You have to let the bulldozers level it flat.
Dismantle the bricks. Empty the land.
Trust that the blueprints God hold in God’s hands will one day be your dream house.

Life is always in an ebb and flow. The tide comes in and the tide goes out. The sun rises and the sun sets. Spring appears only to be swallowed by Summer which is swallowed by Fall which is swallowed by Winter. 

The Winter never cries out, Why is life abandoning me? when snow melts. Be like this. Let yourself melt gracefully when a new season is upon you.

In Christ,
John

Dear Friends,

Spring is a time of that first flower bud peeking through the soil of the bulb you buried in the darkness of winter.

Spring is a season of rising again after lying dormant, lifting ourselves from the shadow of winter, where we may have bundled ourselves up into a place of hibernating, pondering, and waiting.

Spring is a marking of freedom from the winter’s chill and stepping into a new beginning of transforming life.

Spring is a time when all three Abrahamic religions – Judaism, Christianity, and Islam – celebrate their important religious observances. And by the way, all three religions worship the same God founded by Abraham.

In spring Jews celebrate the Passover commemorating the liberation of Hebrew slaves from oppression led by Moses with the help of God.

In spring Muslims break from fasting at the end of the holy month of Ramadan and celebrate over three days of feasts, parades, gifts, and charitable giving.

In spring Christians celebrate the long-awaited Easter following the 40 days of Lent of penitence and introspection, fasting and prayer.

It is Easter Morning for us, a day of celebrating resurrection, rebirth, and new possibilities. We celebrate the Easter of Jesus Christ rising again, sharing with humanity the eternal hope and love of God revealed to us in the Resurrection event.

In this holy spring, let us all be good humans on earth as we pray for a saner and peaceful world. Let us be good neighbors to each other. Let us be the reason why someone feels included, welcomed, valued, listened to, understood, supported, and loved. Let us be the ancestors our descendants will thank.

Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed.

John

Dear Friends,

Flaco, The Call of the Wild
“It’s not how much time you have in life but how much life you have in time.”
~ Hong Kong activist who was fighting for democracy while dying of cancer

Flaco, a wild Eurasian eagle-owls, is an Exodus story and Easter story wrapped into one. Born in captivity, Flaco lived a dozen years in a comfortable cage in the Central Park Zoo. But Flaco’s life at the zoo was unremarkable. Only after he was freed from the Central Park Zoo by a vandal in February 2023, he began to inspire true awe. For little over a year subsequent sightings captivated New York City and fans around the globe.

Flaco was far from his natural home: Eurasian eagle-owls, known by the scientific name Bubo bubo, are apex predators typically found in much of Europe, Scandinavia, Russia and Central Asia. They are among the world’s largest owls, with a wingspan as wide as six feet. They thrive in mountains and other rocky areas near forests, swooping down at night to hunt rodents, rabbits and other prey.

As Flaco flew around the city, landing on rooftops and crosswalks in New York city, Flaco fans were terrified that he’d succumb to the dangers of city life. Flaco had no experience living outside a cage, and New Yorkers initially doubted his chances of survival. People worried that he’d eat a rat with enough poison in its system to kill him. And people worried about his chances with oncoming traffic.

But Flaco never looked back. Though the animal literature is peppered with stories of animals — usually pets — who suffer hardships and return home, Flaco never retreated to the zoo. Perhaps freedom itself was the home he’d discovered. And though we feared for him, his new life thrilled us.

On Friday, Feb. 23^rd, Flaco died of acute traumatic injury, perhaps from a collision with a Manhattan apartment building’s glass windows. Flaco would have turned 14 in March 2024. Wild Eurasian eagle-owls can live more than 40 years in captivity, but only 20 on average in their natural habitat.

His death offered us a chance to reckon with the question at the heart of many a hero’s journey: Can we put a price on freedom? Flaco’s liberation from his comfortable confinement came at a cost — he spent the final year of his life free, but threatened from all sides by a booming city. Was it worth it?

Almost from the moment he was released, Flaco became a symbol of hope for many of the people who followed his story and recognized parts of themselves in him. Some saw him as the embodiment of the American dream, an outsider who had come to Manhattan and made a life for himself here, like millions of others who arrived penniless and unconnected in their quest for freedom.

How many of us, our circumstances familiar and safe, are too timid to seek our more fully realized selves? How many of us, viewing our confinements as nothing out of the ordinary, have long stopped wondering what our wings are for?

Flaco, even though short lived, taught us a profound truth – wild animals can only thrive in the wild. They cannot thrive as a commodity on display in a zoo – no matter how safe and comfortable it is. I couldn’t imagine having an almost six-foot wingspan and not being able to use it. And, in a deep way, he confirmed what we all know – that we are created to be free and gloriously alive.

“I am the resurrection and the life.
~ John 11:25

“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
~ John 10:10

John