![\"Grant\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/bishop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/signature.png\" "\\"signature\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nBishop Grant<\/p>\n
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I hope that it is clear that my main focus as your Episcopal leader is to fulfill our United Methodist Church mission statement:\u00a0 \u201cto make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.\u201d\u00a0 I am trying to be faithful to this mission statement by creating vital congregations that continue to grow in members and purpose, starting new faith communities, and extending our mission throughout the Greater Northwest.\u00a0 This remains the center of my own mission and purpose, and I try not to be distracted by other urgent concerns.<\/p>\n
It is for this reason that it so grieves me when I receive letters from church members who state that they are leaving the United Methodist Church because of their interpretation of my own actions.\u00a0 Most notably, my appearance in the Referendum 74 commercial upset a number of people.\u00a0 I cannot take back my actions, nor do I wish to do so.\u00a0 My action is a result of my own integrity on this issue, and I truly believe that Ref. 74 allows for the religious freedom for each person to decide their own action on same sex unions.\u00a0 I stand by my faith response to this issue, just as I respect the right of others to take the opposite stance.<\/p>\n
However, I believe that no one should leave the church due to another person\u2019s actions.\u00a0 The church of Jesus Christ is solely in the hands of the Triune God, and no person can dictate what form the church should take.\u00a0 God alone is in charge of the church.<\/p>\n
Recently, Dr. Jan Love, Dean of Candler School of Theology addressed the Council of Bishops.\u00a0 Her subject was dealing with divisive and difficult issues in the church and her text was I Corinthians chapters 12-13. \u00a0In this section the Apostle Paul reminds us that the church is akin to parts of the body that cannot exist without each individual part.\u00a0 No part of the body is superior or inferior to any other part.\u00a0 Paul then goes onto to share one of the most beautifully written treatises on love the world has known.\u00a0 It is this pure form of love that binds the church together and makes us one.<\/p>\n
One of her stark conclusions from these passages is that in the church no one can get kicked out of the body, and no one can leave the body either.\u00a0 Because of this dictum it means that those who disagree with each other have to stay together to work it out.\u00a0 No matter how bitter the disagreement, because no one can leave nor be kicked out, the only recourse is to confront the differences and stay as one body in Christ.<\/p>\n
I believe in this reading of I Corinthians with all my heart.\u00a0\u00a0 No one should be removed from the body and no one should leave, especially due to the actions of another part of the body.\u00a0 In our time, we cannot force people to stay in the body, and I\u2019m sure it was true throughout all of history, but this ideal of staying within the body even with bitter disagreements is true because it is God\u2019s church, not ours.<\/p>\n
I humbly ask for forgiveness if my actions so offended any of our members to the point that they feel they have to leave the church.\u00a0 I cannot take back any such actions, but I can ask for forgiveness, even as I forgive some who condemn me beyond the pale of Christian graciousness.<\/p>\n
What I do ask is for our members not to leave the church, but to stay within the body, and work toward the greater Christian love, so that even in our disagreements we will not cease to love one another.\u00a0 I remain open to dialogue with the purpose not to persuade anyone to my point of view, but to objectively hear his or her point of view, even as I ask for a hearing of my own perspective.<\/p>\n
We are all flawed and sinful human beings, and this is precisely why we need the grace and forgiveness of our Lord Jesus Christ to free us and make us whole.\u00a0 I ask for such forgiveness each and every day!\u00a0 May God grant us the strength to stay together as one body and work toward a greater understanding of each other\u2026<\/p>\n
Be the Hope,<\/p>\n