L<\/span>Let me first name that I write from a place of deep privilege. I am a straight, white male, married with kids and living the dream. Theologically, I am a progressive in a conference that does almost everything in a progressive way. Finally, while I’m not clergy (that last piece of privilege in the church), I serve on conference staff and regularly sleep next to a pastor who will also be a district superintendent very soon.<\/p>\n But I think the most profound privilege I carry would be the many opportunities I’ve had to meet, speak with, and serve the diverse and wonderful people of the Pacific Northwest Conference. When I was new to my position on conference staff, I was prone to gravitate toward the people and places where I found affinity. These relationships are great at offering affirmation and helping one to grow in confidence and a sense of value \u2013 things that are often needed when you are new or young, both of which I once was.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As I’ve grown in experience, and hopefully matured in spirit, I now recognize how much of a blessing my interactions across difference are. I rarely learn much in talking with a sister or brother about a topic upon which we agree but I grow significantly when I create space to see things from another\u2019s point of view. When I spend time living in community with the \u2018other,\u2019 and exert my focus and energy toward the things we hold in common, somehow those differences seem less important even if they never quite fade away.<\/p>\n They also help me to catch a glimpse of how much bigger God is than any box I could ever put God in.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I\u2019ve come to value such relationships because these interactions help me to see the deficiencies in the way I approach the world. They also help me to catch a glimpse of how much bigger God is than any box I could ever put God in. But I\u2019ve also never been repeatedly told that a core part of my identity is a mistake, or worse.<\/p>\n Enter the following floor speech by Kathy Cosner, a laywoman from our Silverdale United Methodist Church. She offered these words as the annual conference debated a resolution calling for the cessation of church trials<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I first looked at this legislation\u2026I wasn\u2019t too sure, I knew I wanted to speak to it but I wasn\u2019t sure whether I would speak for or against. Frankly, I think church trials are destructive. I think they are expensive. I don\u2019t think they reflect well on the body of Christ. I don\u2019t like them.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n But my largest objection to this legislation is that it is symptomatic of the kind of processes that have been in place in this conference for years now. It\u2019s symptomatic of the way we\u2019ve been dealing with this problem and other problems. It\u2019s not a matter of holy conferencing to introduce legislation like this.\u00a0 It\u2019s not faithful, it\u2019s relying on an institutional motion and I\u2019m feeling an incredible sense of urgency at this time.<\/i><\/p>\n I\u2019m listening to the reports of the various groups calling for schism in The United Methodist Church over this issue. And I feel that we need to make a substantive change in how we be the church; how we work together; how we face things together.<\/i> I believe The United Methodist Church has something significant to offer the body of Christ. We have some unique features that are valuable. I don\u2019t want to see that lost. So I\u2019m speaking to this not because anything is going to change at this Annual Conference, and frankly I think it\u2019s too bad that next annual conference is right before General Conference because the temptation to act in a political fashion is going to be even stronger.<\/i><\/p>\n So what I\u2019m asking this body is to imagine is functioning together in a more dialogue-centric fashion, without legislation on this issue. Now to be honest, I don\u2019t think the issue of sexual orientation is what\u2019s at the bottom of our, our dwindling, our schism, our fractioning; whatever you want to call it. I don\u2019t see that as the cause. I see this as multiple things combining to pull us down. But regardless of that, unless we are willing to take some risks and make changes in the way we function together as the church, I don\u2019t see the results or the outcomes changing.<\/i><\/p>\n I\u2019m dissatisfied with being a part of something that looks like a political action group or an institution. I want to be a part of the church. I want to be a part of the body of Christ. I know that there are people, many people on this floor, who have lives committed to Jesus Christ. What I\u2019d like to see if for all of us to rise up and act on that faith in a way that is an inspiration to the world; the larger community around us. What I\u2019d like to see is a move away from political legislative processes.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n I personally have no faith in political processes to save us. I have a lot of faith in Jesus Christ. I believe he does new things everyday because I\u2019ve seen him do new things in me. I believe he can do new things in the Pacific Northwest Annual Conference but only if we ask him, only if we are willing to take some risks. And that means all of us need to start praying for a new vision \u2013 a new way of being together \u2013 and it\u2019s got to start soon because I think we are running out of time.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n Thank you.\u201d\u00a0<\/i> – You can view Cosner’s comments in context around the 2:32:38 point on our\u00a0Youtube page<\/a>.<\/p>\n While I know that I don’t agree with Kathy on all of the questions pertaining to human sexuality, I long for, and have at times experienced, the Pacific Northwest conference she hopes for as well; one where we can actually talk to each other without trying to \u2018win\u2019 the debate, score a cheap point, or demand the sacrifice of personal integrity for compliance to those who hold the power.<\/p>\n I see this Pacific Northwest Conference emerging in the new faith communities we start that cross the theological spectrum; and I must confess I struggle with that diversity. I see it in the intentionality to create space for the traditional perspective in positions of significant leadership; and in the grace and patience those so entrusted seem to incarnate. I\u2019m a bit inspired by that and I\u2019m moved by the passion of folks like Kathy who are willing to stay in relationship while being out of consensus.<\/p>\n While I appreciated much of Kathy\u2019s statement, particularly the way she connected risk and relationships, I kept wishing that she would name the other side of the coin. While we haven\u2019t had a trial in the Pacific Northwest in a while, the memories of days not so long past still haunt us and revisit when ministers across the connection are defrocked<\/a> and refrocked<\/a> on the whim of a jury. Clergy bringing charges against their colleagues within the last year suggest these fears aren\u2019t completely unfounded.<\/p>\n To live together in the Promised Land, we have to stop acting like we are still in bondage, and we have to value where we are going more than our memories of where we\u2019ve been.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n So what if we were to take Kathy\u2019s request seriously and not bring forward any legislation on the topic of human sexuality? And what if those who were in the minority on this issue (in the PNW) didn\u2019t bring forward any charges against clergy, laity, or churches living out their mission in faithful conscience if not in direct obedience to the letter of the law?<\/p>\n Even better, what if we intentionally reached out to the closest United Methodist church (geographically) that was the farthest from us (theologically) and chose a project to tackle together for the sake of the larger community (and for our own)? I suspect such risk taking practices would bring us all closer to providing a true alternative to a world quite familiar with the partisanship we are broken with as well.<\/p>\n To live together in the Promised Land, we have to stop acting like we are still in bondage, and we have to value where we are going more than our memories of where we\u2019ve been. Our salvation will come from the love we create. May God continue to be with us as we begin our next act together and may we discover new reservoirs of love, grace, and patience for those who hold the differences that God will one day reconcile.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Commentary by Patrick Scriven | Director of Communications & Young People’s Ministry LLet me first name that I write from a place of deep privilege. I am a straight, white male, married with kids and living the dream. Theologically, I am a progressive in a conference that does almost everything in a progressive way. Finally, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7709,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[245,6],"tags":[271,91,14,12],"class_list":{"0":"post-7706","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-annual-conference","8":"category-conversation","9":"tag-church-trials","10":"tag-diversity","11":"tag-sexuality","12":"tag-umc"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/122664337_87f7c01c47_b.jpg?fit=1024%2C681&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2l75j-20i","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7706"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7706\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12052,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7706\/revisions\/12052"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/i><\/p>\n