A LOT happened at General Conference. I was there for much of the second week, even for most of the headlining moments. But in the midst of all the hoopla was a petition that touched me on so many levels. This petition, (Petition number 21027) was about encouraging Annual Conferences to provide ways for disaffiliated, former United Methodists to return to the denomination. On one level it seems like a pipe dream: people who left did so angrily, full of both hurt and indignation. The idea that they would want to rejoin us seems absurd, especially given how decisively we went toward full inclusion.

Then the Methonerd within me was quickly activated: I remembered a moment in Methodist history. In the run-up to the Civil War, the Methodist Episcopal Church ruptured into North and South factions over the issue of slavery. This would be a suitable omen for what would follow: years of all-out war between the states. Ten years after the Civil War ended a Joint Commission was established to explore reunification between the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church South. We know in history that there were deep compromises made in order to reunify…but that’s a different post for a different day. The point here is that the spirit of reconciliation was high.

We have satisfaction to declare that our aspirations for harmony of views on vital points have been realized. By Divine guidance, as we trust, we have been able, after a frank interchange of views, and prayerful endeavor, to harmonize all differences, and to arrive at the desired consummation of a unanimous agreement of complete fraternity.

(See “Divided Methodists Seek “Fraternity” and Issue Address,” page 387-388 in The Methodist Experience in America, Volume II, edited by Richey, Rowe and Schmidt.)

Petition 21027 seems to be in the spirit of that predecessor correspondence. That the split in our church has been sad and avoidable. Yet the church that remains is dedicated to the principle of reconciliation. We know that the ME church did not reunite until 1939, over 60 years after the end of the Civil War. And it may be that no disaffilitated church will want to rejoin us for a long time. Even given these probabilities, the ultimate issue is about who we are: we are people in love with the God who heals, reconciles and invites people into a new relationship with God, their neighbors and even themselves. And that is the church I want.

No one put this more succinctly that Helen Ryde, a member of the Reconciling Ministries Network who spoke in favor of the petition.

Here is a delegate who has heard every ‘gross mischaracterization’ that anti-gay Christians have thrown at them. This servant has given their life to the church, and has served fruitfully under the shadow of discrimination and disrespect. And yet, through their adversity, they have come out gentle, loving, quick to forgive and exuding peace. How can this not be God’s doing? Of the many voices in the church, I find myself listening to this one. Who do I want leading the church? Those who have operated from immense privilege or those who have suffered for their faith? There is an inherent wisdom in LGBTQ+ Christians who have fought the principalities and powers for their place at the table of the Lord. What would it mean to give these children of God their rightful place in the kin-dom of God? As one of those privileged people, I know that I have grown when the wisdom of the maligned has been shared. I have become more peaceful, understanding, and loving because LGBTQ+ people have witnessed to me.

As I begin to unravel all of the proceedings and their impact at the local level, I am carrying with me Helen Ryde’s testimony and the spirit of reconciliation they are carrying.