Hope for the Church

July 18, 2016 / By Rev. Colleen Hallagan Preuninger

I believe in the sun, even when it’s not shining
I believe in Love, even when I don’t feel it
I believe in God, even when God is silent
- “I Believe” by Mark Miller

Blest be the tie that binds
our hearts in Christian love;
the fellowship of kindred minds
is like to that above.
- “Blessed Be the Tie that Binds”

This morning we woke once again, as the body of Christ and as citizens of the global village, to reports of acts of violence and brokenness in our world. We began our final session, bathed in prayer by Bishop Matthews and graced by a haunting rendition of the Mark Miller hymn “I believe” by Lydia Munoz. We remembered the lives lost in France, echoing in our memories the violence that has marked the last months and years in this country and abroad.  And so, we ended our time of Holy Conferencing in the way that it had begun, grief mingling with joy, bound together as prisoners of hope called by God to serve the church and world for a time such as this.  

For me, this season of conferencing on the General, Jurisdictional, and Annual Conference levels has been just that: the co-mingling of grief and joy as I have searched for the heartbeat of God in the midst of it all.  These last days, conferencing together as the people of the Northeastern Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church, has been the the sweetest. God’s presence and power was revealed in Lancaster in a way I had yet to experience in Portland or in Syracuse this season; I left Lancaster with a heart filled and overflowing with hope for the Church.

The rekindling of hope in Lancaster took many forms: Ernest and honest conversations within the delegation, watching the strength and grace of our two Upper New York endorsed episcopal candidates, the joy of spending the lunch hour bouncing baby Tim around the conference center, two new prophetic and powerful episcopal leaders, belly laughs, and cake.  Although the in-breaking of God’s presence was palpable in many and varied ways, the most significant for me was the space created and utilized for honest and life-giving conversation around the topics that are most urgent in this time and place: systemic racism, homophobia, and the nature of true “unity” within the United Methodist Church. I am deeply grateful for the leadership of our bishops, who set the tone for our conference by standing together and reading a statement that named the wounds of systemic racism, sexism, heterosexism, and homophobia and offered an invitation to enter into honest conversation as a way to begin to bind up our wounds and begin to mend our fraying quilt of connection together. Throughout the conference the presiding bishops offered grace and space for the body to enter into conversation, even if the vote was ultimately ruled out of order. This process of holy conferencing, unparalleled in my experience of the United Methodist Church, gives me hope that the church and her episcopal leadership will have the courage to enter boldly into the difficult conversations and discernment the next quadrennium holds for the United Methodist Church with vulnerability and grace.

As I leave Lancaster, my heart is full with hope for the United Methodist Church; whatever the future may bring for our connection, we can be confident in the Spirit who binds us together, empowering us to create space for meaningful dialogue and offers the courage to bind up each other’s wounds in the healing power of Christ’s love. My prayer for our conference, and for the larger connection, is that we may enter this quadrenniumwith courage and faithfulness to our calling. Christ goes before us and Christ hems us in. Christ’s binds us together with the Spirit of the Living God. We do not need to be afraid.

I pray that you will feel the rekindling of hope that I have found in the body of Christ this week.

May you know in your bones that you are loved beyond measure and may you be brave enough to proceed into these violent and uncertain days with hope.