Episode 15 Love Can Build a Bridge

Thursday morning, I walked to the Charlotte Convention Center. In the predawn light, you could hear the birds singing their songs of praise. On Wednesday, I was privileged to be on the floor voting as The General Conference of the United Methodist Church made history by removing the harmful exclusionary language. We now properly declare all person’s sacred worth without any qualifiers. It was a 93% vote, representing the spoken and unspoken desire of delegates from Africa and other parts of the world along with Traditionalists to allow churches like Belmont to be the congregation we believe God is calling us to be.   After 52 years, we have ended the mislabeling of some of God’s children as somehow less. I had the privilege of being a seated delegate when we took that historic vote and for the next 20 minutes I  could not stop weeping.  I do know if I shed tears of joy for our future or wept tears of lament for our past, or a mix of both. But the next day, as I walked up a little hill I could see these 12 foot banners preaching  “Welcome.” That day the banners preached welcome in a way we have not since 1972........