Fall is here. Temperatures are falling. Leaves are changing. Beauty abounds. And with fall comes our annual Charge Conference -- which is that yearly opportunity for us to meet, celebrate, hear from our District Superintendent Erin Martin, and make decisions together. This will be a unique year, indeed we are in a unique season in the church’s history.
With the advent of General Conference 2020 which will occur in May, we are looking at a huge shift in what it might mean to be United Methodist in this area. We don’t know what will occur at this gathering, but there are rumblings about the entire Western Jurisdiction of the UMC choosing to break away from the greater UMC at that point. We don’t know how long such a thing might take, but at this point it could come about quickly.
While I don’t think schism is best, it still may come about.
Because of this, because we need each other, because we are stronger united than separated from one another, because no matter what happens at GC 2020 we are still in this thing together, because Jesus is bigger than anything the Western church might decide, and because we are called to a unity that is bigger than such decisions, we will be gathering in larger groupings again, in what are called Action Assemblies.
An Action Assembly is a gathering of churches from our area meeting together in one big place (Beaverton First UMC) to hear from Erin, share together about ministries happening among us, and discuss what may come in 2020. This is important to do this together. As Erin wrote:
“We are at a threshold moment in the life of the United Methodist Church. We stand on the edge of a potential radical shift/break in our denomination. The future is uncertain in some ways but very clear in other ways. That is, regardless of what happens at General Conference 2020, we need new ways of being in connection with each other. Our structure may no longer determine our life together.”
We are at a point when we will need to “choose what we are to one another. We need a renewed and embodied connection.”
“The Action Assembly then helps us break down our isolation, create bigger community, and understand ourselves as interconnected with each other … At Action Assemblies, we get to experience the richness of our varied connection as we gather in larger ways.”
Choose to come, will you?
November 17th, 3:00 - 6:00 pm
Beaverton First UMC
12555 SW 4th St, Beaverton
This is a moment in history. The church is in a new season. Never will this be the same. Come.