LYNC At the Leadership Gathering - Tuesday Update
Love Your Neighbor Coalition Presence at Leadership Gathering
For over 50 years advocates for full inclusion have been working to change The United Methodist Church. In 2024, significant changes to the Book of Discipline opened the door to these changes. Unofficial progressive organizations, like Western Methodist Justice Movement, Affirmation, Methodist Federation for Social Action, MARCHA, BMCR, and Reconciling Ministries Network have been fighting for these changes. These a just a few of the fifteen members of the Love Your Neighbor Coalition (LYNC).
This week the Council of Bishops have called for a leadership gathering to set the direction of the church. Three invited participants from each episcopal area, general agency representatives, and bishops will gather in Calgary Oct 20-24 to “listen and discern together about the future of The United Methodist Church.” And to “…begin to co-create the church of tomorrow.”
LYNC volunteers and representatives from several of its member organizations will be in Calgary. They won’t be in the church where the meeting is being held, they aren’t funded with church budgets, and they don’t have any official standing voice or vote. But what LYNC has learned in the past is that we must be there when church leadership is gathered.
By being present, reminding the church of its historic commitment to social justice for all, and building relationships with these emerging leaders, LYNC can set the stage for that “church of tomorrow” being centered on justice and inclusion.
The participants, selected by bishops, include many younger and more diverse voices along with bishops and general church agency leaders. LYNC representatives in Calgary hope to connect with these participants, lean their thoughts, and share about the LYNC coalition and its values and purpose.
LYNC has sent two letters to the council sharing ideas and concerns about the gathering. One expressed concern about representation, participant selection, and commitment to open meetings. A second letter called for the process to focus on key values and actions that respond to the Wesleyan tradition and build a church based on loving one another.
History tells us that the church needs careful observers to monitor its efforts at change. The actions of General Conference in 2024 are just a beginning, and the organizations that lobbied and fought for that change will not stand back and see how (or if) established church institutions follow up without monitoring and being present.
LYNC will be there. Building relationships with future leaders, watching what is said (and who is saying it), and asking questions of inclusion, justice, and transparency.
LYNC Begins with Land Acknowledgement
A small group of the Love Your Neighbor Coalition volunteers started their work in Calgary by holding a land acknowledgement outside the hotel where many of them are staying.
Since LYNC will be working in the space around the Leadership Gathering, it was important to offer the acknowledgement outside, amidst the hustle and bustle of the streets of Calgary.
The language of the acknowledgement was developed by Ragghi Rain, LYNC liaison from the Native American Inter-Tribal Caucus of the United Methodist Church (NAIC) and led by Mittie Quinn, LYNC volunteer.
In addition to the verbal acknowledgement, LYNC will make a gift to a local aboriginal organization in Calgary.
You can read the Land Acknowledgement used in Calgary.
Follow the Leadership Gathering
The UMC event page - Scroll down this page to watch the livestream
The Program Guide and schedule
Join a What’s App commentary and Q and A group hosted by Reconciling Ministries Network