In May of this year, the Council of Bishops voted on a recommendation from the Commission on the Way Forward re: United Methodism and human sexuality. The Council of Bishops voted to recommend “The One Church Plan” to the special session of General Conference to be held in February, 2019 (to review the Council of Bishops decision, and read details of The One Church Plan, as well as the other two plans that were considered go to: umnews.org/en/news/bishops-propose-pl).
In an effort to communicate the decision/recommendation of the Council of Bishops to the West Ohio Conference, Bishop Palmer is going to travel across the Conference holding a series of gatherings, “I Believe in the Church”. There will be two events in our District, Groesbeck UMC on September 5th; and Milford First UMC on September 25th. You are welcome to attend any event in the Conference, but participants are asked to register. To register, please go to the Conference website: westohioumc.org. At the top of the page there is a banner that scrolls various events. Click on the left or right arrow on the banner until you get to the “I Believe in the Church” and click. This will take you to the list of venues, click on the venue you wish to attend and follow the instructions.
This is your opportunity to hear from our Bishop, and the Bishop’s opportunity to hear from you. There will be a lot of information from numerous sources leading up to the special session of General Conference, some reliable and some that are not. Join your pastors at one of the evenings Bishop Palmer is in our District, and hear directly from one who was instrumental in the workings of both the Commission on the Way Forward and the workings of the Council of Bishops.
It is a privilege to serve in ministry with you; my door is always open for discussion. Join your Pastors in prayer as we seek to be faithful to God’s calling, as a denomination, as a local church and as individual members of the body of Christ. May God’s blessings abound as we place ourselves at the center of God’s will!
Through Christ,
Pastor Doug