Annual Conference

This past Tuesday night after a most distressing day at Annual Conference I got back to my room around midnight. I called Bryan because I needed to vent and cry. When I told him all that had transpired that day he said, "I am speechless." That is where I am. I can't find adequate language to share what Annual Conference was like this year. I can't square what happened there with what I tell people about the Church of the Brethren I love.

Some of the things about Conference were recognizable. The beautiful downtown setting:

The time with family and friends:

The large worship setting and a logo that called us to be loving:

But there was so much that was unrecognizable this year. There were several times in the business meetings that I felt that I had inadvertently walked into a Tea Party convention by mistake. We sang songs like "All Are Welcome Here," shortly after we had voted on upholding the 1983 paper on Human Sexuality that says that same sex covenantal relationships are unacceptable. One man came prepared with a different colored T-shirt for every day. On the front of the shirts was embroidered the word "Satan." He stood near the Womaen's Caucus booth embodying Satan, for some reason I never quite understood. When we talked about the paper on "Proper Decorum" a woman compared the rainbow scarves to wearing gang colors. During the conversation on Climate Change I found myself wanting to get up to the mike and simply say, "Seriously?" In the election for a moderator-elect two women were on the ballot. A man was nominated from the floor and won. On the rest of the ballot, all women who ran against men lost. On Tuesday night it was announced that a credible death threat had been made against a gay person at the conference. We sat and cried. What has become of us? What happens when we participate in something that is so counter to what we believe God requires of us? What has happened to the soul of the Church of the Brethren?

Since I have returned I have found myself in many conversations and email exchanges with people who did not attend conference. The prevailing question is: "How will we respond?" I am hoping that over the next several months we spend plenty of time in discussion, prayer and discernment. Unlike our denomination I hope we listen most intently to the voices of our lgbt members and the youth and young adults we so value.