It's been a while since I've blogged......it's like the gym. Once you get out of the habit it's hard to get going again :) But on this warm July Monday, I'm back to both.........
The June session of the Cal-Pac Annual Conference made history with passage of petitions of support of clergy who perform same-gender weddings and going on record against Proposition 8 -- the initiative on the November ballot which would constitutionally prohibit same-gender weddings. Read all about it at http://www.rmnetwork.org/
More importantly for us at Hollywood UMC: Jay Sowell, our co-lay leader, was responsible for writing the petition to AC which offers support to clergy who perform same-gender weddings (doesn't overrule the Book of Discipline -- only the General Conference can). And I had the privilege of addressing the conference to put a human face on the discussion. As best as I can recall, here's what I said:
Bishop and members of the Annual Conference: I am Kathy Cooper-Ledesma,
proud to be the pastor of the Hollywood UMC, where we average 240 in worship
on Sundays, and where we have had so many children born in the past two
years that last summer we had to expand our nursery! Bishop Swenson was
with us last fall to dedicate our nursery expansion, for which we are grateful.
But, numbers and buildings do not tell the story of Hollywood. People do.
People like Eric and Marty, Anne and Alicia, Jeff and Russ, KC and Jerome, Colin
and Jordan. People like Matt and James, who drive in from Simi Valley so their
daughter can be part of a Sunday school and a church that reflects the
diversity of the people in the Kingdom of God.
And there are many more I haven’t named.
Plus there are people like Mark and Caprice, John and Connie,
Stephanie and Jesse, Jane and David – straight couples who want their children
to grow up in a Sunday school and a church that reflects the diversity of the
people in the Kingdom of God. And there are many more left unnamed.
All of these members of Hollywood have pledged to support the church with their
prayers, their presence, their gifts, their service—and their witness. They have
all committed themselves to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation
of the world.
The question for us, as an Annual Conference: how are we going to support
them?
Thank you.
