How do we welcome the LGBTQ+ community as a church?
On Wednesday June 7th, I’ll depart for Lakeland to participate in the 2023 Florida Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. This is a large gathering of Methodist pastors and lay representatives from all over Florida. As a part of the meeting we will worship, give updates, vote on decisions for our church, hold a memorial service for clergy who have died in the past year, celebrate clergy who are being ordained this year, and do much more.
I want to remind you of something that happened last year at our annual conference gathering. You might remember, the clergy session voted to not approve the class of 16 persons to be commissioned. The reason why the candidates did not achieve the full 75% approval threshold is because some clergy were concerned that three of the candidates were LGBTQ. As a result, the service of licensing, commissioning, and ordination was deeply painful. If you’d like to read more about that, click here. What happened last year will impact the clergy session this year because that same group of candidates will come forward to seeking approval along with the class of 2023. On June 8th in the clergy session, these candidates for ministry will either be passed to move forward in the ordination process or they will be rejected for a second time.
I want to zoom out and give you some context for the process each of these candidates are going through to become commissioned. I’ll tell you through the lens of my personal experience in becoming commissioned. It took me roughly four years to move from certified candidate to commissioned provisional elder and that is considered fast.
I began by being a member of a local United Methodist Church. I talked with my pastor about a call to ministry and the pastor met with me and we read a book together about what ministry can look like in the UMC. Members on the staff parish committee of the local church voted to affirm God’s call in my life. I then met with a district superintendent who further discipled me and encouraged me to grow on the journey. Then I participated in a group mentoring cohort, took a mental health assessment, and submitted 50 pages of written paperwork. I went on to interview with the district committee on ministry to become a certified candidate for ministry. After that, I went to seminary, served in multiple local United Methodist churches. I interviewed with the board of ordained ministry, was given constructive feedback then was approved to become a provisional Elder. Then at the clergy session in 2016 I was voted on to be approved for commissioning at annual conference that year. Each of these candidates is on a similar journey to be commissioned.
I want you to understand the ordination process so you have a context to understand that the leaders who are being commissioned and ordained are not outsiders or people with agendas. They are simply United Methodist church members God is calling into ministry that want to serve God through our wonderful church. As always, if you’d like to talk further please don’t hesitate to reach out, PastorMike@SpringChurch.org.
