Dear Friends,
The Leadership Team wishes to thank you for all the support you have given over the past eighteen months to the movement for the full participation of LGBTQ+ people in the Methodist Church. It is hard to believe that we are only a few short months away from the Methodist Conference that will debate and vote upon God in Love Unites Us.
Perhaps because of the issues at stake, the temperature of discussion has gradually been rising in the Church, and particularly in some online forums. It is difficult at the best of times to get the tone of online posting exactly right, and in times of heightened sensitivity, the chances of being misinterpreted are even greater.
We, therefore, ask, if you are a member of Dignity and Worth, to undertake a period of ‘electronic fasting’ in the run-up to the Conference in June. When provoked by a posting from an alternative point of view, we ask you to consider fasting from an immediate response in the heat of the moment, and to take at least 24 hours before attempting a reply. In online forums, when feeling hurt or offended by a particular post, please refrain from an online spat, and instead take the conversation ‘offline’, by direct messaging the person who has offended, or better still, arranging a face-to-face conversation.
In the Conference debate, a positive outcome will not be achieved through deliberate provocation, personal attack or denigrating the views of others. Please think about the tone of your post and how it might be used (negatively) by others. If you are feeling upset or angry, phone or direct message a friend, or contact the leadership team at Dignity and Worth.
In the words of Rabindranath Tagore, the great Bengali poet:
by restraining valour
With patience, you revealed creative
Power in its peaceful form.
This demonstrates admirable dignity and maturity. This is an example that many diverse political and religious movements might follow.