We were small but perfectly formed! A range of ages and experiences from different parts of the Connexion.
We shared stories, some funny, some painful, from where we are.
We recognised our own diversity and the need for all us is to be more aware of our own assumptions and prejudices.
We acknowledged how our own experiences of victimisation can turn into a victimhood that narrows our own vision and increases our resistance to change.
We all wanted to have better, more honest and grown-up conversations about gender, sexuality, relationships and sex, but we still struggled to know where to begin. And we gathered around Scripture and the Lord’s Table, to seek courage and strength and wisdom, to pray
for those who are like us,
and those who are not;
for those who agree with us,
and those who do not;
for those who long for change,
and those who resist it.
Together, we longed for change, for a church that truly is the Church, a place of honesty and hospitality and safety and challenge. And we rejected the notion that change or progress is inevitable and will come, whatever we do. We thanked God for those in the past, who planned and prayed, organised and challenged, stood out and spoke up, when it cost them much, for the sake of the Gospel. We face the opposition of a few, but the apathy of many, in the struggle for real change. For this is not a ‘problem’ or ‘issue’ just for us few; it is a challenge to everyone who claims the name Christian.
We rejoiced that our movement is growing, but Luke 10:2-3 remains true:
Jesus said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.
3Go on your way.’
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