Reflections From Sunday Evening

It is good to be home from General Conference where United Methodists have debated the issues and worked to govern our denomination for the past two weeks. Many of you have probably followed the events and know we continue to do ministry in the name of Christ in churches all over the world. There were contentious debates but many of these were countered with Spirit-filled worship and inspired preaching. The conversation around human sexuality impacted much of our conference. At the end of the day the Council of Bishops have been charged with providing denominational leadership to help us find the way forward from what feels like an impasse. There are some matters that affect the local church more than others. For instance we approved a 604 million dollar budget for the next four years. I will be glad to speak to the some of the matters discussed and acted on at General Conference when I share what all is taking place in our church on June 14. I look forward to talking with you about the exciting things happening at PWUMC. It was a joy to be in church this morning and be blessed by Pastor Ginger's sermon. It was also a joy to hear John Miller talk about the progress being made to do something about predatory lending in the state of Missouri. I appreciate John's work in this area. This will be a busy week at church. We are seeing progress on the parking area and the building continues to rise. Plans are being made to insure funding for the project in addition to our on-going ministry. I will be preaching next week on "We Are More". Frankly we are More than General Conference, debates, disagreements, things that divide and distractions to the mission of the Church. It's been a good day. I hope you've had a good day too. steve