Grace and peace be with you dearly Beloved Children of God. You are seen, you are beautiful and you are so worthy of love and dignity.
February 23-26 the United Methodist Church gathered in St. Louis for a Special Session of the General Conference specifically regarding human sexuality. During this gathering, the United Methodist Church adopted the Traditionalist Plan though this was deemed unconstitutional by the Judicial Council. The Traditionalist Plan moves to place greater restrictions on the clergy, conference and churches of the United Methodist Church. What the UMC has done is wrong and not in line with who we are or what we believe at Berry Church. These are uncertain times and its important to note that the decisions do not go into effect until 2020, we immediately feel the harm done by this bigotry. To see the Northern IL Conference response, please click here. We do not yet know what will be done as the Northern IL Conference and what new way might be forming.
I write today to make clear that at Berry Church we will always be radically inclusive and will continue to minister with and serve LGBTQIA+ persons honoring the dignity and gifts of their ministries. Know YOU ARE BELOVED by God and no decision of the General Conference changes that fact. You are whole, you are abundantly blessed. However, I also want to honor the harm that the denomination choosing to make statements such as the adoption of the Traditionalist Plan does do, this is real harm and should be named and lamented.
So we will gather on Sunday, as we do every week to celebrate the giftedness of being called by God, to dwell in the presence of God with assurance that you are not alone in the grieving. Please reach out if you need care, and consider joining welcoming churches of the northside of Chicago at United Church of Roger’s Park tonight at 6:30pm to pray, to grieve and to be a witness to the beauty and blessing of LGBTQIA ministers of the Northern IL Conference.
In Christ’s Peace,
Pastor April
Please also not the following after General Conference Session Debriefings hosted by Bishop Dyck
Saturday, March 30 at 9:30am - Location: Orland Park: Faith UMC, 15101 S 80th Ave., Orland Park, IL.
Saturday, March 30 at 2 pm - Location: Barrington UMC, 98 Algonquin Rd., Barrington, IL.
Sunday, March 31 at 3 pm - Location: Oregon UMC, 200 S. 4th St., Oregon, IL.