MainstreamUMC-Staff-s.h.

I support the One Church Plan because I believe it allows local churches to give the most faithful witness to their understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I think that it allows churches to most effectively reach the mission field that they are in ministry with and it is faithful to our long-standing Wesleyan tradition of grappling with issues that we know we cannot fully understand. We … [Read more...] about Mary Spradlin

I think for me, the One Church Plan continues to allow us to do ministry in our communities, to do contextual ministry in the ways in which God is calling us to continue to do ministry. It frees us up and gives us the option and affirms the ministries that all of our church is doing. To be able to be in our communities and who God is calling us to be in those places. … [Read more...] about Kevin Gregory

I believe that the One Church Plan offers a counter-cultural message to the world, that the church of Jesus Christ is not defined by tribes. There is no longer slave or free, Greek or Jew, male or female, but we are one in Christ. And so, the counter-cultural message of the One Church Plan, I think, is the most important proclamation that our church has for today. … [Read more...] about Jason Valendy

I am a member of Oaklawn United Methodist Church in Dallas. We are located at the epicenter of a large, thriving LGBTQ community. We also are in a neighborhood that is surrounded by wealth and yet serves a population that is often on the margins. There is a significant amount of homelessness. We find so much strength in our church from our connection with a denomination that provides wonderful … [Read more...] about Gretchen Toler-Debus

I think the One Church Plan holds our church together. It allows us to live together in the midst of tension and in the midst of disagreement. I think that if we were to pass anything other than the One Church Plan we wouldn't be able to sit in a room together and disagree with one another and have conversation. This is what it means to be a United Methodist. That aspect would leave and would be … [Read more...] about Ethan Gregory

I support the One Church Plan because I grew up in the United Methodist Church. It's part of my identity -- I'm a preacher's kid. We are able to have our cultural expression served out, keeping within our Native American community, the Muskogee-Creek Nation, and at the same time we're still able to show our faith within the United Methodist Church. So, to me, it's just the ability to have context … [Read more...] about Courtney Fowler

Dietrich Bonhoeffer once observed that those who love their dream of the church more than they love the church itself are destroyers of the latter. I support the one church plan because I believe it challenges us to love both the church AND our dreams of the church, not one or the other. I believe that living between that perpetual tension between principles and people is the Biblical witness and … [Read more...] about Paul Escamillia