Called to Witness

Persistence and Connection by Julie Arms

I wrote before (here) about Persistence and Connection when it came to telling our stories.  This year I have reached out to 13 individuals for meetings (10 clergy, 3 lay leaders).  Before you think that is excessive, know that some of them were some of my “CTW1” people and some were my GC delegates who voted inclusively.  I have the promise of a meeting with one individual and have had one face to face meeting.  I believe my net result will be 4 face to face meetings and 8 votes for the Amendment; I can’t guess on how many Declarations.

The meeting I had was great.  It was with one of our recently ordained clergy and she was thrilled that someone cared about her thoughts, her views and her votes.  Use this aspect to reach out to your own newly ordained clergy – they DO count and what a way to build a relationship by letting them know that.  When we discussed the Declaration and that it could be signed by small groups, not just congregations, she took multiple copies and said she would make even more to distribute.

The connections you make via CTW are important and lasting when you work to keep them alive.  Today I heard from one of my GC/CTW1 delegates, via his assistant.  Here is where “persistence and connection” come into play.  Last year he’d been the hardest to pin down, never meeting face to face, yet he called me the day before I left for GC, and we spoke on the phone for 45 minutes.  It was worth the wait – he voted inclusively.  The connection remains – here are the words in response to my request to talk to him about his vote on the Amendment: “He also wants you to know that he continues in the same position as when you spoke last summer and he expects, if he can obtain space on the agenda, to speak in favor of the proposed constitutional amendment at Annual Conference this summer.  Most of the clergy that he knows are also in favor of the passing of this amendment.”  And this is in North Georgia - how thrilling is that???  

Be persistent.  Stay connected.  It pays off.

Julie Arms

How to Get Your Declaration to Pass

Many folks right now are working on collecting signatures for the All Means All Declaration. We have had great success across the country as congregations and groups sign on in support of welcoming all persons.

To get started in your area, you might consider sending out letters to potential signers. The Oregon Idaho Action Team has done just that. You can download a copy of their letter for use in your annual conference as well. It is found on the "Downloads" page of this website, entitled "Sample Cover Letter for All Means All Declarations"

Here's a story of how one church passed their resolution:

Here’s what we did:

Our Ad Council only meets once every other month, so it seemed to me I needed to act soon!.  I talked with the lay leader, SPRC chair, and Ad Board chair on Sunday and they thought we should do it.   

Our council agenda is the typical: open meeting, devotions, minutes, etc…So what I did for the devotions was this:  I mentioned that as I drove into town, I noticed the sign at the Parks and Rec office, which reminded me of a sign at a community center near where I live.  They often have what I consider funny or clever titles for upcoming workshops (my favorite is “Adventures with Tofu”) and the current one is “Animal Language.”  So, I said, if we were going to describe words or values for “God Language” or “Faith Language” or even “United Methodist Church language,” what would we include?  The answers were words like faith, joy, love, praise, and potluck.  I wrote the words down on a piece of paper in front of me then said a prayer, asking that our meeting and discussion include these values (which I named). 

The declaration was the last item under “New Business” on the agenda; I had written “All Means All” on the agenda but didn't pass out the Declaration ahead of time for people to see it.  When we came to this item, someone asked, “What does “All Means All” mean?”  I read out loud the values we had named during the devotion time, ending with potluck, said how at our potlucks, every one contributes something and each wonderful dish contributes to the feast…then I told one of the stories I had told at our Saturday workshop…at a previous church.

One woman  told me that her favorite hymn is “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing” and her favorite verse #6, marked with an asterisk in our hymnal, noting that it may be omitted (because the language may be deemed offensive) -  “Hear him, ye deaf; his praise, ye dumb, your loosened tongues employ; ye blind, behold your Savior come, and leap, ye lame, for joy.”  This woman was born with cerebral palsy; her parents were told they should put her in an institution.  They refused.  When she grew to school age, her mother refused to let them place her in a special education class.  Even after years of physical therapy and speech therapy, her gait is not smooth and her speech is indicative of her struggle to form words.  Her love of verse 6 of “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing” is because of its language of new life and new creation, and it speaks directly to her. 

So, I said, imagine my surprise when I learned recently that this woman could be excluded from membership in a United Methodist Church! Our Constitution does not currently guarantee membership to persons with different abilities.

“What?!” someone sputtered. 

We had made copies with the proposed amendment and the Declaration (from the book we got at our February 28 Called to Witness training) and I passed those out at this time and explained that as the constitution of the church stands now, a pastor could choose to not admit someone with disabilities into church membership.  People read through the material quickly, I explained the process (2/3 vote of members at annual conference,) and that we were being asked to sign the Declaration so that it could be presented at Annual Conference with “and this many churches in the Conference have signed the Declaration.” 

The discussion quickly moved to a motion to sign it.  

Nebraska Success

Thanks to all who took part in the Reconciling Ministries Network Called to Witness Training on February 28, 2009.

It was held at First United Methodist in Omaha. Fifty-seven people from Omaha, Lincoln, Grand Island and North Platte attended despite a five inch overnight snowfall in Omaha!!

What a joy to have so many from across Nebraska participate. Thanks also to those who helped plan the event and prepare lunch.

- Michael Pack and Betty Dorr, co-chairs