Over the weekend of February 4th and 5th, 2017, Asbury Memorial hosted a community conversation to explore our calling as Christians to join with one another as One Body of Christ in a struggle against oppression by the spiritual practice of justice work.
UMC Bishop Melvin Talbert is a civil rights activist. He was on the front lines of the civil rights movement, even spending 3 days and nights in jail with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Although he is retired, he again is working on social justice issues, this time on behalf of the LGBT community. The United Methodist denomination does not fully accept LGBT people, and he has been speaking out in favor of their acceptance.
Rev. Matthew Berryman is Executive Director of Reconciling Ministries Network, an organization that advocates for full inclusion of LGBT people in the United Methodist Church. He has been appointed as one of three LGBT members of the United Methodist Church’s “Commission on a Way Forward.” The Commission was established at the 2016 General Conference to develop a plan to address the issue of LGBT inclusion in the denomination. The commission will have had its first meeting just before the event.
Rev. Kim Sorrells is the newly-appointed Georgia Field Coordinator of Reconciling Ministries Network, who has spearheaded planning for the event.
Matt and Kim spoke to our church community about what's next—taking the next steps on living into what it means to be a reconciling community. Matt was able to speak about the upcoming Called General Conference, the Commission on a Way Forward, and other interesting subjects.
This session focused on the spirituality of justice building. Bishop Talbert kicked off the conversation by sharing some insights from his civil rights and spiritual journeys. Matt and Kim spoke about their journeys and facilitated a training session about the intersectionality of oppressed identities, race, LGBT issues, and so forth. We ended the session by discussing some tangible action items we can take to work for justice in our church and in our society.
Bishop Talbert and Rev. Berryman share their stories of doing justice work and how their faith has led them to be involved in the work of Reconciling Ministries Network.