During the opening worship service of General Conference I asked myself some profound questions: How can God love a church that is so fractured and divided? How is it possible for God to work through a church that is so polarized? Does God manifest His presence in the midst of a church that continues to be imperfect in some of its social and theological stances? I was struggling with these questions because what I was witnessing in front of my eyes was God’s presence being manifested through song, word and table and through many other ways. I was tremendously blessed by the way God made His presence be known among us United Methodists since the first day of General Conference.
God showing up for General Conference made the mystery even deeper. Then I realized that in my life I have experienced in several instances the love of God even when I was not “at my best.” There were times in my life that He embraced my brokenness so I could be made whole, He loved me when I was down so I could be lifted up. I understand now that God can indeed embrace our church as imperfect as it is. It is His desire to lift us up when we are down as a denomination. It is His wish to embrace our brokenness to make us whole. God can still work in us and through us in spite of our imperfections. So I join with the proclamation of our General Conference echoing the words of the prophet Jeremiah: that in God and with God there is a future filled with hope for the United Methodist Church!
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