Not For United Methodist Christians Only, part 2
WARNING: Prayer Requests Ahead.
From http://www.umc.org — “On February 23, elected United Methodist delegates along with our bishops will gather in St. Louis, Missouri, for a called special session of General Conference. The goal of the meeting is to find a way forward through our disagreements about same-sex marriage and ordination of LGBTQ clergy.”
Please join with innumerable others globally in praying as that official site reminds us —
Pray for your delegates. Your annual conference has elected delegates, half who are clergy and half who are laypeople. Pray for them by name: ours are
LAITY
Rhonda Whitaker
Bunny Wolfe
Kimberly Woods
Steve Schonert
Larry Weber
Marian McCray, Alternate
Anish Hermon, Alternate
Carol Sims, Alternate
CLERGY
Sylvester Weatherall
Andy Adams
Sara Isbell
Chris Ritter
Bob Phillips
Randy Robinson, Alternate
Roger Ross, Alternate
Janice Griffith, Alternate
Then pray for the rest of the delegates coming to St. Louis from all over the world to make these important decisions for the church.
Pray for your bishop. Bishop Frank Beard leads the Illinois Great Rivers Conference. Bishops do not vote at General Conference, but they lead the sessions. It can be a very taxing job to manage the legislative process of more than 800 delegates.
Be sure to include the other bishops in your prayers as well.
Pray for support staff. Holding a General Conference takes the work of many behind-the-scenes people. Lift them up in prayer as well. There are long, tiring days ahead for them. Pray for the Holy Spirit to grant them strength.
Pray for your church. Remember to pray for your pastor, staff and members who are answering questions. Pray also for your denomination The United Methodist Church as we wrestle with these disagreements.
Join the UMC prayer initiative. Upper Room is leading us in prayer at umcprays.org. You can sign up to receive prayer posts that guide us in praying for The United Methodist Church during this time.
— I’m joining you in prayer, and look forward to seeing you back here tomorrow.
