Posts from December 2021

Posts from December 2021

An Unfamiliar Face

Christmas Eve I noticed an unfamiliar face at one of our services.  It was a man, wearing a knitted cap, sitting by himself.  Between the face mask and his hat I could not tell his age, just that I didn’t recognize him.  That in itself was a joy: a new person had found our church.                 After the service I greeted him and welcomed him to our church.  He said he had noticed we were open and came in looking…

WE OFFICIALLY BECAME A RECONCILING CHURCH

Mill Plain United Methodist Church took a momentous step December 2, 2021.  By action of our Charge Conference and after a congregation-wide ballot that was 91% in favor, we officially became a Reconciling Church.  That means we openly welcome and affirm people of all gender expressions, gender identities, and sexual orientations.  This vote was the culmination of work that began in 2019. When the pandemic hit, we put that work on the back burner for a while, morphed into work…