Coming Back Online

I took a somewhat unintentional break from my weekly post. Life has been going so fast lately that I have had trouble just keeping up. Two weeks ago, we were celebrating Falls Church Feeds the World and how we surpassed our goals for the event, having such fun making a huge difference in the world. Last week, we were mourning for the attack at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando. With all God's people, we cry, How long, O Lord, how long, until we can see your face in the face of everyone we meet?

Last weekend, the people called United Methodists in Virginia held our Annual Conference in Roanoke. Brian Christoffersen, Jennifer Secki Shields, and I attended. It is wonderful connecting with people we don't get to see often. It was a relatively quiet session this year, with General Conference just past, and so much on hold from that global meeting. We celebrated with our Bishop Young Jin Cho who is retiring. We endorsed Ted Smith as a candidate for the episcopacy in the Southeastern Jurisdiction.

We also heard a couple of reports from the lay and clergy leaders of our General Conference delegation, Martha Stokes and Tom Berlin. Tom did an outstanding job of putting the issues concerning human sexuality into sharp focus as to how they affect our global church. I would recommend Tom's blogpost on this. You can see his spectacularly creative slides. And if you are on Facebook, check out his live presentation here.

At the close of Tom and Martha's report on Sunday morning, she asked us to take hands with those next to us to pray. It is only in deeply earnest, humble prayer that we can respond to God's call. So in spirit, I ask you to hold hands with me, with each other, and with others around the world to bathe our church in prayer.

Ephesians 3:20-21

Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.