The following clergy of the North Texas Annual
Conference support the decision of the 2016 General Conference to
empower the Council of Bishops in leading the United Methodist Church beyond
the current tensions rooted in our disagreements over human sexuality. We are
grateful for the acknowledgment that “our Discipline contains language that is
contradictory, unnecessarily hurtful, and inadequate for the variety of local,
regional, and global contexts.”
As the Council of Bishops explores “options to help
the church live in grace with one another—including ways to avoid further
complaints, trials and harm while we uphold the Discipline,” we pray that
members of our Annual Conference will demonstrate a spirit of unity and
diversity even when we are not of one mind. We know that brothers and sisters
in the covenant of ministry will face difficult choices in the coming months
and years. As they do, we desire to prayerfully and actively work toward full
inclusion in our annual conference.
We hope you will stand with us in claiming the
power of religion over the form of religion.
“Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike?”
To sign, please click here.
Signed,
Becky David Hensley
Rev. Dr. Wes Magruder
Rev. Carol D. Sparks
Ben A. David Hensley
Rev. Mitchell Boone
Rev. Kerry Smith
Rachel Baughman
Rev. Carol Montgomery
Michael Baughman
Eston Williams
Sara Hardaway
Bill (J.W.) Matthews
Terry P. Jones
Charles L. Aaron
Russell Floyd
Judith Reedy
Valarie Englert
John C Holbert
Larry D. Davis
Georgia Harrison
Chuck Cox
Terry Heislen
Christy Thomas
Mark W. Stamm
Marc Corazao
Cheryl Murray
William W. Eason
Mel Caraway
Rev. Elizabeth
Moseley
Victoria Robb Powers
Dr. Anna
Hosemann-Butler
Dawn Anderson
Katherine Glaze Lyle
Marcus Womack
Brian Dierolf
John Thornburg
Rev. Debbie Chapman
Jonathan Grace
Joe Stobaugh
Patricia Piron
Thresher
Joseph Stabile
Justin Hancock
Laura Echols-Richter
Diane Presley
Rev. J. D. Allen
Tim McLemore
Jane Graner
Dana Coker
Nancy DeStefano
Sarah Squires
Rev. Josephine M.
Biggerstaff
Reid Fade
Kathryn Johnson
Michael A. House
Carole Somers-Clark
Matt Gaston
Ann Willet
Beatriz Pacheco
Eric Folkerth
Dana Norton
Rev. James Wilkins
Diana Holbert
Rev. Dr. Keith Payne
Boone
Rev. Adam Young
Rev. Susan Bryan
Alexandra Robinson
Ouida Lee
John Taylor
Jessica Wright
Rev. Jack Soper
Rev. Marti Soper
Adam Spore
Kathy McLean-Davis
Rev Gregg Alan Smith
George Fisk
Phillip Dieke
Rev. Andrew Fiser
Jonathan Perry
Jonathan Perry
Mark Thomas Moore
Rev. Ann Barton
Reverend Mary Beth Hardesty-Crouch
Tamara Bullard
Shannon Hamrick
Rev. Leon Veazey
CJ Rice
Katie Newsome
Dr. Gregory S. Neal
Rev. Lois G. Cooper
Katie Shockley
Lisa Greenwood
Patrick Hoffman
Rebecca Grogan
Caroline Noll
Chuck Church
Rev John Baldwin
Freddy Orr
Woody Weilage
Joe Shafer
Robert O’ Cooper
Wallace Chappell
R. Ben Marshall
Karen Marshall
George Battle, III
Don Coke
Edward Lee
Don Coke
Edward Lee
David Lessner
David B. Weber
Susan Williams
Tom Green
Mike Nichols
Darrell Coats
Patrick Littlefield
Milton Guitierrez
Connie Nelson
Carolee Doty
Blair Thompson-White
Richard Wilson
Charles Neal
Debbie Riggsby
Blair Thompson-White
Richard Wilson
Charles Neal
Debbie Riggsby
As a layperson, I am proud of every single signature on this letter! I look forward to seeing the list grow!
ReplyDeleteAs a layperson, I am proud of every single signature on this letter! I look forward to seeing the list grow!
ReplyDeleteWhat I would really like to see is all of the signers participate in a same-sex wedding. Now that would be a powerful statement.
ReplyDeleteI will not sign and will vote against. This saddens me immensely and lets me know how many former colleagues no longer desire to be in covenant.
ReplyDelete"Former colleagues"???? Martha, just because we disagree on this issue doesn't make us any less your colleagues.
ReplyDeleteThen you don't understand how deep the division is.
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