Reverend Courtney Jones (’08) Shares Thoughts on UMC General Conference Decision
The following is an excerpt from Good Faith Media’s article “Dispatches From the United Methodist Diaspora: Remember the Struggle of What Has Been” by Courtney Jones, published on May 29, 2024.
“There is now much self-congratulatory posturing, as though this is the end of something and not the beginning. I have to imagine those who are still affiliated see the writing on the wall of a dwindling mainline denomination, with each generation more and more open to fluidity of sexual orientation and gender expression.
Beloveds in the UMC, don’t forget us who live in diaspora. Don’t forget those who were edged out or made sacrifices to stay.
Don’t let this whisper of a vote be simplified into shouts of victory. Don’t cheapen the real victory that could exist for future generations by pretending the delayed justice is someone else’s fault. Don’t let the sacrifices of those like Rev. Dr. Stroud be in vain by fooling yourself into believing that the present justifies or erases the past.
Honor the complexity of what is by remembering the struggle of what has been—not just for LGBTQ folks but for communities of color and the disability community, and and and.
Let this be only one step and do the real work of equity by having the hard conversations about what happens next.”