by Darren Cushman Wood [Indianapolis Pastor]
July 1, 2019
Dear Centrists,
As a progressive, I celebrate that you are standing up and speaking out against the Traditional Plan. You have amazed me with your success in getting centrists and progressives elected to General Conference. What we progressives tried to do for years, you have made real progress this year. It has been a successful political coalition.
But our coalition is not tidy. We are in a time of transition and even the labels we use reflect the messy ambiguities of the moment....
- Stop using the slash in “Centrists/Progressives.” It implies that we are more united than we really are....
- Start giving us time and space to develop our vision and strategic interests. Just because we have a common enemy does not mean we share a common vision for the future...
- Stop characterizing progressives who feel called to leave and start a new denomination as intolerant extremists and ideological purists....
- Start listening closely to progressives....
- Stop assuming that for progressives the problem is only 8 paragraphs in the Book of Discipline. The issue of sexuality is inseparably intertwined with a host of other problems...
- Start focusing on a new vision for Methodism....