I am thankful to be a part of the Mountain Sky Conference of The United Methodist Church (the Rocky Mountain Conference merged with the Yellowstone Conference in 2018). Here's one of the reasons why. Over the past couple of decades we have been a voice for the full inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons in the life of the Church. The inclusion outlined below has continued and expanded in the new conference of the Mountain Sky.
In 2012, Rocky Mountain passed another powerful word of support for GLBT people. Read it here.
The resolution is also included in this Compilation of Petitions and Actions of the Conference Session (PDF), which shows why I'm glad I'm here. This should not be considered exhaustive; I didn't have all the Journals available.
Resources for discussion of the Western Jurisdiction's "We Will Not Be Silent" declaration of July, 2000
Conference Petition AC-5, "We Will Not Be Silent" Resources (2001)
This action of the 2001 Annual Conference reads: “We commend the Declaration from the Western Jurisdiction to all congregations of the Rocky Mountain Conference for prayerful reflection and thoughtful dialogue, led by the appointive clergy and lay leaders during 2001-2002. A copy will be mailed to each congregation. Following the discussion, a report confirming the dialogue must be submitted to the Committee on Peace with Justice."
The Peace with Justice Committee developed a packet of resource material to facilitate the reflection and dialogue mandated by the revised version of Petition AC-5.
- Letter from Bishop Brown
- Copy of the “We Will Not Be Silent” declaration from the Western Jurisdiction
- Response Form
- List of Materials included in Resource Packet
- Suggested Resources
- Model Agenda for a Single Meeting
- Model Agenda for a Study of the Sexual Orientation Issue within the Methodist United Church
- Ideas for this Dialogue
- Guidelines for a Safe Discussion
- Covenant of Understanding
- Some relevant paragraphs from the Book of Discipline
- Leader’s Introduction from The Church Studies Homosexuality (out of print)
- Homosexuality and the Bible, Walter Wink