United Methodist Young Clergywomen Collective

As you may have heard, last night news broke that a version of
Amendment I that included lines deleted by General Conference had been circulated to Annual Conferences for the vote, which means we will be voting on the correct version of Amendment 1 in future Annual Conferences.
http://www.umc.org/news-and-media/constitutional-amendment-to-be-revisited

The news of this re-vote means that we United Methodists have a rare opportunity to right an injustice. While this doesn’t erase the painful message sent by the first vote, the United Methodist Church has the opportunity to send a new message. We urge those who voted against Amendment I to listen to women and learn why it matters to them that God made them in the Divine image. We also urge all disappointed by the original vote to remember that Amendment I failed by a margin of fewer than one hundred votes. In light of this, we urge all clergy and delegates to vote at their respective Annual Conferences. Your vote matters. Show up. Vote. Affirm that God has created each gender equal in God’s image.

Grace and peace,
The United Methodist Clergywomen Collective

The United Methodist Clergywomen Collective wrote a statement in response to the failure of two amendments to United Methodist Church’s constitution. Read the details about the amendments here. To see the names of the nearly 900 clergywomen who have signed, or if you are a UMC clergywoman who would like to sign, please do so here.

In the past few days, United Methodist clergywomen have reached out to each other, sharing our deep sorrow at the news that the two constitutional amendments relating most closely to women and gender justice were not approved. Women and girls around the connection must now live into the reality that the United Methodist Church did not affirm our equality with men and boys. We write this letter not to defend ourselves but to confront faithfully those in our church who refuse to proclaim the equality of all people in our foundational documents.

As Wesleyans, we offer a distinctly fourfold response:

Continue reading “United Methodist Clergywomen Respond to Amendments’ Defeat”