For Immediate Release
Friday, December 28, 2018
COUNCIL OF BISHOPS’ LETTER TO THE GLOBAL LGBTQ COMMUNITY
To the People of the United Methodist Church:
Grace and Peace to you in these days of Christmas, and at the conclusion of a calendar year.
At the fall meeting of the Council of Bishops at St. Simon’s Island, Georgia, bishops approved a motion to send a pastoral letter to the Global LGBTQ community. A writing team, composed of a bishop from each central conference and jurisdiction, completed this task, on behalf of the Council. The letter is attached.
We share this letter with you as an expression of our desire to strengthen the body of Christ. We confess our participation in the harm we have done to one another and to the LGBTQ community. In offering this letter we bear witness to the light of Jesus Christ, which enlightens everyone and is coming into the world (John 1: 9). And we pray that in the days ahead we will, with him, grow and become strong, that we will be filled with wisdom, and that the favor of God will rest upon us (Luke 2: 40).
The peace of the Lord,
+Ken Carter Resident Bishop,
Florida Conference President,
Council of Bishops The United Methodist Church