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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Thank you so much for this report. It gives me more hope than anything I have been encountering from the institutional side, including a long conversation last week with someone who has the Rev. Dr. Karen Oliveto as his assigned bishop and who I thought was far more clear in his thinking and for that matter—faith. I am looking forward to the Way Forward report and any possibilities it might hold. Blessings on all of you who worked to pull off this event.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Emmanuel, Margaret<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> OE [mailto:oe-bounces@lists.wedgeblade.net] <b>On Behalf Of </b>W. J. via OE<br><b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, November 7, 2017 5:11 PM<br><b>To:</b> H. A. Tillinghast; Order Ecumenical Community<br><b>Cc:</b> W. J.<br><b>Subject:</b> [Oe List ...] Report on Bishop Karen's gathering @ Lake Junaluska<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div id=yiv3576063812><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_6887"><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_6886"><div id=yiv3576063812><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510074133052_53632"><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510074133052_53631"><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_12613"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>This is a 'Report' (if I may be so bold) to the Order:Ecumenical on the 'edge' of the turmoil in the United Methodist Church from a transestablishment worm's eye perspective on the ground (or, better, 'underground') at the <a href="http://www.umc.org/news-and-media/bishops-called-to-navigate-off-the-map" target="_blank" id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510074133052_64185">Council of Bishops' meeting</a> this week at Lake Junaluska.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_16168"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><br><br><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_13121"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>First, why now? I'm not one to brag or anything, but it dawned on me that I was in a position to get something new, unprogrammed, and unexpected to happen here in the Southeastern Jurisdiction during the CoB meeting.<br><br><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_16169"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><br><br><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_13660"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>(For non-United Methodists: The SEJ is the surviving 'remnant' of the old <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methodist_Episcopal_Church,_South" target="_blank" id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_15991">Methodist Episcopal Church, South</a> which embraced slavery as a Biblical 'right' of white males--along with white male dominance over women--after the 1845 schism over the scandal that a Methodist bishop in Georgia owned 2 slaves. And which remains a conservative bastion of 'guns and religion' from the 1939 merger with northern and Protestant Methodists to this day. Along with the South Central Jurisdiction.)<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_16187"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><br><br><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_14132"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>Where the shit has REALLY hit the Methodist fan is that in 2016 the Western Jurisdiction elected and consecrated as bishop Karen Oliveto, the married lesbian senior pastor of Glide UMC in San Francisco.<br><br><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_16188"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><br><br><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_14501"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>Karen's election/consecration caused an even greater uproar (and yet-unresolved 'legal' issues with the church's rule book) that has intensified the polarization over LGBT inclusion vs. active persecution in a postmodern legalistic version of a witch hunt (over the prohibition of LGBT clergy and LGBT weddings). <br><br><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_15711"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><br><br><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_16224"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>Once again electing an 'offensive' bishop (among many other intentionally 'offensive' and rebellious violations of denominational polity) has pushed this church to the brink of another schism.<br><br><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_14918"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><br><br><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_16223"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>At this very moment the CoB is meeting in Executive Session to offer feedback on an interim report from their <a href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/Website_Properties/news-media/press-center/documents/COWF_July_2017_Report_Final.pdf" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_7222">Commission on a Way Forward</a> on how to find 'a way forward' that would deconstruct/restructure the global denomination's polity as a post-denominational reality--some kind of Wesleyan global association of church bodies that would embrace the reality of regional diversity in cultural context. (For example, <a href="http://ibrarian.net/navon/paper/AN_AFRICAN_PERSPECTIVE_ON_POLYGAMY_IN_THE_UNITED_.pdf?paperid=17744381" target="_blank" id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_16768">polygamy</a> is a huge issue among African Methodist clergy.) <br><br><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_15294"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><br><br><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_16476"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>At least that's our hope and prayer: that a new, less restrictive and more permissive rule book will be adopted in the 2019 special session of the UM General Conference--where the shit will REALLY hit the Methodist fan over the determination of a rabid few <a href="https://wesleyancovenant.org/2017/07/12/our-hope-for-the-way-forward/" target="_blank">alt-right/conservative</a> US delegates plus the entire African contingent to 'hold the line' against the evil of homosexuality, etc. and force a schism.<br><br><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_15713"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><br><br><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_16475"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>For those of you who are still with me, this moment has a LOT to do with <a href="https://www.bu.edu/sth/2010/01/13/bishop-james-k-mathews-sth-%E2%80%9938-honored-for-life%E2%80%99s-work/" target="_blank" id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_17058">the Mathews brothers</a>!<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_17133"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_17188"><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510074133052_58747"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>Our beloved late <a href="http://www.umc.org/news-and-media/bishop-mathews-ardent-missionary-dies" target="_blank" id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510074133052_59459">'Bishop Jim' Mathews</a> was a Methodist missionary in India and mission executive before his election. He and 'Brother Joe' had a practical global vision of the church as mission. An outcome of traditional missionary work in the developing world was the establishment of Methodist Central Conferences. Methodist work in India evolved into an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methodist_Church_in_India" target="_blank" id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510074133052_58110">autonomous Methodist Church</a>, but in the Philippines and Africa, Methodist work remained under the global structure of the UMC.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510074133052_58216"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510074133052_58253"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>Now United Methodists in the USA who are pressing for change are confronting the results of a century of work by conservative missionaries in the developing world. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510074133052_58643"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510074133052_58690"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>By not spinning off regional Methodist affiliates in Africa and the Philippines and elsewhere, we must now deal with the <i id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510074133052_59458">unanticipated consequences</i> of creating a global denomination that is resistant to cultural change, largely because its fastest-growing segment is in Africa, which has increasing numerical weight among delegates voting at the General Conference.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510074133052_58731"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510074133052_59019"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>So our beloved late Bishop Jim--who was revered among UM Bishops as their 'first among equals'--was (and is) simultaneously a giant symbolic figure representing the best of traditional Methodist missionary work <b id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510074133052_59400">and</b> the presence of the Transestablishment in their midst: always pointing beyond Methodist institutional reductionism to call into being a more faithful global response to divine activity in our midst.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510074133052_59230"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510074133052_58804"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>Which brings me to the present moment and the CoB meeting. And to the voice of Joe Mathews--still ringing in my ears.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510074133052_59373"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510074133052_59952"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>Joe would say--and I'm sure did say--that there are kairotic moments when the invisible becomes visible. And that the role of the transestablishment is to honor the historical church, to both guard and challenge its self-understanding, including its perversions, and to pioneer and model a way forward to be the radical people in mission we are all called to be.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510074133052_60263"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510074133052_60174"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>I am very sadly aware that Bishop Karen has become a <a href="https://juicyecumenism.com/2016/07/16/karen-olivetos-theology-criticizing-jesus-defending-demon-possession/" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_9339">demonized</a>, heretical <a href="https://juicyecumenism.com/2017/09/15/lesbian-bishop-oliveto-warns-not-create-idol-jesus-says-bigotries-prejudices-updated/" target="_blank" id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510074133052_62217">cartoon character</a> within the conservative United Methodist wing, and has received a ton of hate mail and even death threats.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_9345"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_9408"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>So, realizing that she is personally <i id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_31798">unknown</i> in the SEJ, and that she would <i>never</i> be invited to speak/preach/teach here, I decided to invite her to meet with a group of UM clergy/laity for a conversation last Saturday on their ministries with LGBT people and the future of the church. As one of the very few around here who has known Karen for a quarter century, I was in a position to make this happen with the active collaboration of many allies.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_9864"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_9865"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>Of course the question of who in the hierarchy would authorize this meeting in 'hostile territory' was paramount. So, indirectly mobilizing whatever clout I had, I got a bishop to call another bishop (who had the authority to give permission), and we got the go-ahead to have a 'private' meeting with invited guests.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_10221"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_12016"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>This time around, unlike <a href="https://cmpage.org/documents/junaluska_report.htm" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_12157">Hearts on Fire</a> at the Lake in 2005, the <a href="http://jacksonville.com/apnews/stories/090205/D8CBNHH08.shtml">KKK</a> was not alerted!<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_12165"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_12783"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>Bottom line: 43 people signed up, some driving from as far as Charlotte, Winston-Salem, and Burlington, to spend less than 90 minutes in conversation with Bishop Karen. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_31225"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_31326"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>Including a total of three bishops (one of whom is a PLC grad from long ago--remember those?). And two clergy from an urban church that dared to host a gay wedding. And one clergy from a startup congregation that's <i>half</i> LGBT.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_12956"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_13207"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>In the midst of the realities of our life in the UMC, there was an atmosphere of personal vulnerability, sharing of individual stories and group wisdom, and hope. People could connect with Bishop Karen's spiritual leadership and care for the whole church.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_13409"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_13410"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>And, like a tiny mustard seed in the hearts of a few, that depth of transformative experience, we trust, will percolate throughout the SEJ.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_12216"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_13675"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>I make no apologies for the length of this witness!<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_13676"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_13705"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>Because context is everything. And you need to 'get' the context to understand the meaning of "the invisible becomes visible."<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_13798"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_14176"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>To set a context for the meeting I did a brief ritual on <b>brokenness and expenditure</b> with Mary Z. Longknight. There were audible gasps as I carefully and slowly tore the three rounds of flatbread and Mary Z. announced:<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><blockquote style='margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt' id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_16195"><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_16120"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='color:black'>We stand before the Word about the way life is and declare that our life is about <b>brokenness</b>, period. That <b>the world</b> we live in is just broken. That <b>our nation</b> is deeply polarized. And that <b>our church body</b> is deeply fragmented. The Word of Life is that when we dare to take our brokenness deeply into ourselves and feast on it for the sake of all beings, we are sustained in being. And we can share that sustenance with our neighbor.</span><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></div></blockquote><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_14515"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>At the meeting's close I had the opportunity to share the following word with the three bishops, the clergy, and the laity present. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_18069"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_17934"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>I asked them to take home and consciously 'plant' the seed of what happened today, using the image of the tiny mustard seed planted in the SEJ.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_18571"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_18867"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>And, using the game of chess as a metaphor of how bishops move <i>diagonally</i>, I invited all of us to pray that our bishops move toward <b id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_18896">convergence</b> instead of <b>divergence</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_17877"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_17847"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>And I said that <b id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_17848">now is the time to guard our episcopacy</b>. And to support our bishops (even those with whom we seriously disagree). So that they can take on their new role as change agents and lead United Methodism into its new reality. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_18899"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_18898"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>And then I said: Mark my words! As soon as a new plan for reorganization is made public, the Council of Bishops will be attacked.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_16770"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_18279"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>That was the best I could do to embody the presence of the transestablishment. And to speak to the historical church by calling our bishops to embody a new reality of united episcopal leadership.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_19081"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_19248"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>But I did join the entire Council in their Memorial Service on Sunday. I sang hymns from the back row behind a group of African bishops. One of whom may have been <a href="http://www.umc.org/news-and-media/bishops-face-penalties-for-auditing-issues" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_19832">Bishop Wandabula</a>, who was <a href="https://um-insight.net/in-the-church/umc-global-nature/latest-developments-in-umc-episcopal-accountability/" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_21775">sanctioned</a> for misusing .75 million bucks in church funds. And accused of retaliating against his accusers. (I don't know how this was resolved.)<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_21990"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_21991"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>But while I was aware that I don't share their perspectives on Biblical interpretation, church law, and fiscal accountability, I was <b>so grateful</b> to know that they are there, doing ministry to the best of their ability.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_21784"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_21995"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>One of the Order's essential life understandings is that wherever we go, we will leave! And leave behind a core of local leadership who are trained, equipped, contextualized, and enabled to to their work in collaboration with their global colleagues--but without hierarchical control/supervision. Leaving lots of room to embody and grow local integrity. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_18540"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>So here is the bottom line of my witness: the Order:Ecumenical is still alive and well and becoming visible when and where it needs to be a witness. Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_14353"><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_14354"><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_16039"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_15023"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>Marshall<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_14332"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_16040"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>P.S. I couldn't resist adding that my memory is that Bob Fishel--ever the revolutionary oddball with that ironic, solemn, quirky Fishel expression--liked to pick up an entire plastic pitcher of water and just dump the whole thing out on the floor at the closing meal in RS-1. And people would gasp in shock! But he got across the image of just how radical expenditure really is.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_16087"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_15229"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>BTW the Fishels are still alive and well and hosted me in Franklin, NC during the Total Eclipse last August.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_14245"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_7271"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_7359"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510074133052_59793"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510074133052_59792"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510074133052_59374"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510074133052_59024"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_16865"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><br><br><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_16758"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><br><br><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_15753"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><br><br><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_15832"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><br><br><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_15330"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><br><br><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_12663"><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:.25in;background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></div></div></div><div id=yiv3576063812yqt26446><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_7037"><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_12580"><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_12579"><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_12662"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>On Saturday, November 4, 2017 5:37 PM, H. A. Tillinghast <<a href="mailto:rev.bud@mac.com">rev.bud@mac.com</a>> wrote:</span><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_12578"><div id=yiv3576063812><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_12577"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>I will not be able to participate, but I am most pleased about this honouring of my friend Bishop Karen. Bless you for doing this. I’m sure that Joe, brother of a Methodist bishop, would be in the midst of this with his “Amen".<o:p></o:p></span></p><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_12576"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_12586"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>Bud Tillinghast<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_12587"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_12592"><blockquote style='margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt'><div id=yiv3576063812yqt76663><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_9651"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>On 2 Nov 2017, at 7:44 pm, W. J. via OE <<a href="mailto:oe@lists.wedgeblade.net" target="_blank" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_9650">oe@lists.wedgeblade.net</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_12590"><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_12589"><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510064881158_12588"><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509650708615_8899"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span class=yiv3576063812><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>Mary Z., Marcia, and I (among others) are hosting a gathering at Lake Junaluska to honor Bishop Karen Oliveto and her wife Robin Ridenour at the beginning of the United Methodist Council of Bishops meeting.</span></span><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509650708615_9177"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span class=yiv3576063812><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>It is in the new Welcome Center next to the building where Order members gathered for the Springboard conference a decade ago.</span></span><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509650708615_8958"><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509650708615_9359"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509650708615_9377"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>Here is the ritual that will open the meeting:<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509650708615_9379"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>Props:</span></b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>_______________________________________________<br>OE mailing list<br><a href="mailto:OE@lists.wedgeblade.net" target="_blank" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1510085507559_26350">OE@lists.wedgeblade.net</a><br><a href="http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net">http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></blockquote></div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></div></div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509650708615_9364"><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509650708615_9363"><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509650708615_9362"><div id=yiv3576063812><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509650708615_9361"><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509650708615_9360"><ul type=disc><li class=MsoNormal style='color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l5 level1 lfo1;background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt'>large black plate (with 'shalom' in 3 languages).<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoNormal style='color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l5 level1 lfo1;background:white' id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509618474865_32419"><span style='font-size:18.0pt'>3 large round pieces of flatbread, rolled up on the plate<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoNormal style='color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l5 level1 lfo1;background:white' id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509618474865_32422"><span style='font-size:18.0pt'>large clear glass pitcher filled with water<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoNormal style='color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l5 level1 lfo1;background:white' id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509618474865_32423"><span style='font-size:18.0pt'>large clear glass cup [= chalice]<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoNormal style='color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l5 level1 lfo1;background:white' id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509618474865_32417"><span style='font-size:18.0pt'>large serving tray holding the above<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509618474865_33375"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>Actions:</span></b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><ul type=disc id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509618474865_32450"><li class=MsoNormal style='color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l3 level1 lfo2;background:white' id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509618474865_32451"><span style='font-size:18.0pt'>celebrant unrolls, elevates, and tears each piece of round bread in two, one at a time [* + ** + ***]<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoNormal style='color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l3 level1 lfo2;background:white' id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509618474865_32451"><span style='font-size:18.0pt'>celebrant tears off a tiny piece of bread and eats it<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoNormal style='color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l3 level1 lfo2;background:white' id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509618474865_32449"><span style='font-size:18.0pt'>celebrant pours water from the pitcher into the cup, intentionally letting it "run over" until it spills out onto the tray (without wetting the black tablecloth!)<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoNormal style='color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l3 level1 lfo2;background:white' id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509618474865_32449"><span style='font-size:18.0pt'>celebrant takes a sip of water<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoNormal style='color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l3 level1 lfo2;background:white' id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509618474865_32449"><span style='font-size:18.0pt'>celebrants distribute the 6 torn pieces of bread among the group to be passed and shared (as desired)<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509618474865_32480"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>Words </span></b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>(ad libbed)<b id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509618474865_33037">:</b><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509618474865_32685"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>(while breaking the bread)<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><ul type=disc id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509618474865_33201"><li class=MsoNormal style='color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3;background:white' id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509618474865_33200"><span style='font-size:18.0pt'>We stand before the Word about the way life is and declare that our life is about brokenness, period. That the world we live in is just broken.* That our nation is deeply polarized.** And that our church body is deeply fragmented.*** The Word of Life is that when we dare to take our brokenness deeply into ourselves [eats bread] and feast on it for the sake of all beings, we are sustained in being.<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509618474865_32815"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>(while pouring the water)<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><ul type=disc id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509618474865_33271"><li class=MsoNormal style='color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo4;background:white' id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509618474865_33270"><span style='font-size:18.0pt'>We stand before the Word about the way life is and declare that our life is about expenditure, period. That we can't hide from the truth that our being is just poured out so that all may have life abundant. The Word of Life is that when we dare to expend our lives to serve a human world, our cup of life runs over. And we are sustained in being [sips water]. <o:p></o:p></span></li></ul><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509618474865_33150"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>(while offering the bread) <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><ul type=disc id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509618474865_33288"><li class=MsoNormal style='color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo5;background:white' id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509618474865_33287"><span style='font-size:18.0pt'>Bread for the journey!<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul><ul type=disc id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509618474865_33303"><li class=MsoNormal style='color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l4 level1 lfo6;background:white' id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509618474865_33302"><span style='font-size:18.0pt'>Amen. Amin. Ameyn.<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509618474865_33112"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>**********************<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509618474865_33186"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>Let me know your thoughts.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yiv3576063812yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1509618474865_33296"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:black'>Marshall<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div></div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>