Welcome!

If you are receiving this “e-blast,” you are a member of the North Georgia Annual Conference of the UM Church, and you likely have some connection with the Wesleyan Covenant Association. We expect this to be the first of many emails you’ll receive, all designed to keep you better informed about the processes at work among United Methodists in north Georgia seeking a reasonable pathway out of our current crisis. We hope you’ll find this communication to be a grace, and we encourage you to invite others to sign up to receive this weekly email. 

Where do we begin? 

We recognize there is a lot going on in our conference and a lot to be concerned about. But before we get to all that, let’s begin with prayer. I invite you to a growing group of folks in the North Georgia Annual Conference and beyond who are praying and fasting in this tense season. Hundreds have joined in this effort (including folks from beyond our conference), each taking one day per week so that our conference is being covered 24/7. 

If you are ready to become part of this prayer and fasting network, you can sign up HERE.

When you sign up, you become part of God’s answer to our present impasse as you pray for a breakthrough of grace, and for an opportunity for holy conferencing. There are no “rules” for this initiative, but we make several assumptions. 

• We believe in prayer, and trust God to move. 
• We will keep our appointment with God so he can use our prayers to move as he wills. 
• We will be all in for this call to pray and fast. If health does not allow you to fast from food, we assume you will find a meaningful way to free up time and sacrifice comforts for the sake of the cause.

God uses people to accomplish his purposes, and right now, I believe God wants to use us specifically as we humble ourselves before him and pray. As Jesus said, “Some things only come out by prayer and fasting.” Join us in prayer and become part of the solution. 

These are the prayer points we are engaging in daily this week: 

1. For pastors and laity in some Annual Conferences, these are deeply discouraging and challenging days. For others, these are days of hope as processes move forward. But for anyone on any side of the UMC debate, this is likely a time to mourn what we are losing and what we have failed to do for one another. Remember the call of Jeremiah to a hurting community (see below). Using that call as your inspiration, seek the Lord’s forgiveness. Examine your own heart. Test your own motives. Give yourself some time to openly, and honestly confess your own sin before you seek his direction.

“Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord. Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven and say, ‘We have sinned and rebelled…’” (Lamentations 3:40-42).

2. As you confess, continue to press the Lord for release from any anger, resentment or bitterness. Ask the Lord to remove a heart at war, if you have one, and replace it with a heart at peace.

“Lord, I know my heart has been at war with some people. I might not talk like it, but I know. Forgive me.”

3. Pray that in this season, churches and pastors will live out our Methodist inheritance of connection more deeply — reaching out to one another in love and support, even across theological lines. Refuse the temptation to berate colleagues with whom you have no relationship. 

"Lord, what does it mean for me to bear others’ burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ? Give me that grace, Father, so I can constructively work to release tension, create peace, and care for souls."

4. Somewhere, somehow, long before this current moment, our system became sadly corrupt. The level of distrust is shockingly high in our tribe. There is little trust — even of or among leaders — and the politics of our denomination are thick. This is not healthy. Pray for cleansing of hearts and for a return to transparency and honesty among brothers and sisters. Pray that both United Methodists and Global Methodists will rediscover humility and honesty in all our dealings.

“Father, I have issues with needing to be right … with holding resentments … with rationalizing so completely that I’m no longer anywhere near the truth. Heal me and give me the grace of peace.”

5. Pray against the spirit of offense that so often accompanies distrust in relationships. Pray that the enemy’s attempts to stir up offense, bitterness, retribution, anxiety, unholy anger, and unholy competition would be defeated. Especially pray against that unholy desire to “win,” whatever the cost.

“Holy Spirit, I confess the tendency to sacrifice character for the cause. Forgive me for this, and strengthen my inmost being so that my internals match my externals in every circumstance."

6. Pray for church councils, pastors and staff leaders as they carry the anxiety of this sudden change of plan, and continue to work through their options. Pray for character that stands the test of pressure.

“Jesus, when I think about my tendency to act self-protectively, I begin to control things that aren’t mine to control. Forgive me, and give me the kind of character that acts consistently in good times and bad. Give me boldness when boldness is needed, and grace for things I don’t understand.”

Thank you for joining us in prayer and fasting. I trust that as we act faithfully, allowing God to shape our responses, we will discover that God himself will cut a path through the wilderness. 

-- The NGa WCA team.

P.S. — Yes, it is okay to share this email with others and to invite them to sign up to receive future emails! Forward this email to them. Watch for a second email coming soon with more information on how you can actively help.