Sunday School Teacher Appreciation Breakfast

Click here to view photos from the annual Sunday School Teacher Appreciation Breakfast (Sunday, May 18, 2008). Thank you to all of our spectacular Sunday School teachers from the 2007/08 season: Kristi, Julie, Barbara, Sandy, Chelsea, Billy, Sandy, Joel, Dawn, & Wendy!

Plant Sale photos

Click here to view photos from the first annual CCUM Plant Sale!

Reconciling Sunday photos

Click here to view photos from Reconciling Sunday ("view as slideshow" is recommended!) This year we celebrated the 2nd Anniversary of becoming a Reconciling congregation on May 4, 2008, with special music from our guests, the Denver Gay Men's Chorus.

May Newsletter

The May 2008 edition of the print Christ Church Connections newsletter is available to download (.pdf format) in the brand new, updated Newsletter Archive. Please note that the Newsletter Archive can now be found at its new address on the Christ Church website!

Adobe Reader is required to open documents in .pdf format -- if your computer does not already have the program installed, you can download it for free here.

Fort Worth Roller Coaster

by Troy Plummer
Executive Director
Reconciling Ministries Network

I actually love roller coasters -- ups, downs, turns, surprising drops, surprising loops. With a bit of inner ear nausea, I'm still processing what it all means. While I'm not clear yet, I would like to share briefly with you some information. Unlike previous General Conferences (GC), where there was a direct downward spiral legislatively on LGBTQ inclusion, this Fort Worth's Future With Hope was mixed.

• GC kept the original basic membership language that was misinterpreted in JC #1032 (49%-51%), but strengthened open transfers of membership and later by a 2/3rds vote replaced a "list" to include with the words "ministry to all" in the UM Constitution section on Inclusivity.
• GC maintained "the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching" (45%-55%) while it added "loving caregivers" and "same-sex couples with children" to the definition of family.
• GC kept a funding ban on "promoting homosexuality" but stressed that it could not be used to "reject or condemn lesbian and gay members and friends" and further passed anti-homophobia, anti-heterosexism pieces that mandated providing resources to educate and reduce harm.
• Finally, GC gave us two peaks to celebrate: 1) the election of moderates to the Judicial Council who hopefully can tell the difference between "may" and "shall" in the eligibility section for membership and 2) the refusal to discriminate against transgender persons -- lay or clergy.
  

What smoothed the ride out on this roller coaster was the consistent spirit presence of the One Family Tree witness from the Parent's lunch, Young Adult drumming and rally, Reconciling Worship at First UMC, Good Friday "die in" and "Were You There?" floor witness, to the Easter hope wedding of Sue Laurie and Julie Bruno. We started with family and ended with family. We can't create One Family Tree by human means alone, but God can with and through us. Remembering our long-haul mission, planning for 2012 in Florida has already begun.