Fairlington UMC Reconciling Ministry Accomplishments Over 5 Years:

February 2013 to February 2018


2013

February 10 FUMC votes to become a Reconciling Congregation.


March 11 Permanent Reconciling Ministry Team meets for first time.


May Reconciling page on the FUMC web site goes live.


June 8 & 9 FUMC members march with other DC Metro area Reconciling United Methodists in our first DC Capital Pride Parade; also help staff Reconciling United Methodist table at the Pride exhibition.


September 1 FUMC staffs hospitality desk at national Reconciling Ministry Network Convocation at

4-H Conference Center in Chevy Chase, Maryland

September 15 Educational event on how faith communities can welcome and support those living with mental health and substance abuse illnesses; speakers were representatives from Alexandria and Arlington mental health departments.


2014


January 26 15 members attend Foundry UMC to support the Rev. Frank Schaefer, who at this point had been

defrocked as of 11/2016 for officiating at the wedding of his gay son.


February 10 First Reconciling Anniversary Sunday held with the theme “Love Spoken Here;” speakers are Beth Strausser, Karl Mercer, and Stacia Keel.


February/March FUMC members write over 100 letters to Virginia and other UMC Bishops across the country urging them to stop putting pastors on trial who perform same-sex weddings and seek to make the church more inclusive of LGBT sisters and brothers.At request of Council, Reconciling Ministry Team prepares Frequently Asked Question list on how United Methodist church trials work.


Spring/Summer Reconciling Ministry Team is key advocate in creating a wheelchair accessible space in the sanctuary


June 7 FUMC members march with other DC Metro area Reconciling United Methodists in the DC Capital Pride Parade


September 17 FUMC hosts and the Reconciling Ministry chair presents an overview of our church’s reconciling discernment process to a group of Northern Virginia interfaith clergy at a People of Faith for Equality in Virginia event


September 28 Educational event, co-sponsored by the FUMC Reconciling Ministry Team and United Methodist Women, on extending Christian hospitality to people of different cultures and ethnicities; Rev. Eduardo Carrillo, Associate Pastor at Annandale UMC, was the speaker


October 17 FUMC helps sponsor a benefit concert for the Reconciling Ministry Network (Catching Fire: A Concert for Inclusion and Equality) at Metropolitan Memorial UMC in Washington, DC; guests include the Rev. Frank Schaefer and RMN Director Matthew Berryman


November 22 Bishop Cho hosts “A Day of Holy Conversation on Sexuality in the United Methodist Church” 

in the Virginia Conference


2015


February 15 Second Reconciling Anniversary Sunday held with the theme “Created in God’s Image;” 

preacher is the Rev. Steve Clunn.


June 13 FUMC members march with other DC Metro Area Reconciling United Methodists in the DC Capital Pride Parade


June Over 50 FUMC members join other United Methodists across the Virginia Annual Conference in signing on to an Annual Conference Resolution supporting removal the clause from the church’s Social Principles that states homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. Ultimately, the resolution passes 52% to 46% (out of 1,897 votes) at Annual Conference and is submitted for consideration by the 2016 General Conference


July Plaque with FUMC’s reconciling statement is hung in the church narthex

September FUMC raises $1,300 to support the production of a documentary, “An Act of Love,” an accounting of Rev. Frank Schaefer’s story of being defrocked for officiating at the same sex wedding for his gay son


2016


February 7 Third Reconciling Anniversary Sunday held with the theme “At the Bar;” preacher is former FUMC pastor, the Rev. Drema McAllister Wilson. Barbara Keyser and Mary Kehoe present a permanent FUMC reconciling banner.


April 9: FUMC hosts Dennis Akpona, of the Reconciling Ministries Network, to discuss LGBT Repression in Africa, including a personal account of his own experience as a gay man in Nigeria, the difficulty of obtaining asylum status in America, and RMN efforts to make the United Methodist church more inclusive in that continent. 40 Reconciling United Methodists from across Northern Virginia attend.


April 24 FUMC and Mt. Olivet UMC co-host a screening of the documentary, “An Act of Love,” the award-winning, inspiring story about the Rev. Frank Schaefer and other Methodist pastors those who have fought for LGBTQ inclusion in the United Methodist Church. 115 people from across Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC attend.


April FUMC changes its short welcoming statement that appears in the bulletin to specifically name marginalized groups, as found in our full welcoming statement, that are often excluded from full inclusion in the life of United Methodist Church.


June 11 FUMC members march with other DC Metro Area Reconciling United Methodists in the DC Capital Pride Parade

Summer The Reconciling Ministry Team launches a congregational survey to help in planning activities and outreach specifically targeting LGBT individuals and their parents, families, and friends.


November 6 Educational event on “A Dialogue – Christian Faith and Gender Identity;” Raymond Eck, representing Equality Virginia's Transgender Advocacy Speaker's Bureau, shares his personal story and journey as a transgender person.


2017


January 15 Reconciling Ministry hosts its first Conversation on Race with a small group in the parlor.


February 7 Fourth Reconciling Anniversary Sunday held with the theme “We Are One;” preacher is the Rev. Dr. David McAllister Wilson, President of Wesley Theological Seminary.


February 12 FUMC members participate with over 60 Virginia Reconciling United Methodists in a conversation with Bishop Sharma Lewis about reconciling issues in and the future of the United Methodist Church.


May The Reconciling Ministry Team raises $1,000 to support Casa Ruby and the Wanda Alston House, local organizations that support LGTBQ homeless youth in the DC Metro area.


June 10 FUMC members march with other DC Metro area Reconciling United Methodists in the DC Capital Pride Parade.


July 16 A movie and pizza night is held in the Fellowship Hall to show the documentary film, “An Act of Love”

July 26 Reconciling Ministry hosts its second Conversation on Race, using a

UMC Commission on Religion and Race video as a guide.


August 13 Reconciling Ministry hosts its third Conversation on Race, the day after the Charlottesville white supremacist march. FUMC members who were in Charlottesville to peacefully respond to the white supremacist marchers, shared their experiences, and others could share their feelings and reactions.


November 18 FUMC hosted a group of Northern Virginia Reconciling United Methodists, the first meeting to establish ongoing collaboration and connections among reconciling Methodists across Northern Virginia.


2018


February 4 Fifth Reconciling Anniversary Sunday held with the theme “Love in All Colors.”


2019

LETTER WRITING CAMPAIGN TO VIRGINIA DELEGATION TO THE UMC 2019 GENERAL CONFERENCE


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