Letter to the Editor: Clarion Ledger Style..

So, The Clarion Ledger, the newspaper for Jackson, Mississippi, and the state i think(?) had an article about Mississippi Annual Conference and the testimony of a Lesbian couple who had found a welcoming and affirming church in Madison. It sparked all sorts of controversy and now people are calling for Bishop Ward to leave. I call BULLCRAP! They are saying she went against the Discipline when she asked this couple to give their testimony, which she did not. So, to thank her for her radical hospitality, I decided to write a letter to the editor... It will probably not get published, but here it is and the link to the story...

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009906250347

Thank You Bishop Ward!
As a divinity student at Duke University, and as a certifitied candidate of the Mississippi Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, I would like to thank Bishop Ward for allowing Connie Campbell and Renee Sappington to share their story at Mississippi Annual Conference. I hear many people saying that Bishop Ward was going against our discipline, but in the way I interpret the discipline, she did not. If there would have been a same sex union or "god-forbid" and open and practicing homosexual being commissioned or ordained in our conference, then yes, that would be going against our discipline. Furthermore, I feel like opposition to these women's beautiful testimony of a their church's radical hospitality, comes from a deep fear of including those who are not like us into the church. It has always amazed me that we Christians hide behind scripture to cast out those who are not like us. Who needs forgiveness here? In a state that is the hospitality state, I feel like we as Mississippians and as Christians (Methodists included) fall short when it comes to issues surrounding Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered, and Queer persons. God, through the work of Christ, extends radical hospitality to us all, no matter what our status is. All means All. We, are to offer radical hospitality to others, even if they do not look like us, worship like us, love like us. This is radical hospitality. I know what scripture says about "homosexuality" but I also know what Jesus says about love and about neighbor. Jesus didn't qualify neighbor. Love your neighbor unless he or she is gay. That’s not how it works. Love means love and neighbor means neighbor. As Billy Graham once said, “It is the Holy Spirits job to convict, God’s job to judge, and my job to love.” If we could all have this attitude! Again, Thank you Bishop Ward for extending radical hospitality and love to a couple that often gets rocks thrown at them. Hopefully we United Methodists will follow your example, and open up our doors to the many we exclude!Grace and Peace, Justin White