Family Meeting

I’m calling a Family Meeting. This meeting is for the Hicks Family. We are going to meet on Tuesday, November 13th at 7pm in the sanctuary to discuss recent developments in the United Methodist Church pertaining to the Commission on the Way Forward and its proposal for the Special Session of General Conference this February.

It’s important for us as a church to be informed about what is happening in our denomination and how it may affect us at Hicks. I have written about some of these things in the past year (see here) and have tried to provide some context and background on the specific issues of sexuality and gender facing the church. I won’t reproduce all that now. At our meeting in November we will present brief sketches of the One Church Plan that is being recommended by a majority in the Council of Bishops; the Connectional Conference Plan; and the Traditional Plan.

We will do our best to present the relevant information and implications of each plan. We will then provide ample time for questions and discussion among us.

You don’t have to wait for our meeting to become more informed about what is at stake. If you go to our Conference website,

susumc.org, and click on the icon for A Way Forward in Christian Unity, you can read the full text of the Commission report (very lengthy) and you can read a summary of the report (more helpful) by Dr. Tom Salsgiver, a member of our annual conference and a member of the Commission.

I hope you will avail yourself of this opportunity to come to this discussion in our church. You don’t have to be an official member to participate. If you care about Hicks and you care about people, then this is for you. Lastly, please pray for the Church and what God desires of us in these times. I covet your prayers as the pastor of this church. Pray for me as I seek to lead in wisdom and in step with the Holy Spirit.

See you in worship,

Rich Morris, pastor