Those who know me also know my hope that General Conference 2016 will reach a fair and comprehensive settlement of our differences and achieve amicable unity in The United Methodist Church for years to come. I have written a major proposal to that end that has received generous support from across the theological spectrum. However, I am also a realist. General Conference is famous for breaking the hearts of reformers. We may need to lace our shoes for a longer, more difficult path.
My dog-eared and diet-coke-stained copy of our Book of Discipline witnesses to the deep-dive I have made into our organizational covenant over the past months. This process has yielded a profound appreciation for the challenges faced by anyone seeking to bring accountability to an organization thus constituted.
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