Reason 4 that I am #ProudtoBeUMC and will #BeUMC going forward – of all the things scripture is clear about, one of the clearest is that we are called to follow God by faith, not fear.

Isaiah 43:1-2 – But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.

Fear looks at what might go wrong, faith envisions what is possible;
fear can only see what’s broken, faith sees healing in the scars;
fear longs for the comfort of what has always been, faith embraces the discomfort of the new thing God is doing;
fear requires simple solutions, faith instills patient endurance;
fear feeds anxiety, faith enables peace;
fear responds with control, faith is built on trust;
fear says what I do makes all the difference, faith reminds us that God has already done everything that changes anything.

I’d be lying to say that I’m not at all afraid of what comes next for the UMC. But the only reasons I would personally leave would be based on fear – fear that something might change, fear of losing control, fear that there wouldn’t be a church to go to next, fear that the institution is too far gone to be renewed.

Instead, I choose based on my faith that the best way I can serve is to be part of whatever new thing God does next through the United Methodist Church.