I am not Methodist. I know bits and pieces of the history of the UMC but I would never dare to speak on it because I don’t know near enough. I am not a clergy person and I don’t have a mantle full of theology degrees to boast.

I’m a lay person. I grew up Southern Baptist. The SBC believes in Local Church Autonomy which has it’s pros and cons. Pros being I get to proudly state that my church isn’t “that” kind of Southern Baptist Church, and my dad, a pastor, isn’t “that” kind of Southern Baptist pastor. I’ll save the long cons list for another day.

I fell out of love with the Southern Baptist Convention when I was in high school. Despite the ongoing support of my father, it didn’t take long to realize that due to changes made to the Baptist Faith and Message, my hopes to become a young female pastor were snuffed out by my Sophomore year of high school. 

I spent a lot of time being angry that because of my gender I wasn’t seen as capable of leading anything more than a women’s bible study or a kids ministry. I read books about all different theologies trying to find where I could fit, trying to find a voice in the world of Theology that I love so much. 

I didn’t know much about ya’ll methodists until I surprised my dad with a trip to meet his friends from the Crackers and Grape Juice Podcast over a year ago. Since then I’ve dipped my toes ever so lightly into the Methodist pool and I must say the water is nice. 

Don’t get me wrong, I know enough about denominational structures to know every tradition has it’s woes, it’s faults. But I have to say going from seeing no female pastors to not only seeing but getting to know female clergy in your denomination has given me hope. It’s sparked that fire I once had for ministry. It has reinvigorated my love for theology and discussion. Seeing women lead puts a pep in my step that I just can’t get rid of. 

As a lay person I see what’s at stake with the looming General Conference from a different perspective than what clergy may see it through. If you’re a lay person, you may see it too. Despite the denominational divide, we both have committees full of delegates deciding things for us. Things that can exclude us and leave us feeling isolated, unseen, and unheard. Things that are opposing to the good news of the gospel itself. What they sometimes neglect to see is that a majority of the time, we lay people care less about statements of belief and more about sharing the good news of the gospel. To remind people less about their apparent wrong doings but that despite it all they are included. They are welcome. They are seen. They are heard.

On Saturday I’ll make the nearly eight hour drive from my home in Oklahoma to St. Louis for General Conference. I’m going because I want to see for myself what this looks like. I’m going with a hopeful heart that the laypeople aren’t forgotten in this conversation, that the politics of voting for things that aren’t central concepts of the gospel won’t blind your leaders. 

Be praying for the Crackers and Grape Juice team, that we truly are able to give you honest coverage without using stained glass language.