This year the members of annual conference joined together in Tigard.  The parish has Joy and Megan serving as our lay members. Jeff, Todd, Laura, and myself were there as clergy. I still count Jeff even though he is officially part of the Tigard community! During the 4 days of meetings we worshiped and legislated, reflected on the work of General Conference, and planned healing work of our own. We celebrated those clergy who have died in the past year, including my mama and one of her best friends, Peg.

One of the most impactful moments was a reading of an apology passed at General Conference to those who had experienced sexual harassment in the church. As an associate pastor in the 1980’s my mom was harassed by her senior pastor, and when she reported it to the District Superintendent she was not believed. In fact she was told that no one would want to harass her because of her weight! That DS did eventually apologize to her years later, which meant a lot. And I know this apology would have been meaningful to her as well as she carried the harm of that painful time with in her to the end of her life.

There was mush more healing work done at annual conference.We experienced a retiring gay clergy person who had to be closeted when he was ordained welcoming the new out gay clergy person who was ordained this year in a church who accepted him and the bishop invited us to write names of people who did not make it to this day of full inclusion on a stole, that we might honor all of them.

I am grateful for the healing work of our church and the hopeful new day ahead for us all.

-Eilidh

Participants of GCSRW’s Service of Lament, Confession, and Hope lit flameless candles in honor of victims and survivors of sexual misconduct within The United Methodist Church. Photo courtesy of Joscelyne Cutchens, 2024.

Apology from The United Methodist Church to the victims/survivors of sexual misconduct

INTRODUCTION

Sexual misconduct is a current and real problem within The United Methodist Church. Today, we acknowledge there are people here who have been mistreated, abused, and assaulted by clergy and lay leaders in the Church.

We honor those who have shared their stories and those who have sat with their stories in silence. We commend the courage of all survivors of sexual misconduct to walk a path they did not choose.

Too often those who suffer from sexual misconduct are silenced, ignored, or not believed by the Church.

Sexual misconduct includes psychological, emotional, and spiritual abuse. This apology is a beginning point for confession and hope in prevention and response to sexual misconduct in The United Methodist Church.

APOLOGY

The United Methodist Church apologizes for the times we allowed our desire to protect the Church to outweigh our desire to care for victims and survivors of sexual misconduct. We have allowed polity and protection of the institutional Church prevent us from holding persons accountable, thus perpetuating harm within our local churches and other ministry settings, and damaging the whole United Methodist connection.

We apologize for the times we have not listened to you, doubted your stories, ignored your wounds, and have not tended to your pain. We believe this has contributed to allowing an unsafe culture to exist.

An apology is worthless without a commitment to the challenging work which must follow. The United Methodist Church pledges to:

1. Apologize in every annual conference across the connection.
2. Educate Church leaders regarding sacred trust in ministerial relationships and power imbalance within those relationships.
3. Provide healing resources to all affected in accordance with ¶ 362. Complaint Procedures.
4. Develop a trauma-informed response to complaints of sexual misconduct.

This apology alone is insufficient for healing. The United Methodist Church accepts our responsibility and publicly states our commitment to carry out the steps named to do no more harm. May God’s blessing and never-ending love guide our work and see it through.