CHURCH FUTURE

TO:  Members of First United Methodist Church of Pineville, Louisiana
FROM:  Mary Carroll, Council Chair
DATE:  February 8, 2023
  
You are receiving this letter as a member of First United Methodist Church of Pineville, Louisiana.  Because of the current deep conflict within The United Methodist Church around issues of human sexuality, a local church may have a limited right under paragraph 2553 of the Book of Discipline to disaffiliate. After receiving an initial report from the Future Church Committee, the Church Council voted to continue the discernment process.  Our goal is to complete an intentional discernment process in order to help the congregation make its decisions with due care for each other in a Christian atmosphere.  There will be multiple conversational meetings to help members of the congregation process this information and ask additional questions. The purpose of these meetings is to learn from one another and prayerfully seek God’s will.  The guideline of only speaking positively about one’s own thoughts and not speaking negatively about any others will be in place.
 
Small group conversational meetings will begin on Wednesday, February 15 at 10 am and 6 pm.  Additional meetings will be held during the Sunday School hour on February 19^th.  More meetings will be scheduled at dates and times to be determined based upon demand.
 
If you have questions for the leadership/discernment team, please email them to PFUMCfuture@gmail.com or drop off your written question at a drop box in the church administrative office.  Persons submitting questions will remain anonymous.  Your questions will be addressed at the group conversational meetings.  Please submit your questions as soon as possible as this process will aid in providing factual information to your questions.  Please do not call or email committee members or church staff because they have been instructed to keep information distribution flowing according to the discernment process that has been approved by the District Superintendent.
 
Resources to assist the congregation in their discernment process are located at:
https://www.la-umc.org/staying
http://www.pinevillefumc.org/
If you do not have internet access, please contact the church office at (318) 640-1050.
 
This discernment process is being facilitated by District Superintendent Rev. Karli Pidgeon.  She can be reached at 2727 Jackson Street, Alexandria, LA (318) 528-8797 or kpidgeon@la-umc.org
 
Words of encouragement and prayers for our congregation are appreciated.
  
Ephesians 4:32 - Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Please click HERE to view the Discernment Q & A.