Greetings, in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, whose resurrection we celebrate in this season of Easter, and who is our only hope and trust for the future.

It is with frustration and broken hearts that this collection of clergy and laity of the Central Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church write to voice our pain and grief for the ways in which you have grossly mischaracterized our faith, beliefs, and ministries for the purpose of winning individuals and churches to the Global Methodist Church. Dean, we feel that your communications and efforts have caused harm and we respectfully ask that you choose a different path.

Some of us have attempted to reach you to discuss these matters privately but have received no response, so we bring this matter before you as a body.

On April 18^th in your email titled, “Why I Choose to be Methodist,” you make the case that the “post separation UMC” will not believe:

· That Jesus is the Christ; our Messiah

· That Jesus is both fully human and fully divine

· That Jesus died for our sins

· That Jesus rose from the dead

This is preposterous and slanderous.

We steadfastly and adamantly affirm that Jesus Christ is our Savior, put our whole trust in his grace, and will continue to serve him as our Lord in union with the Church which Christ has opened to people of all ages, nations, and races.

You have name-called your colleagues. Labeled us as pluralists. This is false and inflammatory. You have broadcasted duplicitous, unsolicited communications to our church members who did not request them. Do these unsuspecting recipients of your emails not deserve a truly objective view of what the “future UMC” and the “future GMC” would be like? Our crystal ball isn’t so clear. We would love an opportunity and a forum to hypothesize together what our shared futures will be.

Through all of this, you have maintained your role, authority, influence, and paycheck as a United Methodist pastor even though it feels like you have the anger and attitude of one who would rather see the UMC in ruin.

Again, we implore you, please choose a different path.

What if, when this is behind us, we could still commune as colleagues, brothers, and sisters in the body of Christ?

What if, when this is behind us, we still believe that God’s Holy Spirit was alive and moving in and through our people and churches?

What if, when this is behind us, we still believe that God has plans for a shared purpose and better future for us all?

This is not about preventing a separation within the UMC. This is about choosing to love others as God has first loved us. Even though we may choose to part ways, we cannot live and serve this world as disciples of Jesus Christ, or bring any gift of worship or service to the glory of God, if first, we are not reconciled to one another (Mt 5:24).

To Dean, and to our brothers and sisters of the Wesleyan Covenant Association and the Global Methodist Church, we love you. We pray for you. We trust and hope in God’s promises for you. May we ask the same?

We grieve that this process of separation has not remained amicable in recent days. We are hurt by assertions and mischaracterizations of our faith, our beliefs, and our ministries. We are alarmed at the fabricated urgency with which this has caused anxiety in our churches. We believe that you have every right to pursue the formation of a new Methodist denomination. We recognize that this is painful for all of us and we do not desire any further harm.

May our journey through the coming days be a shared witness to the world of our love of God, our love of all of God’s children, and our hope in Christ who is our rock and our redeemer.

With love and peace,