“Can we not be better than this?”
Bickerton asked bishops not to respond in kind, not to be reactive, but to focus instead on what the next expression of United Methodism might look like.
“Has God not opened the door for us to walk into Methodism’s next expression? I do not doubt that,” he said. “But the real question is whether or not we will have the courage to walk through that open door.”
The Council of Bishops meeting runs through Friday. In addition to conversations about disaffiliation, bishops will discuss new bishop orientation for the first time in six years and how to respond to issues such as gun violence.
This article originally appeared here.
