Finding our way

Questions and conflict about homosexual practice and the church abound. We encounter media reports of same-gender unions and clergy trials. This leads to talk in congregations and district preachers' meetings; in the hallways at district, conference, and general church gatherings; and in the deliberations of the Council of Bishops where we hear prayers, questions, and outpourings of conviction or anguish. We observe the United Methodist Church grappling with issues of importance that divide and confound us. We hunger for our church to engage hard questions with rigorous thinking and deep prayer and in a spirit of generosity, gracefulness, and mutual respect. This book could change the nature of the conversation. It encourages frank and constructive dialogue that will help us conference together and open ourselves to God's guidance. We seek faithful, fair, just, and loving resolution to issues that challenge our faith community. Finding Our Way: Love and Law in the United Methodist Church is authored by eight United Methodist bishops. These writers enunciate and clarify pathways that represent the faithful, responsible, and constructive ways forward. Each bishop articulates a view to move us through current conflict about homosexual practice, same-gender unions, qualifications for ordination, and church governance. (Publisher).