A Resolution Being Proposed in the Southern Conference

A RESOLUTION TO RENEW THE SPIRIT OF UNITY

   The 25^th General Synod of the United Church of Christ, to be held in Atlanta this summer, will entertain three separate resolutions on marriage. One seeks to open marriage to all, one seeks to define marriage as exclusively between one man and one woman, and the third asks for more study and discernment on the subject of marriage equality.

The Southern Conference is composed of individuals and congregations that feel passionately about each of these perspectives. Some would argue that it is appropriate for all three resolutions to be presented at this meeting of the Southern Conference for endorsement, although it would unquestionably open the door for the animosity to commence – for us to shout and argue and point and vote on each one, for us to draw our lines in the sand.

In truth, if the Southern Conference seeks endorsement of any of these resolutions, the spirit of bitterness and division among us will simply deepen. We will all lose. The Body of Christ will not be served, but severed. Rather than risk this, we should let it be known that we have had enough of such division … that we have had too much of such division … that we do not choose to lift up our voices to exclude others … that we choose instead to be united by voices lifted in prayer.

Therefore, in the spirit of unity, we, as the Southern Conference, do not endorse any of the resolutions dealing with marriage to be presented at General Synod 25. We encourage delegates, visitors, and our respective churches to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit on these dividing matters, that one day, “we may all be one." And we fervently pray that delegates to General Synod 25 will be empowered by nothing less than the Spirit of God to discern a way to hold all of us together.