Vote on Reconciling Ministries June 11

After several months of conversations, presentations, writing, prayer, and polls, Two Rivers United Methodist Church is ready to decide if it will become a Reconciling Ministries Congregation, and if it will approve both the RMN welcome statement and the unique Two Rivers Church Welcome Statement.

There will be a congregational vote on Sunday, June 11 at 11:00 a.m. in Epworth Hall. If the vote approves joining RMN, there will be special Reconciling Sunday worship on June 25. People can vote by coming to the meeting on the 11th of June or by mailing in their ballots. Everyone who considers Two Rivers UMC their church home may vote. Youth who are able to have a reasonable conversation about LGBTQ+ inclusion with their parents are also eligible to vote.

Balots were included in the June edition of the Compass Newsletter. These were hand-numbered ballots with numbers that correspond to households. This will make the ballots anonymous unless there is a felt need to investigate the voting further. This will help ensure that there are not double ballots mailed in and that people in attendance at the June 11th meeting will not also mail in a ballot.

Joining the Reconciling Ministries Network would not alter the church’s relationship with the United Methodist Church. RMN is a network churches, congregations, small groups, classes, and individuals who believe in the full inclusion and affirmation of LGBTQ+ people and are dedicated to working toward a more inclusive denomination. Click here to learn more about RMN.

Straw poll regarding LGBTQ+inclusion

After months of conversations, presentations, prayer, and writing workshops, the series of Reconciling Conversations have culminated in three proposals: to approve the Reconciling Ministries Network welcome statement, to join the Reconciling Ministries Network, and to approve the unique Two Rivers Church Welcome Statement.

Before an official decision is made, a straw poll has been created to gauge the thoughts of the congregation. The straw poll has been concluded. The results were nearly overwhelmingly positive in wanting to approve the welcome statements and join RMN.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are we leaving the United Methodist Church?

In a word, no. Drafting and approving a statement of welcome is not an act of disaffiliation. Defiance, perhaps, but we will remain a part of the Illinois Great Rivers Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. At this time, no one has proposed that Two Rivers Church should disaffiliate from the UMC. There are churches in our conference that are leaving the UMC. Most are leaving because they feel that the UMC is too tolerant of LGBTQ+ inclusion.

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