A Reflection on the First Year of the EPA LGBTQIA+ Inclusion Task Force
On my way to Annual Conference this year, I stopped at an art supply store. I was running late, but on an impulse, I pulled into the parking lot and returned with a blank sketch book and a large set of markers— forty-eight colors from bold crimson and bright dandelion to soft sage green and cantaloupe.
I walked into the convention hall and found the table that had been set aside for the LGBTQIA+ Inclusion Task Force, for which I have served as a co-chair since our founding a year ago. As we came to the end of our inaugural year, we’d planned to have a strong, visible presence at Annual Conference. We laid out rainbow stickers, educational leaflets on the importance of inclusive language, and pronoun tags to add to name badges.
I opened the sketch book to the front page and wrote: “Messages of Love and Support to Queer and Trans Methodists across our United Methodist Connection.” I prayed over the book, wondering who, if anyone, would stop to write in it, and left it in God’s hands as conference participants began to arrive in earnest.
In 2024, the General Conference of the United Methodist Church voted to remove policies from the Book of Discipline that barred lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBTQIA+) individuals from participation in the full life of the church. This was a significant and sacred step in the movement for LGBTQIA+ inclusion and affirmation in the church, and it was by no means a stopping point.
The following year in 2025, the Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference voted to form the EPA LGBTQIA+ Inclusion Task Force. The vision for this Task Force grew out of an awareness that cultivating a culture of inclusion requires long-term relational work at all levels of the Annual Conference. Legislative changes alone cannot dismantle discriminatory systems, repent for past harm, repair relationships, or create a more inclusive church culture. That is work we all must do together in every place that the Spirit sends us— from Sunday worship and coffee hour to community outreach initiatives, confirmation class retreats, cabinet meetings, and beyond.
The Task Force seeks to support congregations, lay people, clergy, and conference staff as we respond to this call and live faithfully and fruitfully into God’s wide-open welcome for all people. I see the formation of the Task Force as a sign of the growing movement in our Annual Conference for justice, dignity, and inclusion for all of God’s children in the fullness of our diverse and intersecting identities. It has been an honor to serve as one of its inaugural co-chairs alongside Rev. Karen Bartowski.
Over this first year, we struggled to wrap our heads around the vastness of the work before us, so we kept our goals simple. We focused on building relationships and understanding the history of the movement for LGBTQIA+ inclusion in EPA. We invited new people to join the Task Force to help ensure our team faithfully represented diverse identities and experiences. We discussed ideas for future monitoring procedures at Annual Conference to account for LGBTQIA+ identities. We were also determined to have a strong presence at this year’s Annual Conference, where we hoped to communicate clear solidarity and support to queer beloveds and allies in a space that has at times been difficult to be in.
I was frequently away from our vendor table over the three days of Annual Conference, and every time I returned new messages had appeared in the sketch book—messages of solidarity and celebration, messages filled with faithfulness, affirmation, and joy. A few messages compassionately acknowledged the past and ongoing harm that queer siblings in Christ have faced in the church, as well as the important gifts that LGBTQIA+ community members bring to the church. Each message was a blessing written in bold and joyful colors, punctuated by multicolor hearts and crosses.
“My love goes to everyone! I love you with everything I am.”
“God made us unique and different to be loved and love others.”
“God’s love is endless. So glad you’re a part of the Church. My life and world is richer because of YOU! When I fall short of love, tell me, forgive me, and hold me accountable.”
“You are not alone. We stand with you. You are amazing, uniquely wonderful, and God’s image is in you!”
“El amor de Dios es para todo el mundo. De mi porte, les amo, oro y oro per otros para que en el nombre de Jesus, todo odio, y mal comportamiento, se lemiera de los corazones que no comprenden aún el gran amor de Dios.”
Many of the pages were smudged where the heavy markers bled through the paper. Messy and holy, these smudges were a reminder to me that the love that came before leaves a legacy for the love that is to come. The EPA LGBTQIA+ Inclusion Task Force was made possible by the prophetic hope and hard work of generations of Methodists who labored for a more inclusive church, to whom our new team offers deep and humble gratitude.
What I had not realized was how important these messages would be for me, personally. I was commissioned at Annual Conference this year as an openly queer provisional Elder. From Clergy Session to Closing Worship, these messages of love and support grounded me in hope and peace through moments where I worried about other people’s judgment or what may lay ahead for me in ministry. It is a joy to share them with you now and to offer the reminder and the reassurance that God’s amazing love is for all of us— God’s abundant grace embraces everyone, and God’s creative power and glory is revealed in each of us.
“You owe nothing but to love one another, for one who loves has fulfilled the law.” —Romans 13:8
“You are so beautifully made and loved by God! Don’t let anyone tell you any differently!”
”All are beloved in God’s eyes!”
”You are made in God’s holy image and you are loved!”
”You are loved by God and by me!”
I give God tremendous gratitude and praise as the Task Force moves into its second year. Moving forward, we plan to curate resource guides for local churches, collaborate with partners across the Conference on best practices for ministry with LGBTQIA+ children, youth, and families, and offer training and guidance for supporting queer candidates for ministry at the District and Conference level. The scope of this work is wide and ever evolving, especially as transphobic and homophobic rhetoric and violence intensifies around the country and our church communities strive to faithfully respond. Please reach out to the Task Force through Connectional Ministries if you or your congregation have specific support requests or opportunities to be in ministry together. Through it all, may we continue to faithfully enact our solidarity and share messages of love and support in the name of Christ Jesus, who modeled for us the transformative ways of wide-open-welcome.