Discernment
A Discernment Team was formed to prayerfully and thoughtfully process the outcomes of General Conference as it relates to same sex marriage and how these outcomes impact Athens First United Methodist Church. This video explains the approach of the work of the Discernment Team.
Join us in Prayer
May God's will be our life’s purpose personally, in our family,
here at Athens First, in our community, and forever into eternity.
Lord, our God, we praise you. You are holy, awesome, and mighty. Holy Spirit, guide us in wisdom and in love. We seek your will and your word. Psalm 51 says in verses one and ten: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love, according to your great compassion, blot out my transgressions. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit in me.”
Lord Jesus, you came to take away all our sin and make us pure and holy in the eyes of the Lord. Thank you, Lord, for our salvation. Thank you for your faithfulness. You who are perfectly Holy and just, you are worthy of all our praise as you seek to transform each one of us through your Holy Spirit.
This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it as we share our heart with all of God’s children. May His will be our life’s purpose personally, in our family, here at Athens First, in our community, and forever into eternity. Amen.
Prayer written by Jennifer Chambers
Meet the Discernment Team
We are thankful for the commitment of the Discernment Team to enter this process on behalf of Athens First UMC. May we covenant together as a church to lift them up in prayer.
JENNIFER CHAMBERS
JOHN GRAHAM
BEN GRIFFITH
ALYSSA HOUSE
JEREMY LAWSON
TINA LORD
TAYLOR MILLER
BEAU SEAGRAVES
DAVID STEGER
OSCAR WEBSTER
BOB WINSTEAD
About Our Work
In May of 2024, the General Conference of the United Methodist Church removed the use of restrictive language around human sexuality in our Book of Discipline. At the same time, the General Conference empowered individual churches to set their own policies regarding weddings and building-use on their campuses. In keeping with the church’s commitment to address changes to the Book of Discipline, a Discernment Team was put together in August 2024 made up of a cross-section of faithful church members who deeply love Athens First UMC and are vested in the future of the church. This team is led by Beau Seagraves, staff parish relations committee chairperson, and Rev. Jeremy Lawson, senior pastor of Athens First UMC.
The team members were chosen not because of their specific opinions on any given subject, but because they’ve proven to be knowledgeable in Scripture, Spirit-led, and who display gifts of wisdom, faith, discernment, listening, critical thinking, and humility. Together, this team has committed to meeting regularly to pray, study Scripture, and engage in faithful conversation to seek God’s will for our church and ultimately make a recommendation to our Board of Trustees.
Of course, the process of discernment doesn’t happen in a vacuum. We are creating intentional opportunities to dialogue with and listen to our congregation. This includes a church-wide survey and offering community listening sessions involving Sunday School classes, small groups, staff, and the general church.
The ultimate hope and goal is that we would use this discernment process as an opportunity to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit and ultimately discern a way forward for our congregation that would demonstrate God’s love, bring God glory, honor the authority of Scripture, and enable us to witness to the faith of Jesus in our community and beyond.
Discernment Team Process
Timeline
May 8: A letter from Jeremy sent to the congregation immediately following the General Conference of the United Methodist Church
June 26: A letter from Jeremy sent to the congregation announcing the formation of a Discernment Team
September 22: First meeting of the Discernment Team; to ground themselves in the work set before them, each team member was given the book, Discerning God’s Will Together, by Danny Morris and Charles Olson
October 17: Meeting of the Discernment Team to offer thoughts on the book and talk about the congregational survey and next steps
November 17: Meeting of the Discernment Team to review the survey and talk through spiritual practices related to discernment
December 2024: Congregational survey sent to members of Athens First UMC
December 19: Meeting of the Discernment Team
January 12: Meeting of the Discernment Team
January - March 2025: Conversation opportunities and listening sessions for church members with Discernment Team members
February - April 2025: Additional meetings of the Discernment Team to review survey results and process conversations
Late Spring: Make a recommendation to the Board of Trustees regarding the AFUMC wedding policy
Questions
About General Conference
General Conference is the top lawmaking assembly of The United Methodist Church and the only entity that speaks for the denomination. It convenes every four years, with delegates from the denomination’s regions around the world. The conference can revise church law, as well as adopt resolutions on current moral, social, public policy, and economic issues. It also approves plans and budgets for church-wide programs. General Conference met in Charlotte, North Carolina on April 23-May 3, 2024.
Recap: General Conference - This document, produced by the North Georgia Conference, gives a recap of actions and decisions made at the General Conference.
Infographic: By the Numbers - This one-page infographic provides a quick snapshot of General Conference.
Infographic: The Road to General Conference - Gain a better understanding of The United Methodist Church with this information detailing the church's structure from the local church, to the district, through the annual conferences and beyond with this infographic.
Video: What is the General Conference? - This video provides a quick overview of General Conference and how it serves the denomination.
General Conference Quick Facts
- General Conference is the top policy-making body of The United Methodist Church, which meets once every four years.
- However, because of the pandemic, the last regular session of General Conference was nearly eight years ago.
- General Conference is the only body that can speak for the whole United Methodist Church.
- General Conference has the authority to make revisions to the denomination’s Book of Discipline and Book of Resolutions.
- There are 862 delegates from around the world, half clergy and half laity. Of the elected delegates, 55.9% are from the U.S., 32% from Africa, 6% from the Philippines, 4.6% from Europe (including Russia) and the remainder from concordat churches that have close ties to The United Methodist Church.
- Twenty-one delegates from the North Georgia Annual Conference participated and voted at General Conference.
- There were 1,099 total petitions before the General Conference.
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The delegates of General Conference voted on many items; one being the removal of restrictive language related to human sexuality. This action was affirmed by 93% of the delegates.