A group of 9 people are praying together, reviewing information together, and listening to your input. They are sharing the same information with our congregation and inviting your questions and your comments. This process began in July and will last through December 11. A recommendation will then be made to the church board.

You will be provided the current information that the discernment team is reviewing. These include:

• This web page will provide you with all the information that this discernment team is using.
• Paper copies of tables contrasting the United Methodist Church and the Global Methodist Church and response cards will be provided to those who prefer paper copies. Return comment and question cards will also be available. These will be passed out in your Sunday School classes, groups, and made available in the church office.

There will be a series of church wide gatherings focused on issues being raised in this discussion. Each Those gatherings are:

• How do we read the Bible? (October 9- 5:30pm) - You’ll receive a questionnaire to fill out prior to this gathering about how you read the scripture.
• How do we interpret Scripture concerning marriage and sexual identity? (October 30-5:30-pm),
• What are pluses and minuses of the existing United Methodist Church? (November 6- 5:30 pm)

The church board will receive a report from the Discernment team at their meeting on December 11th and will act on a to be announced schedule to pray and present their recommendation to the congregation.

If the church board discerns that further discussion is needed, the church may enter into a 40-day period of official discernment beginning the first of the year. That 40 days of discernment would be followed by a church vote.