Alan Trulock (@alantrulock)

I went to church today. I briefly considered going to a different church for service but decided I needed to be there. As I entered the church, I was thinking about how different things had become. I recalled how a chaplain I respected had been quite outspoken about sexual immorality. Now I see various denominations embracing it. Churches are striving to be “relevant” to modern society rather than steadfast in the truth. I imagine this is part of the reason so many churches are struggling to stay open. UMC membership is nearly half of what it was in the 60s while on the continent of Africa, it is soaring. These thoughts combined with feeling compelled to go today instead of visit a neighbors church seemed guided. First, a little background. I had previous concerns about the church I have been attending since January. It is a United Methodist Church. The denomination has been in turmoil since 2019 when the general assembly decided to ignore the issue of homosexuality in the clergy and homosexual “marriage”. Since then, many churches have disaffiliated. This particular church finally decided to talk about the issue. Much like the general assembly, there were people confusing the issue of homosexual clergy with whether or not homosexuals were allowed to attend. Also, like the general assembly, the issue of whether or not to take action was tabled. This year, the state assembly met and the issue of “harmful language” in the book of discipline was brought up. One woman spoke in favor of removal of such language. She said her 20 something friends did not attend church because of things like the 2019 general assembly. People cheered her comment. I am quite sure this is untrue as there are so many “affirming” churches. I was also quite surprised that this apostasy had spread so much even in Missouri. So here comes today’s sermon. We hear about Esau foolishly selling his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of soup. I was blown away that this was turned into an issue of privilege. Seriously? Are we reading the same story? The pastor further went on to say how everyone (the corrected to nearly everyone) in the congregation was white and middle-class and we should think about our privilege. Upon further research, I found that the UMC has been pushing this issue for some time. I was shocked! Had I known how deep this madness was, I would never have walked in the door in the first place. I am hurt and angry. Here I was determined not to “church hop”. I decided to stay until the local congregation made a decision on whether or not to disaffiliate. At that point I had intended to formally join or leave depending on the outcome. I feel like a man without a home, a ship lost at sea.