S.C. Reconciling Ministries Network reorganizes

United Methodists throughout South Carolina continue to work for justice and full inclusion of LGBTQ+ people in United Methodist churches. In that light, the South Carolina Reconciling Ministries Network has reorganized. A recently elected coordinating council will call meetings of the entire statewide organization.

The RMN formed in 1984 as a faith-based response to homophobia in the UMC. RMN now spans four continents, more than 1,000 churches and 40,000 individuals.

On its website, RMN on the international level “celebrates that LGBTQ+ persons are a good expression of God’s diverse creation.” The network exists “to advocate for the affirmation of all God’s children in the church and the world.”

RMN’s mission is to equip and mobilize United Methodists to live into their baptismal covenant by resisting “evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves.”

The South Carolina RMN seeks to nurture individual Reconciling United Methodists, small groups and churches in their discerning process. It is also creating methods of sharing information among reconciling communities and churches in South Carolina.

The South Carolina RMN plans to financially support the international body and the conference’s Aldersgate Special Needs Ministry. An RMN breakfast is tentatively planned for the 2023 Annual Conference.

For more information about the international organization, click on rmnetwork.org.

To learn more and request membership in the South Carolina RMN, send an email to Lynn Shirley at [email protected].