At present, too many conversations within the UMC are grand experiments in missing the point.  We talk past one another, aiming for rhetorical impact rather than theological insight. Our spirit is often one of distrust and hostility rather than charity and peace.

We intend for Holy Conferencing to be a space in which we can confer frankly and faithfully about the things that are most important to our denomination, including the things that divide us.  We pray that what we publish on this site will care for the wounds of the United Methodist Church. We pray that we will not do further harm.

We will publish articles about doctrine, because many of our wounds are from ill conceived or poorly articulated doctrine.  We intend to provoke conversations of reconciliation, because it is Christ the Lord who has reconciled us to ourselves, to each other, and to God.  We are going to confer about holiness, without which no one will see the Lord, and without which we cannot be made one with one another.  We will work ardently to maintain a spirit of charity, because God is love and God’s love alone binds the body of Christ together.  Above all we are going to confer together in the conviction that peace and truth are one, because the God of peace is the true God and because truth is the spirit of love and the love of peace rather than violence, anger, or deception.