Charge Me? A Response to General Conference

Charge me for growing the church down to my incompetence, charge me for staying small
Charge me for walking away from the overflowing toilet because I have a masters degree
Charge me for “I don’t do Children” or working my forty and clocking right out
Charge me for not giving when my very job depends on generosity, charge me for “I don’t do numbers” or “I didn’t go to seminary to raise money.”
Charge me for not practicing what I preach,
Charge me when my ego drives and I lack coach-ability.

Charge me for not knowing my neighbors, charge me for not reaching out or inviting in and neglecting the relationships beyond my sanctuary.
Charge me for acquiescing to the church as it has always been and not expecting more
Charge me for permitting Christians to have so little grace, hold their turf and guard their power Charge me for lax accountability to the vision that is God’s dream.

Charge me for not rotating leadership, for failing to raising new leaders up and lax
administrative discipline, charge me for not asking enough and taking the easy way out when backbone can change the direction
Charge me for not having job descriptions or staff evaluations and accepting mediocracy when the kin-dom of God is sacred and deserving of our utmost.

Charge me for appeasing the wealthy, the white, the well-fed
Charge me for not preaching justice and blessing white supremacy,
Charge me for disregarding Mary’s magnificat in favor of Jeff Sessions style Methodism
Charge me for letting boys be boys and building the patriarchy.
Charge me for negligence if I don’t understand the wildly complex structures of the world around me.

Charge me for crossing boundaries, dismissing consent, abusing power
Charge me for affairs or embezzlement or general embarrassment
Charge me for taking up two parking spots with my precious midlife crisis car that is obviously red and probably top-less

Charge me for jokes that aren’t funny and don’t have a thing to do with my sermon
Charge me for careless prep, self-help sermons masquerading as Christianity,
for worship that doesn’t warm hearts or spark bigger dreams
Charge me for failing to punt when plan A just can’t be,
Charge me for shitty hospitality and styrofoam cups that will stay around for pretty close to eternity.

Charge me for not following Jesus.
Charge me for excluding sacred souls from Christ’s holy table or forbidding the children.

But just try to charge me for Marnie’s wedding.
Your cause will not be just and your name will be etched in the wrong side of history.