To rewind the sermon from this past Sunday a bit… 

We were in Nehemiah chapter 5, where we find Nehemiah dealing with the oppression of the poor and working-class Jews by the Jewish elite as they sought to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem under his leadership.  The people sacrificed their everyday work and income as they worked on the wall.  There were not enough hours in the day to do both.  They sacrificed much, many taking loans on their homes, lands, and fields to make ends meet as the wealthy foreclosed on their homes and property, and some of their children were being sold as slaves. 

In the face of all this, they cry out to Nehemiah for help.  Nehemiah, moved by their plight, confronts the leaders doing this and makes them pledge to stop and return the lands taken from their fellow Israelites.  Nehemiah moves from his anger to action quickly.

We who have been moved by the way the United Methodist Church is ignoring its own rules and embracing a progressive theology have voted to disaffiliate from the Mother Church and seek a path in line with the 2,000-plus years of orthodox Christian theology and practice.  We are embracing a return to early Christian and Methodist doctrine and practice.  And standing firm on the definition of Christian Marriage as a covenant between one man and one woman.  A definition that the United Methodist Church is in the process of abandoning first in practice and soon most likely in policy.

Just as Nehemiah “Moved On What He Was Moved By!”  We are called to “Move On What We Are Moved By!”  We have till mid to late October to fund the disaffiliation we endorsed in our vote on August 13th.  That’s only two months.  We need $72,000 by October 22nd.  That’s a big goal! But with God’s help, we will meet it.  A loan is possible, but I am praying that we don’t need it.  And it’s a short timeframe to get one. 

To that end, we are starting a Campaign to raise funds for the “Move On” disaffiliation fund, which you can give to and pledge to.  These funds are to be sent to the church between now and October 22nd to cover the cost of disaffiliation.  We ask you to commit to what you will give before October 22nd by August 31st so that we can, if needed, finance the remaining need.  This is a critical step, and it will need to be empowered by God through our faithfulness.

To ensure that the funds are used only for disaffiliation, the money will be placed into a restricted account, and the Leadership Team has passed a motion that if the church is unable to complete the disaffiliation for any reason, the funds will either be returned to the donor, or redirected at the donor's request.  The policy will be part of this newsletter this week.

How can you pledge? You can follow this link to the “Move On Fund,” it will take you to a form on our Realm platform to fill out or email the amount you intend to give to MoveOn@ChristChurchGastonia.org, and we will record it for you. 

We will update you on the Move On campaign in each Newsletter and Each Sunday Morning until we have reached our goal.

With God’s help, we can meet this goal and Move On!

Peace,

Pastor Burt