On February 22,2020, we gathered at the Alaska UM Conference Center at 1660 Patterson St. in Anchorage as laity and clergy for a Special Session of Annual Conference. We voted to approve a petition to General Conference asking for Alaska to be released from missionary conference status at the close of the 2020 Jurisdictional Conference, so that the Western Jurisdiction could include Alaska within the boundaries of another conference in the same Episcopal Area.

This legislation was in response to the Special Session of General Conference in 2019. At the time, our Annual Conference feared that the Alaska Conference might not have a voice or choice if The United Methodist Church divided. We feared we might be assigned to a new denomination or segment of the UMC where LGBTQ+ people were excluded from the ministry and life of the church. We took this action in 2020 to honor and to affirm the value of each person in our faith community as a child of God. We took this action to ensure that our pastoral leaders would be able to continue to practice marriage equality and to be appointed to church leadership without discrimination because of sexual orientation. We also took this action with a vision of shared services with the Pacific Northwest Conference (PNW) for financial stability, including the opportunity to share our own spiritual gifts and our resources.

As our Conference Leadership Chair, Erin Reinders, shared in her letter last week, the only thing that has been certain has been change. The 2020 General Conference has been postponed twice, due to the pandemic. It is now scheduled for April 23 to May 3, 2024. In three to four years, a lot has changed, and this legislation is no longer in the best interest of our Alaska Conference given our current realities as 2023 comes to a close. Sadly, we now live in the reality of disaffiliations in our denomination.

There has been a blessing from this delay and the changes that have come from it. We no longer fear that we will be unable to include all children of God in our ministry settings. This is a gift, and it is a debt that we must pay forward. Look at God!

Today, I am representing the Mission District Task Force (MDTF). This is a diverse group of pastoral leaders and laity appointed to plan for the changes that were expected for the transition to a mission district of the PNW. Our work began in November of 2020 to retool our processes and our structure for our unique context. We were also charged to do a deep dive into the identity, culture and values that shape how we live into a future together as people called United Methodists in Alaska.

This work of the MDTF has been generative and transformational in our context and has shaped how we live our values during this season of our ministry together. This work and the shift in culture that we have initiated in our conference does not depend upon our transition to become a mission district. This work will continue regardless of our status or our titles within it.

Most importantly, this work is in accordance with the M.I.L.E and the vision that has been cast by Bishop Cedrick. Our next step is to integrate the two strategies and six goals that we have established with the MILE for further integration in our conference committees and local churches.

We anticipate that Bishop Cedrick will call a Special Session in early December to pull our support from the prior legislation which will be addressed by General Conference in April. We hope you will join us in voting to remain as a missionary conference without dissolution at this time. A new petition is being drafted for your review.

With Grace & Courage,
Rev. Kristi McGuire on behalf of the Mission District Task Force