Act of Repentance reminds us not to do harm

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Delegates and guests of General Conference 2012 will participate in an Act of Repentance service during our evening worship together. 

Repentance, to acknowledge our past sin – recognize their current consequences – and turn from their future potential, is the path the Church embarks upon to restore the shalom of our corporate body. 

The Rev. Thom White Wolf Fassett, a full elder from Upper New York Annual Conference, addresses a press conference at the General Conference in Tampa, Fla., Friday on the Act of Repentance. (Photo by Maidstone Mulenga)

The Rev. Thom White Wolf Fassett, member of Seneca Nation and chair of the 2012 Act of Repentance General Secretary’s Advisory Council of the General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns, raises our awareness to our current and future relationships with “indigenous people around the world where The United Methodist Church has spread its blanket. Taken together, the similarities are real and palpable.

They reflect issues of self-determination, sovereignty, cultural integrity, and how Native and indigenous peoples embrace The United Methodist Church as truth carriers of the Good News, declaring the Gospel of Jesus Christ with no other allegiances.”

As an Annual Conference, we have made a commitment to have a named advocate for the awareness of Native American concerns in each of our local congregations by having a representative to build connections within our communities. May we each pray for the awareness of our hearts as we try to live faithfully to the words of John Wesley, “Do no harm.”

*The Rev. Heather Williams is a full elder in the Upper New York Annual Conference.