Jonathan LeMaster-Smith

General Conference begins tomorrow!
My plan is to give you a song for each day of General Conference to set the mood. Let’s call it Dr J’s song of the day.

To get started, here’s a song from The 502s, a band I recently saw. It’s called, “You belong.”

A lyric selection:

So cheers to the future
Cheers to the past
Cheers to the pain
And cheers to the laughs
Toast all the times that it all just goes wrong
See those are the best nights of them all
So sing hallelujah
Do the best that you can
And you’ll be surprised to see where you land
It turns out ok in the end just so you know.

I have no illusions that this is not going to be messy. If you pay attention to United Methodist History, you will know that it has been messy, painful, and powerful. We’ve stripped the rights and even humanity away from people.

We’ve turned away from the world and toward protecting ourselves. But, we’ve also passed Social Creeds, built missional connections, and seen lives transformed.

We’re wild, but so is everybody else, and I’m glad I get to spend my time with y’all as we build the kingdom.