We believe that the Council of Bishops should be fully aware of the concerns of grassroots United Methodists in the pews. That is why we have created a blog that allows lay and clergy to express their hopes, beliefs, and concerns about the future of the United Methodist Church — www.speaktothebishops.wordpress.com. That future is threatened by bishops who are speaking out against the time-honored, Biblical position of our church on marriage and sexuality, by annual conferences that are encouraging the violation of our Book of Discipline, and by clergy who are promising to disobey the covenant that they had sworn to uphold.

By Chuck Ferrarra
In a book I wrote for police officers after Sept. 11, 2001, “Beyond the Badge: A Spiritual Survival Guide for Cops and Their Families,” there is a passage that summarizes my experience at ground zero:

I could have been an astronaut standing on the dusty surface of the moon, but it was actually the most expensive piece of real estate in the entire world. My feet rested on the powdery top landing of a subway entrance in the Wall Street District of New York City.