ON THE INCLUSIVENESS OF EPISCOPAL ELECTIONS IN THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH FOR JULY 2016
WHEREAS, GAMMON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY began as the Bible Department of Clark University; WHEREAS, GAMMON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY in 1883 became an independent institution and school of theology; WHEREAS, GAMMON has advocated inclusiveness in its admission policy since 1889 and its faculty since 1895 and in 1897, John H. Shillings, a white student received his Bachelor of Divinity Degree from Gammon; WHEREAS, GAMMON has served as one of the custodians of the heritage of African-Americans in the United Methodist church, and on March 3, 1958 became a constituent/charter member of the INTERDENOMINATIONAL THEOLOGICAL CENTER; WHEREAS, the United Methodist Church is a part of the church universal and no conference or other organizational unit of the church shall be structured so as to exclude any member because of race, color, sex, national origin or economic condition; WHEREAS, persons elected to the episcopacy in the United Methodist Church represent our joint commitments to a fully inclusive church at every level; THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Gammon Theological Seminary Alumni Association calls for the Jurisdictional Conferences of the United Methodist Church, meeting July 13-17, 2016 to be intentional in ensuring the election of persons to the episcopacy which reflect the inclusive nature of our church; BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Gammon Alumni Association affirms the endorsements of of the following persons by their delegations and/or support groups: SCJ Janice Gilbert – Texas Black Clergy Women/ SCJ-BMCR SEJ Sharma Lewis – North Georgia Theodore Smith – Virginia BMCR
Leonard Fairley – North Carolina