Religion students are running for election in the United Methodist Church Conference after seeing a lack of young people represented.
The students are running to be delegates at the UMC Great Plains Annual Conference May 29 through June 1 in Topeka, Kansas. If elected, the students would vote on decisions in the church.
KC Curry, religion junior, said she was inspired to run after attending the Feb 25 special session of the UMC general conference and seeing few people her age.
“There were only two 21-year-olds in the all 800 delegates,” she said. “That’s such a low number for young adults, so a bunch of us felt really pushed and called to run.”
Curry said she wanted to make an impact after the decision made at the special session not to include members of the LGBTQ community in the UMC.
See here for more on the decision.
“I can use what I know, like historical context and different ways to look at the bible instead of just literally, to show that ‘hey, homosexuality’s not an abomination.’”
Curry said about 60 people are running for the positions but only seven are chosen. Anyone of the United Methodist Church who has been a member for two or more years can run for election, she said.
“I feel like I know Methodism really well and I can represent it in a good light,” Curry said.
Curry said elections will take place during the conference and the candidates will know by the end if they win the election. If any of the students are elected, they will attend the General Conference May 5–15, 2020 in Minnesota.
Curry said she hopes people will vote ethically in both the elections and on matters at the general conference. She said she has heard rumors that bribery was used in the special session to sway votes in favor of the traditionalist plan.
Allie McMurry, religion freshman, said she felt called to act after the decision against the LGBTQ community.
“The decision that was made, it was just really upsetting to me and angering, and it was like, ‘well, what can I do?’” she said. “I could reach out to LGBT people I know, and I could be an advocate and ally in my Methodist communities, but I can also run and try to get the young people’s voice heard.”
McMurry she has been empowered by all the young women in the School of Religion running for election.
“It’s really amazing,” she said. “The sense of community in the religion school is great.”
Peyton Wagner, religion senior, said Sharon Betsworth, director of the Wimberly School of Religion, reached out to students who had expressed interest in running and provided information to students about running.
“The support from them has really encouraged all of us to do it,” Wagner said. “That’s been really helpful especially since it’s our first time running for this, their support means a lot.”
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