Scripture:

Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.- John 20:18 (NRSV)

 Devotional:

I am a child of God (1 John 3:1). I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14).  I am delighted in by God (Zeph 3:17). I am a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19). I am God’s masterpiece (Eph 2:10). I am whole in Christ (Col 2:10). And, I also happen to be LGBT. 

I knew the last to be true as I walked up to Arcola United Methodist Church for the very first time. I learned the others through God’s amazing grace. 

From a very young age, I had faced rejection from my peers. I had been told I was going to hell by people I trusted. I had given up on myself and everyone around me. Thankfully, tired and deeply broken, God carried me down Evergreen Mills one Sunday morning and brought me to His people. 

I put on a dress that didn’t fit because I thought I had to and I sat alone in the back of the sanctuary. I prayed for relief. I prayed for God to make me feel whole, and He did. Through Pastor Chris inviting us all to commune with the Risen Lord, saying: “This is the table of Jesus Christ who knows no strangers. ALL are welcome.” I uncontrollably wept. My faith was resurrected. 

I attended every Sunday, desperate to feel God’s acceptance. The sermon I remember the most, because it profoundly changed my life, was about Mary being the first to preach that Christ was risen to the disciples who doubted.  My calling into ministry was realized through the Gospel truth that Mary Magdalene, a woman, was the first preacher. I went to University to study theology, and the more I studied, the more boldly I confessed that “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,  nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). I understand that I was created intentionally and loved wholly by God. I believe that it is not who we love, but how we love unconditionally that brings us closer to God. 

The second time my life profoundly changed was the day the General Conference ruled in favor of the traditional plan. The rejection, though familiar, burned, and the anger I felt could not be doused by the well-meaning explanations that it was not as bad as it seems. I can no longer pursue a life of ministry in the church I call home. 

However, I have hope. Why? Because Jesus Christ is Risen. Christ Risen is hope and victory for us all. Christ Risen is a love that saves and redeems.  Christ Risen calls us to make disciples through indiscriminate, unconditional love. Christ Risen is the calling on my life to preach the Word even if my life is deemed incompatible with the teachings of the United Methodist Church.  Christ Risen is the holiest and most important task, preaching the Gospel, assigned to the people the world says do not deserve it. 

Written by Riley Conrad, member of Arcola Church, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies at Virginia Wesleyan University in 2018. She lives with her loving parents and two sisters, enjoying the company of her partner of 8 years this October. She is about to finish a year of service with AmeriCorps at a local non-profit that provides free home repairs to neighbors in need.