Inclusive Grace

01/18/2026

“Do the next sensible thing for a person in your shape.” Good advice for our week ahead.

09/25/2025

For 13 years, Helen Ryde worked tirelessly through RMN for LGBTQ+ justice and inclusion in The United Methodist Church and beyond. They were a gifted organizer and trainer, but also a friend, a bridge-builder, and a living witness to God’s inclusive love.

To honor Helen’s legacy, RMN has established the Helen Ryde Memorial Fund. This fund will carry forward the work Helen gave their life to: equipping Reconciling communities, sustaining q***r and trans leaders, resourcing churches and conferences, and building the inclusive church Helen dreamed of.

💜 You can honor Helen’s life and continue their legacy of justice, joy, and radical welcome by making a gift today:https://hubs.li/Q03K_Vy40

09/03/2025

We have heartbreaking news to share with you, and we wish we could do this with you in person. On the morning of Tuesday, September 2nd, Helen Ryde died unexpectedly in their home.

We mourn because Helen had so much left to do – not just through their role at RMN but in the love they had yet to receive and give, their compassion and thoughtfulness, their authenticity and courage.

We'll have chances in the coming days to recollect Helen's ministry. For now, we welcome you to share below and be for each other a cloud of comfort. (Please honor Helen's pronouns, they/them, as a part of who Helen was and is.)

Read on for more about Helen's life and legacy: https://hubs.li/Q03GBsl_0

07/19/2025

Order Your United Methodist Church Network Pride Merchandise!

Join area UM Churches at the Charlotte Pride Parade on August 17 at 1:00PM. Meet at Charlotte First UMC (501 N. Tryon St) to provide hospitality and hand out donated water and ice pops!

https://www.bonfire.com/store/united-methodists-of-greater-charlotte

07/02/2025

If you don't know who your representative is, that's okay! You can look them up here: https://hubs.li/Q03vJd4V0

No need to be polished. No need to speak steadily. Simply tell your elected official, who works for you and your neighbors, to reject this bill on account of the suffering it promises.

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text on this image says the following:

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate passed a budget bill that will endanger U.S. lives.

The bill strips $1 trillion from Medicaid and SNAP food assistance funding.

17 million more Americans will lose life-sustaining healthcare. Families will go hungry. And yet, the national debt will increase by $4.5 trillion – all to pad the pockets of the hyper-wealthy.

The bill now returns to the U.S. House for consideration. If passed by the House, it will become law, casting Americans into poverty and injustice.

Today is a good day to call your U.S. representative – especially Republicans. It is an act of faithfulness to reject the suffering of our neighbors.

07/02/2025

Did you know that our June worship bulletin focus has been on Pride Month? Learn about our welcome and come as you are to Matthews UMC, where we believe in cultivating an open and affirming space where everyone is embraced with unconditional love, regardless of their identity or whom they love. Our Inclusive Grace Ministry is committed to offering unwavering support, nurturing connections, and celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community both within and beyond our church walls. The ministry also provides educational resource links and ideas for ways to “do something,” including involvement in Reconciling Ministries Network, PFLAGG, Transcend Charlotte, and Timeout Youth.

https://matthewsumc.org/unity-in-community/lgbtqia

05/06/2025

05/04/2025

United Methodist bishops — in collaboration with the Connectional Table — have adopted a vision that says United Methodists “love boldly, serve joyfully, and lead courageously.”

04/19/2025

Crucifixion was a thousand different horrors. And among those horrors – its normalcy.

The folklore of the cross, the image that many of us conjure today on Good Friday, is of three crucifixes on a skull-shaped hill. Jesus, son of God, between two common criminals. In reality, people were crucified commonly enough that they marked the gates to and from cities.

Those who were most commonly crucified were enslaved people and religious and political agitators. Jesus was counted amongst them.

When we mourn the suffering and the costly solidarity of Jesus, we cannot help but see the others crucified with him. We cannot neglect God’s lament over all her beloveds, bodies broken all down the road.

Look down the road as you look upon the cross. Those are our kin, God’s children. Perhaps it is you, too.

May we never glance down the road and call a culture of destruction normal. May we never become adjusted to our neighbors’ cries for mercy. Not even when we’re ruled by traffickers and profiteers may we ever sell one another, beloveds, for a bag of silver.

04/17/2025

As we navigate the realities of this new administration, justice-seeking congregations across the country are standing in solidarity with those targeted by oppressive policies. We've seen churches respond by incorporating the  Candle of Peace, Hope, and Justice  into their worship

04/17/2025