September 2025

Pastor Message: 

Breaking Bread, Sharing Pain: Lessons from RMN Convocation

I recently participated in the Reconciling Ministries Network’s Convocation: Uncharted at First UMC in Madison, WI, from July 24–27. This was the first gathering following the 2024 General Conference’s historic decision to remove exclusive and harmful language from the Book of Discipline. I was deeply moved and grateful to witness so many signs that a new day is truly unfolding. I believe this moment could not have been possible without the church’s prayers, support, strategic effort, and faithful action. While many still view the church as an obstacle to society’s progress toward inclusion, I see God at work, creating spaces where no one is harmed.

The Wisconsin Conference was among 25 annual conferences, alongside various UM boards and agencies, that officially sponsored the event and stood ready to collaborate with RMN and other allies in advancing a vision of inclusive ministry. Particularly inspiring was the leadership and presence of Central Conference leaders from the Philippines and Kenya. I give thanks for RMN’s 50 years of faithful, prophetic, and sacred struggle, and I pray for the next 50 years as we continue shaping our beloved UMC into a truly open and inclusive church. (LGBTQ advocates head for ‘uncharted’ territory).

This year’s gathering featured diverse groups reflecting on intersectional justice and companionship—including, for the first time, a Korean group. For me personally, it was my first time attending, and my first time witnessing the presence of Korean Rainbow Tree (색동나무) at RMN. Since 2019, I have been part of this ministry, devoted to supporting Korean and Korean American LGBTQ+ individuals and allies (www.koreanrainbowtree.com).

You might wonder why your pastor is engaged in this movement. The answer is simple: because of Jesus—who walked alongside those socially outcast. My involvement is not based on logic or theological study alone, though I have deeply studied Scripture and theology. It is born from experience—encounters with people who have been silenced, shut out, or shamed simply for being who they are.

Many of us may never fully witness the quiet struggles LGBTQIA+ individuals face as they wrestle with questions about their worth in the world and their place in the church. They navigate their belovedness amidst false and painful rhetoric, such as, “God loves you, but you have to change.” This stigmatization is reinforced by societal misinformation, false narratives, and even the authority of the church itself.

In Christ, there are no boundaries, no walls. There is no Jew or Gentile, no male or female, no poor or rich. Jesus approached those “othered” by their communities, society, and even their own religion—tax collectors, prostitutes, lepers, Samaritans, women, and people with disabilities. He said, “I came to sinners”—those deemed impure or unworthy by religious law and social standards—and welcomed them at His table. Jesus embodied compassion—com-passio, to suffer with.

I do not approach this work from a place of charity, as if I could “save” anyone. I cannot. But perhaps, through my own experiences of being othered—as a racial and ethnic minority, dismissed, patronized, or made to feel “less than”—I catch a glimpse of their pain. That quiet ache of being othered stays with me. And strangely, that is where compassion begins. Maybe when I enter into their pain, I am also tending to my own. To suffer with another is a holy mystery. In that shared suffering, we become one.

I believe this mirrors the Eucharistic mystery. Holy Communion: bread broken and blessed. Compassion—com-pan(is)—with bread. This bread is broken, like pain. But when we share it, we share the pain. And in that shared pain, we become one. It is com-union—holy and sacred. Our Lord Jesus invites all of us to this table.

--Rev. Hyunwoong Hwang