United Methodists gather this week across the United States in Jurisdictional Conferences to elect 20 new bishops. Since my name is no longer on the list of nominees, I have the freedom to talk candidly about this Church into which I was born and to which I have given my heart, my soul, and my deepest devotion.

I am honored and deeply grateful to be a United Methodist pastor. Every week I get to do what I most enjoy doing—connect to people, preach the gospel, observe hearts being touched and lives being transformed. Often Sandy and I say to one another, “It doesn’t get any better than this.”

Over the years I have never aligned myself with any political action group in our denomination. I am not a member of the confessing movement and I have resisted moves to become a reconciling congrega…