Together at the Table: Diversity without Division in The United Methodist Church

by Karen Oliveto

Overview

Together at the Table is the personal story and public message of Bishop Karen Oliveto, the first openly LGBTQ person to be elected a bishop in The United Methodist Church. Her election was and is controversial, with opponents seeking to have her removed and some even threatening violence against her. The denomination has been debating the inclusion of LGBTQ people for decades and will be gathering in February 2019 to determine whether it can agree to let conferences within the church ordain as they see fit and let congregations decide what weddings to hold or whether conservative and liberal factions will break off from the denominational body.

Bishop Oliveto believes that the church can stay togetherthat people of different convictions can remain in communion with one another. Woven together with her own story of coming out and following God's call to ordained ministry is her guidance for how to live together despite differencesby practicing empathy, living with ambiguity, appreciating the diversity of creation, and embracing unity without uniformity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780664263607
Publisher:	Westminster John Knox Press
Publication date:	07/31/2018
Pages:	194
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Karen P. Oliveto is the first openly LGBTQ bishop of The United Methodist Church, the second-largest Protestant denomination in the United States. She has served churches in New York and California and now oversees the Mountain Sky region, which includes churches in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho.

Editorial Reviews

"This memoir tells [Oliveto's] story of faith and courage as she continues to bear witness to the love of God for all people. The Table of the Lord is both metaphor and concrete reality of where she discovers the grace of God in Jesus Christ." —Presbyterian Outlook

From the Publisher