| Let doors, as well as hearts, minds, be open September 2002 marked the first anniversary of both the Sept. 11 tragedies and the launching of the United Methodist Igniting Ministry Campaign and its slogan: open hearts, open minds, open doors. A year ago, local churches throughout the Baltimore-Washington Conference responded to Sept. 11 and our denominations initiative by throwing open their doors and welcoming people in for worship, prayer, counseling and respite. At the same time, the leadership of the Baltimore-Washington Conference instituted a new level of security at the Conference Center that included the locking of doors. I recommend that as the United Methodist Church celebrates the first anniversary of Igniting Ministry and as our nation remembers Sept. 11, the doors of the Conference Center be once again unlocked during hours when church business is being conducted, and a new policy emphasizing welcome and hospitality be instituted. The Conference Center and all who work in it will become an example to local churches and individual Christians seeking to faithfully practice open hearts, open minds, open doors. Rev. Albert Lane
Retired clergy | 
Login/Register to leave comment