| She enabled me to experience Gods power I cant help but remember and want to share the gifts of Mary Alice Stevenson, the epitome of a Christian who lived out her ministry at A. P. Shaw UMC in southeast Washington (UMConnection, May 1). Broken and bruised in so many ways, I found God in this small loving church. God worked through Mary Stevenson and her gifts to reach me. Long before I knew and understood the Wesley Four Scripture, tradition, experience and reason she was living these principles. Teaching, leading and gbwc_superusering not only in words, Mrs. Stevenson showed me the Christian journey precept by precept. Some of the places Jesus took her were challenging and uncomfortable, but she vowed to hold onto Gods unchanging hand. There was a side of Mrs. Stevenson that reminded me of the father who celebrates the return of a prodigal son. To really understand Shaw, you must know that there were many prodigal children we strayed away spiritually and physically and kept the old saints praying. But each time one of us made it home, there was a celebration. I thank God for the community of faiths unyielding love. Later in life I would discover that was part of experiencing Christ. And now, like Mary Stevenson, I have a testimony because in all that she did, she gave me room to experience the power of God for myself. In life, she never stopped following Jesus. And in the midst of her death, I remember her patience, endurance, commitment and devotion to the Christian faith. Thank God for Mary Stevenson and all her gifts to me and the church universal. Rori Francis Blakeney
A.P. Shaw UMC, Washington, D.C. Words and actions are at odds The e-connection for June 8 carried a statement by Bishop May commending conference clergy for the prayerful, considerate, diligent and loving way they worked together in closed session last week. This was in reference, no doubt, to deliberations regarding the Rev. Rebecca Steen, a transgender clergyperson seeking re-instatement and appointment. While much of what transpired in the two clergy sessions fit the bishops description, some did not. It was particularly shameful and cruel that on Saturday, two days after it was openly announced that the Board of Ordained Ministry and the Cabinet had declared Steen eligible for an appointment, last minute, undisclosed charges were brought against her. Hopefully, due process will result in Steens exoneration and she will once again become available for an appointment to serve the church as she did in years past. But a determined effort by individuals and groups bent on keeping the transgender issue alive may keep this very capable minister in a perpetual state of limbo. Saying that they love Rebecca doesnt make it so. Rev. Clifford L. Harrison
Retired, Columbia Presence of IRD inappropriate I am troubled by the uninvited intrusion of the Institute on Religion and Democracy into the Baltimore-Washington Conference debate on the transgender issue. The forum in which this debate was to take place was a closed session of the clergy. Nevertheless, the IRD leafleted this group as the clergy entered the closed session. With no official connection to the United Methodist Church, the IRD is making this attempt to sway the outcome of a matter that is none of its business. Furthermore, the IRD, in its leafleted press release, made reference to the pedophilia scandals in the Catholic Church, deliberately attempting to distort and smear our conferences discussion on the transgender issue. This type of advocacy is typical of the scurrilous attacks we have come to expect from the IRD. I regret that the UMConnection chose to quote the IRD in its Friday report on the transgender debate. The IRD has a long history of hostility toward the social witness of our denomination. Your quote of the IRD gives this organization a credibility it does not deserve. Rev. Harry C. Kiely,
Retired, Washington, D.C. | 
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