Nothing About Us Without Us

This resource uses the critical, analytical writings of the United Methodist direct action group Love Prevails to critique the theorizing of missio Dei as a meaningful concept to address the United Methodist Church’s (UMC) ecclesiological crisis related to the categorical discrimination against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) persons. Rev. Dr. Todd uses a liberationist methodology that emphasizes the experience, action, and reflection of LGBTQ persons themselves—those most impacted by the violence of the UMC’s anti-queer institutional policies and practices. The author argues against the prioritizing of the theological abstraction of missiology-as-unity over against the practice and pursuit of equality and justice for LGBTQ persons as a central “missional” demand. This paper supports, therefore, the removal of all anti-LGBTQ language in The United Methodist Book of Discipline as the primary missional activity necessary to enable a United Methodist witness to the love of God in Christ in any local, national, or global context.