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Reading novels is one of my favorite things. And because there’s never enough time to read as much as I’d like, re-reading books or series is a rarity, and one saved for those works I love in ways that especially move or challenge me. It’s a short list. But on that list, what I’m reading now, again, is The Expanse. It’s an amazing series of books that explores relationships, politics, and power in a space opera that begins about 300 years in the future, a time when generations have been born not just on Earth, but also Mars and the asteroid belt. These three distinct factions are the authors’ playground to explore our ongoing tribal biases in micro and macro ways, which they do respectfully, and often boldly. What I love most about The Expanse is its characters. The entirety of the novels and novellas are told through varying points of view which invite the reader to engage the internal joys and struggles, vision and blindness, fears and motivations of persons vastly different from one another. It can be a jarring tool, but Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck employ it masterfully. It sucks you in, even to the characters you didn’t want to like. My favorite character is Amos. If you’ve read the books or seen the show, you may get why he’s not just my favorite in The Expanse, Amos is my favorite character in all literature, in all art. But today I’m dreaming of my second favorite character in this series, of Red, which is Amos’ nickname for the fiery, compassionate, defiantly faithful Rev. Dr. Annushka Volovodov. Part of what I love about good sci-fi are the underlying stories around how we got from now to the future it presents. The Expanse does this so well, teasing out little bits of the development of the factions, physiological changes, evolution of language, technological advancements… And, in this future, it seems there is a distinct change to the Discipline of The United Methodist Church. Because Pastor Anna, a United Methodist minister, is lesbian, married to Namono, raising their daughter Nami together. Next week, beginning April 23, United Methodists from all over the world will begin the near two-week General Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is the highest legislative body of our worldwide church, and while not the only thing being considered, it may be the moment when our denomination will change our current stance on human sexuality. We profess that all are welcome in our churches, but the current limitations around marriage and ordination admit otherwise. And while many pastors and communities like San Marco Church push back, if Annushka Volovodov felt called to ministry today, or sought to wed Namono today, the broader denomination would say "no". It would be a loss, and has meant the loss of many amazing people. In numerous ways, the sin of exclusion – of denying the human family – is the catalyst behind the hostility that drives so much of The Expanse, as it is today. But on this particular day, on the potential eve of a change, I want to celebrate the inclusive step forward that the future and fictional United Methodist Church took at some point before Pastor Anna's story, with the hope that the current and non-fiction one will do the same. Please join me in praying for our delegates – among them SMC’s Derrick Scott III – and all in the coming days who will be a part of this important work. And continue to pray for our denomination as we seek to be faithful representatives of and participants in the kingdom of God. With love and hope, Rev. Ben Richards
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