#Go UMC

[mybrainisalibrary]

If anyone was wondering what the United Methodist Church is like these days:

My mom is a delegate to our area's annual conference. While our church is trying to leave, we are still officially part of the UMC so delegates from my church attended. In the past 2 days of conference:

a motion to accept a government grant for a summer camp was delayed for like an hour because one woman got up to insist they add an amendment to the thing. She wanted it required that all people attending the camp would be taught about how they are on stolen land (I'm pretty sure her amendment passed)

A woman pastor who was defrocked decades ago for openly being in a same-sex relationship was reinstated

The ordination celebration for her and others that evening included drag queens

They sang Great is Thy Faithfulness but the lyric "oh God our Father" was changed to "oh God creator"

So yeah, not surprising but super frustrating and I needed to vent somewhere 🙃

[rainbowstainedglass]

[tellmeamiveryfar]

This book is exactly what I needed right now

It's been sitting in my embarrassingly large to-be-read pile for a while now. It's eight essays that touch on many different religions but I've only read the three that focus on Christianity so far.

Beyond Same-Sex Marriage: Continuing the Reformation of Protestant Christianity - Marvin M. Ellison

Eradicating the Sin of Heterosexism - Mary E. Hunt

Heterosexism and the Black American Church Community: A Complicated Reality - Kelly Brown Douglas

I don't have much intelligent to say about what I've read but it was all... very much needed.

[firstchurchmesa]

"Go", Jess Brown, June 11th 2023

Jess Brown preaches based on Matthew 28: 16-20 during 9 am Worship on Sunday June 11th, 2023. 

 Want to support the ministry at First United Methodist Church of Mesa? 

Donate at https://app.sharefaith.com/app/giving/firs6957441

 Watch the full Worship Service at Livestream.com/FirstChurchMesa

[curiosityschild]

Anyone else feeling absolutely unhinged this fine Sunday evening? Or is it just me

[twomiddlefingersforthehaters]

Just wanted to say, Sasuke winking at Sakura was never happened in the manga, it was a translation error.

The translators at VIZ are fine, but they miss things, or by censoring or translate things differently, or change the context of certain words and scenes. In some places they mistranslated things, in other places they changed things, and in other places they were really inconsistent on whether or not they were going to mistranslate something. Another is that they miss nuances. VIZ translation and online scanlations are good and although both are sometimes equally inaccurate. I don't blame them or complain because a lot of people translating online put a lot of effort into it and try to portray it in the best quality possible.

But I hate VIZ for cutting out all the author text descriptions that are added at the beginning and end of each chapter. For eg:-

This is from VIZ. And now I'll show you how it looked on the official one and in the scanlation.

See the difference, do they really have to do this?

Ok now let's go see if Sasuke winks at Sakura or not.

The first one is from official VIZ translation and the bottom one is from the raw. The sound effect used in here is ニッ (ni) which means "smile; grin; smirk; heh". Thus it shows that he never winked at Sakura.

If you claim that the word bubble covered his left eye...let me show you something

Here Luffy was using second gear. Look at the orange bubble, it looks familiar, doesn't it? It's the same sfx 「ニッ」 used in the Sasuke panel. We can only see his back, but how do we know he is grinning, yes, it is because of the sfx used there. Without showing his face, we could tell he was actually grinning.

The same sfx is used here in this panel as well. Here both her eyes are shown closed.

If they're still claiming that Sasuke was winking, then I can only say that Luffy was winking at Blueno and that girl was winking while both her eyes were closed.

And I also wanna talk about Sasuke's leg shaking when he heard sakura's confession.

The sfx used in here is ピタ Pita = stops; freeze; pause. This same sfx used in VOTE 1

Sfx used in here ピタッ Pita . ッ added to make an onomatopoeia "stronger"

Sasuke was walking away while Sakura was confessing and he suddenly stopped and turned around to say, "You're really annoying." Sasuke was walking away in vote 1, and when he heard Naruto, he suddenly stopped, and turned around and called out his nickname, "yo, usuratonkachi"

If you want to know when Sasuke's legs start shaking/trembling, 1) it's during the UMC 2) when he's stuck against the wall and can't escape, and Itachi comes at him like he's going to pluck his eyes out. Sfx used in here is ガクガク (gaku gaku) - tremble tremble; shake shake

As for the sfx ガクッ (gaku) which means- Collapsing; losing strength; losing balance; slumping; bend with a jerk. In the first panel, he lose his balance and collapsing because what he's facing is not a dream, it's reality. The reality is that he lost his family and everyone. And he became alone. In the second panel he collapses due to the sudden pain in his shoulder.

[d011zk1ll]

Au where they have the miraculous, but after LB and Chats debut, Alya makes an update discord server as well as the Blog. Adrien doesn't go to their school, his father using the amok to stop him, but he joins the server. What's the harm in getting updates quicker than the ladyblog anyways?

Marinette joins for the same reason, as well as supporting her friend.

Alya eventually opens up a general section so people can talk, and share experiences. To bring the server together (she also finds volunteer therapist's with experience who help Akuma victims through the server cause Alyas like that). Adrien is the biggest Ladybug fan, his username is probably something like LBLove123 and Marinette is Chat's. She literally pays nitro so she can make her server name and entire server profile Chat Noir themed. They get into light hearted joke arguments about who the better Hero is, eventually Marinette wins and Adrien has to change his profile picture to some mug of Chat as a losing thingy.

All while this is happening, Lb and Chat are hiding the fact they're on the server from one another.

After like, half a year Adrien dm's marinette like "hey, so you like. Really like Chat Noir, huh?" And she goes "no. He's actually the worst and I hate him" adrien, the autistic little dumbass he is takes it as the truth and responds with "oh :(" So marinette apologises a ton and starts using tone tags. They add eachother as friends and even start playing online UMC on VC together.

Adrien really wants to meet marinette, but she responds with "how about this, when Ladybug and Chat Noir get together." And it's like a reverse crush au, so Adrien is infatuated with this girl he's never met and Marinette falls for Chat. So now, chat is trying to convince Lb to fake date him, and she (as much as she wants to say yes) says no. Because well. It's dangerous! Stuff could happen and it might not end well! Plus, it would mean LbLove123 (who only kept his name to match Marinette's) won the bet she set up in her head

Basically reverse crush online friend adrienette au while they're actually just eachothers dumbass superhero partner.

Plagg would egg him on, Tikki would warn her the risks of people online.

Also Adrien's pronouns in his pronouns slot are "🎀🐾🐞He/She/They🐞🐾🎀"

The bow is for this mysterious Chat noir lover who he knows loves pink, bows, fashion and threatens to beat him up with her shoe on the regular. The paw print is for Chat Noir, and the ladybug is for Lb!! Also he's gender fluid in this au ✨✨

[ashipiko]

OK THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE POSTED TECHNICALLY TMR BUT ITS HIS BDAY IN JP SO WHO REALLY CARES. CMON!!!

aaanyway. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BOY EVER EVER EVER KAZU I LOVE YOU LOTS AND LETS KEEP GOING STRONG 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 UMC SWEEEEEP

[bambamramfan]

Discourse knows, there have been too many articles in the UMC publications about polyamory, and I apologize for adding to the bonfire of think pieces. At least this one linked above is less obnoxious than most of them.

(The most obnoxious one is referenced in this article, the Atlantic piece saying that polyamory is bourgeois identity politics distracting from material change.)

And what gets me is that for a bunch of supposed Marxists decrying how polyamory is just cultural superficiality irrelevant to the superstructure of material conditions.... none of them can bother to write a Marxist analysis of polyamory! It's just throwing different names at each other, no discussion of material incentives.

And it's so fucking easy to write one, isn't it. Here's our starting points:

Marriage (and the relationship models that lead to it) is an economic institution.

The change in modern polyamory fads is, like most fashion, coming from the upper-class.[1]

I think we can all agree on these basic premises, and they provide a great deal of grist for economic analysis.

For instance, the middle class in America is falling apart. Especially if you are a recent college graduate. It's easy to get an internship that might be on track to a very lucrative career, especially in a big city. It's a lot harder to start a stable middle-class job somewhere between the coasts. So you can't really start planning for baby until you're 30 and after 5 different careers you maybe have one that will last more than a year, and can put a down payment on a home at maybe 35. (Housing costs rising, especially in cities, has really exacerbated that.

Does this apply to everyone? No. Does it apply to more people that in the past? Big yeah. So, what does a young educated something do in their twenties and early thirties?

But the upper class - I suppose we are supposed to say upper middle class, but c'mon programmer earning $250k you're fooling no one - is booming. It's easier to enter it, especially if you're smart, than ever (note that increasing from 1% mobility to 10% mobility is a big change, even if on the absolute scale it's still unfair.)

Polyamory - or extramarital sex - has always been popular among the rich. Because marriage isn't really an economic necessity for them. If a couple splits, well there's enough money to go around for all the kids to live in nice houses. Mormon bigamy flourishes when a male breadwinner is so ultra-successful they can support for 5 wives, and geek group poly houses flourish when one systems engineer can pay for the whole house on their own too (maybe there's one kid everyone chips in babycare for in the house, but no one is even thinking about enough children in the group house for a fertility rate close to 1:1.)

So if you cut out the ladder from the middle-class-monogamy path, and widen the highway for upper-class-laissez-faire-culture, then cultural norms are gonna flow from the former to the latter.

The thing about relationship norms that makes the change really noticeable is their NETWORK EFFECTS. Being the only polyamorous person in a monogamous community is basically irrelevant, right? Who you gonna date? Similarly if you are in an entirely polyamorous community, my sympathies if you happen to be monogamous and so everyone you want to date has incompatible norms.

But once you start getting away from the edges, they S-curve up real fast because there's finally the option to try the minority relationship style, and for the agnostics who are okay poly or mono, they start seeing people they think are cute in the other camp, and hey, why not try it out.

So combine the collapse of the middle class, the proliferation of upper class hedonism, and network effects and a poly-explosion seems almost inevitable, doesn't it?

...

Of course, I haven't presented any hard evidence, this marginal change at most applies to less than double digits percentage of the populace, and this isn't even how the story feels from inside my head (as a poly converted person.)

But it was. At least. An attempt. To do. Materialistic analysis!

Why are all published Marxists so bad at this.

--

[1] Polyamory, or extreme family/relationship/household flexibility has always flourished in the underclass. But the NYT isn't going around interviewing trailer parks in Appalachia to ask them about their exciting new lifestyle.

[jujumin-translates]

[A3!] ★ Main Story | Act 14 - DREAM CATCHER | Episode 17 - Huge Dreams

Tenma: …

Sakuya: Is that the script for your upcoming movie?

Tenma: --Yeah.

Sakuya: I heard about Summer Troupe’s whole challenge plan.

Sakuya: Before Spring Troupe’s important performance too, I wondered how things were gonna go for us when we all left the dorms, but…

Sakuya: It turned out that that was what really helped with Spring Troupe’s performance.

Sakuya: So don’t worry about the rest of us and just go ahead and do what you wanna do with everything you’ve got.

Tenma: Thanks.

Tenma: For the sake of everyone seeing me off, I’ve gotta make sure that Summer Troupe’s performance will be a success. I’ll definitely pass on the baton Spring Troupe passed on to us.

Sakuya: Yeah, I’m sure you’ll be fine since you’ve got everyone in Summer Troupe, Tenma-kun!

Kazunari: TenTen, it’s almost time to go.

Sakuya: Ah, sounds like they’re looking for you. See you later.

Tenma: See you.

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Kumon: This is probably the last time we can just have fun like this before the performance, huh~?

Muku: From the moment we get back home, we’ll be busy with rehearsals.

Kazunari: And that’s why we’ve gotta have a blast today!

Misumi: I bought lotsa fireworks~.

Tenma: That’s way too many pinwheel fireworks!

Kazunari: How many should we set off at once?

Tenma: Just one at a time!

Misumi: I’ll set off some skyrocket fireworks too~!

*Misumi sets off a firework*

Kumon: I love rocket fireworks~!

*Kumon sets off a firework*

Tenma: It’s dangerous to set off so many at once like that!

Yuki: You’re way too cautious.

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Muku: You’re leaving the day after tomorrow, right, Tenma-kun? Are you already packed?

Tenma: Yeah, just about. When does your flight leave, Kazunari?

Kazunari: I’ve got a weekend flight.

Yuki: And everything’s okay with your job?

Kazunari: The beauty of being a UMC (self-declared) is that I can adjust my work schedule whenever~.

Kazunari: Besides, as long as I’ve got my laptop, I can still work while I’m over there.

Kumon: Your audition is tomorrow, right, Muku?

Muku: Yeah. I still sort of feel like I can’t do it, but… All I can do is do the best that I can at the moment.

Yuki: Back during our debut performance, you never would’ve been able to think that positively.

Muku: Huh!? You really think so…?

Kumon: I’m sure you’ll do just fine, Muku!

Misumi: You can do it~!

Kazunari: Manifesting good vibes for you, Mukkun!

Tenma: Do your best.

Muku: Thanks! When do your performances start, Misumi-san?

Misumi: I’ve got regional performances all over the place starting next week~.

Yuki: I’ll be going to work every day starting the day after tomorrow.

Kumon: You’ll all be busy as soon as your individual activities start up, huh?

Muku: We’ll still see each other at the dorms, but Kazu-kun and Tenma-kun are going to be overseas, and Misumi-san will be in different regions, so it’ll still be kind of lonely.

Kazunari: It will be~. But we’ll still be able to talk to each other through LIME, and when the time comes, we can practice remotely like Spring Troupe did!

Misumi: Ah~! There’s three pinwheel fireworks left! It’s a triangular amount~!

*Fireworks are set off*

Tenma: Don’t set them off all at once!

Yuki: You’re running around way too much.

Kazunari: Pinwheel fireworks are TenTen’s weakness~.

Tenma: BECAUSE OF YOU GUYS!

Muku: We’ve made so many more memories since then. And with Kyu-chan joining us, our bond has grown ever stronger.

Muku: I’m sure that our upcoming “challenges” will be really important experiences for us… Even if they make us anxious.

Kumon: Yeah… We’ll each have to do our best…

Tenma: What’s with all the timidness? These “challenges” are so we can achieve our dreams.

Tenma: They might still be in the far future, but we’ve gotta keep chasing after them so we can grab onto them for sure.

Tenma: We can’t let our dreams just end as dreams.

Muku: Right. I’m not going to give up either, just like you, Tenma-kun.

Kumon: Alright, let’s get fired up~!

Yuki: Looks like Mr. Full-of-Himself is back.

Kazunari: Here goes the last skyrocket fireworks~!

Misumi: Go~!

*Fireworks*

Tenma: UWAGH! You could at least give a warning!

Kumon: Now that was a surprise attack~!

Kazunari: Let’s set off our own huge dreams just like that!

Misumi: Let’s launch them all the way to the moon~!

[ ⇠ Previous Part ] • [ Next Part ⇢ ]

[asordinaryppl]

A3! Main Story: Part 4 - Act 14: DREAM CATCHER - Episode 17: Big Dreams

Tenma: …

Sakuya: Is that the script for your next movie?

Tenma: — Yeah.

Sakuya: I heard about the Summer Troupe’s challenges.

Sakuya: We had a lot of doubts about leaving right before such an important performance too, but…

Sakuya: In the end, it turned out to be helpful for our play.

Sakuya: So, don’t worry about what may come next, and do your best doing what you want to do.

Tenma: Thanks.

Tenma:  We will make the performance a success, for everyone who’s sending us off. We will absolutely pass on the baton the Spring Troupe gave us.

Sakuya: If it’s you and the Summer Troupe, I’m sure everything will be okay!

Kazunari: TenTen, we gotta get going.

Sakuya: Oh, they’re calling for you. See you later.

Tenma: See you.

-

Kumon: This will probably be the last time we’ll play around like this before our performance~

Muku: We’re gonna be busy with practice when we get back.

Kazunari: That’s why we gotta get lit today!

Misumi: I bought lots of fireworks~

Tenma: This is too many pinwheel fireworks!

Kazunari: How many at a time are we lighting up?

Tenma: Do them one at a time!

Misumi: I’ll light up some fireworks too~!

[Firework being set off]

Kumon: I love rocket fireworks~!

[Firework being set off]

Tenma: Don’t light too many of them at once, it’s dangerous!

Yuki: You’re being way too cautious.

-

Muku: Tenma-kun, you’re leaving the day after tomorrow, right? Have you finished packing?

Tenma: Yeah. For the most part. Kazunari, when’s your flight?

Kazunari: I’m taking a flight over the weekend.

Yuki: Will everything be okay with your work?

Kazunari: One of the greatest things about being a UMC (name subject to change) is that I can change my schedule at my own discretion~ (1)

Kazunari: And I can work anywhere if I’ve got my laptop.

Kumon: Muku, your audition is tomorrow, right?

Muku: Yes. I still find myself thinking this might be too much for me... But for now I’ll try to focus on doing everything I can.

Yuki: You’re facing this with a positive attitude I could’ve never imagined from you during our debut.

Muku: Eh!? Really…?

Kumon: I’m sure you’ll be fine!

Misumi: Do your best~!

Kazunari: May Mukkun’s efforts not go to waste!

Tenma: Do your best.

Muku: Thank you! Misumi-san, when do your performances start?

Misumi: We’ll be having local performances all over the place starting next week~

Yuki: I’ll be going to the office every day starting overmorrow.

Kumon: You’ll all be busy once your activities start.

Muku: We’ll get to see each other in the dorm, but Kazu-kun and Tenma-kun will be abroad, and Misumi-san will be in the countryside, so it’ll be lonely.

Kazunari: Right~ But we can keep in contact through LIME, and if the need arises, we can practice remotely like the Spring Troupe did!

Misumi: Ah~! There are three pinwheel fireworks left! I’ll make a triangle~!

[Firework sparks going off]

[Tenma jumps back]

Tenma: Don’t light them all at once!

Yuki: Scaredy-cat.

Kazunari: Pinwheel fireworks are like TenTen’s worst enemy~

Tenma: It’s you guys’ damn fault!

Muku: We’ve made so many memories since then. Kyu-chan joined, and our bonds grew deeper.

Muku: I’m sure the “challenges” we’ll face now will be an important experience… Although there’s bound to be worries on the way too.

Kumon: Right… We gotta do our best…

Tenma: What’s that weak attitude for? We’re taking on “challenges” for the sake of our dreams, you know.

Tenma: They may still be far. But we’ll definitely chase after them and grab hold of them.

Tenma: There’s no way we’ll let our dreams be just dreams.

Muku: You’re right. I won’t give up, either.

Kumon: Alright, I’m getting fired up~!

Yuki: The great Tenma’s back.

Kazunari: This is our last firework~!

Misumi: Here goes~!

[Video of a firework going off]

Tenma: Uwah! Don’t light it so suddenly!

Kumon: That was a surprise attack~!

Kazunari: Let’s make our dreams as big as these fireworks!

Misumi: Let’s fly them to the moon~!

previous episode | masterpost | next episode

NOTES:

(1) i translated the (name subject to change) like that with steins:gate in mind, because kazunari pronounces (仮) as kakkokari, instead of its usual pronunciation (kari) and it reminded me of the phonewave

[the-himawari]

A3! Troupe Event Translation - Journey to the Colours (1/11)

*Please read disclaimer on blog; default name set as Izumi

---

*flashback starts*

Kumon: …

Yamaguchi: …What’re you doing squatting down over there?

Kumon: It’s just… we could’ve won today’s game for sure. If only I didn’t mess up in the bottom of the 7th inning…

Yamaguchi: That wasn’t your fault, y’know? Geez, don’t sweat it. —.

*flashback ends*

Kumon: It’s been a while since I’ve been to a batting cage. I can’t wait.

Azami: You went last week, didn’t you?

Kumon: It’s been six days. That’s a long time!

Azami: How? Anyways, baseball’s fine and all, but play soccer with me too. I feel like we’re always just playin’ baseball every time.

Kumon: No prob! I’ll go anytime! …Huh?

Azami: What’s up?

Kumon: This poster…

Azami: Huh. They’re renovating the sports ground? You practiced there durin’ your baseball club days, right?

Kumon: Yeah… I see. Renovations, huh?

Azami: Well, it’s a sports ground so it won’t change that much. I bet they’ll just switch the lights or netting or somethin’.

Kumon: Good point…

-pause-

Kumon: I sure am starving. I wonder what’s for dinner tonight?

Azami: Who’s in charge again today?

Kumon: I think it was Omi-san!

Azami: It’s hard to predict since his repertoire is so wide.

Kumon: If it was Director, then there’s only one possible answer~.

*footsteps approach*

Izumi: Ah. Welcome home, you two.

Tsuzuru: Welcome back.

Kumon: We’re back!

Azami: Were you two out shoppin’?

Tsuzuru: I ran into Director while I was on my way back after visiting home.

Izumi: I asked him to lend me a hand with the shopping.

Kumon: We’ll help hold the bags too!

Izumi: Thanks.

Tsuzuru: Great, that’s a load off.

Kumon: Hold on. Are you tired, Tsuzuru-san?

Tsuzuru: My little brothers were playing a little too aggressively.

Azami: What kinda aggressive games are elementary school kids playin’?

Tsuzuru: We were playing Journey to the West. Apparently, they watched a rerun of the anime recently and got hooked on it. I was forced to play two roles, Kinkaku and Ginkaku, and they requested that each of them gets defeated in a flashy way…

Izumi: Those sound like pretty tough roles.

Kumon: Journey to the West? Like Son Goku, right? I copied a manga I read a long time ago by using a curtain rod as a magic staff and swinging it around~.

Azami: I feel like you’d do that even now.

Kumon: Yeah, I bet it’d also be fun doing that now!

Tsuzuru: Let’s act together next time then.

Kumon: Ahaha. I’m down~!

-pause-

Kazunari: …

Kumon: We’re home.

Kazunari: Welcome back~… ooh, this is a pretty rare party!

Kumon: We happened to meet up and get together!

Azami: We look like such a random group.

Kumon: What’re you up to, Kazu-san?

Kazunari: Just some work that was commissioned~.

Kumon: Work!? That’s so cool!

Kazunari: After the public exhibition, I started getting work offers here and there. I’ve been taking them to gain more experience. These type of work connections are gonna be important from here on out as I aim to become a UMC~.

Kumon: Come to think of it, didn’t you say that you also have assignments, Kazu-san?

Kazunari: I mean, yeah~. I’m taking it easy since you don’t go to school all that often after entering fourth year. I guess I have to get around to those though. Director-chan, can I use the storage room for work for the next lil while?

Izumi: That’s totally fine, but I think it’s about time to start thinking about Summer troupe’s play. I ask for your cooperation with that too. Well, I’m sure you’ll be fine. You’ve always done lots of other things in tandem with your rehearsals and performances.

Kazunari: You know it. It’ll work out, so no worries!

Azami: Right. It’s that time of the year already, eh?

Tsuzuru: Continuing from Spring Troupe with Chikage-san, the lead for Summer troupe will be Kumon, right?

Izumi: Yeah. That’s right.

Kumon: It’s my first lead in a long time. I’m so excited~!

Tsuzuru: Do you have any sort of request or theme you’d like to do?

Kumon: Eh!? Asking me so suddenly…!

Tsuzuru: Anything you want to do is fair game.

Kumon: Mmm… AH! In that case, I wanna try out some cool action!

Izumi: Oh yeah, you said something along those lines when you said you wanted to join Autumn troupe at first.

Kumon: Yep! Something exciting and adventurous would be sick~!

Tsuzuru: Noted.

Izumi: Even if there’s action, it’ll turn into a Summer troupe-like play as long as you add comedic elements.

Tsuzuru: I’ll give it some thought.

Kumon: Azami, since you’re going to be the lead in Autumn troupe’s next show, you should also start thinking about your request now!

Azami: It’s way too early for that, don’tcha think?

---

| next

[seabeck]

Here’s all (but one) of the reds I’ve tried so far. Anchor’s red and ruby red were extremely disappointing. So far UMC stag is the best one I’ve found. The JP coats one is ok but the quality of the thread itself is lacking (not shiny, very fuzzy). Anchor and le paon are going back tomorrow.

[hexusproductions]

Flatline character playlist

Mr. Doctor Man by Palaye Royal // I'm Going Slightly Mad by Queen // Have To by Blue Kid // Daddy! Daddy! Do! (Cover by AmaLee) // Real Boy by Lola Blanc // Dogwalk by CreepP // Lay All Your Love On Me by The Butterfly Effect // Toxic by Britney Spears // Blue Moon by Ella Fitzgerald // 1:15 A.M. from Frankenstein // Zydrate Anatomy from Repo! The Genetic Opera // Tainted Love by UMC

(Originally posted 10/11/2022)

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

To a previous anon whose church is disaffiliating from the Methodist church - you are not alone. My parents are choir directors at two different Methodist churches, and we’re praying that neither of them want to disaffiliate. My parents want to be somewhere that will welcome everyone (including me), but also they don’t want to lose their jobs. I’ll be praying for you as well as you go through your class.

Thanks so much for sharing, anon. A lot of my old seminary classmates are in similar situations now, too.I hate how all the Stuff going on in the UMC is hurting so many people, laypersons and ministers alike.

[bowlsbowlsalltypeabowls]

I tried to rent a normal sedan for a trip to see my friend in a nearby city but the rental car place gave me a gmc denali (only half full of gas) and I hate it so much. These things should be illegal, they're too high, have you seen those terrifying charts of how close a child can be to you without you seeing them? All the sight lines are terrible. It is also soooooo wide. It takes up the whole lane and when I parallel parked it (not! fun!) it stuck out a good 8/10" from the next car even though I was right on the curb. I stg if this thing gets clipped and I have to fight my rental car insurance about this I'm going to be so mad.

I seriously hate selfish car culture like this. Take up as much space as possible for your own comfort, though I haven't even found the seats that comfortable and getting out is such a pain even though I'm very tall. I just looked it up and a new one of these starts at $74k! So don't even tell me this is for country roads, farms or whatever bullshit they have in the commercials. I'm from rural america and very few people could afford that. It is clearly for UMC suburbanites who consider themselves too cool for a minivan.

Why does a super urban car rental spot even have these? They wanted to give me a pick up! Which I refused bc I couldn't install A's carseat.