Bishop Grant Hagiya offers this pastoral letter to the people of The United Methodist Church in the Oregon-Idaho Conference:
August 9, 2016
We must always be grateful for the gift of life, but life isn’t always easy or clear cut. God never promised us it would be easy, but always provides enough faith and love to get us through. We are also subject to the many mysteries of life. We never fully understand the whys and wherefores of God’s divine actions, nor the motivations and reasons of a broken humanity. Oftentimes, God is probably as mystified as we are on the actions of God’s creation. Through it all, God still continues to love us and be the never-ending source of divine grace.
This past week, our Executive Director of Camp and Retreat Ministries, Jim Parkhurst was arrested for criminal conduct. We are still sorting out the charges and implications of his arrest. None of us know the specific details, nor the innocence or guilt of Jim himself. We need to wait to find out what actually happened and why. We continue to keep Jim in our prayers. We do believe at this time, no one in our annual conference has been directly harmed, but we will continue to monitor the situation very closely and give details as they become available. What I can report is that Jim has voluntarily resigned his position as the Oregon-Idaho Camping Executive Director and surrendered his clergy credentials.
As we attempt to sort things out and find out more truths, we have to be ever vigilant of the basic protection of the innocent. The church, and our United Methodist Church stands for justice and safety of the most innocent, and we must protect the sacred trust we have for our members and participants. No matter what happens, this must be our central focus.
God will provide all we need to navigate these challenging waters. First and foremost, we must rely on our faith in God to see us through. God’s infinite capacity to love and heal is more than enough to deal with this and any other issues that may come our way.
May God hold us in the very palm of God’s hand, now and always.
Be the Hope,
Bishop Grant
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