I am filled with gratitude for every person who typed my number 114 into your electronic voting device. I am so deeply thankful for the young clergy and laity who led us and gave Tennessee our most diverse and progressive delegation ever.  I am humbled to help represent the people of the Tennessee Annual Conference and each of the neighborhoods surrounding our 500 plus middle Tennessee churches. We covet your prayers as we seek to build the church we long to belong to. We long to be a church that daily practices resisting evil, injustice and oppression in all forms. We must inhabit past progressive victories so that no UM churches rejects a pastor or member due to race or gender.  Let us move forward so that all ages, nations, races, classes, cultures, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities are fully included into every aspect of our communal life. Let us reject the stale bread of cynicism and decline. Let us believe the Good News that Christ brings salvation, liberation and transformation to even broken sinful institutions. Hallelujah- now the harder work begins!