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Making Sense of it All: Rev. Sarah Moody Varnell Talks About the United Methodist Church

Posted by Billy Chandler

The United Methodist Church has been in the news recently.

Members are at odds over governing doctrine regarding the LGBTQ community, and recently headlines told the story that more than 250 churches left the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church. (Emory & Henry is one of two colleges associated with the Holston Conference.)

Rev. Sarah Moody Varnell admits that the story has had some twists and turns that no one saw coming, and the issues have still not been entirely sorted out. But she is hopeful that, in the end, the teachings of Christ will inform all decisions. “For Jesus, no people are ‘issues.’ All people are God’s people.”

To have a better understanding of the issue, take a moment to listen to an interview with Sarah on the Duck Pond Wall.

Open gallery

woman in a church wearing minister's robe
Rev. Sarah Moody Varnell
E&H Class of 2005

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  • <div class="lw_news_image"><span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/news/2391-chanel-burke-santiago-advocates-for-military"><picture class="lw_image"><source type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,450,450/11580_chanel_santiago.rev.1657026563.webp 1x" data-origin="responsive"/><source type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,450,450/11580_chanel_santiago.rev.1657026563.jpg 1x" data-origin="responsive"/><img src="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,450,450/11580_chanel_santiago.rev.1657026563.jpg" alt="Chanel Burke Santiago Emory & Henry Class of 2004" width="345" height="225" data-max-w="450" data-max-h="450" loading="lazy" data-optimized="true"/></picture></a></span></div><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_news_headline"><a href="/live/news/2391-chanel-burke-santiago-advocates-for-military">Chanel Burke Santiago Advocates for Military Veterans Through a VA Vet Center</a></h4><div class="lw_news_summary"> Chanel Burke Santiago is doing impactful work for Veterans, and it is very personal for her. <a href="/live/news/2391-chanel-burke-santiago-advocates-for-military" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div></div>