Old or bold? Bishop Cedrick calls the Church to courageous love

Story by Sophia Agtarap | Photos by Patrick Scriven

Opening Worship of the 2026 Pacific Northwest Annual Conference began with a land acknowledgement from Rev. Alan Buck, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and Director of the GNW Circle of Indigenous Ministries, naming that we gather on the traditional homelands of the four bands of the Spokane Tribe of Indians: Sntútʔulixʷi, Snxʷmeneʔi, Sc̓qesciłni, and Sčewíleʔ (Upper Band, Middle Band, Lower Band, Chewelah Band) who have stewarded these lands since time immemorial.

Gifted musicians anchored those gathered in song as we prepared to receive a word from Bishop Cedrick Bridgeforth, inviting us to tell the truth about what love requires of us in this moment.

Naming the realities of organized cruelty, greed dressed up as wisdom, and the truth treated like a threat, Bishop Cedrick cautioned us not to reduce faith to cleverness and control, as there are those fashioning Christianity into something we don’t recognize.

Plainly, in a season such as this, love may be the boldest thing the church can do.

Bishop Cedrick made it clear that the rollbacks we are seeing across the country will not be replicated in the Greater NW Conference, as this is no place for erasure and the coddling of the privileged.

Bishop Cedrick closed with a reminder that future generations will not be served by our anxiety. “Instead, might we leave them our faith, testimony, courage, and blessing?”

In closing, Bishop Cedrick reminded us of the importance of rest. “If you’re doing it right,” he shared, “you’ll never finish.” To clergy in particular: “Our body isn’t a machine. Your soul is not conference property. The church pays you, it does not own you.”

“This is not the time for a timid church,” Bishop Cedrick cautioned. “This is time for courage. For clarity. For a love strong enough to take public form with moral clarity.” “Is it gonna be old or is it gonna be bold?” That is the question.