Member nominee: Sharon McCart

Members of United Women in Faith put love into action every day to inspire, influence, and impact their churches and communities. Many of our members live out their faith by serving as leaders in The United Methodist Church. This year, 11 annual conferences are electing their delegates to General Conference, and members of United Women in Faith are stepping up to the call.

Meet Deaconess Sharon McCart, a member of United Women in Faith at University United Methodist Church in Irvine, California, and United Women in Faith grant recipient. She serves on the Disability Ministries Committee of The United Methodist Church, for which she is the former chair. She was instrumental in starting a disabilities ministries program through the Board of Women’s Work in the Philippines Regional Conference and author of Journey of the Heart: What I Have Learned From United Methodist Deaconess/Home Missioners in the Philippines.

Sharon serves on her district missions committee and is a member her conference Justice and Compassion Essential Ministry Team as chair of the Disability Ministries Strategy Group and as a member of the Philippines Strategy Group.

She is a nominee for General and Jurisdictional Conference delegate in the California-Nevada Conference.

What do you like best about being a member of United Women in Faith?

The best part about being a member of United Women in Faith, and a deaconess, is having connections with so many other women who are justice and compassion oriented. So many people are unwilling, for whatever reason, to make a stand and take action against injustice and oppression. United Women in Faith members are not. I am strengthened by knowing I am not alone. I don’t even feel like I’m in the minority!

Why are you running for General Conference delegate?

I am running for General Conference delegate because my experiences with people with disabilities and with church leaders in the Philippines have taught me a great deal about advocacy, empowerment, solidarity, and resistance. I feel called to share my voice because I believe I speak for many, representing people who might otherwise not have a strong voice at this crucial time of making decisions about the United Methodist Church as we move into the future.

My hopes for the church is that we will decenter the power, which has been located in the United States since the beginning. Restructuring has begun, with central conferences become regional conferences, but the million steps we need to take to live into this are still to be realized. We must move out of colonialism completely and recognize all United Methodists everywhere as equals.

Cover photo courtesy Sharon McCart.