By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
In a significant move toward a possible future change to United Methodist Church’s doctrine and discipline, the Pacific Northwest Conference’s 2016 Annual Conference voted for non-conformity to the Book of Discipline’s mandates proscribing gay marriage, gay ministers, and the disbursement of funds toward gay causes. In effect, the measure declares that the PNW Conference will not participate in any judicial or disciplinary actions against those who violate these laws enumerated within the Book of Discipline. This represents a strong departure from doctrine.
The subject of homosexuality has in the United Methodist Church traditionally brought decades of internal conflict within the Church from parishioners, clergy, bishops, and the various conferences; especially since the choices in the row have been polar in nature–either the status quo or to completely allow acceptance of homosexuality. The non-conformity action might finally offer a middle ground for the Church Community to move closer to that of society and of the secular laws.
Day four of our Alaskan adventure was focused on the immense beauty of Denali Naitonal Park. As an avid hiker, Denali has been a dream of mine for many years. Famous for Mt. McKinley (recently changed by the Obama Administration to Mount Denali to the chagrin of the Ohio delegation), the highest mountain in North America at 20,310 feet, the park is an icon of American natural conservation. It is breathtaking in size and beauty — 1,334,200 acres of pristine tundra, glaciers, rock and forest. It was everything that we dreamed it would be as we hit the trails of Denali.
Our third day in Alaska had us driving from Anchorage to Denali National Park. It is a beautiful ride though the maps can be deceiving. What looks like one of the few towns like Willow is little more than a gas station and a couple of buildings. It took about 4-5 hours but it is fun to be able to stop and meet people. You can also take the Alaskan train which goes through the amazing Alaska countryside. We went directly to 
There is a disturbing threat from an Obama Administration official that the Administration could prosecute those who 
