Tuesday, March 05, 2019
After the vote: The UMC's Special General Conference 2019
A general introduction to the events
in The United Methodist Church
with respect to its General Conference the fourth weekend of February, 2019.
These are the words and thoughts of Rev. Kerry Bart, ordained pastor in The UMC.
Any errors or inaccuracies are his. He can be reached at kerrfunk1 at gm ail dot com.
These are the words and thoughts of Rev. Kerry Bart, ordained pastor in The UMC.
Any errors or inaccuracies are his. He can be reached at kerrfunk1 at gm ail dot com.
A Summary:
l Over the past 45ish years, the
official teachings of The UMC with respect to things related to human sexuality
have gotten more conservative and strict.
l Included in the
UMC policies are these two things:
1. "self-avowed practicing homosexuals" shall not be ordained in The
UMC and
2a. UM pastors shall not celebrate same-sex unions and
2b. UM churches shall not host same-sex unions.
2a. UM pastors shall not celebrate same-sex unions and
2b. UM churches shall not host same-sex unions.
l Over the past 45ish years,
inclusive-minded UMs have tried at every opportunity to change or strike those
rules. But our church is governed by a global body, the “General Conference,” that
is 50% laity and 50% clergy, and there have never been enough votes to overturn
the prohibitions.
l “Ecclesiastic disobedience” began
to happen more and more, as UM clergy celebrated marriage equality. Some of
those UM clergy lost their credentials. Some of them received “slap on the
wrist” punishments and continued to do what they did. And in 2016 an openly
lesbian (and married) pastor was elected to be a bishop.
l In 2016 at the global meeting,
some people proposed that the bishops lead the church through this crisis.
Bishops are more like managers than bosses in this respect; the request was
that the bishops lead.
l The bishops selected a committee
of 32 persons of all backgrounds to study everything about the issue and to
make proposals for how the church could continue to be the church.
This committee – the Commission on a Way Forward – met over 15 months and
proposed two plans, the One Church Plan and the Connectional Conference Plan.
Another plan – the Traditional Plan – was conceived but not really fleshed out.
l The bishops discussed the plans
and recommended that the governing body of the church (the General Conference)
pass the One Church Plan. The bishops were asked to direct the Way Forward
folks to flesh out the Traditional Plan, which was then rushed through an ad
hoc committee.
l The OCP proposed that pastors and
churches and bishops and conferences be given the choice, if they wanted to, to
celebrate same-sex unions, and if they wanted to, to ordain gay pastors.
Included in that choice would be the option not to.
l The CCP said “The UMC is one
great big tent. Let's divide the one tent into three rooms: a traditional room,
a progressive room, and a centrist room. We'll all do ministry together, but
each in our different contexts, and we'll remain together for some of our
global ministries.”
l The TP said “Let's keep the
existing prohibitions and make sure to consistently enforce them.”
l Long story short, at a global
meeting earlier this week, the governing body (the General Conference) elected
to pass the TP.
Three reflections:
1. Since it was done as a rush job, the TP is full of clauses that are unconstitutional. Simply put, they violate our church laws.
This did not stop the GenConf from passing the TP (which they did by a 53 percent / 47 percent vote, with a difference of 54 votes).
Nobody is really sure what this means, but the UMC's Judicial Council (our supreme court) is going to discuss it in April.
2. There is a policy called the Trust Clause, which means that the denomination owns the property. Your local GreenDoor UMC is not owned by the people of GreenDoor UMC, even though GDUMC paid for and built it. The church is owned by the denomination. If the people of GDUMC decide for whatever reason to disaffiliate from The UMC, they do so without their building.
Included in the meeting earlier this week was a proposal that allows a kind of payoff so that GCUMC can depart with their property, sometimes referred to as an exit plan. If ruled constitutional, the plan allows for individual churches to disffiliate with their property provided that they have paid their pension liabilities, plus payment of one year of apportionments.
3. It is my personal opinion today that within a few years, we'll end up with those three rooms from the CCP, but the overall 'big tent' will be shredded.
I think there will be a chunk of “traditional” churches that form their own denomination, and there will be a chunk of “progressive” churches that form their own denomination, and The UMC will be what's left.
That's what I think today. I might not think that tomorrow.
1. Since it was done as a rush job, the TP is full of clauses that are unconstitutional. Simply put, they violate our church laws.
This did not stop the GenConf from passing the TP (which they did by a 53 percent / 47 percent vote, with a difference of 54 votes).
Nobody is really sure what this means, but the UMC's Judicial Council (our supreme court) is going to discuss it in April.
2. There is a policy called the Trust Clause, which means that the denomination owns the property. Your local GreenDoor UMC is not owned by the people of GreenDoor UMC, even though GDUMC paid for and built it. The church is owned by the denomination. If the people of GDUMC decide for whatever reason to disaffiliate from The UMC, they do so without their building.
Included in the meeting earlier this week was a proposal that allows a kind of payoff so that GCUMC can depart with their property, sometimes referred to as an exit plan. If ruled constitutional, the plan allows for individual churches to disffiliate with their property provided that they have paid their pension liabilities, plus payment of one year of apportionments.
3. It is my personal opinion today that within a few years, we'll end up with those three rooms from the CCP, but the overall 'big tent' will be shredded.
I think there will be a chunk of “traditional” churches that form their own denomination, and there will be a chunk of “progressive” churches that form their own denomination, and The UMC will be what's left.
That's what I think today. I might not think that tomorrow.
As noted earlier, these are the
words and thoughts of Rev. Kerry Bart, Barboursville WV. Any inaccuracies and
errors are his. He welcomes dialogue, and he welcomes people of all
backgrounds. kerrfunk1 at gm ail dot com.
