A bittersweet 2004 General Conference

The 2004 General Conference in Pittsburgh has come and gone. All of us continue to examine actions taken and their significance. We hope this special General Conference issue of Good News will help United Methodists have a better understanding about what happened there.

On many of the cultural issues facing the church, the momentum from General Conference 2000 in Cleveland continued. Unfortunately, the last several General Conferences have evolved into two-week battles over homosexuality. The reason that the New York Times sends a reporter is to cover our debates regarding sexuality, not because we have a new evangelism emphasis or social action initiative.

Having said that, we are grateful for the votes on marriage and sexuality: delegates affirmed and even strengthened the prohibition against the ordination and appointment of self-avowed practicing homosexuals by a 73 percent vote; a motion to allow gay marriages was defeated by an 83 percent vote and performing one was added to the Discipline as a "chargeable offense;" a motion to require the Boy Scouts to include homosexuals was defeated by a strong 80 percent vote. Delegates voted to "support laws in civil society that define marriage as the union of one man and one woman," by a 77 percent majority vote. We are the first and only mainline church to be on record on this issue.

These and other actions by delegates reflect a church that is moving away from, not toward, libertarian sexual ethics. The momentum here is toward strengthening biblical values.

The Judicial Council made two very important rulings while in Pittsburgh. The first clarified that our church stance prohibiting self-avowed practicing homosexuals from ordination and appointment is, in fact, church law. The second ruling, while not overturning the egregious Karen Dammann trial verdict, ruled that no pastor found by a trial court to be a self-avowed practicing homosexual can be appointed in the UM Church. (This ruling may be part of the reason Dammann has decided not to seek appointment this spring.) Also, newly elected members to the Judicial Council make us confident it will continue to uphold and faithfully interpret the Book of Discipline.

Another positive action by delegates in Pittsburgh was the vote to change the representation on our church's boards and agencies so they reflect more fairly our regional membership numbers. This means, simply, that the growing, more traditional Southeastern, South Central, and Central Conferences will have more persons on program boards and agencies.

Despite these many positive legislative actions (and some not so positive-no judicial review or Women's Division reform legislation passed), many of us returned home feeling anything but victorious.

We recall a shattered communion chalice that was broken by a pro-gay activist after delegates voted to retain our stance on homosexuality. (I've yet to see any media account critical of that rude, intemperate act.) Then, two days later we endured the 35-minute protest orchestrated by Soulforce, a gay-rights organization, which had unhindered access to the floor of General Conference. The chair's welcome without asking the body for permission, the placement of a rainbow-colored candle in the worship area, and expressions of support from more than 25 bishops (both active and retired), who stood in solidarity with the protesters, combined to leave many of us with a sinking feeling in the pits of our stomachs. These were not holy moments. Candles, baptismal water, and chalices are meant for worship, not political theater.

The 2004 General Conference will be remembered as the one at which the subject of amicable separation was placed on the table for United Methodists to discuss. We must listen prayerfully to discern what the Spirit is saying to the church about this. But continued defiance of the Book of Discipline and repeated declarations by "progressives" (and for that matter the entire Western Jurisdiction) that they plan to ignore the church's standards, leave us asking if there is not a better way forward. (In Washington State, one of our churches has lost 60 families (!) over the homosexuality controversy.) 

Good News affirms the goal of unity in the church (see Good News board resolution on p. 44). However, it should be very clear that the unity resolution passed at General Conference was little more than window dressing. How ironic it was to have delegates holding hands across that massive convention center and led in singing "Blest Be the Tie that Binds" by Bishop Joe Sprague-the single most theologically divisive bishop in recent UM history. Despite the unity resolution, we are not a united church. 

Our unity will come only from faithful adherence to the Apostolic faith. That faith centers on historical events (the birth, life, death, resurrection, ascension of Jesus, and the giving of the Holy Spirit) and on the historical, trustworthy testimony by eyewitnesses. It is this scriptural foundation alone, made alive by the Spirit's presence among us, that will save the UM Church from ungrounded subjectivism, doctrinal revisionism, and continued spiritual deterioration.

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