by Steve | Jul 16, 2016 | In the News
July 15, 2016
Peoria, Ill.: Bishop Bruce R. Ough, president of the United Methodist Council of Bishops, issued the following statement regarding the results of today’s Episcopal election at the Western Jurisdictional Conference of The United Methodist Church, meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The Western Jurisdiction has elected the Rev. Karen Oliveto of Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco to serve as a bishop of The United Methodist Church. Rev. Oliveto has been described as “an openly lesbian clergyperson.” This election raises significant concerns and questions of church polity and unity.
Our Book of Discipline has clearly delineated processes in place for resolving issues even as complex and unprecedented as this election.
The authority to elect bishops is constitutionally reserved to the jurisdictional and central conferences. Any elder in good standing is eligible for election as a bishop of the church. An elder under an unresolved complaint is still considered to be in good standing. Being a self-avowed, practicing homosexual is a chargeable offense for any clergyperson in The United Methodist Church, if indeed this is the case.
The Council of Bishops is monitoring this situation very closely. The Council does not have constitutional authority to intervene in the election or supervisory processes at either the annual conference, jurisdictional or central conference levels. And, we are careful to not jeopardize any clergy or lay person’s due process by ill-advised comments.
However, we clearly understand the Church appropriately expects the Council to provide spiritual leadership and for bishops to uphold our consecration vows. In May, prior to General Conference, the Council again affirmed to keep the promises made at our consecrations, including, among others:
- Shepherding all persons committed to our care;
- Leading the church in mission, witness and service;
- Ordering the church including administering processes for handling complaints;
- Seeking unity in Christ, including the work the Council proposed to the General Conference in “An Offering for a Way Forward.”
There are those in the church who will view this election as a violation of church law and a significant step toward a split, while there are others who will celebrate the election as a milestone toward being a more inclusive church. Others will no doubt have questions as we find ourselves in a place where we have never been. Still, others will likely see this election as disrupting or even rendering moot the purpose and work of the Commission currently being formed by the Council.
The Council continues to place our hope in Jesus Christ. Though conflicted and fragile, The United Methodist Church remains a strong witness to the transforming love of God and the saving grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ. We affirm that our witness is defined, not by an absence of conflict, but how we act in our disagreements. We affirm that our unity is not defined by our uniformity, but by our compassionate and Spirit-led faithfulness to our covenant with God, Christ’s Church and one another.
As a Council, we continue to maintain that the proposal for a way forward and the formation of the Commission is the best path. An endless cycle of actions, reactions and counter-reactions is not a viable path and tears at the very fabric of our Connection. The current and incoming COB Executive Committees recently met by conference call to initiate the implementation of our Offering for a Way Forward and the formation of the Commission called for in the proposal. We will resume this work at our regularly scheduled meeting on July 19-20 following the Jurisdictional Conferences. A progress report will be released shortly after the meeting.
Our differences are real and cannot be glossed over, but they are also reconcilable. We are confident God is with us, especially in uncharted times and places. There is a future with hope. We invite your constant and ardent prayers for the witness and unity of The United Methodist Church. May God guide us as we seek to maintain unity in the bond of peace.
Bishop Bruce R. Ough, President
Council of Bishops
The Western Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church encompasses the eight westernmost regional conferences of the United States: the Alaska Conference, the California-Nevada Conference, the California-Pacific Conference, the Desert Southwest Conference, the Oregon-Idaho Conference, the Pacific Northwest Conference, the Rocky Mountain Conference and the Yellowstone Conference.
by Steve | Jul 15, 2016 | In the News, Uncategorized
The Rev. Karen Oliveto accepts her election by the Western Jurisdiction as a UM bishop. Her wife, the Rev. Robin Ridenour, stands behind her. UMNS photo.
The Rev. Dr. Karen Oliveto, senior minister of Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco, has been elected as a bishop by the Western Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church. She is the first openly married lesbian to be elected bishop within the denomination. After two other candidates withdrew concluding the 16th ballot, Oliveto’s name was the lone candidate choice on the screen before the delegates.
She was one of three openly gay candidates running for bishop within The United Methodist Church. Gathering in Phoenix, the Western Jurisdiction delegates sent a provocative message to the worldwide 12-million member United Methodist Church – a denomination with over 5 million members in Africa and the Philippines.
Oliveto was a prominent signer of an open letter written by 111 “local pastors, deacons, elders, and candidates for ministry” with the intent to publicly come out to General Conference delegates on the day before the policy-making event took place in Portland. She has been the chair of the board of Reconciling Ministries Network and recently served as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Pacific School of Religion where she continues as adjunct professor of United Methodist Studies.
“There is a lot of dissatisfaction on all sides of the theology divide about the state of the church,” Oliveto told CBS News in San Francisco in May. “While the ‘issue’ is human sexuality, it goes much deeper theologically into how we interpret scripture. It is time the UMC finally has an honest conversation about this.”
The Council of Bishops was charged by the 2016 General Conference to create a special commission to explore the possibility of how the denomination can move forward with seemingly irreconciable theological differences over interpretation of scripture, marriage, and sexuality. Half a dozen annual conferences in the United States preemptively voted to pass variations on a resolution of non-conformity to the provisions of the Book of Discipline on issues of human sexuality.
The election of an openly gay bishop is not the kind of conversation that moderate and conservative lay and clergy leaders had in mind as the bishops prepare, later this year, to appoint the commission to study the church’s sexual ethics and preserve denominational unity.
“It is deplorable that the Western Jurisdiction, along with many annual conferences, has ignored the Council of Bishop’s proposal, ratified by the General Conference, for a ‘pause for prayer – to step back from attempts at legislative solutions and to intentionally seek God’s will for the future,’” said the Rev. Rob Renfroe, president of Good News, in response to the Western Jurisdiction election.
“Instead, these conferences have moved ahead with legislative enactments pledging non-conformity with the Book of Discipline, culminating in the election of a practicing homosexual as bishop,” said Renfroe. “If the Western Jurisdiction wanted to push the church to the brink of schism, they could not have found a more certain way of doing so.”
In celebrating the candidacies of openly gay individuals, Matt Berryman, executive director of the Reconciling Ministries Network, said, “It’s time for The United Methodist Church to move boldly forward into the future and elect its first openly gay bishops to the glory of God and for the unfolding of a new future together.”
According to a 2012 New York Times article, Oliveto has performed more than 50 “holy unions” for same-sex couples. “My bishop has been very supportive of me and my wife,” Oliveto told CBS.
The Northeastern Jurisdiction passed a resolution of non-conformity regarding the church’s prohibitions against same-sex weddings and the ordination of openly gay clergy. The jurisdiction also called on annual conference financial officers to state that there are no funds available to investigate complaints or conduct trials for clergy who violate the church’s teachings.
“In light of the Western and Northeastern Jurisdiction’s actions effectively renouncing their connection to the rest of global United Methodism, evangelicals and traditionalists within the church will be conferring in the next few days to agree upon responses that will acknowledge this grave breach of unity,” said the Rev. Thomas Lambrecht, vice president of Good News. “If our covenant is no longer in force, we will be forced to live into a new reality in our denomination.”
– Good News Media
by Steve | Jul 14, 2016 | In the News
This week, the five U.S. jurisdictional conferences will elect a total of 15 bishops. The gatherings also will finalize the next assignments for a number of already active episcopal leaders. According to United Methodist News Service stories, the newly elected bishops are:
• The Rev. Sharma Lewis: In a historic election, Lewis of the North Georgia Annual Conference was elected bishop by the Southeastern Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church. She was elected on the first ballot at the jurisdiction’s quadrennial meeting at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina. Lewis is the first African-American woman elected bishop in the Southeastern Jurisdiction. (To read more, click HERE.)
“I was called by God and I made myself available, not just to a position, but to follow God’s will,” said Lewis. “I am excited, and I am really humbled. At 52 years old, I am excited that my next phase of life will be as an episcopal leader.I am humbled to the fact that this is historic.”
• The Rev. David Graves, senior pastor of Church Street United Methodist Church in the Holston Conference, was elected as a United Methodist bishop by delegates at the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference. Graves, 58, was elected at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina, on the fourth ballot. He received 221 votes out of 345 valid ballots cast. He needed 207 to be elected. (To read more, click HERE.)
“I want to thank you, the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference, for putting your faith in me,” Graves said after his election. “So we go forth to win people to Christ, see the unseen, transform lives, and help The United Methodist Church change the world.”
• The Rev. Sue Haupert-Johnson, a district superintendent of the Florida Annual Conference, was elected as a United Methodist bishop by delegates at the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference. Haupert-Johnson, 54, was elected at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina. On the 10th ballot, she received 230 of 375 votes cast. In her introduction address on Tuesday, Haupert-Johnson stressed the need for the church to have room for everyone at God’s table. “I hope you will go and spread a table ‘with a sumptuous gospel feast,’” she bid the delegates. (To read more, click HERE.)
• The Rev. Robert Lawson Bryan, of the Alabama-West Florida Conference, has been elected a bishop by the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference of The United Methodist Church. Bryan, who serves as senior pastor at Montgomery (Alabama) First United Methodist Church, was elected on the 10th ballot, taken on July 13. “It is an honor to be elected by colleagues in our jurisdiction and to see God at work,” he said. ”For the past year, I have referenced Ephesians 2:5, ‘alive together in Christ,’ and ask for your prayers as I seek God’s will as a leader in our SEJ Conference.” (To read more, click HERE.)
• The Rev. Leonard Fairley, Capital District superintendent in the North Carolina Conference, was elected a United Methodist bishop by delegates at the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference. Fairley, 59, was elected July 13 at Lake Junaluska. On the seventh ballot, he received 246 of 375 votes cast.
“My request for you, my brothers and sisters, is to pray for me that I might live into the fruit of the Spirit,” he told the delegates. He added that he believes The United Methodist Church’s best days are still ahead. Fairley has been the superintendent of the Capital District since 2015. As the Capital District superintendent, Fairley serves as the chief missional strategist and spiritual and administrative leader to 96 churches and 134 pastors in a geographic area that includes Raleigh, Cary, Garner, Clayton, Smithfield, Benson, Goldsboro, Knightdale and Wendell. The North Carolina Conference includes churches in 56 eastern North Carolina counties. (To read more, click HERE.)
• The Rev. Cynthia Moore-Koikoi of the Baltimore-Washington Conference was elected as a bishop in The United Methodist Church on the 11th ballot of the 2016 Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference. Moore-Koikoi was elected with 108 votes on July 13. The new bishop served as superintendent of the Baltimore-Metropolitan District immediately before her election. She played a pivotal spiritual role in the city following the unrest in 2015 around the death of Freddie Gray in police custody.
“My heart is so full,” said the bishop-elect as she stood at the podium. “I don’t have the words. All I can say is glory, hallelujah!” Holding her husband’s hand – the Rev. Rafael Koikoi serves Sharp Street Memorial in Baltimore – Moore-Koikoi said that she knows being elected is a sacred trust. “I’m gonna need your prayers so that I can fulfill that trust,” she said. “I give each of you permission to pull me aside when I might be going astray. God spoke through you tonight, and that’s gonna continue.” (To read more, click HERE.)
• The Rev. David Bard: The third time was the charm for Bard. He was an episcopal nominee in both 2004 and 2008, but this year the North Central Jurisdiction elected him as a bishop for The United Methodist Church. He was also the third bishop elected by the jurisdiction on July 13. Bard was elected during the 10th round of voting with 117 votes; 108 were needed for election. He’s the first bishop to be elected from Minnesota in more than four decades.
Addressing delegates from the podium immediately after his election, Bard gave thanks to God, whose love in Jesus Christ he said touched a 13-year-old in a United Methodist church in Duluth, Minnesota — the same place he now serves. “I pledge with God’s grace and the help of God’s spirit and all of your help to work to make The United Methodist Church the best it can be, for us to be a church that indeed offers hope and healing in a broken and battered world,” he said. (To read more, click HERE.)
• The Rev. Tracy Smith Malone of the Northern Illinois Conference was the first bishop elected by the North Central Jurisdictional Conference on July 13. “To God be the glory. Friends, I stand before you as one who feels very blessed. Blessed for the journey, by your prayers and confidence in my leadership. I am a child of a church. You raised me and formed me. I consider it a privilege and an honor to serve the church,” said Smith Malone after being introduced as a bishop of The United Methodist Church.
Malone, who has been serving as the Chicago Southern district superintendent since 2011, was elected on the sixth ballot with 120 votes. (To read more, click HERE.)
• The Rev. Frank Beard, pastor of Castleton United Methodist Church in Indianapolis, was elected as a United Methodist bishop by delegates at the North Central Jurisdictional Conference. Beard was elected July 13 at the jurisdiction’s quadrennial meeting in Peoria, Illinois. On the sixth ballot, he received 109 votes, one more than the 108 needed for election.
Beard told delegates that in 1968, he was a “snotty-nosed” kid playing around a United Methodist church when its members invited him for cookies and Kool-Aid — and then provided a scholarship so he could attend United Methodist Church camp. “That little Methodist Church took me under their wing,” he said. “In 1968, it wasn’t popular for white churches to invite little black boys to be part of their congregation.” Beard said that church blessed him and God called him to the glorious task of preaching the good news. (To read more, click HERE.)
• The Rev. LaTrelle Easterling, a district superintendent in the New England Annual Conference, was elected as a United Methodist bishop by delegates at the Northeastern Jurisdiction on the 17th ballot. Easterling told the member conferences of the Northeastern Jurisdiction that no matter where it is, “If God sends me there, I will never look back.”
“I always, always, always stand on the side of justice,” she said, “but I draw the circle wide enough for all of us to be there – and when I say all, I mean all.” (To read more, click HERE.)
• The Rev. Dr. Ruben Saenz Jr., director of Connectional Ministries and executive director of Mission Vitality Center of the Rio Texas Conference, was elected as a United Methodist bishop by delegates at the South Central Jurisdiction on the third ballot. Saenz said he didn’t set out to be an episcopal leader, but over the years, people have talked to him about the possibility of putting his gifts to use as a bishop. “I think of it as drops in a sponge,” he said. “The first 100 drops are insignificant but after a while, it gets heavy and saturated. It was the affirmation of many people I’ve been associated with over the years.
“It has been a long season of discernment.” Saenz said he looks forward to serving wherever he is sent. He said he didn’t want to be elected just because he is Hispanic but because delegates discerned that he would serve effectively as an episcopal leader. “We are leaders for all peoples,” he said. (To read more, click HERE.)
• The Rev. Laurie Haller, senior pastor of First United Methodist Church in Birmingham, Michigan, was elected as a United Methodist bishop by delegates at the North Central Jurisdiction on the 13 ballot.
“I am the first bishop ever to be elected with a visible black eye,” she said, addressing the body after election. “I got it from a stray piece of airplane luggage and decided not to cover it up. It reminds me that I offer myself in utter transparency, honesty and vulnerability. It reminds me of all who live under oppression and those with wounds so deep that no one knows they exist.” (To read more, click HERE.)
• The Rev. James “Jimmy” Nunn was elected a bishop by delegates at the South Central Jurisdictional Conference in Wichita, Kansas. Nunn, 59, the director of mission and administration for the Northwest Texas Conference, was selected on the 21st ballot with 126 of the 418 votes cast by the delegates. “This is where I need to be, where I need to invest my life,” Nunn said of his call to the position.
Nunn has been mission and administration director of the Lubbock, Texas-based conference since 2011, serving for two years before that as the Northwest Texas Conference’s director of church development. (To read more, click HERE.)
• The Rev. Robert “Bob” Farr was elected as the third of three bishops chosen during the 2016 South Central Jurisdiction gathering. Farr, 56, the director of congregational development for the Missouri Conference, received 138 of the 212 votes of the delegates. Farr has served as the director of the Center for Congregational Excellence since 2007, guiding 35 church starts and overseeing more than 150 Healthy Church consultations in the Missouri Conference. He also has led 128 individual church consults in 29 conferences across the connection. (To read more, click HERE.)
• The Rev. Dr. Karen Oliveto, senior minister of Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco, was elected as a bishop by the Western Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church. After two other candidates withdrew concluding the 16th ballot, Oliveto’s name was the lone candidate choice on the screen before the delegates.
She was one of three openly gay candidates running for bishop within The United Methodist Church. Gathering in Phoenix, the Western Jurisdiction delegates sent a provocative message to the worldwide 12-million member United Methodist Church – a denomination with over 5 million members in Africa and the Philippines. (To read more, click HERE.)
by Steve | Jul 11, 2016 | In the News, Perspective E-Newsletter
Rev. Rob Renfroe
By Walter Fenton-
“We heartily endorse the creation of the Wesleyan Covenant Association,” said the Rev. Rob Renfroe, president of Good News. “Having vibrant, orthodox United Methodist churches across the connection link hands to promote the church’s core teachings and work strategically together will be vitally important during this season of discernment for our denomination.”
The association issued a press release on Thursday, June 30, announcing its creation. It has launched a website that outlines
Rev. Jeff Greenway
its purpose and goals, and includes a FAQ page. It also announced that it would hold its first major conference in Chicago on Friday, October 7, 2016.
“The Wesleyan Covenant Association represents the very best of our warm-hearted theology and action-oriented spirituality, and will provide support, encouragement, and resourcing for like-minded and like-hearted United Methodists,” said the Rev. Jeff Greenway, lead pastor of Reynoldsburg (Ohio) United Methodist Church. “During these turbulent times in our denomination, I find this association to be a source of encouragement and hope.”
Rev. Carolyn Moore
The release was accompanied by “An Open Letter to the People of the UM Church ” and signed by over 40 clergy, laity, and theologians who endorsed the formation of the association.
The WCA is being launched as a member-based network of United Methodist congregations, clergy, and laity to provide “the encouragement we need to stay committed to our rich heritage while standing firm on the non-negotiables that make The United Methodist Church a vital contributor to the Body of Christ,” said the Rev. Carolyn Moore, senior pastor of Mosaic United Methodist Church in Evans, Georgia.
“In these times of great uncertainty about the future of The United Methodist Church,” the authors wrote, “we believe it is important for orthodox congregations, clergy, and laity to work together, to support one another, and to encourage each other.”
The delegates to the 2016 General Conference adopted a proposal from the Council of Bishops (COB) to create a special commission to review the church’s sexual ethics. The commission is charged with proposing recommendations for how the church should go forward. Based on the timing of the commission’s work, the COB could call for a special called General Conference in either 2018 or 2019.
Rev. Keith Boyette
“My fervent prayer is that we will be able to share our witness in ways that will impact the Bishop’s Commission on the Future of the Church,” said the Rev. Keith Boyette, pastor of Wilderness Community UM Church in Spotsylvania, Virginia. “Those who choose to participate in this great endeavor will be better positioned to embrace a fruitful future regardless of what ultimately occurs within the church.”
Since the conclusion of GC 2016 a number of annual conferences in the U.S. have voted to ignore and to not enforce the church’s teachings on same-sex marriage and the ordination of openly gay clergy. The recent acts of defiance add to a long list of divisive acts that stretch back to the defiant response of the Western Jurisdiction shortly after GC 2012 voted to reaffirm the church’s teachings.
The new association said more information would be forthcoming over the next several months.
Walter Fenton is a United Methodist clergyperson and analyst for Good News.
by Steve | Jul 8, 2016 | In the News, Uncategorized
As we mourn this week’s tragic events in Louisiana, Minnesota, and now Dallas, it is evident that we need God now more than ever. My prayer on this day of shock and heartbreak:
God, our heavenly Father, our minds go back to the day when Jesus knelt beside his beloved city and wept, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace — but now it is hidden from your eyes” (Luke 19:42).
We sense so deeply the same reality. We weep for our cities even as we bury our dead. The sound of gunfire is the grim sound of what has already shattered our relationships. We are witnesses of distrust, revenge, and anger. We see no one to lead us and guide us. To whom shall we go?
Our differences seem to lead us even farther apart. Oh, Lord of miracles, do what only you can do to save us from ourselves. Give us men and women who will lead us to reconciliation. Give us leaders who will bind us up to heal our wounds, not those who will only incite more hate.
Give us voices that will bring hope and not despair. Please comfort the bereaved and give humility to the ones who are resistant to your ways. Give us pause so that we might sit back for just a few moments to look to you before we look at our impulsive solutions.
We shed another’s blood when we are without answers. You shed your own blood as our only answer. We kill, buried in despair. You rise, giving us hope.
You told Peter to put back his sword and you restored the one wounded. That’s what we long for. A reprimand to the one who would injure and a healing within the one injured. God of miracles, please do it again. We need you. Our nation needs you. Our leaders need you. Many a home today will not have a loved one returning. Without you we have no hope. With you all things are possible—even for beauty to come out of ashes. We pray for the day of unarmed truth and unconditional love. Please answer our prayer.
In the name of Jesus your Son, our only Savior, we ask this.
Amen.
Ravi Zacharias is a Christian apologist, speaker, and author. You can read this prayer on his website HERE.
