Viewpoints in Charlotte

by Steve | Jul 5, 2024 | July-August 2024

Viewpoints in Charlotte

July/August 2024

• “Needless to say, this is a moment in time when we will not only see some of the dust settle, but we’ll also see new dust storms arise.”
–Bishop Thomas Bickerton, New York

• “What we are sure of is that many of our delegates will not be able to travel [to Charlotte]. We wonder what this General Conference would look like?”
–the Rev. Philippe Adjobi, a district superintendent in the Côte d’Ivoire Annual Conference and member of Bishop Benjamin Boni’s cabinet

• “The United Methodists counted 5.4 million U.S. members in 2022 — less than half their 1960s peak, and the recent departure of about 7,600 mostly conservative congregations will lower that number further. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s 1.1 million membership is barely a quarter its 1960s peak. Other denominations have similar trends.”
– Peter Smith, Associated Press

“For all the pious language, the UMC’s decision doesn’t represent a commitment to Christian orthodoxy. It is an affirmation of current middle-class sensibilities. The church shies away from the logic of its own position—a logic that would lead to the legitimation of any sexual act or arrangement as long as it concerns consenting adults. In short, it has chosen to embrace the liberal Protestant specialty: baptizing the dominant values it sees as informing the culture, no more, no less. In our times, when the values change with breakneck speed, the church that seeks to accommodate the latest moral tastes will always be at least a day late and a dollar short. As any progressive teenager might say, gay marriage is so 2015.”
– Dr. Carl Trueman, Wall Street Journal commentary

• “We do not accept a change in the definition of marriage, and we will never accept marriage as anything other than one man and one woman, no matter what the Book of Discipline says. We are devastated now to be part of a denomination that officially contradicts the Bible’s teaching on marriage and sexual morality.”
– the Rev. Jerry Kulah quoted by Yonat Shimron, Religion News Service

• “We join our voices to sing for justice as we tell the truth of our own complicity in the perpetuation of sexual misconduct and abuse in The United Methodist Church. We recognize that we have a long way to go to repair trust, restore integrity and tend the wounds of those who have been harmed by our church.”
– the Rev. Stephanie York Arnold, United Methodist pastor of First Church Birmingham in Alabama

• “To be unnecessarily waiting for confirmation of a trans-continental airplane ticket one week before the General Conference is both unprecedented and nerve-wracking. The report should have included at the very least an apology to all the delegates who have experienced these stresses, regardless of their causes.”
–Jorge Lockward, a member of the Commission on the General Conference

• Deaconesses and home missioners today, as throughout their history, serve in many areas of need, in places where the church has not been, was not aware it should be, or was afraid or unwilling to be. Wherever they serve and regardless of the task, deaconesses and home missioners find and represent the presence of God in the midst of those with whom they serve. Their daily task of serving and empowering is, for deaconesses and home missioners, a visible symbol of the link between the church and the world.”
– Megan Hale, the executive for the Candidacy Office of Deaconess and Home Missioner of United Women in Faith

• “When I first read Bishop Ivan Abraham’s message, I was overwhelmed. I took a moment to pray and meditate, seeking God’s guidance and peace if I were to accept this recognition.

“When the sun rises, every waking up leads me to renewed power and inspiration to carry on the tasks and mission entrusted. When the moon rises and concludes the night to rest my body from all that gives me reason to carry on, I am thankful that the day passed with meaningful endeavors.”
–Norma P. Dollaga,  said of the World Methodist Council’s Peace Award

• “We come from four continents, speaking more than 10 languages,” he said. “We come with the commonality of our belief and service to Jesus Christ and the world. And we are also here because we believe in the life and future of this United Methodist Church. My friends, we have much more in common than not.”
–Bishop David Wilson

•“As you adopted that resolution,  you adopted the full communion relationship with The Episcopal Church in the United States, that has been worked on for many years.”
–The Rev. Gary Graves, secretary of the General Conference

• “The season of disaffiliation ends today.”
– Lonnie Chafin, a delegate from the Northern Illinois Conference and chair of the Conferences legislative committee.

• “With a spirit of grace, we welcome those churches which have disaffiliated or withdrawn to rejoin The United Methodist Church,” the newly adopted policy says. “Where applicable, every annual conference shall have a policy of reaffiliation for the churches seeking to return to the connection.”

•“I want to say we are against disaffiliations from The United Methodist Church,” he said. But he added: “Please don’t inflict pain on our churches.”
– The Rev. Guy Nyembo of the North Katanga Conference in Congo said through an interpreter

• “I speak in favor of disaffiliation,” she said. “I’m very nervous because I want a place for our conservative churches with traditional values to have a way to go peacefully. I don’t want them to be caught up in our court system.”
– Dixie Brewster, a delegate from the Great Plains Conference, spoke of her fear that churches troubled by the changes passed by General Conference will be trapped.

• “Let me clarify that a church is not required to receive a gay pastor. Like any clergy appointment, an extensive consultation process will happen between the local church, district superintendent, cabinet, bishop and (staff parish relations) committee to ensure the church and incoming pastor are honored.”
–Bishop David Graves

• “I know that some of you are celebrating, some are mourning and some are uncertain about what your future holds — for the denomination, for your local church and perhaps even for yourselves as followers of Jesus Christ,” said South Carolina Conference Bishop L. Jonathan Holston.

• “Y’all, we are making history. We are making history,” she told delegates as the plenary wrapped up. “And I believe this is that new thing that the prophet Isaiah talks about in Isaiah 43. … I pray that you perceive it, that you recognize it, that you receive it as a gift, because God is doing a new thing, certainly in this General Conference, this United Methodist Church and certainly in each of us.”
–Bishop Cynthia Harvey, Houston Area

• “Many people who wanted to serve God were prevented from doing so because of the ban. It was harmful to people. It was not helpful to the church’s mission, and the body, with an almost unprecedented consensus, removed it. It’s like removing something harmful from the body, that frees the body to be healthy.”
– Bishop Ken Carter of the Western North Carolina Conference.

• “I’m so grateful for the freedom, the justice and mercy for our LGBTQ siblings and for those who love them.”
–Northern Illinois Conference Bishop Daniel Schwerin

• “First, pastors have always decided who they will marry. This has not changed. Pastors will continue to decide who they will marry. There is no mechanism in conference leadership nor desire on my part to determine who a pastor will marry.”
– Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference Bishop William McAlilly in a written message to his conference.

• “Marriage is between a man and a woman, period.”
– Bishop John Wesley Yohanna of Nigeria told UM News.

• “While I do not know the extent of the impact that these petitions will have on the UMC in the East Africa Area, I know that as we continue to live in the new realities of The United Methodist Church, we will have to develop new ways of partnerships and doing ministries together.”
– East Africa Area Bishop Daniel Wandabula applauded regionalization but said the church’s new stances on human sexuality “will have a legal, spiritual and ministry impact on some of our countries in Africa.”

• “I see a great future for The United Methodist Church in Africa.”
– North Katanga Area Bishop Mande Muyombo

• “I know that some of you are celebrating, some are mourning and some are uncertain about what your future holds — for the denomination, for your local church and perhaps even for yourselves as followers of Jesus Christ.”
–South Carlonia Bishop L. Jonathan Holston

Image: Delegates, visitors and staff of the United Methodist General Conference in Charlotte, N.C., dance in the aisles following morning worship on the final day of the conference. Delegates to the 10-day legislative assembly supported big changes, including the removal of constraints on ministry with and by LGBTQ people. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News. 

African United Methodists reSpond in Charlotte

by Steve | Jul 5, 2024 | July-August 2024

African United Methodists respond in Charlotte

What follows is a statement released during the second week of the United Methodist General Conference after the delagates dramatically rewrote the denomination’s definition of marriage.   

My dear brothers and sisters, many of you are rejoicing in this historic moment. But many of us are not. I speak as an African, representing I believe the vast majority of Africans and also many traditionalists in the United States, the Philippines, Europe and other parts of the world.

The General Conference has changed the United Methodist definition of marriage – not because the Bible has changed. But because your western culture has changed. You have chosen to follow what pleases man instead of what pleases God.

Many African delegates are not here. They wanted to be present. But they were not invited by the Commission on General Conference in time to receive their visas. Over 70 of us from Africa are not present. 25 percent of our delegates. Ten months ago we began sending letters and emails and we made phone calls telling the commission and bishops that there was a problem. Many of these communications never received a single response. It felt as if we were not valued, not wanted.

At one past General Conference we were told that we spoke too loudly and that we should close our mouths. At another General Conference a bishop said we are children who need to grow up and think like adults. At this conference many of us were not even given what we needed to be present.

One “mainstream” author wrote that the UMC should be willing to lose Africa to fulfill its progressive agenda. It is hard to believe that we are valued as your brothers and sisters. It is difficult to trust that you value us as equal partners.

You have changed the definition of marriage. You have changed it from what God created it to be in the beginning. You have changed it from how Jesus described it in Matthew 19.5-6 as one man and one woman.

We do not believe we know better than Jesus. We do not believe we know better than God. We do not believe we know better than the Bible.

And now we must go back to Africa and tell our people that you did not listen to us, you do not value us as partners, and that you are willing to lose us to pursue your liberal Western agenda.

A bishop told us a few days ago that if we cannot get on the train that we should leave. But what do we do when the train has run over us and left our hearts bleeding with sorrow and pain?

We want the UMC to hear. We want our people in Africa to hear. We want the world to hear. We do not accept a change in the definition of marriage, and we will never accept marriage as anything other than one man and one woman, no matter what the Book of Discipline says.

We are devastated to now be part of a denomination that officially contradicts the Bible’s teaching on marriage and sexuality morality.

Still, we go back to our homes full of hope for the future, confident in Jesus, standing on the word of God, and determined to contend for the faith once and for all delivered to the saints. We return to Africa where the church is growing, nonbelievers are coming to faith and disciples are being made for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

• Rev. Dr. Jerry P. Kulah, Head of Delegation, Liberia Annual Conference;
• Mr. Prosperous Tunda, Delegate, East Congo Annual Conference;
• Rev. Dr. Danjuma Judi, Delegate, Nigeria Annual Conference;
• Dr. Yeabu Kamara, Delegate, Sierra Leone Annual Conference;
• Mr. Ginford Dzimati, Delegate, Zimbabwe Annual Conference.

Image: The Rev. Jerry Kulah of Liberia leads a protest on May 2 outside the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, N.C., after General Conference delegates supported a revision of the Social Principles that redefines marriage. Kulah and other Africans in attendance support traditional views of marriage. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Tale of a New Church

by Steve | Jul 5, 2024 | July-August 2024

Tale of a New Church

By Thomas Lambrecht

The story of the 2024 General Conference meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, is the story of a new church being born. Two years ago this month, the Global Methodist Church was born, and it is growing and maturing quickly. This month a new United Methodist Church was born, one that is wedded to a more progressive understanding of the Bible and theology. As the conference ends today, it is appropriate to assess how that took place.

In years past, the UM Church was deeply divided between traditionalists and progressives. The 2019 General Conference in St. Louis demonstrated this divide by approving the traditional understanding of marriage and human sexuality by only 53 to 46 percent. By contrast, the new definition of marriage passed by the 2024 General Conference received 78 percent support.

What caused the shift? First, in the aftermath of the St. Louis conference, many U.S. annual conferences made a concerted effort to elect progressive delegates to the next General Conference. This was a reaction to, and rejection of, the traditional direction chosen in St. Louis. It was accompanied by widespread avowals of disobedience to what the General Conference had decided and fostered the realization that the UM Church was in an untenable impasse.

Second, the General Conference was postponed, not once or twice, but three times. The third postponement was widely seen by traditionalists as a ploy to avoid the adoption of a plan of amicable separation. It led directly to the formation of the Global Methodist Church in 2022. In response, over 7,600 U.S. churches disaffiliated, leading to a dramatic decline in the remaining number of traditionalist delegates to General Conference, as many strong leaders exited the denomination.

Third, the General Conference staff did not do the work necessary to gather the information on delegate elections from annual conferences in Africa. Due to a variety of challenges, including the illness of key persons and slowness (or lack of understanding) in responding to requests for forms, the staff did not have the necessary information to send out letters of invitation soon enough to enable delegates to secure visas to travel to the U.S. for the conference. The staff could have done more to gain the needed information, including trips to Africa to meet with leaders there, but declined to do so. As a result, between 70 and 100 African delegates (most of whom would have been traditionalist voices and votes) were not able to obtain visas to attend the conference.

As a result, instead of the previous 53 to 46 percent majority, traditionalists at this General Conference were outnumbered, 78 to 22 percent. This gave the progressive-centrist coalition the votes they needed to run the table on their LGBTQ-affirming agenda.

What changed? The General Conference has changed the denomination’s definition of marriage. Previously, we “affirmed the sanctity of the marriage covenant that is expressed in love, mutual support, personal commitment, and shared fidelity between a man and a woman.” Now, our Discipline “affirm[s] marriage as a sacred lifelong covenant that brings two people of faith an adult man and woman of consenting age or two adult persons of consenting age into union with one another.”

This new, confused definition of marriage allows for multiple options. It preserves the ability of some to say marriage is the union of one man and one woman, while at the same time opening the door to say marriage is between any two people, including those of the same gender. This second definition is a direct contradiction of Scripture (Genesis 2:23-24; Matthew 19:4-6). It puts the UM Church in the situation of having conflicting, incoherent definitions of marriage.

The conference made further changes to our understanding of human sexuality and its proper role. Previously, we stated that “Although all persons are sexual beings whether or not they are married, sexual relations are affirmed only with the covenant of monogamous, heterosexual marriage.” This language was taken out of the Discipline at this conference, and it now reads, “We affirm human sexuality as a sacred gift and acknowledge that sexual intimacy contributes to … nurturing healthy sexual relationships that are grounded in love, care, and respect. … We further honor the diversity of choices and vocations in relation to sexuality such as celibacy, marriage, and singleness. We support the rights of all people to exercise personal consent in sexual relationships, to make decisions about their own bodies.”

It seems the new moral guidelines for sexual relationships are love, care, respect, and consent. Gone is any understanding of the moral purpose of human sexuality to cement the marriage bond and enhance the relationship between husband and wife.

In addition, the qualifications for clergy previously required “fidelity in marriage and celibacy in singleness.” This has now been changed to “faithful sexual intimacy expressed through fidelity, monogamy, commitment, mutual affection and respect, careful and honest communication, mutual consent, and growth in grace and in the knowledge and love of God.” While all these qualities are good, this removes the requirement for sexual abstinence before marriage and further dilutes the church’s moral standards. It is unclear how “fidelity” or “monogamy” applies to single persons or what the sexual ethic for single clergy persons is.

The chargeable offenses for immorality and not being celibate in singleness or faithful in a heterosexual marriage were removed. There is therefore no formal way to hold clergy persons accountable for committing immorality.

Homosexuality. Previously, our Discipline stated, “We affirm that all persons are individuals of sacred worth, created in the image of God. All persons need the ministry of the Church in their struggles for human fulfillment, as well as the spiritual and emotional care of a fellowship that enables reconciling relationships with God, with others, and with self. The United Methodist Church does not condone the practice of homosexuality and considers this practice incompatible with Christian teaching. We affirm that God’s grace is available to all.”

That language has now been removed, and the church takes no formal position on the morality of homosexual relationships. However, in other changes, the church now allows for “the full inclusion of LGBTQ people in church life,” as reported by UM News Service.

•  Married or partnered gays and lesbians may now be ordained as clergy, appointed as pastors, and consecrated as bishops.

•  Pastors may perform same-sex weddings and churches may host such services.

•  Pastors may not be penalized for performing same-sex weddings, nor may they be penalized for refusing to perform them.

•  Church funds may now be spent to promote the acceptance of homosexuality. However, funds may NOT be spent in a way that “rejects LGBTQIA persons” or in dialogues where the traditional perspective is presented. This provision seems to exclude church participation in ministry that seeks to help persons deal with unwanted same-sex attractions, and it certainly inhibits the traditional perspective from being perceived as a viable alternative in understanding Scripture.

•  LGBTQ persons must be included in the membership of all general church boards and agencies.

The cumulative effect of all these changes is to change the UM Church from a denomination that stood on the scriptural position that sex is for marriage between one man and one woman to a denomination that affirms sexual relations between persons of the same gender and also outside of marriage.

Regionalization. There is a definite disconnect between the understanding of sexual morality by the progressive-centrist United States and the traditionalist understanding of Africa and the Philippines. Progressives and centrists believe that the way around this is to adopt a regionalized form of church governance. This would allow each region of the church to adopt its own rules and policies, including those related to marriage, sexuality, and clergy qualifications.

In conjunction with our African partners, Good News has argued that this approach is misguided and could lead to the weakening of the United Methodist connection. It certainly imposes a burden on Africans and Filipinos to develop their own Discipline, while still being tainted by being part of a libertine denomination.

However, these arguments were rejected by the delegates in Charlotte. They passed the regionalization proposal by a 78 percent margin. It still needs ratification by two-thirds of the annual conference members, which may or may not happen. If ratified, it would go into effect in 2026.

Disaffiliation. The primary goal of Good News at the General Conference was to advocate for an exit path for local churches. Churches outside the U.S. were not given the same opportunity to disaffiliate that we had in the U.S. At the same time, about a dozen annual conferences in the U.S. imposed very high costs for disaffiliation that prevented most churches from leaving. There was also a proposal for a streamlined process for annual conferences outside the U.S. to disaffiliate as a whole annual conference.

Unfortunately, all attempts to include a formal disaffiliation pathway failed. The removal of Par. 2553, the local church disaffiliation pathway, prevailed with 72 percent in favor. We had hoped that some fair-minded centrists or progressives would be willing to support some form of disaffiliation. In that hope we were disappointed.

There is no question that the UM Church is a new and different denomination today than it was in 2019. The General Conference actions have formalized an evolving consensus among the progressive and centrist parts of the church, and reveals they are completely in control of the denomination. Pastors and church members will need to decide if the new direction of the denomination reflects the church they want to belong to and support. Unfortunately, avenues for disaffiliation that allow churches to keep their property (especially in the U.S.) are limited. Some congregations may need to be willing to walk away from their buildings in order to pursue ministry in the way they feel called by God to do so. The fight may be over in the UM Church, but the struggle to carry on biblically faithful ministry is just beginning.

Thomas Lambrecht is a United Methodist clergyperson and the vice president of Good News. Image: Delegates celebrate after General Conference voted to remove ban on the ordination of clergy who are “self-avowed practicing homosexuals.” Photo by Larry McCormack, UM News

United Methodism re-envisions marriage and ordination

by Steve | Jul 5, 2024 | July-August 2024

United Methodism re-envisions marriage and ordination

By Heather Hahn

July/August 2024

Without debate, General Conference removed The United Methodist Church’s ban on the ordination of clergy who are “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” — a prohibition that dates to 1984.

During the morning plenary May 1, General Conference approved the change alongside 22 pieces of legislation on the consent calendar, which allows delegates to pass multiple petitions in bulk if they have overwhelming support in legislative committee and have no budgetary or constitutional impact.

The vote on the consent calendar was 692-51, with approval at 93 percent.

Supportive delegates and observers applauded after the vote.

Also on the consent calendar, delegates voted that superintendents are not to penalize clergy or churches for holding — or refraining from holding — same-sex weddings.

Another change approved exhorts the Council of Bishops to be inclusive of gender, race, ethnicity, age, people with disabilities, sexual orientation and economic condition in naming representatives to ecumenical organizations.

It should be noted that nothing passed by General Conference or under consideration would compel churches to receive a gay pastor. The legislation approved also explicitly protects the right of clergy and churches not to officiate at or host same-sex weddings.

Marilyn Murphy, an observer from the South Carolina Conference who has seen the church debate this issue for decades, said she was surprised it was embedded in the consent calendar but not surprised it passed.

“We’ve been going on like this since the ’70s and, finally, in just a brief few minutes with no debate, it was gone. And now we can get on about the business of the church.”

An ordained deacon in The United Methodist Church, the Rev. Leo Yates serves as accessibility and inclusivity coordinator for the Baltimore-Washington Conference and as pastor at Magothy United Methodist Church of the Deaf. He is at General Conference serving as one of the Deaf interpreters for delegates and visitors.

“I feel like this is a year of jubilee,” Yates said. “This has been a long time coming. So many of us have lived under this yoke and have waited for this (ban) to be removed.”

Yates is married to the Rev. Giovanni Arroyo, who serves as top executive of the United Methodist Commission on Religion and Race and is a clergy delegate to General Conference from the Baltimore-Washington Conference.

“Of all the days for this to pass,” Yates said. “I’ll probably cry when I get back to the hotel.”

Without Debate

Without debate, delegates voted by 667 to 54 for the changes on the day’s consent calendar, which allows the lawmaking assembly to approve multiple pieces of legislation in bulk. To make it onto the consent calendar, petitions must receive no more than 10 “no” votes in legislative committee and have no implications for the denomination’s budget or constitution.

Changes approved on the April 30 consent calendar:

• Remove a ban on annual conferences and denominational agencies from giving United Methodist funds to any “gay caucus group” or using funds to “promote the acceptance of homosexuality.” Instead, the provision now says annual conferences and agencies should honor the denomination’s commitment not to reject lesbian or gay members.

• Eliminate the requirement that the General Council on Finance and Administration, the denomination’s finance agency, enforce the ban. Instead, the provision says the agency should ensure that church funds do not go to anything that rejects LGBTQ people or limits the response to the HIV epidemic.

• Strike the ban on boards of ordained ministry from even considering candidates without evaluating whether they are “self-avowed practicing” gay people, and strike the requirement that bishops rule gay candidates ineligible.

• Erase the mandatory penalty of at least a one-year suspension without pay for clergy found guilty of officiating at same-sex weddings or unions. This was the denomination’s only chargeable offense with a mandatory penalty.

• Allow gay clergy in good standing to be appointed across annual conference lines when their bishop can’t locate an appointment in their conference.

• Set a moratorium on judicial proceedings related to the denomination’s bans against “self-avowed practicing” gay clergy and same-sex weddings. The moratorium will last until General Conference alters it.

The day’s consent calendar also removed provisions in the Traditional Plan that banned bishops from consecrating gay bishops and ordaining gay clergy, and it removed changes that the plan made to the denomination’s complaint process aimed at empowering the people making complaints.

–Heather Hahn is assistant news editor at UM News

Concern and jubilation

By Jim Patterson

The mood was mostly jubilation in the hastily arranged celebration in a courtyard at the Charlotte Convention Center on a sunny and temperate North Carolina afternoon.

“I’m deeply troubled, because the church has deviated from the faith,” said the Rev. Jerry Kulah, a Liberia Conference delegate and coordinator of the traditionalist Africa Initiative, in an interview away from the courtyard celebration. “I’m going to deeply reflect and determine how long I can bear with this.”

The Rev. Chang Min Lee, pastor of Los Angeles Korean United Methodist Church and president of the Korean Association of the United Methodist Church, also expressed concerns about the vote to United Methodist News.

“For most Korean American churches that are traditional, we are concerned about today’s vote, but at the same time, we are pleased to see that the legislation approved this morning also explicitly protects the right of clergy and churches not to officiate at or host same-sex weddings.

“While we recognize that this decision will cause some confusion and difficulty for Korean American churches, we will continue to pray and work to move forward to lead the mission of The United Methodist Church in the providence of God, who is ‘greater than all’ (Ephesians 4:6).”

But for many, the prevailing mood was one of “deep, deep gratitude,” especially for all the activists who kept the faith for years, sometimes decades, said Helen Ryde, a home missioner and a Reconciling Ministries Network coordinator.

“We’re celebrating something that hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people have worked for in this moment,” Ryde said. “We got here because of the so many people who worked hard. Some of them are not here anymore.”

Many people who wanted to serve God were prevented from doing so because of the ban, said Bishop Ken Carter of the Western North Carolina Conference.

“It was harmful to people,” Carter said. “It was not helpful to the church’s mission, and the body, with an almost unprecedented consensus, removed it.

“It’s like removing something harmful from the body, that frees the body to be healthy.”

The Rev. Adam Hamilton, a Great Plains Conference delegate, mega-church pastor and author of bestselling books on aspects of Christianity, also welcomed the church’s on inclusivity for LGBTQ persons.

“In 1972, we singled gay and lesbian people out and created exclusionary language for them, and we’ve been fighting ever since,” he said in an interview in the convention center. “For 52 years, we’ve been a conflict-driven church and today we’ve become once more a mission-driven church and a church that’s saying everyone’s welcome in our congregations.”

Hamilton added, “I’m really proud of The United Methodist Church and I’m proud to be a United Methodist today.”

–UM News

Reaction to LGBTQ approval votes

By Sam Hodges

United Methodist bishops famously have neither voice nor vote in General Conference decision-making, but they have had plenty to say since delegates moved this week to change the church’s official policies on homosexuality.

Their tone and points of emphasis have varied, with some clearly feeling exultant.

“This is a historic day that has been decades in the making,” said Iowa Conference Bishop Kennetha Bigham-Tsai on May 1, in a video posted after delegates lifted a ban on LGBTQ ordination. “We have finally beaten our swords into ploughshares.”

Northern Illinois Conference Bishop Daniel Schwerin shared in a Facebook video that he was celebrating the General Conference actions.

“I’m so grateful for the freedom, the justice and mercy for our LGBTQ siblings and for those who love them,” he said.

Other bishops acknowledged that the actions of this General Conference will have a mixed reaction in the churches they oversee.

“I know that some of you are celebrating, some are mourning and some are uncertain about what your future holds — for the denomination, for your local church and perhaps even for yourselves as followers of Jesus Christ,” said South Carolina Conference Bishop Jonathan Holston.

In areas hard hit by disaffiliations, bishops stressed what the changes mean — and what they don’t.

“First, pastors have always decided who they will marry,” said Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference Bishop William McAlilly in a written message to his conference. “This has not changed. Pastors will continue to decide who they will marry. There is no mechanism in conference leadership nor desire on my part to determine who a pastor will marry.”

Bishop David Graves of the Alabama-West Florida and South Georgia conferences noted in a statement that petitions to change the church’s position on human sexuality were approved on the consent calendar, reserved for non-controversial legislation.

“While it might seem unusual for such a significant topic to be voted through on a consent calendar, it represents a spirit of love and unity,” he said in a statement. “This General Conference has placed a considerable amount of trust in the legislative committees, which met last week. There has been very little debate about most petitions because the committees were thorough with their work.”

Graves also addressed the matter of pastoral appointments.

“Let me clarify that a church is not required to receive a gay pastor,” he said in a statement. “Like any clergy appointment, an extensive consultation process will happen between the local church, district superintendent, cabinet, bishop and (staff parish relations) committee to ensure the church and incoming pastor are honored

Bishops from the central conferences — church regions in Africa, Europe and the Philippines —  offered comments to UM News on General Conference’s move toward full LGBTQ inclusion.

North Katanga Area Bishop Mande Muyombo said that African United Methodists will continue in a traditional understanding of marriage as between one man and one woman. But he said that this General Conference’s passage of regionalization legislation will enhance Africans’ ability to be “authentic” in their faith while remaining in connection with United Methodists who see things differently.

“I see a great future for The United Methodist Church in Africa,” he said.

East Africa Area Bishop Daniel Wandabula applauded regionalization but said the church’s new stances on human sexuality “will have a legal, spiritual and ministry impact on some of our countries in Africa.”

He added, “While I do not know the extent of the impact that these petitions will have on the UMC in the East Africa Area, I know that as we continue to live in the new realities of The United Methodist Church, we will have to develop new ways of partnerships and doing ministries together.”

Bishop Christian Alsted gave a European United Methodist perspective in an email response.

“General Conference’s decisions on regionalization and of giving the central conferences authority to set policies and boundaries for marriage, ordination and licensing for ministry and enabling them to delegate the same authority to annual conferences will empower the global church to move forward out of decades of conflict into a time with renewed focus on our mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world,” said Alsted, who oversees the Nordic-Baltic Episcopal Area.

Many bishops have underscored the generally harmonious spirit in Charlotte.

Texas Conference Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey presided in the late afternoon plenary of May 1, and she told delegates she still had a touch of post-traumatic stress disorder from having presided during the contentious 2019 special General Conference in St. Louis, when restrictions against full LGBTQ inclusion were tightened.

Harvey was feeling differently this time around.

“Y’all, we are making history. We are making history,” she told delegates as the plenary wrapped up. “And I believe this is that new thing that the prophet Isaiah talks about in Isaiah 43. … I pray that you perceive it, that you recognize it, that you receive it as a gift, because God is doing a new thing, certainly in this General Conference, this United Methodist Church and certainly in each of us.”

Heather Hahn, Jim Patterson, and Sam Hodges wrote these news stories for UM News. Image: Bishop David Graves of the Alabama-West Florida Conference presides over a debate about the United Methodist Church’s stance on marriage during the 2024 United Methodist General Conference in Charlotte, N.C. Delegates affirmed ‘marriage as a sacred, lifelong covenant that brings two people of faith into union with one another and into deeper relationship with God and the religious community.’ Same-sex marriage is now allowed by the United Methodist Book of Discipline. (Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.)