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.)
by Steve | Jul 5, 2024 | July-August 2024
Bishop: “You Might Be in the Wrong Place”
July/August 2024
Just days before the opening of the COVID-delayed General Conference, Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton told his fellow bishops that he saw the possibility for big changes coming out of The United Methodist Church’s top policymaking body.
Those potential changes included what many General Conference lay and clergy delegates have taken to calling “the three R’s.” Those are regionalization, the revised Social Principles, and removal of the denomination’s 52-year-old statement that “the practice of homosexuality … is incompatible with Christian teaching.”
In his final address as Council of Bishops president, Bickerton said if any of these changes receives approval, or any combination of them, “this will represent one of those seismic shifts in who we are as a denomination.”
He called on episcopal and other church leaders to use “this seismic shift” to further the denomination’s mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
“If we can, we stand a very good chance of being able to see the next expression of United Methodism beginning to emerge,” Bickerton said at a pre-General Conference meeting that brought together about 95 active and retired bishops from around the world.
“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,” he said.
The bishops gathered at Charlotte’s downtown Omni Hotel, just a few blocks away from the convention center where lay and clergy delegates from four continents convened April 23-May 3 to make decisions that shape the denomination’s future.
–Heather Hahn, UM News
Bickerton sermon excerpt: Daily Christian Advocate
Preaching at the opening worship service of General Conference, Bickerton rolled back Methodism’s recent “Open hearts, Open minds, Open doors” campaign by seemingly and provocatively questioning whether all delegates belonged in the room.
He noted, “A lot of water has passed under the bridge since this church has gathered in this venue. And I gotta ask you a question: Do you want to be in this room?”
That was red-meat provocation for some, while other delegates felt like it was a pointed-finger of shame for non-comformity and groupthink.
Bickerton continued: “Are you willing to move forward in the spirit of hope and embrace a season of reformation? Are you committed to the revitalization of the United Methodist Church? Are you here to work for a culture marked by compassion, courage, and companionship?”
“And it causes me to genuinely ask – and this is as genuine as I can be – if you can’t agree to that, what are you doing here anyway?
“Maybe, just maybe, you’re in the wrong place – because my sense is that we are here, not only because we love our United Methodist Church, we are committed to moving it forward with renewal, revival, and a reclaimed sense of purpose.
“And if you are not committed to a positive narrative of who we are and where we are going, you might just be in the wrong place. And perhaps, just perhaps, in love, we might just ask you –with integrity –that you just leave us alone to do our work!
“We don’t have any time for negative narratives and personal agendas. We don’t have any time for vendettas and last gasp jabs. Friends, we’ve got work to do.
We are grateful for the work of UM News and the Daily Christian Advocate. Image: Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton of New York give4s the sermon during opening worship for the United Methodist General Conference in Charlotte, NC, on April 23. Image capture from viseo presentation of the Conference.
by Steve | Jul 5, 2024 | July-August 2024
Editorial: Missing questions In Charlotte
By Rob Renfroe
July/August 2024
During the recent General Conference of The United Methodist Church, I was interviewed by the Associated Press, The New York Times, and other news outlets. The most intriguing question a reporter asked was, “What has surprised you at this General Conference?”
Some church commentators (UM and otherwise) have expressed surprise, even shock, that The General Conference went as far as it did. Redefining marriage to include “two persons,” no longer restricting marriage to the union of one man and one woman. Allowing for persons who are engaged in gay or lesbian relationships to be ordained as pastors and serve in United Methodist churches. Removing the requirement that pastors who are single also be celibate and eliminating adultery as a chargeable offense for clergy. Changing the church’s stance on abortion so that it no longer states that United Methodists “are bound to respect the life and the well-being of the unborn child.” Instead, there is the assertion that the UM Church upholds a person’s right to an abortion.
None of that surprised me. Neither did the Conference’s refusal to provide Africa the same rights we in the U.S. were given to discern God’s will for our churches and disaffiliate if so led. Nor did the fact that many delegates as they introduced themselves to the conference, also included their sexual identities (using terms such as “straight,” “gay,” “lesbian,” “non-binary,” and “queer”).
Those of us who have followed The United Methodist Church for decades and have been in countless meetings with centrist and progressive leaders could have predicted all of that. Most of the traditional delegates have left the UM Church for the Global Methodist Church or another orthodox, biblical denomination. Twenty-five percent of the African delegates were absent, most because the Commission on General Conference did not provide them with the documentation they required in time for them to receive their visas. So, we knew the changes the liberals wanted to make in Charlotte before the Conference began and we knew they had the votes to do it.
So, what surprised me? The utter dearth of self-awareness and introspection of the Conference’s speakers and leaders. The tone was set by the opening episcopal address when a bishop spent a good fifth of his talk to tell those present who could not embrace where the UM Church was headed that maybe they did not need to be in the room, that maybe they should just leave now. This from one of the leaders of the “Big Tent” United Methodist Church that prides itself on having open hearts, open minds and open doors. This from a church that was unwilling to make a way out for churches in Africa that did not want to be in the room and that wanted to leave – and still do.
This same speaker, after firing a salvo at those he accused of spreading disinformation and creating division, then said in his next breath that we should avoid “finger-pointing.” And all done with such an air of self-righteous indignation that one was uncertain whether to laugh or or to worry that he had become untethered from reality. I understand being angry with those who have challenged your views in the past. But for one who is looked up to by many as a leader and a model to be so lacking in self-awareness – honestly, it was more than surprising. It was shocking.
The message trumpeted in the opening address continued to be the drumbeat of the Conference. The UM Church had been through a hard time because of a cabal of disgruntled, dishonest, divisive dissenters. But now that those troublers of Israel had left, everything was going to be okay. The new UM Church is united and poised for great things. One speaker even stated that she was more hopeful than ever for the United Methodist Church. Twenty-five percent of its churches are gone, many of its largest congregations are out, a good number of its most entrepreneurial pastors have left, and the Conference cut the denomination’s budget by over forty percent. But the word was – all is good, our best days are yet to come – and the U.S. delegates applauded the message they wanted to hear.
But there were no questions from any of the speakers that even a middle-manager in a mediocre company would have asked. “How did we lose twenty-five percent of our base?” “What did we do that alienated so many people who identified with us and gave their lives to this institution for decades?” “What lessons do we need to learn?”
There was no one who addressed the Conference with the reality that The United Methodist Church has lost membership every year since it was founded in 1968. Fifty-six years of decline and no one asked, “Is it possible that maybe we’re doing something wrong? We’re starting something new here at this General Conference – at least we have the opportunity to do so. Maybe before we go too far, shouldn’t we try to determine why we have lost members even in places, especially in places, where our pastors and our congregations are the most progressive?”
Any company in the United States that had experienced fifty-six years of constant decline would long before have removed its board of directors and demanded a new kind of leadership. Instead, the UM Church has doubled-down in recent years, electing bishops that are more and more liberal – and not surprisingly the rate of membership decline for the denomination has only increased.
Admitting there’s a problem requires introspection and self-awareness. Being a leader means asking oneself, “How have I contributed to the problem and what can I do better?” Getting better as a church doesn’t happen when its representatives and delegates applaud when its bishops point the finger at others and tell them everything’s going to be all right. No one and no institution ever grows or gets right until there is a willingness to ask difficult questions and be honest about the problems. There was none of that in Charlotte.
Image: Visitors to the United Methodist General Conference in Charlotte, N.C., watch the proceedings on overhead video monitors. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.
by Steve | Jun 14, 2024 | In the News, Perspective / News
A Promise Kept and a Promise Spurned
By Thomas Lambrecht
As United Methodists continue to become aware of the actions taken by the 2024 General Conference, responses range from celebration to confusion to disagreement to disenchantment. Many are asking the question: What does this mean for me and my church?
For congregations, there will probably be little short-term change. United Methodist life will go on pretty much as it has in the past. However, clergy will be able to officiate for same-sex weddings and churches will be able to host such weddings. How that could affect your congregation will be unique to your situation.
Longer-term, there will be an evolution of dramatic change. United Methodism has redefined marriage to include same-sex unions. The expectation that sex is reserved for marriage has been removed. The definition of “immorality” has been deleted, weakening its enforcement. It is likely that any sexual relationship between consenting adult clergy (to say nothing about laity) will be permitted or at least ignored.
Apportionment money will be spent to promote the acceptance of homosexuality. This includes the LGBTQ+ history institute announced at the General Conference by the Commission on Archives and History. LGBTQ persons must be nominated and elected to serve on all the general church boards and agencies. “Sexual orientation” has been defined as an immutable class similar to race and (male/female) gender. Local churches are to be trained to accept LGBTQ persons as their pastor, and appointments are to be made regardless of sexual orientation. While a gay pastor may not initially be forced upon a congregation, all congregations will be expected to become open to receiving a gay pastor, just as they are now expected to be open to receiving a woman pastor or a pastor of a different race or ethnicity.
Congregations that find themselves uncomfortable with the direction set for the denomination by the 2024 General Conference have few options. Their ability to disaffiliate and retain their property depends upon the grace of their particular annual conference. This week demonstrated two opposite approaches to the question of disaffiliation.
South Carolina Faithfulness
The South Carolina Annual Conference was one of the last conferences to permit congregational disaffiliation. Bishop Jonathan Holston ruled that Par. 2553 could not be used in South Carolina because the annual conference was enforcing the Book of Discipline’s requirements around marriage, sexuality, and LGBTQ persons. Finally last year, the conference decided that it would use Par. 2549 to allow churches to disaffiliate and retain their property through closure. The church would be closed and the property resold to the congregation in exchange for an established fee similar to what was required under Par. 2553 plus ten percent of the property value. Under these provisions, 113 churches disaffiliated in 2023.
Although disaffiliation under Par. 2553 was to end on December 31, 2023, South Carolina promised to allow further disaffiliations under Par. 2549 following the 2024 General Conference.
This week the South Carolina Conference kept its promise and voted to allow 112 more churches to disaffiliate under the same terms. As reported by an annual conference press release, the conference acknowledged that these churches “find themselves unable to serve the purpose for which they were organized, because issues related to human sexuality have prevented them, in that they cannot accept the actions taken in The United Methodist Church.”
The disaffiliating churches represented over 13 percent of the conference’s congregations and about 12 percent of the conference’s membership. They ranged in size from 11 members to 2,110 members. Altogether, about 24 percent of the conference’s pre-Covid congregations have disaffiliated.
The conference further voted to recommend to its trustees that one more round of disaffiliations be allowed in 2024, to be approved by the 2025 annual conference. The trustees will make the final determination on that recommendation. If carried out, it would represent a good faith effort to provide churches that cannot continue within United Methodism a fair way to disaffiliate (albeit at a somewhat elevated cost).
The Northeastern Jurisdiction
In a dramatically contrary move, the College of Bishops of the Northeastern Jurisdiction released a letter outlining their position on disaffiliation. Their letter announced that “The NEJ College of Bishops will uphold the decision made by the delegates at the postponed 2020 General Conference to discontinue any disaffiliation process and NOT support any more disaffiliations.”
These bishops adopted the interpretation that the 2024 General Conference eliminated all disaffiliation pathways and effectively forbid further disaffiliations from taking place. “To be clear, the General Conference indicated through the legislation it approved that disaffiliation is no longer a path for leaving the denomination. There was no extension of disaffiliation, and the disaffiliation paragraph was removed from The Book of Discipline.”
(The tenor of the debate at the General Conference was that annual conferences were able to set their own terms for releasing congregations without those terms being set by the General Conference. While some delegates thought all disaffiliations should end, other delegates preferred to allow annual conferences to make that determination. The General Conference did not forbid disaffiliation. It just failed to provide a uniform disaffiliation pathway for the whole church.)
The bishops’ statement leaves the door open a crack for using Par. 2549, the closure paragraph. “People have inquired about the use of other disciplinary paragraphs to allow disaffiliations. … Two paragraphs were considered in the past: paragraph 2548 was ruled by the Judicial Council of The United Methodist Church not to be used for disaffiliations, and paragraph 2549 is for a church closure and how to handle the property. Now that disaffiliations have concluded, the College of Bishops will ensure that annual conferences receive the best value for any sold property.”
It appears bishops might be willing to sell a church’s property back to the congregation for “the best value” they can get for it, which might be higher than the costs imposed by Par. 2553. A recent communication from Bishop John Schol of Eastern Pennsylvania and Greater New Jersey indicated a congregation could buy its property for its appraised value. Some congregations may be able to afford such a cost, but many may not.
Back to the Individual
This brings the question back to the impact of the 2024 General Conference’s actions on each individual United Methodist. Some will welcome and celebrate those actions. Others may not have an opinion on the matter and be willing to tolerate whatever comes. Others may disagree with those actions but are willing to remain in the denomination despite those disagreements. Some of this last group may conceive their calling as continuing a traditionalist witness within the UM Church, despite its overwhelming bent toward a more progressive understanding of the faith.
For others, however, remaining United Methodist poses a dilemma of conscience in being part of a church that affirms and promotes types of relationship that the Bible names as sinful. For these individuals, there are several options:
- If a supermajority of their congregation’s members agree that this dilemma of conscience necessitates disaffiliation, the members could pursue the possibility through the established channels of their annual conference.
- Where the annual conference has closed the door on disaffiliation, the congregation cannot afford the cost of disaffiliation to retain the buildings and assets, or a significant group of members falls short of reaching the two-thirds vote required for disaffiliation, a group of departing members could form the core of a new church. This is happening in many places across the U.S., Africa, and the Philippines. The Global Methodist Church and its partner ministry the River Network have training, support, and some resources available to assist new congregations in being formed. There are advantages to taking this route, including the ability to envision and structure the church for 21st century ministry, rather than being saddled with outdated buildings, organizational structures, and ministry patterns. Starting afresh also poses challenges in terms of the time and energy involved in creating a new ministry. Where the people and resources are available, this approach can be an exciting avenue to expand Gospel ministry.
- Where congregational disaffiliation or creating a new church are not possible, individuals may need to seek out a new church for conscience’s sake that more closely identifies with their theological perspective. Wesleyan or Wesleyan-friendly denominations include the Free Methodist, Wesleyan, Nazarene, Christian and Missionary Alliance, and Assemblies of God denominations, among others. Most non-denominational churches are not Wesleyan in theology, although some are. Careful searching could yield a compatible congregation nearby that would further one’s growth in discipleship and provide opportunities to serve in ministering to the community.
These are all weighty decisions, both at the congregational and individual levels. They need to be surrounded in prayer and consultation with family and friends. Resources for congregations and individuals are available from the Wesleyan Covenant Association’s Revive! collection. A number of valuable and practical presentations have been recorded and are being prepared for posting through their website.
One hopes that more annual conferences will follow the South Carolina model of providing a good faith approach graciously allowing churches to disaffiliate who find they can no longer function under the New United Methodism. As I was writing this, word came that the Kentucky Conference voted “to encourage the bishop and Cabinet of the Kentucky Annual Conference to explore the Book of Discipline Paragraph 2549 as a potential means for facilitating a fair and just pathway for churches to exit The United Methodist Church.” One fears that many conferences will take the approach of the Northeastern College of Bishops in denying disaffiliation and holding on to churches for every last dime they can get. One wonders which approach might more closely reflect the spirit of Jesus and set a hospitable and positive tone for the new Methodism.
Thomas Lambrecht is a United Methodist clergyperson and vice president of Good News. The South Carolina Annual Conference is attempting to create a bridge for churches. Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge in South Carolina. Photo by David Martin Jr. (Pexels).
by Steve | Jun 12, 2024 | May-June 2024
A Love Story
By Bonnie McClure
Can I tell you a love story?
Lately, I’ve been thinking about different types of love. Culturally, we are trained quite extensively on familial love – the love we have for family, and romantic love – the love we have for a partner or spouse. Once we enter adulthood, those two types of love alone tend to fill up the majority of our time, schedules, and hearts.
But there is another type of love that is quite important to our social health – the love of friendship. Not only are these relationships important for us to cultivate and integrate for our well-being, they also point to a specific way that we relate to Jesus.
“I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15).
Indeed, there is a unique kind of transparency within friendship. Perhaps it is because friends do not carry the same emotional and relational entanglements that come with family members and spouses. With my friends, I don’t have to deal with an annoying humming habit of a little brother while I’m trying to read in the evenings. With my friends, I don’t have to step over the same pair of shoes a spouse continuously leaves in the hallway. (Not my spouse, of course…)
With friends, time spent together tends to be more deliberate and intentional, because you (usually) don’t live together.
But while there are lots of people in the world that I don’t live with, there are only a few to which I would bare my soul. These few are the ones I would call my friends. With them, I am willing to be myself because over time, we have cultivated the type of trust and intimacy that allows me to feel safe enough to explore thoughts, feelings, dreams, desires, problems, solutions, and questions, without fear of judgement, shame, condemnation, or ridicule.
Bring to mind the friend you trust the most. The one who knows you so well. The one who you even allow to push back on things you do or say because you’ve come to know they truly want the best for you. They have no ulterior motives, no hidden agendas, no reason to manipulate you. Not only do they allow you to be fully yourself, they celebrate who you are, and also, the transparency is two way: they allow themselves to also be fully known by you.
This level of friendship is an organic exchange of vulnerability, intimacy, and trust.
Now, understanding all of the value this exchange gives you, feeling into the deep gratitude we have for someone we know is in our corner, how wonderful, then, is it that Jesus invites us into this type of love?
My friend Linda. The two of us met in college in the psychology program. She sat right in front of me in our History of Psychology class. We had not known each other that long but she did know I had recently lost my dad to suicide.
One day our class had a well-intentioned special presentation on Suicide Prevention. If you’ve never lost someone to suicide, it is difficult to know exactly how triggering this type of experience can be. It is true that I have had to build resilience as a survivor of suicide loss, because there are references and reminders everywhere.
But especially at this point in time, it was early in my loss, and a class on prevention, for me, only threatened to unleash traumatic spiraling. Can it be prevented? Why wasn’t mine? Did I do something wrong? What else could I have done? Why didn’t any of this work for my dad? And on and on I might go diving head first into the volatile storm of my grief.
Linda must have anticipated this. Without any words, discussion, or prompting, she turned and held my hand for the entire presentation. I have never been so touched by such a simple act of love.
That day, Linda was just being Linda, doing what Linda does. But in this act of friendship, she was also being Jesus, doing what Jesus does.
Jesus comes to us in our greatest hour(s) of need and offers us his hand. He offers us his peace, his stability, his comfort, his strength, he embraces us so that there is nothing we have to endure alone.
But in order to accept this invitation, we must be willing to acknowledge we need it. We must be willing to face the sadness, grief, despair, anger, resentment, wounding, pain, that is there. And because he is our friend, he is willing to go there with us.
When our bodies are sick, we seek medical treatment and care. But the condition of the soul and the heart are much more tricky to deal with, and yet they are connected to the condition of everything we do. “What you say flows from what is in your heart” (Luke 6:45).
For this we need someone who, first of all, sees the heart. “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).
Jesus not only sees the heart, he will hold the heart, if we let him.
Truly, our hearts are the only thing we have to offer the King of Glory. Sometimes I imagine I am laying my heart at the foot of the cross. It is the only thing I can exchange for what he’s done for me, my friend, my savior, my liberator, my faithful shepherd of life.
“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Not his slaves, not his ungrateful, sinful children, not his repeated failure of a creation – his friends.
Christ would lay down his life for his friends. Even though we don’t deserve it, his grace dignifies us by considering us friends even before we ask for friendship. In the same way Linda offered me her hand that day, Christ is the confident initiator of a no holds barred, no strings attached, pure and unmitigated love of friendship. It is up to us to grasp the gift he is offering.
I hope you will accept the friendship Christ is offering. That you would turn to him in times of trouble and celebration, that you would share with him your truest self, that you would hold his hand when you feel like spinning out of control, that you would delight in the small joys he gives us, that you would hold him in your heart and give him yours in the same way we do with close friends we trust.
For there is no greater love than this.
Bonnie McClure is an active member of her Methodist community in Bremen, Georgia. She writes regularly about Christian Healing on her Substack blog, The Pointed Arrow (bonniemcclure.substack.com). Photo: Pixabay (Pexels).
