By Rob Renfroe —
Over the last few months I have had the privilege of speaking to more than a dozen churches and conferences in six different states and once to brothers and sisters in Europe, the Middle East, and the Philippines via social media. What I enjoy most are the conversations I have with individuals after my presentation is completed.
Different locations and cultures, but there are similar themes that emerge as we talk. There is always sadness that we are at a place where division is necessary. But there is also great excitement about the future as we look forward to re-envisioning what an orthodox Wesleyan movement can be and do for a lost world. What took me by surprise at first, but now I’ve come to expect, are those persons who believe they should wait before making the decision to stay or go.
Some tell me that there’s no reason to leave right now because “nothing has changed.” What they usually mean is that our official UM doctrines are still orthodox and biblical. On the face of it, that’s a true statement, but it’s not a good description of reality. We presently have pastors who preach that Jesus was not resurrected from the dead or that the resurrection doesn’t matter and that Jesus did not die for our sins. We have seminaries that teach Jesus is just one of many ways to God and one that has even created curricula for persons wanting to be ordained in the Unitarian-Universalist denomination that denies the Trinity and the deity of Christ. We now have a commissioned candidate for ministry who preaches in drag and is celebrated by centrist pastors as being a gifted communicator of the Gospel. We just elected a second bishop who is married to a spouse of the same sex. No bishop charged with teaching and enforcing our doctrines has ever spoken out publicly against any of these false teachings and practices.
Believing that “nothing has changed” because our written doctrines have not been altered is a strange way of looking at reality. It would be like having a peace treaty with a neighboring country that’s dropping bombs on your territory and saying, “But nothing has changed; they haven’t rescinded the treaty.” It doesn’t matter what’s on paper if it’s not being followed or enforced. Nothing has changed? Everything has changed. Compare where we are to what Wesley preached. To where we were when the UM Church began in 1968. To what the Bible teaches. “Nothing has changed” is the last thing you can say about where the UM Church is now.
Others tell me they can stay because centrist leaders have told them that traditionalists will always be accepted and they will never have to accept a progressive pastor. There’s so much wrong with that statement that it’s hard to know where to start.
First, centrist leaders on a national level have never kept the agreements they have made with traditionalists. In Portland they agreed with us that the UM Church could not stay together and we needed to work together for a respectful separation. But they came to General Conference 2019 with a plan that went back on that commitment. They agreed that the special called 2019 GC would settle our differences over sexuality once and for all – until they didn’t get their way and then they condemned the UM Church and ignored the decisions of the General Conference. Most recently they have reneged on their commitment to the Protocol of Grace and Reconciliation through Separation after helping to create it and pledging to support it. For those still unconvinced, the recent actions of the Arkansas Annual Conference should be telling. At a special called conference held November 19, the conference refused to approve the disaffiliation of three churches which had fulfilled every requirement for leaving the denomination. Each of these three churches had made their way through the arduous pathway created by the Arkansas AC and had passed a motion to leave by more than two-thirds. Still centrists and progressives there refused to honor their decision. So, when centrists state that no traditional church will ever be made to do anything they find disagreeable, they already have. There’s little reason any serious person should trust what centrist leaders promise about the future.
Second, every UM Church will one day have a progressive pastor. In November our five U.S. jurisdictions elected thirteen new bishops. Not one was a traditionalist. The UM Church in the United States will never again elect a traditionalist bishop. And you can be sure few, if any, traditionalists will ever again seek ordination in the UM Church. Why would a young person looking at forty years of ministry join a denomination that despises his or her views – which one of our recently elected bishops described as “a virus which will make the church sick.” You may have a traditional pastor now, but the well is drying up, and the day will come when there will be no one to appoint to your church but a liberal pastor with a progressive theology.
Most importantly, I believe, is not whether traditionalists will be accepted, but what they will have to accept if they remain. In the future, traditionalists will be in a denomination that allows its pastors to preach that Jesus’ death did not make atonement for our sins and that he is just one of many ways to God or that permits its pastors to pray to God as “the Great Queer One,” as future UM pastors did at UM Duke Divinity School recently. If you remain in the UM Church, give your time and your money and lend your name to the UM Church, you will be supporting all of this. You will be aiding a church that promotes sin and allows its leaders to deny our most important Christian beliefs. Will you be accepted as a traditionalist in the UM Church over time? Probably not. But more importantly, you will have to accept a church that undermines the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Still others tell me they are remaining in hopes that something similar to the Protocol will be passed in 2024, something that is more fair and less costly for churches than the present exit path they are being offered by their conference. I can certainly understand this desire. Many bishops are abusing their power and adding exorbitant fees for churches that wish to disaffiliate. But there’s no reason to believe that General Conference 2024 will bring any relief. Literally thousands of traditional churches will have left the denomination by 2024, meaning there will be fewer traditional delegates at the next General Conference to fight for a better deal. Centrists and progressive leaders have stated they will not support the Protocol. Do you believe they will offer a more generous pathway than before for exiting churches now that they have the upper hand? Paragraph 2553 in the Book of Discipline that churches are using now to depart goes away at the end of 2023. There is absolutely no reason to believe that waiting until 2024 will be advantageous for churches wanting to leave in the future.
Finally, some have said they will remain to “be a witness” within the UM Church. If God is calling you to be a Jonah, by all means, be faithful and stay. We traditionalists have tried to be a witness for the past fifty years. Those within the UM Church who have had ears to hear have heard. Those who don’t have not. If God has called you to stay, do so. But please make certain it’s God calling you to do the hard ministry of staying, not your desire to avoid the hard work of leaving.
What I find wherever I speak are good people who love Jesus, who are committed to the Gospel, and who care deeply about their church. It is a privilege to be with them, to listen to their concerns and hear their stories. I also discover that good people can be in different places when it comes to leaving. But I am convinced the UM Church is on a pathway that will take it far from the orthodox Christian faith and from proclaiming that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world and the Lord of all. If you feel called to remain in such a denomination, then stay. If not, the time to leave is now. Do not remain because leaving is difficult.
This moment is about the Gospel. This moment is about Jesus, lifting him up and proclaiming his glory. This moment is about doing the hard things required to be faithful. Do not take comfort in misleading promises or false hopes. The time is now.
We recently began the process to disaffiliate from the North Georgia Conference of the UMC only to have the outgoing bishop “pause” the separation process because disaffiliating
churches were not considering the “truth” but were instead listening to disinformation. The only disinformation is coming from bishops and the judicial council all of whom are violating the current and still in force Book of Discipline. Now we are faced with the prospect of big legal bills to fight for separation or just wait and hope that the Protocol will be honored in 2024 – which is increasingly unlikely. We have been painted into a corner by these Pharisees.
Well stated. Sorry your church is going through this. Sounds like you’re fighting a losing battle. We go to a non-denominational multi-campus church in Greenville, SC where teaching and leadership are biblical and traditional but sinners are welcome. I’ve seen more life transformation in myself and others here than in any other church. We get many burned out babtists, disillusioned Catholics, and others who have crashed and burned, and they find new life in Him and become leaders in helping others transform. It’s what I always thought church should be. Not perfect by any means but so much better than most others I’ve been involved in. I can be honest about my sin without being condemned but with encouragement to change.
I agree with this article. Unfortunately there is no traditional church for me to go to. What are individual believers to do?
Thank you for these words. My wife and I also struggled to leave our church after 88 years of combined service at our UMC church. We had to leave our friends to stay true to our beliefs. We do not believe that our was a centrist and just wanting to avoid the conflict by using the phrase, “Just love the person in front of you.” Jesus loved aby saying “Go and sin no more.”
So leaving allowed us to worship…not just serve. Getting back to the scriptures and learning the power of the holy spirit has been refreshing….
Those churches that think they can stay UMC while preaching the Gospel are soon going to get a reality shock very soon. Then they are going to look around the sinking ship and find all the lifeboats are gone already.
That’s really good
Do what other evangelical denominations did when breaking from the mainline. Just leave. Meet in homes/small groups while saving for a next step. When you look at the persecution God has enabled his people throughout history to endure – is anyone serious that a, for sure, dishonestly and corruptly administered trust clause is a sticking point? God will reward and crown those historical donations over the generations and past years. They were not in vain, they are/will be honored in eternity. For now – leave. Now.
The Gospel is 1 Corinthians 15: 1 – 4. If we are not preaching this Gospel, that Jesus died for your sins, was buried, and arose on the 3rd day, preachers that do not preach this are accursed per Galatians 1: 8 – 9. And all those that are misled by another Gospel are not being saved. Our Church needs a reformation using this Gospel.
Rob, you are fighting the good fight. This has nothing to do with winning a fight, but rather staying true to your principles. I am a fellow questie, and I think that you are the right man at the right time. Praying for you. God Bless you brother.
Rob, you present your reasons for wanting to disaffiliate with UM very well. From my perspective however, assuming a few misguided pastors, bishops or professors represent the whole UMC is a great leap. I see the same few inflammatory examples that you’ve given, cited over and over again by those wanting to leave UM. Given that, I respect anyone’s wish to leave and join other likeminded believers. So in sincerity, and truly seeking to understand this issue, why are you not simply walking away? Why are evangelicals flaming the fires of division through ugly behavior and hurtful words and attempting to kick those wanting to stay UMC out of the building? We are a UMC. You once made a commitment to be UM. If you can no longer be a part of this denomination, why not just leave…. Gracefully and with love for your brothers and sisters in Christ?
The UMC voted at the General Conference in 2019 to remain traditional, so why didn’t the progressives just leave gracefully? Why are the traditionalists now being the ones forced to leave? Why didn’t those who wanted change leave rather than cause such division in the UMC, which they knew to be inevitable?
Thank you, Rob, for your insightful article.