Thanks. You and I have conversed several times over the last few years about my leaving the UMC. I appreciate your thoughtful responses. After a couple of years of difficult times (death, divorce, injury, job issues to name a few), I spent a lot of time trying different churches. When I first went to my current church, it was like water on a parched and arid land. So, it was the right decision for me.
I understand that the episode with the lesbian minister was in a more liberal conference. Still....to not remove her from ministry when her behavior admittedly goes against the Book of Discipline makes a sham of the entire Book of Discipline.
Maybe the influence of the African conferences will drag the American UMC back where it ought to be. Or the American UMC will die and the conferences elsewhere in the world will flourish. Time will tell.
I think the African Churches will keep the UMC in line for some time. The only thing that would change that would be for the proportional delegate rule to get tossed out or adjusted somehow. I don’t see any of the evangelical regions being amenable to such a thing.