I agree with my fellow elders, but I would find a way to throw the defiant ones out....in other words, a split.
The decisions of the "General Conference" are irrelevant spiritually. Either the Methodists decide to abide by God's Word, in which case their decisions say nothing new, or they decide to defy God's Word, in which case their vote is irrelevant to proper conduct. No conference majority can out-vote God. One can vote on peripheral issues on which the Bible is silent or unclear, but not on a central issue such as whether active homosexuality is consistent with following God.
I left the United Methodists over this very issue some years ago. The church I belonged to lost a very fine pastor (retired) and his replacement was a woman who preached constantly about the value of homosexuals. She was also obsessed with animals and the souls of animals. She rarely mentioned Jesus and I got the distinct impression that she didn’t believe in God.
The Journey Home - 4/25/11 - Joshua Johnson - Former United Methodist minister
EWTN Journey Home - Feb. 28 - Jeffry Hendrix - Former United Methodist pastor
EWTN - The Journey Home - Oct. 26, 2009 - David Twellman, former United Methodist
Faith Journey Leads United Methodist from Pastorate to Catholic Priesthood
Faith Journey Leads United Methodist from Pastorate to Catholic Priesthood
Allen Hunt, Methodist Minister ...Journeys Home (Catholic, Re: Real Presence)/a>
Searching For Authority (A Methodist minister finds himself surprised by Truth!)
Too bad St. Paul didn’t know all the scientific facts we know now. He’d have written Romans differently.
Not
When a moderate or conservative denomination moves “liberal”, they lose members. Conservatives hold to conservative churches as a bastion and rock against a liberalized culture, thus leave churches moving left. Those on the left rarely go to left-leaning churches, since being non-theist is freer.
My family left the United Methodist church back in the late 1980’s because of increasingly liberal leanings of the pastor and the church body. Even then, there was a distinct sense of approval and acceptance for homosexual behavior that, to me, indicated a tacit rejection of God’s Word. When an assistant pastor (semi-retired, not a young man) openly stated (at a dinner in a private home) that he saw nothing wrong with same-sex ‘marriage’, that did it. Although I held a ‘lay leader’ position, we were gone within a month. (With apologies to Yogi Berra) it appears to be Déjà vu all over again in the United Methodist church.
The Methodist Church started to swing left in the late 50s or early 60s. When I found out they were a sponsoring founder of Handgun Control Inc. and trying to raise funds for a VC field hospital I walked out the door.
My daughter was a gospel singer for awhile in a group that traveled all over the US. They sang in all sorts of churches and venue’s and were able to observe the different traditions of each denomination. In one Methodist church we were invited to communion with them after the singing. They brought out a loaf of French bread and broke pieces off for each member. I couldn’t believe they didn’t know the significance of “leavened” bread. They seemed to have no clue. There were a half dozen other things I observed that didn’t make sense, but it just seemed they went to church because you were supposed to on Sunday. Many didn’t believe in answered prayer and some didn’t believe Jesus was the only way to Heaven. It was scary to think of this as a “major” denomination. Error was all around. Most churches have luke warm pew sitters, but other than a Unitarian, Methodists are right up there.
Methodists, as a denomination, lost their way upon becoming “united” and leaving the tradition set by the Wesley brothers. My dad’s family was Methodist to the core but when my oldest uncle passed away, he left nothing to the local congregation because he was so disgusted with the state of the denomination.
Mike Adams write a good editorial a few years back about this very topic:
I am Methodist born and raised. I love the Wesleyan doctrine and adhere to its principles of reason and faith. That being said, the liberal Social Princples are very Marxist and I certainly don’t agree with them.
The path to Hell seems lined with Clergy....
Would Jesus want sin and perversion promoted in His Name?
Jesus taught love but not for sin........
***Hundreds of United Methodist clergy are expressing deep concerns over a pledge made by a large group of fellow ministers to marry same-sex couples.****
If John and Charles Wesley could see what the church they began has devolved into!
If they preached their old sermons again they would be cast out!