Hey Chaps, I was under the impression that William Willimon is sort of conservative.
I guess not?
I was never under that impression. IIRC, he was the pastor of the Duke University chapel, a position in a liberal school that no conservative would ever have gotten. Plus, I read UMC-ese, a language probably not of angels. Once the denomination buzzwords are known, the curtain is lifted from the intentionally darkened mind.
This is such a disengenuous article, and Willimon knows it: "Now it is the UMC’s turn to experience the agony previously endured by the Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and Lutherans,". Willimon is pretending that the UMC is now to experience for the first time the agony of homosexualism's confrontation with the church. Like me, he's watched every General Conference since the 70's fight over homosexuality and consistently and loudly REJECT it.
He laments the traditionalists' newfound ability to organize votes on the floor of the conference, while totally ignoring that's what his side has been doing for decades.
Finally, he tries to pretend the whole world is aghast at the direction taken by the Methodists. The reality is that about 90% of world Christianity NOW rejects homosexual ordination and marriage. Catholic, Orthodox, Baptist, Fundamental, Charismatic, etc. To suggest that western Lutheranism, Presbyterianism, Mainline-ism is the overwhelming state of modern Christianity is to have a huge problem with mathematics and counting.