Posted on 03/04/2022 7:37:32 AM PST by SeekAndFind
In a move critics are calling “unwise and potentially destructive,” the United Methodist Church has delayed its General Conference meeting for a third time amid the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting theologically conservative United Methodists to announce the official launch of a new denomination.
On Thursday, General Conference organizers announced they are postponing the meeting to 2024 “due to COVID-related and governmental policies/constraints.” The 2020 General Conference originally had been set for May 2020 in Minneapolis but was rescheduled for Aug. 29 – Sept. 7, 2021. It was rescheduled again for 2022 at the same venue.
Commission Chairperson Kim Simpson said the decision to postpone the meeting “was an exceedingly difficult one,” the UMC statement said.
"We engaged in a fair, thorough, integrity-filled discussion of the alternatives," said Simpson. "The visa issue is a reality that is simply outside our control as we seek to achieve a reasonable threshold of delegate presence and participation. Ultimately our decision reflects the hope that 2024 will afford greater opportunity for global travel and a higher degree of protection for the health and safety of delegates and attendees."
The move comes at a particularly sensitive time for the UMC, as delegates to the General Conference were expected to negotiate a denominational split over theological differences, including the full inclusion of LGBT members into the denomination.
The decision to postpone drew criticism from some theologically conservative UMC groups that said they are not willing to wait until 2024 to move forward.
On Thursday, the Global Methodist Church, a more conservative Methodist denomination, announced it will officially launch in May. The creators of the GMC and other United Methodists had previously said they would hold off from launching until after the General Conference.
The denomination’s website says thousands of Methodist clergy and laity from around the world have worked together for “over three years to lay the groundwork for a new, theologically conservative Methodist denomination steeped in the great ecumenical and evangelical confessions of the Christian faith.”
“It is anticipated that some theologically conservative local churches will find annual conferences willing to negotiate fair and just exit provisions, while others will, unfortunately, face obstacles placed in their paths,” the denomination said in a statement.
“The Transitional Leadership Council decided it was time to launch the Global Methodist Church, so those who can leave early will have a place to land, to begin building and growing, and making room for others to join later.”
The Rev. Keith Boyette, the chairman of the Transitional Leadership Council that has been overseeing the creation of the GMC, said theologically conservative churches and annual conferences “want to be free of divisive and destructive debates, and to have the freedom to move forward together."
"We are confident many existing congregations will join the new Global Methodist Church in waves over the next few years,” he said. “As we embark on this great venture, we know we will stumble and fall at times. But with the great prophet Isaiah, we also firmly believe we will, in God’s good time, ‘run and not be weary,’ and ‘walk [in the way of the Lord] and not faint!’”
In a statement, UM Action, an organization that “works to defend biblical faithfulness and a disciple-making focus in the United Methodist Church,” accused General Conference organizers of succumbing to “an intense institutionalist pressure campaign” in canceling the conference.
"This decision was extremely unwise and potentially destructive,” it said. “The Commission’s majority and those who pressured them into this destructive path will provoke confusion, more church division, and litigation in which there are no winners.”
“The United Methodist Church remains our church, and we will continue to defend its doctrine and moral standards,” it added. “We will have more to say and do in the coming days.”
The UMC has been engaged in a long battle over the church’s teachings on sexuality, prompting more conservative churches to leave the denomination. The UMC’s official stance, as outlined in the Book of Discipline, labels homosexuality a sin, bars the ordination of noncelibate homosexuals and prohibits the blessing of same-sex marriages.
However, progressive United Methodists have on several occasions defied the rules by ordaining openly gay clergy or officiating same-sex marriages. In December, a UMC pastor was relieved of his duties after participating as a drag queen in the HBO reality series “We’re Here.”
On Jan. 30, Frazer United Methodist Church, a congregation of about 4,000 members in Montgomery, Alabama, became the latest church to disaffiliate from the mainline Protestant denomination.
The church said in a statement to The Christian Post that the congregation intends to join the Free Methodist Church: "[W]e believe that the Free Methodist Church is a better fit for our present identity and future fruitfulness.”
The denomination has more than 6.2 million members in the U.S., according to 2020 data, making it the third-largest Christian sect in the United States.
Drive by during the Sunday services and count about a dozen cars in their parking lot. I kid you not.
UMC friend tells me that is about typical in most of Pennsylvania.
These numbers are vastly inflated. They can’t put a fraction on that in the pews on Sunday.
No need for such a "battle" if you just read the Bible - it isn't exactly ambiguous when it comes to those teachings. If you just want a social club do it somewhere else.
I have been away from the UMC a long time, but I know the church my father attended is conservative and the conference is generally conservative. The last few years that church has avoided any explicit connection with the UMC: their roadside sign just says Bethany Church and their online presence mentions nothing about the UMC. Their website has a detailed summary of beliefs that should satisfy any traditional Christian. I expect they may consider the UMC brand to be toxic, and they are planning to leave.
Not my UMC; very busy.
But we are a pretty conservative congregation.
Two things. They count as “members” both people who are still alive but in nursing homes and no longer attending (probably legit to still count those IMHO) and also people who left the UMC, didn’t officially resign their membership, and have been attending and giving to other churches for years/even decades. Because those people didn’t officially revoke their membership, they’re counted as still members. LOL
Excellent observations.
Good on them. If “your church” has left your beliefs, it is time to leave the church.
I just wish more Catholics would do the same and create a church without child diddlers and priests openly forsaking their vows by being actively gay.
Inflated numbers might be good for the denomination, but they are often bad for the local churches, especially the smaller ones. Keeping inactive members on the rolls means the congregation higher apportionment to the conference. Getting the rolls more in line with reality, though, can cause a fight. Even though George and Barbara haven’t shown up for years, someone who knows them will say they “feel” that they are members of the church and would be greatly upset if they were removed from the rolls.
One of the communist goals from early on was to destroy the moral foundations of American to make it more susceptible to their godless theology. The sexuality smokescreen was never more than the wedge to divide and destroy the various denominations. The HQ’s of the denominations were infiltrated and started the whole mess. The individual churches were and are much more conservative than the HQ’s, but were too late realizing what was actually happening and fight back hard enough to stop the destruction. A complete house cleaning of the HQ’s would put an end to the destruction, but that’s not happening. The seminaries have been taken over as well and most produce only “enlightened” clergy. Victory is in sight for the godless.
The idea that Christians are free to “create a church” is where Catholics step off your bus, sorry.
Could join one of the Orthodox churches, which are older than the Roman church.
Just curious if your church is rural or urban. Our community is fairly conservative as well, but it has its pockets of wokedom. The mainline protestant churches downtown seem to be one of them.
The big religious divide in the present age isn't primarily within or between Christian denominations. Nor between Christians and Jews, nor even between deists and atheists.
It's Sodomy versus non-Sodomy.
Sodomy is the official religion of the ruling class.
Also see my tagline.
“The visa issue is a reality that is simply outside our control as we seek to achieve a reasonable threshold of delegate presence and participation. Ultimately our decision reflects the hope that 2024 will afford greater opportunity for global travel and a higher degree of protection for the health and safety of delegates and attendees.”
Bravo Sierra. The Wesleyan Covenant Association has been able to get its foreign delegates to the Global Gathering their visas. And WCA offered its assistance to UMC leadership for the general conference delegates and was ignored. They just don’t want to bring the Protocol for Separation to a vote because they’re having seller’s remorse for letting the properties and pensions of those who separate go with them.
NOT urban.
There are cows within a mile.
LOL! THAT explains a lot.
How can the Orthodox church be “older than the Roman church” when it’s clear they were one, united church until 1054?
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