It’s a shame Christianity does not have a governing book that would answer these questions on sexual immorality by providing clear guidance.
The Methodist church of my childhood (My grandmother’s current church) has taken a decidedly conservative turn.
The United was taken with the Methodist merger with the Evangelical United Brethern in 1968.
"current"
Is sexual immorality the only sin that the UMC will tolerate? Or will it give its blessing to stealing, lying, and murder as well?
“.....because of an inability to resolve long-standing theological disputes about homosexuality and church doctrine..”
Long Standing?
Christianity has been around since 33AD. That is 1,981 years. For 1,965 of those years, EVERY Christian denomination has unequivocally regarded Homosexual activity as a sin. Long standing, NOT!
Hell, for 1,900 years every Christian Denomination considered artificial contraception to be a sin. So there is little in all of Christendom that is a long standing dispute. Heck the Protestant Reformation is only 600 years old, a mear blip in the Church time line.
The broken sinner, convicted by the Holy Spirit, can always find refuge in the grace of God in Christ! These deceivers are like the adulteress who “eats, wipes her mouth and says, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong’”—Proverbs 30:20
Divided over sexuality?
Wouldn’t King Solomon say: “Let’s cut the Queer in half”?
Ping
All I can say, being part of the “New” Christian denominations, (only 600 years old), READ THE BOOK! You know, the “God Breathed” book.
You don’t even have to use the “New Fangled” Testament, (nearly 2000 years old). You can simply rely on the “Old” Testament, as in, THOUSANDS of years “old”.
There is absolutely no question as to whether homosexuality (married people have sex), is a sin and that by habitually sinning against God you cannot be a “Christian”, period.
Many are on the way to hell, some will be in heaven.
“In my family, we have pretty ferocious disagreements about a great many things,” Howell wrote. “But we love. We don’t divorce. We are a family
It is not about family sir. It is about will you follow and teach the Word of God or not. If half of you want to and the other half does not, then a split has to happen.
Years ago I went to a Methodist Easter service with my MIL. No mention of Jesus or the resurrection in the entire service. The minister (heavy female person) talked as I recall mostly about social justice.
Conservative Methodists. Who knew?
There really does need to be a PCA-like designation for the UMC churches, such as my sister’s home church in North Carolina, that designate that they are NOT the one-world one-church un-Christian UMC any more.
There really is an problem with a good many UMC churches and what MANY UMC members believe.
The schism always arises from the left, who are never happy with doctrines of the faith, unless they fully embrace the political agenda of the left.
So say today, the schism is caused by the left demanding recognition and embrace of homosexual marriage, or whatever issue. No matter the effort at reconciliation, the left will never respect doctrine. So “next week” the schism will be over the divinity of God, whether there are more than one god, or if there isn’t any God at all.
This is because the left, wearing clerical garb or not, neither embraces nor respects religion, or God. They want the agenda of the left, and only the agenda of the left, and paid for out of the organization’s treasury.
So the bottom line is that if you are people of faith, the first time someone chimes in about an agenda of the left item, show them the door. They are not there to embrace the faith, they are there to subvert and destroy it.
Embracing sin as okay and normal is never compatible with Christianity
If some people want to redefine Christ’s teachings so as to allow for blatant sin, then let them go in peace to form their own church. It is better to endure an organizational split than to compromise with sin.