That IS good news!
I keep hoping that frustration with another loss will cause the homosexualists to scream for division.
Can't they be excommunicated?
The “Good New” Perspective Email
GC2016 Delegates Elected
By Walter Fenton
In May and June of this year the vast majority of United Methodist annual conferences in the United States elected delegates to General Conference 2016, (GC2016) which will be held in Portland, Oregon. Approximately 58 percent of the 864 delegates attending GC2016 will come from the U.S., 31 percent will come from Africa, and the remaining 11 percent will come from The Philippines and Europe.
It is widely recognized that United Methodists in the U.S. are divided over theological issues like the authority of Scripture and social issues like same-sex marriage. It is not unusual for conservative, moderate and progressive United Methodists to work together to elect slates of delegates to General Conference that will represent their views on critical issues.
According to various reports and observations, moderates and progressives did better than they expected in the Great Plains, West Ohio, and Virginia annual conferences. On the other hand, conservatives demonstrated greater strength in the Florida, Illinois Great Rivers, Indiana, and North Georgia annual conferences.
Many regional and national groups, including Good News, follow the elections closely to get some sense of how General Conference delegates will vote on a host of critical issues.
A number of annual conferences passed petitions calling on GC2016 to liberalize the UM Church’s teachings on same-sex marriage and the ordination of openly gay clergy. Still other annual conferences adopted petitions encouraging GC2016 to not only maintain the church’s current teachings, but to pass legislation that would tighten accountability for pastors and bishops who disregard the Book of Discipline.
At the 2012 General Conference delegates defeated, by a 53.5 to 46.5 percent vote, a proposal by the Revs. Adam Hamilton and Mike Slaughter to remove from the Book of Discipline the statement declaring that “the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching,” and replace it with language that would essentially state the church is of two minds on the matter, and therefore no longer has a consensus position on the issue.
At GC2016 delegates are likely to consider separate proposals presented by the UM Church’s Connectional Table (CT) and the Revs. Hamilton and Slaughter. The CT’s plan is called “A Third Way” and Hamilton and Slaughter’s is entitled “A Way Forward.” In essence, both plans would allow for same-sex marriage and the ordination of openly gay clergy.
However, based on informal, but extensive reporting, it appears the delegates at GC2016 will reject these proposals, like those before them. Indeed, it is quite possible the margin of defeat will actually increase as the number of conservative-evangelicals from around the world becomes more dominant in 2016 and at General Conferences thereafter.
Walter Fenton is a United Methodist clergyperson and analyst for Good News.
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