Posted on 05/17/2016 9:40:18 AM PDT by xzins
The United Methodist Church is considering splitting over the full acceptance of gay members, according to reports by top clergy and advocacy groups. Church officials say the president of the Council of Bishops will address the rumor Tuesday in Portland, Ore., where the denomination is holding a major convention.
The rumors about the United States’ third-largest faith group began spreading on social media Monday night, when some prominent pastors reportedly told crowds in Portland that a plan is in the works. Details about what the plan entails and who was on board with it were unconfirmed.
United Methodist Church spokeswoman Diane Degnan said only that “there will be a response this morning from the president of the Council of Bishops.” The church-affiliated United Methodist News Service reported no other details. Some said the response could come late morning, Portland time.
The denomination has been increasingly divided in recent decades — like many other global faith communities — over social issues. The split has been especially marked between Western liberals and the fast-growing, more socially conservative segments of the church in Asia and Africa. Short answer was no. The far right and far left are entrenched in their theological understandings. The group also faced a reality that by 2020 and beyond our African United Methodist sisters and brothers would control the church so what this would mean practically is that the United Methodist Church would be on a trajectory to become ever more conservative on a whole host of issues.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
The liberals want a split so they can leave
I thought this many times as we watched the Episcopal Church and much of the C of E/worldwide Anglican church fall. "What? Over anal sex?!?" But it is ...
No, you just have to read it using the correct interpretive filter. Everywhere the Bible says "love," one of the meanings they understand is "sodomitic sex."
>>What happened to the PCUSA will happen to the UMC. A conservative version will start up and churches will begin to cross over.
In this day, I don’t think that a conservative non-confessing denomination can exist in America with Arminian theology. The angst over the ability to lose one’s salvation opens too many doors for the SJWs to get in and disrupt. The lack of the insistence to follow a written Confession of Faith opens too many doors for reinterpretation of scripture. The Methodists on the Left like to remind us that God’s word is being continually rewritten for each generation.
Individual churches that are both conservative and Arminian can exist, but a nationwide denomination will fall every time.
“The angst over the ability to lose one’s salvation opens too many doors for the SJWs to get in and disrupt. “
You cannot “lose” your Salvation but you can surrender it. It’s a conscious act. Paul talks about it quite a bit in Hebrews. I don’t see it as a sticking point.
>>You cannot “lose” your Salvation but you can surrender it. It’s a conscious act. Paul talks about it quite a bit in Hebrews. I don’t see it as a sticking point.
Bring in a liberal Methodist pastor and it becomes a real issue. He/She will preach on it a lot, always steering clear of any hint of works-based salvation, but you will get hit over the head a lot with how “we aren’t doing enough” along with the reminder that “not doing enough” while you still have resources left is a conscious act. See how that works?
:)
The UMC way is to talk about “all we are doing” much like a Kiwanis club. All outreach has to be faith-free.
We are open-minded EXCEPT when people disagree with the liberal policies of the church. Then we are “driving people away”.
I was in an Emmaus meeting and they asked if I wanted to hold teaming at my church. My response was “It may not be my church by then”. Jaws dropped.
>>The UMC way is to talk about “all we are doing” much like a Kiwanis club. All outreach has to be faith-free.
Yep. I’ve been told that by liberal pastors. We don’t want to scare them away by evangelizing when we should be “helping” them. All I wanted to do was put a card with a bible verse in a bag lunch.
>>We are open-minded EXCEPT when people disagree with the liberal policies of the church. Then we are “driving people away”.
I was always seeking a clear statement of what we believe on a certain topic. The answer would be liberal drivel or a reminder that “we aren’t a confessional church, so what do you think it means”. I thought a confessional church was a bad thing until I read Metaxxas’ biography of Bonhoeffer and found out that the confessing church is the one that resists being a weather vane in the hurricane of political and societal pressure.
>>I was in an Emmaus meeting and they asked if I wanted to hold teaming at my church. My response was “It may not be my church by then”. Jaws dropped.
Decolores! I still group with some Methodists, but I am a Presbyterian (PCA, not PCUSA) now.
I read the same analysis in the WP comments. Isn’t it interesting that the libs are for separating from the blacks. Isn’t that racist?
I had read where most of the large US UMC churches and money donated are from the south but the vote is by congregation which benefits the libs. They don’t want the large US conservative congregations to leave because they want their money. Anything (even racism) to retain and maximize their power, even in church.
Liberal political stands are always disguised as “social justice”. The UMC even has lobbyists. Every popular liberal political narrative gets the social justice treatment.
But if Falwell does it, it is “preaching politics from the pulpit”.
>>But if Falwell does it, it is “preaching politics from the pulpit”.
LOL. I’ve heard that quote many times when discussing just about anything that goes against Marxism.
bump for later
I carefully checked both of those passages and I’m lead to believe that I have a faulty Bible. I fail to find “Thou shalt...” in either of place. Could it be that this is one of those areas that God felt could be left to interpretation by human minds?
Nah, must be a typesetting error.
Or maybe if they had some sort of convening authority that could point out where they might go off the rails. Well one thing is for certain one of them might get it right down the road.
Well, there is that whole “love your fellow man” business, but I don’t think that’s how we’re supposed to interpret it...
Hillary is (nominally) a Methodist.
Trump a Presbyterian, the main religion of Scotland, where his mother was born.
I’m a Mormon and I’m saddened for you. It must be hard to stand by and watch other people tear up what you care about so much.
Forgive them. Don’t hate them. Always forgive.
It’s a sign of the times and it will get a lot worse before the Lord returns.
Are you referring to the the EO's and the Church of Rome here?
Read the article. You are still claiming to be a Methodist aren’t you?
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