Free Republic

Contested United Methodist Church (UMC) Bishop Karen Oliveto recently spoke on transformational leadership at Yale Divinity School. The primary thrust of this talk was the need for a community focus in the UMC. She also took questions about the current state of the denomination. Oliveto attempted to avoid controversy in her comments, though her personal views were visible. When asked about the decline of the UMC in recent years, she obliquely blamed, “All the infighting we’ve been doing” as well as, “an erosion of the grace that’s foundational to who we are.” This idea of an “erosion” of what Methodism...

In an open letter to the faculty, administrators, students, and alumni at Asbury Theological Seminary, a group of 70 current and former students attacked the seminary for its support of the United Methodist Church’s Traditional Plan at General Conference 2019. Asbury is an independent evangelical seminary outside Lexington, Kentucky with 1800 current students that teaches Wesleyan beliefs. It graduates more United Methodist clergy than does any official United Methodist seminary and is one of America’s largest seminaries. Among the letter signers, and possibly its organizer, is Bill Mefford, who left the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society after...

300,000 miles on horseback -Francis Asbury, Circuit Riding Preacher "one of the builders of our nation" The King of England was the head of the Anglican Church from the time of Henry VIII. Beginning in 1535, all English subjects, including those in English colonies, were required to the Oath of Supremacy: "I (state your name) do utterly testify and declare in my Conscience, that the King's Highness is the only Supreme Governor of this Realm ... in all Spiritual or Eclesiastical things ... So help me God." For most of England's history from 1535 to 1829, not to take the...

Dr. Dorothee Benz, a prominent LGBTQ activist in the United Methodist Church (UMC), is leaving the denomination after many years of leading resistance efforts. Dr. Benz publicly announced her decision to resign her membership from the UMC by publishing a letter she handed to Bishop Bickerton of the New York Annual Conference. In the letter, Benz, who is lesbian, describes her identity as a lifelong United Methodist and her years of both personal and public struggle with a church that does not support the ordination of “self-avowed practicing homosexuals.” She currently works as Chief Communications Officer for Lambda Legal, a...

Left-leaning congregations and LGBT activists within the United Methodist Church are looking to next year’s General Conference in the hopes they can change the denomination’s stance on homosexuality. Despite failing to change the denomination’s official position against homosexuality and same-sex marriage at a special session of General Conference in February or through its highest court last month, there appears to be little movement away from the UMC by progressive congregations and activists. Bishop Peggy A. Johnson, head of the Eastern Pennsylvania and Peninsula-Delaware Conferences, told The Christian Post that many remain in a “wait and see” mode. “I have not...

The confirmation class at First United Methodist Church in Omaha wanted to take a stand against the denomination’s longtime ban on same-sex marriage and gay clergy. So when it came time to join the church on Sunday — the traditional end to a yearlong exploration of their faith — the class, made up of eight middle-schoolers, said no. Their decision was in response to a vote at February’s United Methodist General Conference in St. Louis affirming the denomination’s rules against ordination of gay clergy and performing same-sex weddings on church property. U.S. delegates to the conference, for the most part,...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — Tennessee faith leaders are urging Gov. Bill Lee to oppose a bill that would restrict access to abortions. More than 150 pastors and leaders signed the letter to Lee in support of keeping abortion safe and legal. Leaders are urging Lee against HB77, the "Fetal Heartbeat Bill." “Because we trust pregnant people, we know that these decisions are informed by tremendous reflection and not taken lightly,” the letter states. “When a person decides that abortion is their best option, they need community support not obstacles preventing safe access to medical care.”

Readers of this blog are already familiar with Glide Memorial, a radical progressive congregation in San Francisco that recently severed ties with the United Methodist Church (UMC). Legal fights between Glide and the UMC’s California-Nevada Annual Conference continue, but occasionally there is something or someone that we suspect regular readers will find noteworthy, such as an Islamic Drag Queen. Enter “Drag & Spirituality: Claiming Our Sanctuary” – “This talk show-style conversation will explore the intersections of drag, gender, sexuality and spirituality. Our host & event curator, B0NNi33 Vi0L3T, aka Duane Quintana, a queer chaplain, will interview ground-breaking local drag queens,...

The late Richard Neuhaus once recalled that in the 1970s it was widely expected among religious cognoscenti that United Methodism would be the first of America’s historically liberal Mainline Protestant denominations to abandon traditional Christian sexual ethics. After all, it was the largest and most Americanized of mainline churches, and it wasn’t protected by strong traditions of liturgy or ecclesiology. Its experiential theology often seemed muddled. When Neuhaus shared that recollection in 2005, the Episcopal Church and United Church of Christ had already surrendered. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church (USA), and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)...

After hours of delaying tactics by opponents, the United Methodist General Conference 2019 delegates passed The Traditional Plan 438 to 384. A last-ditch effort to bring the One Church Plan back was defeated in the morning and was followed by efforts to amend the Traditional Plan to address constitutionality issues raised by the Judicial Council, the church’s top court. The Rev. Tim McClendon, South Carolina, called for a vote on the Traditional Plan as amended, which affirms the church’s current bans on ordaining LGBTQ clergy and officiating at or hosting same-sex marriage.

Delegates at United Methodism’s General Conference in St. Louis, meeting as legislative committee, endorsed the Traditional Plan by 56% to 44%. The plan, which would strengthen the church’s policies defining marriage as male/female, will be voted on again by the delegates in plenary tomorrow. The One Church Plan to liberalize the church’s policy on sexuality was rejected 53% to 47%. It is now defeated unless there’s an attempt to bring it tomorrow’s plenary as minority report. Also approved were two petitions allowing congregations who can’t abide the church’s marriage teaching to leave the denomination with their property. Potentially some liberal...

In a key United Methodist General Conference vote setting voting priorities for the next three days, delegates preferred the Traditional Plan backed by global evangelicals over the liberalizing One Church Plan backed by most bishops. The Traditional Plan, which got nearly 56%, reaffirms current United Methodist teaching on marriage as male and female. One Church Plan, which got nearly 49%, would overturn that teaching and compel local congregations to choose their own definition of marriage. In one swoop, delegates were asked to vote their preference on dozens of legislative proposals and could vote yes to each one. The vote sets...

The United Methodist Church is a big tent theologically, and people with conservative or traditional religious beliefs make up the largest group under that spreading canvas. Those are two key findings from a new United Methodist Communications survey of United Methodists in the United States. The survey dug into views on various theology-related subjects, including the Bible, Jesus, salvation, the Resurrection and the afterlife. The goal was to shed light on the beliefs of people in the pews of United Methodist churches. Of those contacted, 44 percent identified themselves as conservative/traditional in religious beliefs, 28 percent as moderate/centrist and 20...

COLLEYVILLE, Texas On a Tuesday in January, pastor Katie Lewis was surprised to have even 26 members of the United Methodist Church of Colleyville attend her study group on human sexuality and same-sex marriage. In a group of mostly middle-aged white congregants, opinions ranged widely. One man said he felt pressure to accept LGBTQ clergy and same-sex marriage from "more liberal" members from the East and West coasts. Others quickly disputed that idea, saying the issue is a concern in Colleyville as well. "Whether you know it or not, someone in your life is struggling to be accepted for who...

A Mexican father who hid out in a North Carolina church for close to a year to avoid deportation was detained when he attended an appointment with immigration officials. Samuel Oliver-Bruno, 47, had a scheduled meeting Friday at a Raleigh-area immigration office to provide fingerprints and discuss a petition to delay his deportation, so that he could stay in the country with his wife and son, who is a US citizen, local outlets reported. About 20 minutes after he walked into the office, plainclothes US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested him. The CityWell United Methodist Church’s pastor, Cleve May,...

SAN ANTONIO - To better understand why the migrant caravan wants to reach the United States, the Rev. Gavin Rogers, associate pastor of Travis Park United Methodist Church, traveled to Mexico City last Friday as they were preparing to continue their journey. “Everybody around me, they don’t call it a caravan. They call it an exodus, which is kind of a Biblical term if you think about it,” Rogers said. Rogers said he wanted to hear their stories of rampant violence, corruption and poverty “that are often untold and misunderstood.” He asked, “What would you do?” Wanting a better life...

he United Methodist Church's African bishops have recently reaffirmed their support for the traditional definition of marriage, as well as opposition over possible schism within the denomination. The UMC Africa College of Bishops released a statement Monday stemming from their official meeting held Sept. 3-7 in Freetown, Sierra Leone. According to their statement, the bishops held extensive discussions regarding the denomination's debate over homosexuality, which many believe may lead to the UMC splitting. "... we reaffirm our position as traditionalists and view marriage as union between Man and Woman as clearly defined in scripture and affirmed in our COB 2016...

An Indiana minister who claims to be a pro-life Christian testified against a religious freedom ruling Friday during U.S. Senate hearings on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Alicia Baker, a community development organizer and ordained Free Methodist Church minister from Indianapolis, urged the Senate to oppose Kavanaugh’s confirmation because of his decision to grant religious exemptions to the Obamacare HHS mandate. “If Judge Kavanaugh is confirmed, access to affordable birth control will be in jeopardy,” Baker said. “This committee and the Senate must weigh the harmful impact Judge Kavanaugh would have on the health and well being of so many...

Due to action of The United Methodist Church’s 2012 General Conference and to negotiation of church leaders, the General Board of Church and Society held listening sessions on the Social Principles throughout the church. From them, Church and Society learned that the Social Principles need to become “more theologically grounded, more globally relevant, and more succinct” (according to a 04/12/18 press release). Then the 2016 General Conference voted to continue Church and Society’s work in revising the Social Principles. On April 11, 2018, “The United Methodist Social Principles”/“Working Draft 1” was released. Church and Society aims to propose a complete...

Glide United Methodist Church in San Francisco, California, may be on the brink of breaking away from the UMC. The church, as a whole, has systematically distanced itself from the governance and theological beliefs long held by the UMC, and yet has still clung to the title of being a United Methodist congregation, according to Bishop Minerva Carcaño. Bishop Carcaño addressed an open letter to the California-Nevada Conference, outlining issues within Glide that she found to be troubling. She described Glide’s “Sunday Celebrations” as “uplifting concerts,” which “lack the fundamentals of Christian worship.” She went on to write that the congregants don’t want...