Monday, March 26, 2018

What’s Going on in the UMC? – Article 4: The “Sides”


We are continuing our discussion of the debate over human sexuality within the United Methodist Church.  (Please refer back to the first article to be reminded of the ground rules for our discussion.)  In previous articles, we have outlined the history of the debate, which dates back to 1972, and we have seen that the Commission on a Way Forward has offered to the Council of Bishops three models to help them decide what recommendation they will make to a special General Conference at the end of February 2019 in St. Louis.

The three models, briefly, were: 1. Maintain the current position of the church and increase accountability for those who violate Discipline. 2. Remove restrictive language regarding ordination and marriage and allow individual annual conferences to make decisions about ordination, and individual pastors and churches to make decisions about marriage.  This is also called the one church model.  A similar approach has been suggested in the past and was known as the “local option.” 3. Divide the UMC into two, or more, branches, each with the ability to set their own policies regarding human sexuality. 

Since the last article, the Council of Bishops has met and has taken the first model off of the table, leaving the other two as possibilities for being brought forward to the special General Conference.  It should be remembered that the bishops have not yet finished their work and that it is the General Conference delegates who are the ones who must vote on this, and they may reject whatever plan the bishops bring forward.

This time, I wanted to familiarize you with the various sides, or positions of this debate and some of the groups within the church which represent them.  The best description I have seen for the various positions is offered by Tom Berlin who credits Tom Lambrecht.  His blog about this can be found at http://revtomberlin.com/church-vitality/#sthash.kSsETug3.dpbs.  He talks about four groups.  First, there are progressive non-compatibilists who believe that LBGTQ+ persons should be fully affirmed and included in the church.  For them, this is something that God’s love and justice calls them to work for and they will accept nothing less.  One of the groups that represent this position is the Reconciling Ministries Network. (https://rmnetwork.org/)  Second, there are progressive compatibilists who believe in the inclusion of LBGTQ+ persons, but who understand and respect the position of those who do not, and they are not willing to spilt the church over this issue.  The third group are the traditional non-compatibilists, who are similar to the progressive compatibilists, except that they are in favor of the traditional view of sexual morals.  These two compatibilists groups have come to be known as centrists and some have organized themselves into a group known as Uniting Methodists. (http://unitingmethodists.com/)  This group has come out in favor of the one church model mentioned above.  Finally, the forth group are traditionalist non-comparatist.  These are people who wish to uphold the traditional view of sexuality and resist any change in that standard as being unfaithful to the Bible.  This group is represented by, among other organizations, the Wesleyan Covenant Association. (https://wesleyancovenant.org/)  In the interest of full disclosure, I am a member of the Wesleyan Covenant Association and the treasurer of the Iowa chapter.

This article is already running a little long, but before I close, I want to invite you to continue to interact with me and with this series of articles, in person and online.  Also, I would like to invite you to participate in the following opportunities.

·       The book study of A Firm Foundation which deals with this issue among others in the United Methodist Church.  We will meet on Tuesdays at 1:00pm at Montour beginning April 3rd and on Sundays at 6:00pm at Tama beginning April 8th.  You can get a book from me for $14.

·       Join Bishop Laurie when she comes to our District for a presentation and discussion on the Way Forward on April 22nd 2:30-5:00pm at First UMC in Cedar Falls.  If you would like to go, let me know and we can organize car pools.

In closing, as I am sure many of you have heard by now, I have been appointed to Wesley UMC in Muscatine and my family and I will be moving sometime in the last half of June.  I would expect that the pastor who is coming here will be announced in the next few weeks.  This move comes as a surprise to us and, while we look forward to the new opportunity, we are very sad to leave and will deeply miss all of you.  I ask that you keep my family and me, the new pastor, whoever that may be, and both these churches and Wesley UMC in your prayers during this time of transition.

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