#2024 UMC General Conference

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Jason DeRose at NPR:

The United Methodist Church, one of the largest Protestant denominations in the U.S., has voted to repeal its ban on LGBTQ clergy as well as prohibitions on its' ministers from officiating at same-sex weddings. Delegates overwhelmingly approved the changes, 692 to 51, during the United Methodist Church's General Conference. The meeting is taking place this week in Charlotte, N.C. after the pandemic delayed the 2020 General Conference where these decisions has been slated to take place.

The tone of the Charlotte meeting has been decidedly upbeat, in sharp contrast with the last, highly contentious global meeting back in 2019, when heated floor debates left many feeling hurt. In fact, there was no floor debate over the clergy and marriages rules this time around. Rather, they were included on a consent agenda. However, in the years leading up to this General Conference, about one-quarter of United Methodist congregations in the U-S left the denomination. Those congregations tended to be among the most conservative in the church. Their departure made the decisions this year less fraught. Some of those departing congregations left to form the more conservative Global Methodist Church and others decided to become independent. The main reason many of those congregations left the denomination is that despite the church's official rules against LGBTQ clergy and same-sex weddings, some local geographic conferences chose to not enforce them.

At the United Methodist Church's General Conference today, the UMC voted overwhelmingly to lift its ban on LGBTQ+ clergy and denominational clergy officiating same-sex weddings.

This is made possible in party by the departure of more conservative churches to either the Global Methodist Church, independent of any denomination, or other Wesleyan denominations.

See Also:

LGBTQ Nation: United Methodist Church ends ban on LGBTQ+ clergy in historic vote

CNN: United Methodist Church lifts 40-year ban on LGBTQ clergy

[curiosityschild]

[danielgriswold]

Personal Remarks and Action on the United Methodist General Conference in Charlotte, 2024

I committed to becoming a United Methodist at Saint Andrew By-The-Sea UMC on Hilton Head Island, SC in the year 2010 after having been a member for a year and realizing I was called to ministry as an Elder in the general church. Having been reared in the Assemblies of God, I had Wesleyan DNA but had never read John Wesley’s sermons, writings, or notes; so I began to read and realized I am a…

[freehawaii]

KE AUPUNI UPDATE - MAY 2024

Empty Apologies… On January 17, 1993, coinciding with the solemn observance of the 100th anniversary of the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, the United Church of Christ (UCC) formally apologized for the role that its leaders played in the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893. The apology was publicly announced and presented by representatives of the national leadership of the UCC. That apology prompted the Hawaii delegation to the US Congress to convince their colleagues to pass a Joint Resolution of Congress that was signed into law as US Public Law 103-150 by US President William Jefferson Clinton on November 23, 1993. By this public law the US also apologized for its involvement in the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893. What has become of these high profile public apologies?  The UMC Apology was followed a year later with pledges of millions in money and property as compensation from the UCC to the Hawaiian people for the wrongful act. The US Apology pledged to initiate reconciliation between the US and the native Hawaiians who suffered the consequences of the wrongful taking of their nation. In the 31 years since the issuance of these apologies, there has been no measurable or noticeable movement toward reconciliation. In fact conditions have grown worse. The US and the UCC have demonstrated by their inaction not only lack of follow-through but no intention of ever correcting the wrongs they admitted they committed. Years ago, a friend said to me, “The trouble with people today is they think… if we say it; we have done it!” This is so true. Apologies today mean nothing as people do not seem to think they need to do anything to repair a wrong or offense. No acts of repentance, no making things pono. Just say sorry, then move on. In April, a resolution was adopted by the General conference of the United Methodist Church (UMC) apologizing for the role its pastors and churches of that denomination played in the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893 and after. Announcement of this recent apology by the UMC is pending. The resolution calls for “Acts of Repentance.” Will this prove to be sincere? Or will it go the way of the UCC’s “compensation” and the US’ “reconciliation”? Hopefully, this will not be another empty apology that makes no difference except to give self-serving offenders a platform to absolve themselves of their own guilt and move on. Insincere apologies are not only empty words. When issued with no effort to repair the wrong, they are insulting and more offensive to those to whom the apologies are addressed… and to all fair minded people in this world.  

“Love of country is deep-seated in the breast of every Hawaiian, whatever his station.” — Queen Liliʻuokalani ---------- Ua mau ke ea o ka ʻāina i ka pono. The sovereignty of the land is perpetuated in righteousness. ------ For the latest news and developments about our progress at the United Nations in both New York and Geneva, tune in to Free Hawaii News at 6 PM the first Friday of each month on ʻŌlelo Television, Channel 53. ------ "And remember, for the latest updates and information about the Hawaiian Kingdom check out the twice-a-month Ke Aupuni Updates published online on Facebook and other social media." PLEASE KŌKUA… Your kōkua, large or small, is vital to this effort... To contribute, go to:   • GoFundMe – CAMPAIGN TO FREE HAWAII • PayPal – use account email: info@HawaiianKingdom.net • Other – To contribute in other ways (airline miles, travel vouchers, volunteer services, etc...) email us at: info@HawaiianKingdom.net All proceeds are used to help the cause. MAHALO! Malama Pono,

Leon Siu

Hawaiian National

[hollywoodumc-harmonytolucalake]

If you've been watching the news lately, you might have heard about the General Conference of The United Methodist Church. Learn all about what happened at this year's GC and how it impacts our faith community in this Short Stories!

Hear more Short Stories on Our Story: The Podcast.

#allthegood #umc #podcast @mark.k.stephenson.7

[willowwind78]

Such Sadness

Today is the first day I have had in about a month to check on my Tumblr account. So many nice comments and shares! As I am writing this message, I am down to four queued posts remaining. I am very sad that there will likely be a few days without posts. Apologies if anyone looks forward to them and there is some time where they are missing.

That said... I have 8 Sunday's remaining at my current charge and then I am on an indefinite break! Seminary classes will be done for the semester in 2 weeks! Painting insanity shall return! Story writing shall... I'd say return but it really hasn't gotten off the ground yet. There is light at the end of this tunnel of my life, which has gotten so very dark and dreary. But I shall come out the other side!

Super thrilled about the 2024 UMC General Conference. All praise the delegates who overwhelmingly voted to declare to the world that worship and praise should be open to ALL people! All the people around the world should have voice, vote, and representation at the next General Conference thanks to passing of regionalization (still has to be ratified by annual conferences but looks promising)! ALL people who wish to join their souls before God now can do so! ALL people who wish to follow their call to ministry can now do so!

Never been prouder to be United Methodist. Open hearts, open minds, and open doors. Which means... now I have to consider filing for ordination which will cut into my future painting plans. That's a worry for tomorrow. Today we celebrate!

To my loyal followers, and my new one's, more painting, hopefully even better than before will be available along with any pictures I stumble across of older things I have painted while I try to get my new website up and running dark-hope.com and get my Pastor Jen YouTube channel more functional with my sermons. I'm not disappearing I am just not ahead of the game anymore. Fear not!... in case any of you were. I like to pretend people love me. It's good for my mental health.

Time for a cosmopolitan and work on that final paper so I can get back to engaging in things which bring me joy!

Incidentally, May is Mental Health Awareness Month! Pay attention!

[plethoraworldatlas]

The United Methodist Church’s General Conference will meet in Charlotte, North Carolina from April 23 to May 4, 2024. Originally scheduled for 2020 and delayed three times due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this meeting of the church’s legislative body comes at a critical time for the United States’ second-largest Protestant denomination.

In 2022, conservative Methodists announced a break with the UMC, forming the Global Methodist Church. These leaders believed that the UMC had become too liberal, drifting away from orthodoxy. The issue at the heart of the split, however, revolves around the UMC’s long-standing battle over LGBTQ+ rights.

This denominational split draws comparisons to one in 1844, when Methodists divided over slavery. As a scholar of American religious history and Methodist studies, I see parallels but also great differences between the current schism and the one in 1844.

Both schisms center on predominant social issues of their eras. The current schism, however, comes at a time when United Methodists, like other American churches, must navigate a changing religious landscape — one where church membership is declining, especially among younger Americans.

[confessionsfromachristian]

Story time! It’s long, so my reflections are under the cut. 

TLDR: I’m hopeful but cautious. This may be what keeps the UMC a viable denomination, if it can pass General Conference 2020, because right now we’re a church of divided theology, and neither side is going to compromise their beliefs.

Long before I left my former church, back in 2015, I was at church preparing for the following week’s VBS when I got a news alert on my phone about the Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges. At the time, I kept my elation mostly to myself - I didn’t know how the pastor at the time would feel about it, and I didn’t want anything to dampen my mood. Just over two months prior, I had defended my undergraduate thesis, which argued that bans on same-sex marriage were unconstitutional, and proposed one thread of reasoning that I thought the Court might reasonably adopt, and while my research advisor and my thesis advisor had both thought I was dead wrong, I was pleased to be proven right (and, of course, pleased that the Court was taking steps to fix what seemed to me to be an ongoing injustice in the United States).

See, I had left the Catholic church, in part, over the same-sex marriage issue. While I’m not LGBTQ+ myself, I felt that the issue was one of fundamental fairness and compassion - and it was important to me that it be resolved. The Methodist church also didn’t support LGBTQ+ rights, but it had always seemed less vehement about it than the Catholic church, so I always kind of just hoped that the change was coming. 

In 2016, with the same-sex marriage issue broiling in advance of General Conference, I took an interest in how the UMC underwent changes for the first time. My pastor’s encouragement of that interest started me on the path toward serving at Annual Conference in my area, but I read news from General Conference 2016 praying for a resolution. The debate, and the protests, left an impression on me, and I had real hope heading into my Annual Conference that year that the compromise - the Way Forward Commission - could actually work.

At Annual Conference, I heard the story of bishops meeting late at night, summoning people from both sides of the debate, to try and find a way to avoid a schism. And at the time, “schism” was a scary word - could the UMC survive a split? I also encountered the Reconciling Ministries Network for the first time. They gave me a rainbow stole; I wore it happily. I also saw my pastor wear one, and for the first time I really believed, not just hoped, that change was on the horizon.

Things stagnated, then, though I had the pleasure of getting to really know a woman who brought their adopted daughter to Children’s Church every Sunday, and occasionally her former foster daughter as well. She was in a lesbian relationship, and especially after I started law school she opened up to me frequently about how frustrating it was for her and her partner to constantly be viewed with more suspicion than an average straight couple. It was one of the reasons, she implied, that her partner didn’t regularly attend church.

In came a new pastor. He was friends with our former pastor, so I had high hopes for him. As my previous posts will display, the hopes were misplaced on a personal level, but we actually had somewhat compatible politics. The Way Forward Commission came out with their three plans.

The Traditional Plan would retain anti-LGBTQ+ language in the Book of Discipline, and strengthen disciplinary measures against gay and lesbian clergy members.

The Connectional Conference Plan would form three sub-churches: one for traditionalists, one for progressives, and one for “unity”-minded churches and clergy. 

The One Church Plan would remove the anti-LGBTQ+ language and permit local churches and clergy to express their conscience on the matter.

And in February of 2019, a special session of the General Conference voted on the Traditional and One Church Plans. I had school obligations those days; I ignored a good chunk of my classes to follow the news. I knew - I just knew - that the One Church Plan would succeed. I had already formulated my arguments to my local church as to why we should embrace our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters. It was the perfect compromise; I never expected it to fail.

But General Conference 2019 voted it down. At the time, this is what I wrote, and I stand by it today when I think back on it:

“I cannot fathom a church that would choose divisiveness and alienation over compromise and compassion. We waited three years in the hope of progress. The delegates gave us nothing but regression.

The United Methodist Church is dying, at least in the United States. Fewer and fewer people are joining. More are leaving. I don’t understand the reasoning behind choosing to alienate and reject people who are begging for inclusion and acceptance.”

The next day, Reconciling Ministries tweeted that they had been informed by the General Conference staff that the area now had “police with their guns and security with pepper spray (or similar) roaming and ready for action.” What it sounded like - and sometimes appearances are everything - was a violent precautionary measure, aimed at intimidating those who had supported the One Church Plan, and who vehemently opposed the Traditional plan, so that those who wanted inclusion and compassion would sit down, shut up, and take what was coming quietly. I felt sick at the time, and still feel sick thinking about it now.

I was in class during the vote on the Traditional Plan, ignoring my professor as I watched Twitter and Facebook for the news. And by the time I got home, I had recognized why passing the Traditional Plan bothered me so much: John 8:3-11. 

For those who aren’t Bible buffs, John 8:3-11 recounts the story of the Pharisees bringing Jesus a woman caught in the act of adultery, then punishable by stoning. When the Pharisees demand that Jesus tell them what to do, he famously responds: “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Of course, no one could live up to Jesus’s standard. Those hoping to stone the woman disperse and, when the woman observes that her accusers have left, Jesus sends her on her way: “Neither do I condemn you.”

Back in February, I summed it up like this, and I can’t really think of a better way to phrase it now:

“To declare that clergy members who do their earnest best to live the life God calls them to live should be punished because we disagree with their moral determinations is arrogant. We allow liars to be clergy. We allow those who speak unkindly to be clergy. We allow it, even if these sins happen more than once.

Why is the sin of loving the wrong person worse than lying? Worse than being unkind? And even if you believe that the sin is worse, who are we as humans to overrule what Jesus said about justice and mercy?

In my heart of hearts, I can find no rationale for pushing to increase enforcement of the anti-LGBT language in the Book of Discipline other than hatred for that which the Traditional Plan’s supporters do not understand. Jesus calls for compassion; and, as a church, we have no right to ignore that call.”

As time wore on, I observed one more thing: if God calls a lesbian woman, or a gay man, or anyone else, to the clergy, who are we as humans to deny that calling? Who are we to tell God that he called the wrong person? How arrogant and presumptuous must we be under the Traditional Plan?

In February, things were drawing toward the end at my church. But in the days following General Conference 2019, I found myself heartened by the message on the marquee sign outside: “ALL MEANS ALL.” My pastor signed an open letter to the church condemning the Traditional Plan, and one of the women in the church whom I’d thought was genuinely a good friend told me that she, too, was broken over the decision, but had resolved to fight for something better.

My co-teacher and I made the decision on Sunday to talk to the kids about the decision of the General Conference. It was difficult - remember, one of our students had lesbian parents - but, we felt, it was necessary. And I have never been more inspired than when our little kids expressed their confusion and outrage over a decision that, to them, made no sense. One little girl expressed confusion at how something as basic as the freedom to love someone and get married to them could be controversial.

The little acts of resistance, the outrage from the kids, it all came together to reignite my own hope.

In the months that followed, just about everyone expressed their opinions. In the Washington Post, a queer clergywoman summed it up: “We queer clergy begged our fellow Methodists to love us. They voted no.” On Facebook groups, on Reddit, and in person, the heretofore forbidden s-words became more common: splitting. separation. schism.

A prominent minister on the traditionalist side, less than a month after “winning” at General Conference 2019, made clear that unity, compromise, and compassion were never an option. Mainstream UMC posted his e-mail in full - in summary, he gloated over the traditionalist win at General Conference 2019, and suggested that those who opposed it should leave, as their continued presence in the UMC is an embarrassment. 

And talk of schism, and of separation, has continued to simmer, until now. Now, the water’s reached its boiling point. We have a plan. We have the Way Forward we were promised. And at General Conference 2020, at least the way I see it, the delegates have two options: stop the pot from boiling over, or ignore the problem and hope we can clean up the mess in 2024. 

Membership in the Methodist Church in the United States has been dropping for years. Increasingly, young adults looking for churches veer away from churches that preach or even merely accept exclusion and intolerance. Splitting the church, accepting that we cannot compromise on issues of love and compassion, seems to me to be the only way to prove that we mean it when we say “Jesus is Love.” It seems to me that this is the only way to prove that we’re convinced of our own beliefs, that we’re serious about welcoming everyone, that we’re a church of love, and inclusion, and protection of human dignity.

So long as it passes. 

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Laura Bullard at Vox:

Last week, hundreds of United Methodist Church (UMC) delegates from around the world sat down to vote on whether or not to reverse a longstanding ban on the ordination of LGBTQ clergy. The decision would also determine whether or not to strike a rule that prohibited clergy from presiding over “homosexual unions.” The room was uncharacteristically hushed as delegates logged their votes. They’d gathered to participate in a quadrennial General Conference, where an elected group of clergy and laypeople review and edit the rules and social stances of the church on a variety of subjects. When the results were announced, the room erupted in loud sobs and cheering. With this vote — and several others — over 50 years of church law, doctrine, and social stances aimed at restricting the full inclusion of LGBTQ methodists were reversed. In a dramatic deviation from the staid (remarkably congressional) proceedings, the Methodists began to sing. Church historian Ashley Boggan told Today, Explained’s Noel King that the UMC’s schism should matter to Methodists and non-Methodists alike. “If you look at Methodist history within the United States, it’s a great lens for looking at American history,” she said.

How did we get here?

For the last five years, the United Methodist Church has been fighting over its stance on LGBTQ members. In a one-off special session in 2019, the UMC had voted to tighten its prohibitions on LGBTQ members — a decision that nearly half of all UMC congregations across the country went on to publicly reject in the following years. So, in 2022, a splinter denomination was born: the Global Methodist Church. Traditionalist congregations had seen the writing on the wall: Change was coming, and they didn’t want to be part of it. Conservative churches began leaving the denomination in droves, and by the time the General Conference convened this year, a quarter of US congregations had jumped ship. It was this newly slimmed-down UMC that voted to reverse the church’s anti-LGBTQ positions earlier this month.

This Vox article on the United Methodist Church’s recent split over LGBTQ+ issues represents the microcosm of America.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Trudy Ring at The Advocate:

The United Methodist Church opened its General Conference Tuesday in Charlotte, N.C., and one of the key issues delegates are expected to vote on is whether to reverse anti-LGBTQ+ positions the denomination has taken over the years — and which many congregations are ignoring and church leaders are largely not enforcing.

Why have LGBTQ+ issues become a focus of the meeting?

Supporters of LGBTQ+ equality have been trying for years to get the church to rescind its homophobic policies, without success. Since 1972, the church’s Book of Discipline has included this language: “The practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.” It was added as the gay rights movement gathered steam. The church also does not officially condone same-sex marriages or ordain out LGBTQ+ clergy members — but such marriages have taken place in United Methodist congregations, and there are numerous LGBTQ+ people among Methodist ministers. Some LGBTQ+ clergy have been expelled when they came out, but many remain. The denomination failed to formally lift the anti-LGBTQ+ policies at its previous General Conference, held in 2016, at any earlier ones, or at a special conference called in 2019 specifically to address LGBTQ+ issues. The General Conference is usually held every four years, but the 2020 event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving it to the 2024 conference to deal with these matters.

[...]

What is the likelihood that these changes will be approved?

There has been resistance from conservative congregations, to the point that United Methodist leaders decided the differences were irreconcilable. In 2020, the church hierarchy unveiled a plan for disaffiliation from the denomination, and more than 7,600 of the church’s congregations around the world have left, either becoming independent or affiliating with the conservative Global Methodist Church. They represent about one-quarter of the church’s total. Given that many conservative congregations have left the denomination, it's likely that the church will move in a pro-LGBTQ+ direction is strong. But some observers warn that resistance remains. The Religion and Social Change Lab at Duke University in North Carolina recently surveyed clergy and congregations in the state and found that one-fourth of the remaining clergy did not want to allow LGBTQ+ ministers and a third were against same-sex marriage, NPR reports. “I’d also been left with the impression that this split would make the United Methodist Church a more progressive denomination, and in some ways, amongst the clergy, that has happened,” David Eagle, who runs the lab, told NPR. “But amongst congregations, congregations still remain very evenly divided both theologically and politically.”

[...]

Another possibility is that delegates will simply agree to disagree on LGBTQ+ issues. That “would essentially codify what’s already happening within the church: more liberal conferences such as those in southern California would continue to ordain LGBTQ clergy and allow ministers to perform same-sex weddings while more conservative conferences such as those in the southern U.S. or parts of Africa would not allow such ordinations or weddings,” according to NPR. Conference delegates took a step in this direction Thursday. They approved five of eight proposals to change the structure of the church, giving regional bodies greater control over policies. "The most critical of those five petitions was a constitutional amendment that effectively creates an entirely new system of regional authority worldwide, thereby putting regional bodies in both the U.S. and in other countries on equal footing," The Tennessean reports. U.S. regional bodies have usually had more power than those overseas. In this new structure, more progressive regions would likely be LGBTQ-affirming, while those in conservative areas would keep restrictions in place. Conservative delegates, however, tended to oppose regionalization largely because it would pave the way for greater acceptance of LGBTQ+ people.

The United Methodist Church has been facing a schism in recent years, and LGBTQ+ issues are the key driver. A sizable amount of the more conservative churches disaffiliated from the UMC in favor of either going independent or join the Global Methodist Church.

The General Conference is likely to repeal the denomination's anti-LGBTQ+ laws.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Trudy Ring at The Advocate:

The United Methodist Church stands to lose one-fifth of its U.S. congregations due to differences over LGBTQ+ issues and amid expectations that the church will become more supportive. The denomination currently considers “the practice of homosexuality” to be “incompatible with Christian teaching,” and its official policy does not allow out LGBTQ+ clergy or perform same-sex marriages. But many congregations are defying those policies, and pro-LGBTQ+ changes are likely to be proposed at next year’s general conference.

Such changes — approval of out clergy and same-sex marriages — have been proposed but rejected for years, but the denomination, considering some differences irreconcilable, put forth a plan a few years ago to allow congregations to leave. Since 2019, 6,182 U.S. congregations, largely conservative ones in the South and Midwest, have received approval to leave the United Methodist Church, the Associated Press reports. Most of the departures — 4,172 — have come this year. About 3,000 of the total are joining the Global Methodist Church, a new and conservative denomination, while some are joining other denominations or becoming independent, according to the AP.

Around 1/5ths of United Methodist Churches will be or have left the denomination over LGBTQ+ issues during these next few years, and a great majority of those churches will leave for the more conservative and homophobia-friendly Global Methodist Church, while a few will relocate to a different denomination, and a few will become independent of any denomination.

[curiosityschild]

Anyone else feeling absolutely unhinged this fine Sunday evening? Or is it just me

[hollywoodumc-harmonytolucalake]

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Every month, we spend time growing in knowledge through a Brunch & Learn service that helps our community apply our faith in the world around us. This weekend, our Learn experience is all about the UMC's 2024 General Conference.

#allthegood #brunch #umc #GeneralConference #southerncalifornia #weloveyou