Vacation and Vocation

My family and I just returned from a wonderful vacation. We drove 2600 miles over 11 states with the final destination of Niagara Falls, including following the length of the Blue Ridge Parkway and continuing to Skyline Drive in Virginia. 

We spent months discerning our vacation plans. Since this was a trip that was not only a vacation but also a celebration of graduation, we wanted it to be special. We looked at a trip that would travel through Europe. We imagined the possibilities and had long discussions with quite a few contacts and quotes made for potential itineraries. With all the different places we could go, we kept coming back to traveling the Parkway and going to Niagara. Now, I cannot imagine our vacation anywhere else.

While vacation only comes occasionally, God’s calling in our lives happens every day. We are led by the Holy Spirit to accept our vocation. When we accept Jesus into our lives, we are gifted and equipped for ministry. The opportunities are countless for us to answer where God is leading. I have found that God is relentless in calling us back toward places that are unique and use those gifts that God has given us. Let’s take time to listen to God calling us, to discover our vocation, so that we can be faithful to our part in making disciples to change the world. When we do, we will not be able to imagine doing anything else.

Grace and Peace,

Faith for the World

My faith has been a source of strength, transformation, life and hope for me (James). As Christians, it is difficult to imagine a life without Christ in our lives. We long to help others come to know the same grace that we have experienced. I am often asked, "how can we make our faith meaningful to regular (or younger) folks today?" Leonard Sweet's book titled "Viral" has offered me wonderful insight.

"I want the passion of Eugene Ormandy, who dislocated his shoulder while conducting the Philadelphia orchestra. But rather than pursuing music at that level, I want this type of passion for Jesus and a Jesus passion for the world. Too many Christians haven't had a passion great enough to dislocate their coffee lid, let alone a shoulder."

--Leonard Sweet. Viral: How Social Networking is Poised to Ignite Revival (Colorado Springs:WaterBrook Press, 2012), 35.

I understand. Too many times I have fought to stay awake through meetings in the local, district, or conference level where there was a feeling of "we're-doing-this-because-we-must." We seek to maintain buildings and budgets. We are doing things that we have always done because that’s what we do. We have all the proper structures in place. Everyone answers to the appropriate person. All the forms are completed with every 'i' dotted. When we get to the reason we do things, all too often we sound like parents with young children, "Why? Because I said so – that's why?" The church cannot be faithful by simply going through the motions. Lukewarm lives are as offensive to God as to modern society.

"These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your works. You are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I’m about to spit you out of my mouth." -- Revelation 3:14b-16 (CEB)

Perhaps the Church needs to move away from policy, procedures, and polity to focus more on passion, presence, and people. In my experience, it's not a good argument that makes people believe, it's seeing a life that is on fire for Christ in profound and powerful ways. People are drawn to Christ when they see his love manifest through our lives. The Church can only be faithful when it remembers that Christ died that the world, not the Church, might be saved.

Let us instead follow John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement, who knew that passion was at the heart of drawing people to the Gospel message.

“Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come for miles to watch you burn.” --John Wesley

Grace and Peace,

2019 Judicial Council Decisions

In this blog, I am seeking to give a factual explanation of events of the last few months.  I am not entering the discussion about the actions of General Conference. I am only seeking to describe the facts as I understand them without placing any value judgments on the implications and impacts.

On April 23-26, 2019, the United Methodist Judicial Council met to determine the constitutionality of a number of referred petitions from the special General Conference held in February.  Of these petitions, fifteen focused on implementing the "Traditional Plan" addressing the issue of human sexuality in the UMC. One focused on a path of disaffiliation, a way for churches to leave the denomination. The United Methodist News Service has issued a summary of the petitions and Judicial Council decisions in a pdf format and also a detailed description of the petitions and decisions in another pdf.

All 16 of these petitions were approved at the 2019 General Conference.   Nine of them were ruled constitutional by the Judicial Council, eight of which will go into effect on January 1, 2020 and will be considered part of church law. Seven of the petitions were ruled unconstitutional and were set aside.  The 2020 General Conference will have to consider differently worded petitions to overcome the constitutional issues.

With all that said, let me try to answer a few questions:

How is something unconstitutional? In the structuring documents of our church (The Book of Discipline) we have a constitution which outlines some fundamental polity of the UMC.  It is extremely difficult to change our constitution and intentionally so. Any petition must match our fundamental polity and principles. One principle in the constitution that was violated by a petition was the right of an individual to appeal.  Just like the US court system, the UMC cannot punish people without following due process and offering the opportunity to appeal.

What in the United Methodist Church changed?  The 2019 General Conference clarified and strengthened the previous stance in the Book of Disciple prohibiting the ordination of homosexuals and the marriage of same sex couples.

• The definition of "self-avowed practicing homosexual" was written to include "those living in a same-sex marriage, domestic partnership or civil union, or is a person who publicly states she or he is a practicing homosexual." (BoD, ¶ 304.3). 
• Bishops can not dismiss charges against clergy unless the charges have no basis in law or facts.
• Clergy found guilty of performing same sex weddings face stiff, mandatory penalties(first offense, 1 year suspension without pay/ second offense, credentials revoked.) .
• Affirms that Boards of Ordained Ministry cannot approve candidates that do not meet all the BoD qualifications  concerning sexuality and prohibits bishops from ordaining candidates that they learn do not meet those standards, even if they were approved.
• A path for churches to leave the denomination was clearly defined. (This petition is the only one effective immediately.)

What was considered unconstitutional?

• Bishops cannot be involuntarily placed on leave or retired nor can committees be formed to involuntarily change a bishop's status. These actions violate the constitutional guarantee to appeal.
• The Book of Discipline must be upheld as a whole. One issue cannot be singled out for accountability over any others.(sexuality had been specifically named). All of the BoD is supposed to be upheld by clergy. Any petitions which singled out issues were ruled unconstitutional because they violated the principle of legality.
• It was ruled unconstitutional to hold annual conferences accountable for not upholding the BoD "stance on ordination and marriage of practicing homosexuals" with punishment. Again, All of the Book of Discipline muse be upheld equally.  These petitions violated the principle of legality.

What's next?
Every General Conference has the ability to speak on behalf of our denomination and can adjust the language in the Book of Discipline.   This group of about 850 delegates consists of half laity and half clergy from United Methodist Churches all over the world. Their decisions speak on behalf of the 12 million United Methodists worldwide. The next General Conference is scheduled for April 2020.

Even now, petitions are being brought before the SC United Methodist Conference to go to the General Conference (you can see those petitions on  pages 71-75 of the 2019 Pre-Conference Materials).  We will be electing those who will represent us at General Conference - the laity electing the lay delegates and the clergy electing the clergy delegates.

What happens as we go forward will be determined by the new set of delegates that prayerfully prepare for General Conference 2020. Until that time, may God give us

Grace and Peace,

The Untied Methodist Church

The 2019 General Conference was quite a mess, and I have been reluctant to add my ramblings to the confusion.  Countless hurtful and graceless things have been said by people from  every perspective. I feel that the 2019 General Conference failed us, but not for the reasons that you might think.

Unlike the official UMC logo, these two flames are divided.

I intentionally titled this blog "The Untied Methodist Church." We are not as united as we were when the Evangelical United Brethren and Methodist Churches came together in 1968. To symbolize the merger, the cross and flame logo was created as the official logo of the UMC. Each flame represented the originating denominations, and the connection showed that they were coming from the same source -- recalling the tongues of flame present at Pentecost. I have not included a cross and flame. (It is a registered trademark and cannot legally be used for individual purposes.) Instead, I offer a cross with a broken, disconnected flame, representing the current state of our church.

In the past, our common connection has fueled the flame of the United Methodist Church as we shared more in common than we had differences. We could work in cooperation to "make disciples for the transformation of the world."

The 2019 General Conference failed us because it clearly demonstrated that we choose competition and coercion over connection and conversation. 

I am not talking about which plan we passed: Traditional, One Church, Simple, or Connectional Conference. I would be writing this blog regardless of the final decision. (I would have been satisfied to have left the 2019 gathering with no plan at all.) Instead, the path that we chose neglected our connection. A well-intentioned end does not justify our means.

Our original failing was creating a single issue General Conference. We should never separate any issue from the overall mission and purpose of the church and our overall context of ministry.  God's call in Jesus Christ should always be in the forefront and should encompass all that we do. There should never have been a separate conference that dealt exclusively with the issue of human sexuality.  This was the church bowing to the pressures of society that seeks to make everything black and white, us and them, 'for us' or 'against us.' We accepted a false premise. We isolated one part of who we are. The whole context of the 2019 General Conference inevitably led us toward conflict and division.

I appreciate that the first day of the conference was spent in prayer and worship.  There was a feeling of solidarity and unity among delegates from around the world.  I heard words of hope and optimism shared as the people called Methodist lifted their voices together in prayer.

As the conference continued, it was clear that this was a race to the finish line.  Blocks of votes coalesced around previously announced agendas. Strategies were formed. General Conference rules were bent and stretched and twisted by both sides. The floor of discussion was silenced with an episcopal invitation to an act of prayer.  It made the prayer, no matter who would have prayed, feel like a weapon wielded.  I do not think this was the intent. It is what happened.

We used to be a people that could come together for holy conferencing. We could share in conversation and discuss openly and passionately. Theological concepts like justice and mercy could be held in conversation, and even in tension. There was not even the pretense of holy conversation. Before the delegates arrived in St. Louis, many of them had made up their minds and were not interested in listening - on either side.

Would we have reached the same conclusion if we had allowed the Holy Spirit to guide an open and honest conversation? I don't know. We might as well ask if the people of Israel would still celebrate Passover if Pharaoh's heart had not hardened and he let God's people go. We cannot see clearly the hopeful possibilities that we lose when we close off our hearts to the work of God in others.

In our rush to see which group could win the race at General Conference, we became The Untied Methodist Church.

May God open our hearts and ears that we might listen to the Holy Spirit and to one another again.

Grace and Peace,