The following was shared with High School youth on Sunday evening March 10th as a way to educate students on UMC current events and polity. Please reach out if you have questions and know that all of our pastors are available and willing to speak with you.
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The
General Conference of the global UMC met in St. Louis February 23-26, 2019. This body meets every 4 years and at the 2016 gathering of GC the conversation about the marriage and
ordination of our LGBTQ+ friends was so much a point of contention that the GC
decided to table the conversation and readdress it at a special GC session in
2019. A Council of Bishops was assembled to lead us in "The Way Forward" and find a plan that would keep the United Methodist church true to its name.
This Council proposed multiple plans that would keep us unified, but endorsed the plan they named the “One Church Plan”. The One Church plan was basically a 'states’ rights' type compromise allowing for
individual conferences, congregations, and individual pastors to decide for themselves
whether or not to marry or ordain LGBTQ persons. The plan that was ultimately passed by the General Conference is named "The Traditional Plan" and calls for keeping the current language as well as a more strict enforcement of the prohibition of ordination and marriage for LGBTQ+ persons.
A bit of UMC History: in 1972 the current language of
the Book of Discipline was added which currently reads that “homeosexuality is incapitable with
Christian teaching" Therefore self-avowed practicing homosexuals are not
to be certified as candidates, ordained as ministers, or appointed to serve in
The United Methodist Church.
Essentially, adopting this "Traditional Pla"n means keeping the current language, and more strictly enforcing it which many are opposed to. The vote for the Traditional plan was by very small margin (3%) with the Majority of US Delegate highly favoring the "One Church Plan" instead. Many
pieces of the Traditional Plan are currently unconstitutional, specifically
some of the “punitive” language or plans to punish those who go against this, and therefore The Traditional plan still has to go through the “supreme court” of UMC- through judicial
review this April --- NO CHANGES will go into effect until January 2020 regardless- AND in May of 2020 we have our normal session of General Conference all over again. This is not the end of this conversation for United Methodists.
We have to remember that we are a GLOBAL church. The
One Church Plan was actually supported by 66% of our US delegation. The Traditional Plan passed by 53%, which is basically 45-50 votes out of over 800 total. (So
when you’re old enough to vote in elections, don’t think for a second that your vote doesn’t count!) Each Annual Conference will elect delegates to General Conference this June-- so the 2020 session of General Conference will have newly
elected delegates… Basically, this decision is not final and the conversation is far from over.
But MOST importantly:
God
loves you and I do too. I believe our church will work to continue to welcome and love
all of God's children in the life of our church. No one is saying that persons
in the LGBTQ+ community are unwelcomed in our congregation, on our staff, in
church leadership, to take communion or be baptized or that they will be denied any of those
things…
We are called by God to be welcoming and create a community of faith for all persons. For those of you who may be part of the LGBTQ community or an ally to that
community, please know that you are not alone and that you are loved in ways
bigger than any words or decisions can communicate. If you need someone to talk
to or someone to pray with you, please reach out to me or our other ministry leaders who love you dearly
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We hope that you will join us in prayer for our LGBTQ brother and sisters and continue to be the welcoming and encouraging community of believers that we know you to be. We have work to do!
Jen
More Resources: (To stay informed)
https://www.umnews.org/en/
https://nccumc.org/news/2019/03/gc2019-district-gatherings-recap-faq/
https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2019/03/12/episcopalians-methodists-ponder-full-communion-proposal-after-umc-vote/
https://lmtribune.com/northwest/one-step-forward-two-steps-back/article_d5b4d7ed-02a0-54ef-ad33-746f70af250d.html
https://www.al.com/news/2019/02/united-methodists-dont-let-the-door-hit-you.html?fbclid=IwAR2PMp-GZsIHCtWQ5Fk2kpZHgZNjEZIpcvO41z3gwWC5CAUdtOiFujIdhT0
