Time to pray
Today I am praying for the United Methodist Church. Delegates from around the world are meeting April 23 to May 3 in Charlotte, N.C., for a General Conference session long delayed by covid concerns and complications.
A lot is at stake, and destructive forces are arrayed to do as much damage to the church as they can.
Some history:
In 2019 a special General Conference was held to settle disagreements over UMC policy regarding sexual orientation. “Conservatives” rammed through a “Traditional Plan” that was “traditional” only if you choose to base tradition on the Spanish Inquisition.
It was unfair, unjust and un-Christian, but the “traditionalists” cheered – until “progressives” rallied and threatened to overturn the whole thing in a regular General Conference in 2020.
Covid derailed everything. So now in 2024, we are holding the 2020 General Conference. Meantime, “traditionalists” have bailed to form their own church, deceptively called the “Global” Methodist Church. The GMC and allies have managed to dupe one-fourth of UMC churches to disaffiliate from the UMC and join the GMC or go independent.
GMC and other anti-UMC operatives are still working within the UMC, and they hope to use this General Conference to continue their efforts to dismantle the UMC.
Here are some things I pray for:
* Removal of the harmful language about sexual orientation that “traditionalists” jammed into our Book of Discipline.
* Passage of a new set of Social Principles that does not contain such harmful language and sets a positive tone for the treatment of all humans.
* Passage of a regionalization plan that will give United Methodists in America the same freedom that those in other regions now enjoy to tailor certain policies to their own contexts without having to rely on a vote by global delegates.
It should go without saying (but given the level of lies promulgated by the GMC and others, it must be said) that none of these proposals would change our fundamental theology or our commitment to the mission of Jesus Christ.
Some forces have been working for a long time to devise an issue that would fracture the UMC, and they decided that sexuality would do the trick. So far it has cost the UMC dearly, but the battle isn’t over yet because these forces haven’t destroyed the UMC yet.
These forces (see how carefully I avoid reference to the GMC, the Wesleyan Covenant Association and Institute on Religion and Democracy) will not quit until they have destroyed the church or are divested of their power within it. I pray that this year’s General Conference will begin the process of exorcising these elements so that the United Methodist Church may continue its vibrant global witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ.