News

Milano Circuit UMC

Internal Message

Post General Conference 2019

On Feb. 26, more than 800 international delegates of General Conference 2019 voted by a 55% margin to adopt the Traditional plan as the Way Forward for the United Methodist Church. This decision maintains our denomination’s current teaching on the practice of homosexuality and marriage and includes some measures to strengthen accountability for bishops and clergy.

While the disaffiliation, or gracious exit plan was adopted, an earlier version was declared unconstitutional by the Judicial Council and it is not clear that the one passed actually meets the test described in their decision.

The measures passed on February 26 take effect January 1, 2020.

You are likely asking, what does this mean for our church?

Simply put, it means our mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world has not changed, and our approach of welcoming and affirming the sacred worth of all individuals, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and queer persons, remains the same.

There is no doubt that over the last few years, and especially the last week, emotions have been high and words, both affirming and hurtful, have been said. This was a painful process for many. Some individuals were hopeful of a movement in a progressive direction, and see the traditional plan decision as a devastating blow. Others are relieved that change is not occurring but may feel the proposals did not go as far as they wished.

Bishop Scott Jones reminded us of John Wesley’s words in “Catholic Spirit” that our disagreements should not prevent us from loving each other.

We are a diverse Church and that diversity both reflects the kingdom of God and is a treasure. It is vital right now to remember to show empathy, love and care to those with whom you disagree. While our unity is being tested, we must stay devoted to uniting as a church, focusing on our mission, and working together is the best way forward. Remember the words of Ephesians 4, “I beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

News

General Conference 2019 Information and resources are available for the special session of General Conference Feb. 23-26.

To All Members of Milano Circuit of the United Methodist Church.

On February 23-26, in St. Louis, Missouri, The United Methodist Church will conduct a special General Conference session to determine our denomination's position on issues related to human sexuality.

The General Conference is composed of an equal number of lay and clergy delegates from United Methodist annual conferences throughout the world.  The most recent General Conference (2016) was attended by 864 delegates.  The General Conference meets every 4 years to receive, discuss, and vote on petitions and resolutions that result in a revised edition of the United Methodist Book of Discipline (our denomination's book of law), and The Book of Resolutions (our denominations policies related to current social issues).

Since 1972, our denomination has struggled with issues related to homosexuality.  At our most recent General Conference session, a special commission was called for to bring a recommendation for a way to resolve the conflict that exists within our denomination related to the issue of homosexuality.  The Commission on a Way Forward is made up of 32 people representing 9 different countries.  It is composed of 1/3 laity, 1/3 clergy, and 1/3 bishops.  It is also a diverse group with perspectives that span the wide range of positions related to same sex relations.

The Vision Statement that guided their work is as follows

:

"The commission will design a way for being church that maximizes the presence of a United Methodist witness in as many places in the world as possible, that allows for as much contextual differentiation as possible, and that balances an approach to different theological understandings of human sexuality with a desire for as much unity as possible.  This unity will not be grounded in our conceptions of human sexuality, but in our affirmation of the triune God who calls us to be a grace-filled and holy people in the Wesleyan tradition." (Vision Statement for the Commission on a Way Forward)

At the special General Conference session in late February, the Report of the Commission on a Way Forward will be presented, and one of three recommended plans will be voted on. 

My purpose in this email is to invite you to be in prayer for the upcoming work of the General Conference.  I am not, in this email, going to endorse a particular plan, but I simply ask you to engage in fervent prayer that the ultimate decision of the General Conference will be in alignment with God's will for the United Methodist Church.

As I stated earlier, there are three different plans that will be presented to the General Conference.  My understanding is that early in the deliberation process, the General Conference will select one of the three plans to center its work on, and after deliberation, amendment, and negotiation, a vote will be taken on Tuesday, February 26^th, which will set the course of our denomination into the foreseeable future.

II will share below a summary of each plan.  Please note that at the end of this email, you will find links to other resources including a link to the entire Commission on a Way Forward report.

The Traditional Plan

This plan maintains the current language in our Book of Discipline related to human sexuality, marriage, and ordination.  It also maintains the current structure of the United Methodist Church. 

There are three main components of this plan that are important to note:

1. There is no change to the current language of the Book of Discipline related to human sexuality, marriage, and ordination.
2. Provisions are added to the Book of Discipline which enhance accountability of bishops, annual conferences, pastors, and local churches by stipulating stricter enforcement provisions related to the acts of disobedience to the Book of Discipline.
3. It allows annual conferences or any group of 50 congregations the freedom to form a self-governing church if they are in irreconcilable conflict with the Book of Discipline.

The Connectional Conference Plan

This plan establishes three "values-based connectional conferences that have distinctive definitions of accountability, contextualization, and jjustice."  In short, the five U.S. Jurisdictions would be replaced by three connectional conferences that cover the whole country.  The three connectional conferences will not be geographically-based, but theologically-based (progressive, unity, and traditional)

While there would be a common core of long-held United Methodist doctrine, each connectional conference would develop its own Discipline. 

This plan offers a new manifestation of unity as a United Methodist Church.  Each jurisdiction would decide which connectional conference to join.  Each Annual Conference would then decide whether to abide by its jurisdiction's decision, or join a different connectional conference.  Each local church would then be able to decide whether to follow its annual conference's decision or choose to affiliate with a different connectional conference.

The One Church Plan

The One Church Plan removes the language from the Book of Discipline that restricts pastors and churches from conducting same-sex weddings and annual conferences from ordaining self-avowed practicing homosexual persons, and it affirms monogamous relationships between same-sex persons, rather than use the current Disciplinary language that defines marriage as the covenant "between a man and a woman."  It also adds language that intentionally protects the religious freedom of pastors and churches who choose not to perform or host same-sex weddings and Boards of Ordained Ministries and bishops who choose not to credential or ordain self-avowed practicing homosexual persons.

A foundational statement in this plan is as follows:

"The Commission hears a yearning from both traditionalists and progressives for more space.  More space means more structural distance from people who practice ministry differently or more autonomy to adapt practices to the context that may not be requested elsewhere.  Traditionalists do not want to be required to participate in same-sex weddings, the ordination of gay persons, or the financial support of a bishop in a same-sex marriage.  Progressives want space to freely exercise ministries that include same-sex weddings, the ordination of gay persons, and the same-sex marriage of clergy."

This plan is grounded in an understanding of John 17:20-26 where Jesus prays for unity among believers.  The framers of this plan believe that with the One Church Plan, there exists appropriate space in which our members, local churches, and annual conferences CAN live with divergent views about human sexuality while focusing on our common mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

The plan states that no local churches or annual conferences will be required to vote on their position regarding same-sex weddings, but gives the freedom for churches and pastors to hold same-gender weddings if they elect to do so.  It affords annual conferences the opportunity to ordain homosexual persons upon approval of the clergy session of the Annual Conference and the Board of Ordained ministry.

Another provision of the One Church Plan is that each jurisdiction of the UMC will pay for the expenses for only those bishops who reside in their jurisdiction.  Currently, our apportionments support all bishops' expenses.

You can view our Bishop's summary and analysis of each plan here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59_8y2VwdQk&feature=youtu.be

Currently, both the One Church Plan and the Traditional Plan affirm that there will likely be churches that decide to leave the denomination in the wake of the General Conference decision.  The Traditional Plan gives greater attention to a gracious exit provision.  The One Church Plan maintains that there is a pathway to leaving the United Methodist Church in our current Book of Discipline. 

Also, both the One Church Plan and the Traditional Plan allow for clergy to leave the denomination because of disagreement with the direction of the Denomination and retain their vested pension at the time of their departure.

I must also say that there is a chance that when the General Conference makes its final vote on February 26^th, the result will be that no plan was accepted, in which case, our denomination will be in the same place it was before the General Conference.