For those who do not know, or somehow have forgotten, the United Methodist Church has experienced a significant number of congregations which have disaffiliated from the denomination. A significant number of individuals have also left, myself included. The General Conference of the United Methodist Church has also begun, and for the first time in my life I am following it not as a member of the denomination, but simply as an observer as I would follow any other large denominational gathering. To be honest, it is a somewhat uncomfortable experience, but that said, it was the right choice for me. In the lead up to all of this, there are some things that I have noticed that are worth mentioning. So that the current perspective I have can be known, I am not currently attending a UMC, as the local UMC was honest and forthcoming, which I appreciate, told us we would likely be uncomfortable there. I also do not attend a GMC, as there is not one in my area. Currently I am attending a Baptist church that has a youth group my teenage son attends.

The More Things Change

Probably the biggest thing that I have noticed is that there is far to many people in the GMC who are just waiting for the “I told you so moment”, or even There are far to many UMC folks waiting for the exact same moment. What is the “I told you so”? It will vary from person to person, but far to many are waiting for it instead of wishing each other well and praying for each other. “I told you that the UMC would change it’s theology around human sexuality”! “I told you that the GMC would not allow female clergy”! Those and more. “I told you so” is not the position that faithful Christians should be taking, but far to many are taking it. Frankly, what the UMC or GMC choices to do with their respective denominations does not have a great deal of concern to the other save for the continued acrimony.

It is increasingly clear that the reality is that in some (many? most? I don’t really know) very loud circles in the UMC, traditional voices are not wanted or welcome. This is of course not new, but it is not what has been continually promised in the “big tent” of the UMC. In all truth, I am not even saying that this is a bad thing all in all. The “big tent” was an experiment which I believe has run its course. The problem is the continual promise that it will work out. Whether we want to talk about the surface issue of human sexuality, or actually dig deeper and speak about the deeper things that separate us (orthodoxy vs. neo-orthodoxy, varying interpretations and understandings of scripture, etc), the simple fact it that the big tent needs to be smaller for the sake of both the UMC and the GMC. As I am writing this, I tried to express my well wishes to the UMC and that I hope that it continues to populate the Kingdom of God in the most faithful way that they can discern and I was called a liar. The reason, because the person I was talking to was a “social democrat” (I confess I don’t know what that means) and I am a Libertarian. I am not sure what that has to do with me hoping and praying the best for the UMC, but there you have it. The UMC are a bunch of liberal and progressive Christians that don’t believe in the same God, and the GMC are a bunch of racist, discriminatory, anti-gay money grubbers who don’t care about God or people. Just ask around on both “sides” and you will hear it, even though that does not accurately describe the majority of people on either “side”. The “big tent” that was hoped for just doesn’t work and the UMC was wrong to promise that it would. Sometimes the solution to live peaceably together is to not live in the same house.

Hope Or Dread?

The Global Methodist Church will soon have its convening conference where important decisions about the future of the denomination will be made. there is, rightly, a lot of hope surrounding this. There is also some dread. The Global Methodist Church is dealing with its own “big tent” if you will. To be fair, it is a different big tent, but it is significant none the less. There are voices which would like believer’s baptism exclusively, or infant baptism exclusively. There are voices that have concern about women in pastoral ministry. There is a widespread lack of understanding about what “The Method” of Methodism is. Bishops or Superintendents? How do we view and interpret scripture, and so on. There are, in some areas, a shortage of pastors, and in some areas a shortage of churches. Yes, there is great hope surrounding the convening conference, but there is, or at least should be, a healthy sense of apprehension as well. If there isn’t, I fear for the results.

At the UMC general conference, there is much of the same. Caucus groups have hope that the concerns they advocate for will be addressed in a manner that they find acceptable. As one news article put it, the conference is about the “three R’s”: Regions. Removing Language, Revising Social Principles. There is a lot of hope about that in many UMC circles. There is reason for dread as well. Setting up regions would change the way the denomination functions, such a large change should carry some healthy apprehension. The removal of language would cause a large shift in the beliefs of the denomination as defined by the general conference. Again, a reason for healthy apprehension. There are financial concerns, as there would be in any denomination that lost twenty five percent of it’s churches, and, as such a large organization has a significant bureaucracy. There is some concern that there may be a surplus of pastors. All reasons for healthy apprehension.

The More Things Stay The Same

So, here we are. What has changed are the problems that the GMC and the UMC are facing. That has the potential to be a good thing for both of them as without the arguments about surface issues it may be possible for the two denominations to actually address the problems with solutions rather than duct tape. It is an opportunity for both denominations to flourish as they feel led by the Holy Spirit to populate God’s Kingdom.

For the UMC, there are three things that I think would be beneficial to this. First, a plan must be adopted that allows for the churches in the UMC that are more traditional to stay that way. This would include much of Africa. If that can not be satisfactorily accomplished, there needs to be a way for churches who are not in the United States, to make the decision to stay or to go as individual congregations as they feel led. Second, the UMC has needed to reorganize their bureaucracy for a long time in light of financial struggles. Those struggles are more significant now and need to be addressed for the future of the denomination. Third, the acrimony and vitriol toward the GMC needs to stop. That sort of bitterness spreads like rot and has the same effect. If the UMC can not come to the reality that the GMC are a denomination of faithful Christians doing their best to live out their faith, then it will spread like rot doing no one any good, and damaging places where the two denominations might work together. If it is determined that the GMC are not faithful Christians, then there is no need for vitriol anyway.

For the GMC, there is more that needs done, as it would be with any denomination that is starting new. That said, there are three things that are absolutely necessary. First, the GMC has to solve it’s own “big tent” issues. While most in the GMC would call themselves “traditional” or orthodox, there remain very real differences. How the GMC handles these differences will determine the health of the denomination moving forward. Second, the GMC has to do more than be “not the UMC”. It needs to accentuate and teach the Wesleyan distinctives that make it a unique expression of Christianity. In essence, they must put the method back in Methodism. Third, the acrimony and vitriol toward the UMC needs to stop. That sort of bitterness spreads like rot and has the same effect. If the GMC can not come to the reality that the UMC are a denomination of faithful Christians doing their best to live out their faith, then it will spread like rot doing no one any good, and damaging places where the two denominations might work together. If it is determined that the UMC are not faithful Christians, then there is no need for vitriol anyway. In reality, both denominations are in much the same place despite one being new and one being more established. The challenges are different of course, but the position is the same. No matter what the future holds for both denominations, the future will look different for the people called Methodist.