Homosexuality and the United Methodist Church have been in the news recently. A May meeting of representatives from across the globe and the recent election of an openly lesbian clergyperson to the position of bishop have highlighted deep divisions within our church. In this week’s blog post I’ll explain what’s happened and what it means. And then Sunday at Access we’ll look at how Christians reading the same Bible come to such different conclusions about homosexuality.
The United Methodist Book of Discipline contains our church law for how our churches may minister to and with homosexual persons. It specifies that all people may attend worship services, participate in programs, receive the sacraments of baptism and communion, and become members of a United Methodist Church. However, the Book of Discipline prohibits ordaining homosexual persons as clergy. Also, United Methodist clergy cannot officiate at same-sex weddings, and same-sex weddings cannot take place in United Methodist churches. Every 4 years any United Methodist may submit a proposal for changes to the Book of Discipline, and elected laypeople and clergy from around the world gather at General Conference to debate those changes.
General Conference last met in May 2016. It received many proposals that ranged from strengthening the current position on homosexuality to completely reversing it. The issue was so divisive that the Conference approved a proposal by the bishops of the church to cease debate on homosexuality and allow the bishops to appoint a special commission to “develop a complete examination and possible revision of every paragraph in our Book of Discipline regarding human sexuality.” If the commission finishes its work in time, the bishops will implement a Called General Conference prior to the one already scheduled for 2020. The bishops plan to convene the first meeting of the commission in October of this year.
A few weeks ago, on July 16th, United Methodist Churches in the Western United States elected Karen Oliveto, an openly lesbian clergywoman, to the position of bishop. While this seems clearly to violate the intent of the Book of Discipline, the United Methodist Judicial Council, a kind of Supreme Court of the Church, has been asked to conduct a judicial review to determine which particular church laws apply and how. The Judicial Council next meets in late October.
In the short-term I expect these events to have minimal impact on the day-to-day life and ministry of our church. However, your friends may increasingly turn to you to make sense of what’s happening. I encourage you to share what you know and to explain that our predecessors were called Methodists, because they worked very methodically. Right now the Untied Methodist Church is working steadily and methodically both to apply our current church laws justly and to develop our future laws in a way that will address our divisions over homosexuality while maintaining our unity. As you explain I encourage you to ask your friends to pray for the people of our church and for our ability faithfully to discern and follow God’s will.
At FUMCR we have always found ways to disagree on issues yet to treat each other with respect and to focus on what unites us. Whatever changes come in the future, I see FUMCR continuing as one congregation with diverse opinions working together to fulfill the mission God has given us: With open hearts and minds we Welcome people for Christ, Grow people in Christ, and Serve people with Christ. Thank you for being a part of continuing that wonderful tradition!
I hope you’ll worship with the Access community on Sunday as we turn to the scriptures to see what the Bible says about homosexuality. You’ll gain an understanding of two very different perspectives that Christians take on the topic, and you’ll learn how they end up at such different places while reading the same Bible.
In Christ,
Rich
Rich Rindfuss
Access Pastor
First United Methodist Church Richardson