Greetings, I want to take a few moments to share some thoughts on the upcoming split in the United Methodist Church that Pastor Peggy spoke about last Sunday. Like Pastor Peggy, I was on the Zoom webinar in which representatives from UMNext representing the United Methodist Church (UMC) and the Wesley Covenant Association representing newly launching Global Methodist Church (GMC) explained a bit about what each denomination might look like going forward.
The most important message I heard from each group was, regardless of where you stand on the issue driving this split, we, as Christians, are called to love one another and treat each other with dignity and respect. There may be disagreements that make it impossible for the groups to stay in connection but the call to love one another remains paramount.
Before I go further, I should explain the main difference between the UMC and the GMC, the latter of which will launch on Sunday May 1, 2022. In short, the UMC may be removing the prohibitions in the UMC Discipline against ordaining openly homosexual clergy and not allowing UMC clergy to perform marriages of same-sex couples while the GMC is likely to retain those prohibitions.
With that as background, you may be asking yourself what the split means for Faith United Methodist Church right now. The short answer is there will be no immediate change for Faith UMC.
At some point Faith United Methodist Church may choose to decide in which direction it should go —remain with the United Methodist Church, affiliate with the Global Methodist Church, or move in yet some other direction. Any such decision should involve prayerful discernment individually and as part of the congregation.
I’d like to close by asking you to be in discernment as to more broadly where you think God is calling Faith United Methodist Church to go in its mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
Next month, I’ll share some thoughts on the church’s leadership role and your role in discerning the next steps.
Peace and Joy,
John