Category Archives: General Conference 2016

Good News Responds to Bishops’ Appointed Commission

For the second time in as many General Conferences, the body has decided not to decide on reaffirming our church’s teaching on marriage and sexuality. Instead, the General Conference has authorized the Council of Bishops to create a commission to address the divisions within the church and to propose a way forward.

This is a proposal with some potential to resolve our differences in a definitive way, but also one fraught with peril.

Traditionalists have long been under-represented on the church’s boards and agencies, as have our African brothers and sisters. If we who represent the majority of the church are a minority on the commission, it will have little credibility and United Methodists will be skeptical of its recommendation.

If the commission is nothing more than a ploy to further a progressive agenda disguised as plan for unity, it will lead to deeper division and possibly schism.

We pray and believe that our bishops will be wise enough to include well-known and respected leaders of the traditionalist and orthodox renewal movement.

Particularly troubling in the Bishops’ proposal was the statement that during this interim period, the bishops will seek to avoid further “complaints” and “trials” for those who break the Book of Discipline. If the bishops refuse to enforce our covenant during this period, it will lead to growing acts of disobedience and further disenchantment toward a church that appears dysfunctional. And we fear many faithful United Methodists will feel that they must leave the denomination.

The conference has asked that the bishops lead. We ask that they lead with integrity.

-Good News

Pageantry and Controversy

Bishop Warner H. Brown helps lead opening worship at the 2016 United Methodist General Conference in Portland.Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS

By Walter Fenton

The United Methodist Church’s greatly anticipated 2016 General Conference opened with colorful pageantry and an evangelical message from Bishop Warner Brown, president of the Council of Bishops. Brown challenged the General Conference to heed the words of St. Paul: “So let’s strive for the things that bring peace and the things that build each other up” (Romans 14:19). “Today, in this place, in this important time, by the power of God’s Spirit, may we once again collectively sing [the African phrase]: ‘Jesu Tawa Pano’ ̵ Jesus, we are here for you. Not any other agenda. We are here for you. Therefore, let us go!”

“God is with us,” Brown said, “the transformation of the world has already begun. Therefore go, make disciples in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit!”

Supporters gather around Susan Laurie (center) — an outspoken lesbian activist–to proclaim her unauthorized ordination at the 2016 United Methodist General Conference.
Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS

However, the day was not without controversy. Shortly before the conference convened dozens of LGBTQ advocates gathered in the convention center to participate in the unauthorized ordination of Susan Laurie, a prominent leader in the movement. Although the act of ecclesial disobedience grants Laurie no official standing in the UM Church, it does add to the list of infractions that threaten to splinter the worldwide denomination.

Later in the day the same advocates disrupted the celebration of Holy Communion during the conference’s opening worship service. As the elements were shared with delegates and thousands of observers, Laurie and other protesters opened alternative “Queer Communion stations” where delegates and others could receive Holy Communion.

Bishops Sharon Radar and Elaine Stanovsky (left foreground) receive elements at what was declared as one of the “Queer Communion Stations” from Sue Laurie (right) and Julie Bruno during opening worship at the 2016 United Methodist General Conference in Portland, Oregon.
Photo by Mike Bose, UMNS

Surprisingly, two UM bishops, Sharon Rader and Elaine Stanovsky, received the elements from the protesters rather than from those who were designated to celebrate the sacred service.

Some United Methodists regarded the unauthorized ordination and the “Queer Communion Stations” as schismatic acts. “When you take it upon yourself to ordain people and politicize Holy Communion, you are essentially saying you no longer respect or even recognize the unity and good order of the church,” said the Rev. Rob Renfroe, president of Good News.

After the close of the worship service, the delegates turned to the work of General Conference. They spent a late afternoon and an evening session debating the rules that would govern their work. They adopted 43 of the proposed 44 rules, but deferred Rule 44 for further debate tomorrow.

The hotly contested rule calls for delegates to set aside traditional methods for handling petitions in exchange for a “discernment process” for considering issues regarding same-sex marriage and the ordination of openly gay clergy. The delegates are expected to engage in further debate on the rule in the morning and then decide to adopt or reject it before noon.

Walter Fenton is a United Methodist clergyperson and an analyst for Good News.

LGBTQ Defiance Mounts as General Conference Begins

Therefore Go By Walter Fenton

More than 70 United Methodist pastors from the West Ohio Annual Conference participated in or bore witness to the same-sex wedding ceremony on Saturday, May 7. The Rev. David Meredith, who pastors at Clifton United Methodist Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, married his partner Jim Schlachter at Broad Street United Methodist Church in Columbus, Ohio. Meredith acknowledged his marriage is in violation of UM Church teaching, but he said he hoped it would “excite, engage and motivate others working for change.”

The ceremony came just days before The United Methodist Church’s General Conference convenes in Portland, Oregon, and once again takes up the contentious issue of same-sex marriage, the ordination of openly gay clergy, and the practice of homosexuality.

“Even though the church has debated this issue for nearly 45 years, and has repeatedly declined to endorse same-sex marriage and the ordination of openly gay clergy, for the past several years LGBTQ advocates have decided to break covenant with the vast majority of the denomination, and engage in these acts of ecclesial disobedience,” said the Rev. Rob Renfroe, President of Good News and Pastor of Discipleship at The Woodlands UM Church (The Woodlands, Texas), one of the largest churches in the denomination.

Good News is spearheading a coalition of traditionalist United Methodists at the denomination’s General Conference, which meets every four years and begins today. Along with The Confessing Movement and UMAction, Good News seeks to defend and promote the UM Church’s core theological confessions. It shares with the vast majority of Protestants, Roman Catholics, and Eastern Orthodox Christians the belief that marriage is between one man and one woman.

The ceremony in Columbus was clearly part of an orchestrated effort on the part of LGBTQ advocacy groups seeking to change the UM Church’s position on sexuality and marriage. It comes just two weeks after a same-sex wedding service held in a UM Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Retired Bishop Melvin Talbert co-officiated at that wedding with the Rev. Val Rosenquist, an elder in the Western North Carolina Annual Conference.

Also, the boards of ordained ministry in the progressive Baltimore-Washington, New York and Pacific-Northwest Annual Conferences recently announced they would no longer follow the denomination’s Book of Discipline when interviewing candidates for ordination. All three boards said they would no longer bar openly gay candidates from seeking clergy credentials in their annual conferences.

“Clearly, progressives have decided that even if they fail again at this General Conference to change the church’s position, they will continue to regularly and provocatively defy the will of the church’s highest legislative body,” said Renfroe. “Their actions will divide the church, particularly if our bishops fail to hold them accountable. Even worse, they will undermine the good work of colleagues and the health and vitality of thousands of local UM Churches.”

The West Ohio Annual Conference is one of the largest annual conferences in the denomination’s North Central Jurisdiction. However, in the past several years it has been racked by dissension over the same-sex marriage debate. Some pastors and local churches are threatening to leave the conference if other pastors are simply allowed to defy the church’s teachings on what many believe are core issues.

“We want to remain connected to brothers and sisters in the faith,” said the Rev. Jeff Harper of Evangelical UM Church in Greenville, Ohio, “but not if a minority in the church is willing to defy and disregard what we believe are the sacred bonds and covenants that unite us.”

The Rev. Jeff Greenway, who leads the Evangelical Fellowship of West Ohio, issued a strong statementcalling for accountability for a “clear act of disobedience to the spirit and letter of our covenant. It is with great sadness that we write as persons who love the church, have been devoted to and invested in the United Methodist Church, and who have consistently advocated for unity.”

Walter Fenton is a United Methodist clergyperson and an analyst for Good News.