Pine Valley United Methodist Church in Jacksonville, NC

Pine Valley United Methodist Church 910 Pine Valley rd. Jacksonville, NC 28546 pinevalleyumc.org [ Note: Pine Valley A Way Forward Team will meet the congregation next Sunday, 4/15, 3 pm in the sanctuary ] ‘A Way Forward’ Summary by Pine Valley A Way Forward Team Introduction. The following summary of “A Way Forward” for the United Methodist Church is prepared for the congregation of Pine Valley UMC. We, as the Pine Valley Committee on “A Way Forward,” have attempted to objectively summarize the past, present, and possible future of what United Methodists throughout the denomination are referring to as “A Way Forward.” Our denomination is divided. Not our local church here at Pine Valley, but our denomination. There are significant changes on the horizon. In the months ahead the denomination, if there is no formal, permanent, and amicable split, and we remain a United Methodist Church; it will be because we agreed to re-write the rules by which we live as United Methodists. If there is a formal, permanent, and amicable split in the denomination, it will likely be because we couldn’t agree about the re-writing of the rules. It will be because after 40 years of attempts of Traditional Methodists and Progressive Methodists in our denomination to convince each other of the righteousness of our views, we have not been able to do that. It may be time to split and go separate ways. Our purpose (as a committee) in writing this is so that members of our congregation do not leave Pine Valley because they may hear media reports that they do not like about the breadth and depth of our disunity; or the basis for the disunity. There are solutions available to us to remain together as a congregation. We must make a thorough effort to understand the true basis of our disagreements as a denomination. If you believe that we are in God’s will here at Pine Valley, even if you don’t like what is happening in other churches of the denomination, please be patient. Continue to pray for Pine Valley and the entire denomination. [A Way Forward Summary] 1 The Present. Most of us do not know much about what is going on in our denomination. The content of this letter will give you the opportunity to begin to inform yourself about significant changes that may come within the United Methodist Church. “A Way Forward” is a chosen direction/movement beyond an impasse (a stalemate, a deadlocked position, a log jam, an obstacle) which United Methodists have been unable to get around and go forward. We need to move forward again toward the greater goal of creating disciples for Jesus without the distractions caused by this impasse. Many may not have heard the phrase, “A Way Forward.” Or perhaps we have heard it for the first time very recently. Many may not be aware of the strong disagreement and the deep division in the United Methodist Church with regard to “human sexuality.” Based on recent forums, and recent reading of Methodist publications, the impasse may be headed for a solution, and that solution may be a formal and permanent split of the United Methodist Church. The United Methodist Church admits that it is divided about “human sexuality.” A good metaphor for the term: “human sexuality” is: “the tip of the iceberg.” Ninety per cent of an iceberg is under the surface of the water and you cannot see it. So it is also with this term: “human sexuality. The disagreement and division is more about homosexuality than “human sexuality,” but the issue of homosexuality is also included in “the tip of the iceberg” analogy. There does not seem to exist in the United Methodist Church a disagreement about how to welcome and love homosexual persons in the church who are lay persons. But it is about more than having: open doors, and open hearts and open minds for homosexuals. It is about more than: love the sinner, hate the sin. Actually, the disagreement in the United Methodist Church regarding homosexuals has less to do with homosexuals being welcome in our churches; and more to do with the ordination of homosexual clergy and the marriage of same sex couples in United Methodist Church by our clergy. The Past. The Book of Discipline states that homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching, or words to that effect. This book of “rules and regulations,” which the majority of United Methodists have declared we should live by, is arguably based on the Bible. The Book of Discipline has contained that wording about homosexuality since 1972. The progressive folks in the UMC don’t like that language. They don’t like it because they don’t believe that homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. They may believe that promiscuous homosexuality would be a sin, but a marriage between two women or two men who are in a committed relationship, is acceptable to God. So every four (4) years (by voting at the General Conferences) they try to have the verbiage of The Book of Discipline changed. The conservative Methodists have kept (by voting at the General Conferences every four years) the language in the Book of Discipline the same for 40 years. The conservatives have outnumbered the progressives, and in the future that may not always be the case of Methodists in America. But because the United Methodists in Africa, South America and Asia are growing in [A Way Forward Summary] 2 number (while our membership in America is shrinking at an alarming rate) and the Africans, South Americans and Asians are conservative, the verbiage will not likely be changed, as long as they get to vote. Again, for emphasis: at the 2012 General Conference for the entire UMC (all UMC Conferences in the world meeting) the delegates decided to table all discussion of “human sexuality.” Again, for emphasis: at the 2016 General Conference, the Council of Bishops commissioned a group of 32 clergy and lay people to find “A Way Forward,” from the impasse of “human sexuality.” ( http://www.umc.org/who-we-are/commission-on-a-way-forward ). This group of 32 became The Commission on A Way Forward. There was a district forum during the late summer of 2016 entitled “Circles of Grace” at Swansboro UMC. A sincere young man who confessed to being gay spoke of the pain of being gay and a United Methodist, because he was not fully accepted. Only pastors and lay leaders were present at this forum. Another forum on November 16, 2017 at Centenary UMC in New Bern. This “open” forum, was titled “But Are We Really Listening?” A panel of 5 persons was convened. (https://nccumc.org/christianformation/inclusive-conversations-listened-2/) On the panel were three homosexuals (two gay men, and a lesbian) and two transgendered persons (one who was born a man, but is now a woman; and one who was born a woman, but is now a man). Each of the five spoke in turn. Both men had been married to women at one time and had children. One was now an Episcopalian clergyman, now married to another man. He became an Episcopalian because the United Methodist Church would not ordain him. In her summary, our moderator stated to us that we had lost this man to the Episcopalians, only because he was gay, and it was a tragedy, and we could not let it continue. Our moderator was an ordained elder in the UMC. The other gay man had been married and had a daughter before he met his “soul mate,” divorced his wife, left his family and married his male “soul mate.” He stated he was on very good terms with his ex-wife and daughter. The lesbian was an ordained elder of the UMC and she had been placed on leave of absence when she “came out.” Her first wife had died, and she had remarried another woman, that is, a second lesbian. She stated that she knew she was loved by God, and she knew God approved of what she was doing. She further stated that she longed for the day when we look at homosexuality in the church as we once looked upon divorce. She offered to stay and talk to anyone who wanted to sign up to be a part of a Reconciling Ministries Church. (https://rmnetwork.org/) [A Way Forward Summary] 3 The transgendered woman (who had been born a man) also knew she was loved by God and that God approved of her and what she had done in her life. There was a common theme among the five, and it was that their journeys had been painful, and that they all sought acceptance from the rest of us. God had created them, as they were, and so God did not condemn them. Seeking input, our Bishop, Hope Morgan Ward, hosted a Sound District Workshop with regard to the Commission on “A Way Forward” on January 29th at Garber UMC in New Bern at 7:00 pm. ( https://sounddistrictnc.org/clergy-lay-leaders-lay-members-annual-conference-invited/ ) This district forum on January 29th was the third in a series of forums that have been offered since the Council of Bishops formed the Commission on A Way Forward. The Bishop’s invitation stated three reasons for the forum. They were: 1. To clarify the process of the Commission (on A Way Forward) to this point and to consider models the commission has shared. 2. To listen to each other as we discern how God is calling us to respond in love and faithfulness as we move forward together.

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