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.
3. To prepare pastors, lay leaders, and lay members of Annual Conference to share accurate information and lead local church conversations so that everyone is well informed.
The bishop continued in her invitation: “Our discussions and work will also be summarized and shared with the Commission (on the Way Forward) in response to their request for continued input from across the church.”
From Pine Valley UMC, Pastor, Criss Allen, Dan Oliver and Frank Hart attended the forum on January 29th.
The Commission on A Way Forward has met six times since 2016, and they provided an interim report to the Council of Bishops last November. ( http://www.umc.org/news-and-media/bishops- uphold-values-of-mission-unity-space-contextuality-in-interim-repor )
The Commission put forth three (3) possible courses of action. The courses of action are being called “sketches.” The three sketches are listed below. I took them from the NCCUMC website:
1. The current Book of Discipline language would be affirmed and a high value would be placed on accountability.
2. Restrictive language would be removed from the Book of Discipline. A high value would be placed on “contextualization.” This course of action protects the rights of those
[A Way Forward Summary] 4 clergy who could not in good conscience perform same sex weddings or ordain homosexual clergy.
3. A third course of action is “grounded in a unified core that includes shared doctrine and services and one Council of Bishops, while also creating different branches that have clearly defined values such as accountability, contextualization and justice.”
The description/language of the “sketches” may be somewhat vague. Below is our best attempt to simplify the description of the courses of action/sketches.
Sketch 1 is the course of action the conservative Methodists favor. Clergy cannot be homosexuals. Clergy cannot perform same sex marriages. If you are clergy and you “come out” or perform same sex weddings, you will be disciplined. You will be held accountable for disobedience of The Book of Discipline.
Sketch 2 is the course of action the progressive Methodists favor. I do not know what “contextualization” is, even after I looked up the definition. The language with which the progressive Methodists disagree (homosexuality is not compatible with Christian teaching) would be removed. Clergy could be homosexual. Clergy could perform same sex weddings, or they would be free not to perform same sex weddings.
Sketch 3 is a compromise solution. It has also been referred to as “the local option,” meaning locally, here at Pine Valley we could elect to not have a homosexual pastor and not allow the pastor to perform same sex weddings. Across town, at the two other United Methodist Churches, they could elect to have a homosexual pastor on staff and same sex weddings could be performed by their clergy. The organization, “Uniting Methodists,” support this course of action. ( http://www.umc.org/news-and-media/uniting-participants-call-for-unity-bravery ).
Next comes something that will get your attention: each course of action/sketch includes a gracious way of exit for those who feel called to exit from the denomination.
It is not known how that would work with regard to exiting with our pastor (since pastors are appointed by the bishops), church properties, pension funds for pastors, general funds, paying off mortgages, which group we would pay our apportionments to, divinity school curriculum, appointment of pastors to churches, appointment of District Superintendents to districts, appointment of Bishops to Conferences, actions to take if you are a progressive congregation “stuck” in a district or conference with a conservative bishop and or conservative District Superintendent (or vice versa), etc.
It is not known either if there would be a “grace period” where churches could pick a path to leave the denomination with their Pastor, and his pension; and their property; and when the “grace period” for leaving the UMC and joining with likeminded churches would begin and when it would end.
[A Way Forward Summary] 5 The Future. In April or May the Commission on A Way Forward will present its final recommendation to the Council of Bishops. In May or June, the Council of Bishops will probably announce their preferred direction for the church going forward. The Council of Bishops must publicly share the legislative details of its proposal no later than early July 2018 in order for there to be sufficient time to prepare for the called special General Conference.
A special General Conference will be convened in February 2019 to deal with this one issue of “human sexuality” and perhaps the delegates to the special General Conference will decide this issue. Pray for the delegates.
April-8, 2018 Submitted by Pine Valley A Way Forward Team
Criss Allen, Chuck Guyer (Chair), Frank Hart, Dan Oliver, Rev. Joseph Park, Georgia Plum
References:
Holy Bible
Wesleyan Covenant Association website https://wesleyancovenant.org/
Good News Magazine website https://goodnewsmag.org/
Uniting Methodists http://unitingmethodists.com/
NCCUMC (North Carolina Conference United Methodist Church) website https://nccumc.org/
The Trouble with Truth Rob Renfroe
A Firm Foundation. Hope and Vision for a New Methodist Future This is a collection of essays published by the Wesleyan Covenant Association.
Finding Our Way. Love and Law in the UMC edited by Rueben P. Job and Neil M. Alexander. This collection of essays contains an essay written by Hope Morgan Ward, the Bishop of NCCUMC, titled, “Emend.” The first sentence of the essay is: “The North Carolina Annual Conference began a Unity Dialogue in 1998.”
Homosexuality and Christian Faith: Questions of Conscience for the Churches https://g.co/kgs/4Loz5t
From The New York Times: Walter Wink, Theologian and Author, Dies at 76. A liberal scholar, Dr. Wink’s views on homosexuality https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/20/us/walter-wink- theologian-who-challenged-orthodoxy-dies-at-76.html?mwrsm=Email
[A Way Forward Summary] 6 UMC Organizational Background
(helpful to understand the discussion on A Way Forward that follows):
Organization (small to large) Specific Locations Head
Local church Pine Valley UMC Reverend Joseph Park
District Sound District (9 NC counties) Reverend Linda Taylor
Annual Conference North Carolina (eastern ½) Bishop Hope Morgan Ward
Jurisdiction Southeastern (9 SE states) A College of 13 Bishops
General Conference All Methodists, World-wide A Council of 160 Bishops
The General Conference
Who makes decisions for The United Methodist Church since there is no one person in charge? Good question. The General Conference is the only body that can set official policy and speak for the denomination.
[A Way Forward Summary] 7 The General Conference is an international body of nearly 1,000 delegates that meets every four years. The delegates to the General Conference are elected by annual conferences (at annual conference sessions) to attend General Conference. They represent all annual conferences around the world. Half of the delegates are laity (non-clergy members), half are clergy.
Bishops attend the General Conference but cannot vote. Different bishops serve as presiding officers during the conference. Other bishops cannot speak unless permission is specifically granted by the delegates.
During General Conference, delegates discuss and vote on petitions and resolutions proposed by individuals, agencies, annual conferences, and other groups within the denomination. These actions result in a revision of the Book of Discipline, the denomination's book of law, and Book of Resolutions, policies of the denomination on current social issues.
It is at General Conference where delegates wrestle with today's issues in light of scriptural teachings and the church's understanding of that teaching. Here is where the church's official stands and church policies are made regarding such issues as human sexuality, abortion, war and peace, as well as determination of ministries and funding.
General Conferences are held in years divisible by 4, such as 2008, 2012, 2016, etc., except the next General Conference is a Special General Conference called for February 2019 to decide if the denomination will remain unified or if it will split; and how the denomination will remain unified or how the denomination will split.
The US is divided into five Jurisdictions:
North Central Jurisdiction Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin
Northeastern Jurisdiction Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia.
South Central Jurisdiction Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas
Southeastern Jurisdiction Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia
Western Jurisdiction Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming
[A Way Forward Summary] 8 Central Conferences (outside of the US)
Annual conferences located outside the United States are organized into central conferences, much like jurisdictions. There are seven central conferences: Africa, Central and Southern Europe, Congo, Germany, Northern Europe, Philippines, and West Africa.
Annual Conferences When you hear the term “annual conference,” it could be referring to any one of three things. The annual conference is a regional body, an organizational unit AND a yearly meeting. Many of these yearly meetings happen in the U.S. in May and June.
Regional body The annual (sometimes referred to as ‘regional’) conference is described by the church's Constitution and (other parts of the) Book of Discipline as the “basic unit” of the church. In the United States, an annual conference may cover an entire state, only part of the state, or even parts of two or more states. There are also three missionary conferences in the United States, which rely upon the denomination as a whole for funding. The United States has 56 annual conferences, supervised by bishops in 46 episcopal areas. There are 75 annual conferences in Africa, Europe, and the Philippines, which are supervised by 20 bishops. Organizational body In the U.S., the annual conference has a central office and professional staff that coordinate and conduct ministry and the business of the conference. It likely has a director of connectional ministries, treasurer, directors of program areas (such as camping), communications director, and other staff as deemed appropriate for the annual conference and as required by the Book of Discipline. Clergy and laypersons may also serve on conference boards, commissions and committees. Annual Conference sessions Each year an equal number of clergy members and lay members attend their conference's annual conference session for worship, fellowship, and to conduct the business of the conference, which may last 3-5 days. These sessions include reports of past and ongoing work; adoption of future goals, programs and budgets; ordination of clergy members as deacons and elders; and election of delegates to Jurisdictional and General Conferences (every 4 years). The bishop presides over these meetings.
Districts
Groups of churches in a geographic area are organized to form a district, somewhat similar to the way cities and towns are organized into counties. Often, churches in a district will work together 1 to provide training and mission opportunities. Each district is led by a district superintendent (“DS”), an elder appointed by the bishop, usually for a six-year term. The DS oversees the ministry of the district’s clergy and churches, provides spiritual and pastoral leadership, works with the bishop and others in the appointment of
[A Way Forward Summary] 9 ordained ministers to serve the district’s churches, presides at meetings of the charge conference, and oversees programs within the district.2 1 From United Methodist Member’s Handbook by George Kohler (Discipleship Resources, 1997), p. 24. 2 From What Every Teacher Needs to Know about The United Methodist Church (Discipleship Resources, 2002), p. 30.
Perspective There are 102 churches in the Sound District. These churches are in the nine eastern North Carolina counties of: Beaufort, Carteret, Craven, Greene, Jones, Lenoir, Onslow, Pamlico and Pitt.
There are 8 districts and over 800 churches in the North Carolina Conference, the eastern half of the state.
There are two UMC Conferences (North Carolina Conference and Western North Carolina Conference) in the state of NC.
There are thirteen Annual Conferences in the 9 states of the Southeastern Jurisdiction, to include both conferences that include both halves of NC, so each of the Bishops that lead the thirteen Annual Conferences together form a College of Bishops to govern the Southeastern Jurisdiction, to include our bishop, Bishop Hope Morgan Ward. For a sports analogy: think most of the SEC plus the two ACC states of Virginia and NC.
Growth or Lack thereof --There are 12 million United Methodists. Overseas Conferences are experiencing growth. US conferences and jurisdictions have experienced the loss of members for 40 years. Only the overseas conferences are growing. The UMC of the United States lost 10.5% of its membership between 2012 and 2016. ( https://wesleyancovenant.org/2018/01/08/the-bad-news-and-the-good-news-2/ )
Money
Pine Valley’s share of the cost (the term is apportionments) of all this organization is approximately $20,000.00 per year.
A US bishop’s salary is six figures. There are 160 bishops.
The 2016 General Conference set a 4 year budget: 2017-2020 of $604 million. The conference itself cost about $10 million, up from $8.4 million that the General Conference cost in 2012.
The cost for the Commission on A Way Forward is estimated to be between $3.4-$4.1 million.
Outliers—There are other parts of Methodism that are important to the UMC, but not so much to this discussion. They can be equated to the President’s Cabinet or the Staff (G-1, G-2, G-3, and so on of the Commanding General of the Marine Corps Base, Camp Lejeune).
[A Way Forward Summary] 10 The General Agencies
UMW
UMM
Archives and History
Church and Society
Communications
Discipleship Ministry
Global Ministries
Finance and Administration
Higher Education and Ministry
Wespath (named after John Wesley and formerly The General Board of Pension and Health Benefits of the UMC)
Religion and Race
The Status and Role of Women
United Methodist Publishing House
The Connectional Table—This space left blank
The Judicial Council---This space left blank
Where does the Commission on A Way Forward fit in?
The Commission on A Way Forward was appointed or “commissioned” by the Council of Bishops at the end of the 2016 General Conference. The Commission consists of 32 clergy and Lay persons tasked with making recommendations to the Council of Bishops no later than April or May of 2018. It is not a standing or permanent organization of the UMC. It has been meeting periodically for nearly two years and will make final recommendations to the Council of Bishops very soon. The Council of Bishops is not bound to approve the Commission’s recommendations, just as the Delegates to the Special Conferences are not bound by the recommendations of the Council of Bishops.
[A Way Forward Summary] 11