The Rev. Keith Boyette to Reveal WCA’s Plans for a New Methodism at 2019 Global Gathering

The Wesleyan Covenant Association is pleased to announce that the Rev. Keith Boyette will deliver a major address at its Fourth Global Gathering at Asbury United Methodist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Saturday, November 9, 2019.

“I look forward to sharing the WCA’s hopeful vision for a new Methodism,” said Boyette, the President of the WCA. “Over the past year we have accomplished a tremendous amount of work and we are now eager to share with United Methodists who long for a warm-hearted, Wesleyan expression of the Christian faith. Just prior to our Fourth Global Gathering and during my presentation, we’ll be sharing in some detail our vision for the future.”

Last year the WCA’s first Global Legislative Assembly empowered a task group to draft a Book of Doctrines and Discipline that could serve as a working document for a renewed and reformed United Methodist Church or, if necessary, an entirely new church. The group finished its work earlier this year and the WCA’s 35 member governing council has been methodically reviewing it ever since. Boyette indicated major portions of the document will be shared later next month, and it will serve as the basis of his presentation.

“The Book of Doctrines and Discipline is not something etched in stone,” Boyette said. “However, given that a number of the UM Church’s episcopal leaders, annual conferences, and advocacy groups have acknowledged some form of separation is necessary, the WCA believed it was critical to prepare at least a working document for a traditionalist vision for a reformed UM Church or for a new Methodist church. If some form a separation occurs, we want Traditionalist local churches to have a thoughtful and vetted set of doctrines and a polity it can work with; we don’t want them to have to start from ground zero.”

Boyette has served as the WCA’s president since May 2017; he was selected after the association’s governing council embarked on an extensive six month professional search shortly after its formation. Before being ordained an elder in the Virginia Annual Conference, Boyette practiced law at Hirschler Fleischer in Richmond, Virginia. As a layman, he served in a variety of capacities at the local UM church he and his family attended as well as in district and annual conference leadership positions. As a clergy member he was the founding pastor of Wilderness Community Church in Spotsylvania, where he served for 19 years before assuming his role as the WCA’s president.

“When the WCA Council tapped Keith to be our president, we knew we were getting a faithful, well informed, and passionate leader,” said the Rev. Jessica LaGrone, Dean of the Chapel at Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, Kentucky. “He has far exceeded all our expectations! His deep love for Christ and his tireless passion for a healthy and vibrant church is an inspiration to all of us. Keith has been the leader we’ve needed for such a time as this to help move us beyond our present impasse and see us into a new season as a church fully committed to fulfilling the great commission.”

Widely known for his eight years of service on the UM Church’s Judicial Council (its “Supreme Court”), Boyette has also filed briefs and presented oral arguments before the council, particularly in recent years. As president of the WCA Council, he has traveled extensively in the U.S., Africa, Europe, and the Philippines to meet with leader across the UM connection. Under his leadership the WCA has established regional chapters in nearly every annual conference in the U.S., and he has recruited global UM leaders to serve on the WCA Council.

“It has been a privilege to work very closely with Keith for the past two years,” said the Rev. Dr. Jeff Greenway, Chairman of the WCA Council and Senior Pastor at Reynoldsburg United Methodist Church in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. “The entire council is amazed at all we have accomplished under his leadership. Keith truly models what can happen when a faithful UM leader is grounded in Scripture and the teachings of the church, and is dedicated to creating a church fully committed to unabashedly sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with all people!”

Boyette’s presentation, “One, Holy, and Apostolic Church,” is part of the Gathering’s “Transformed” theme. The event is expected to attract thousands of United Methodists across the connection.

To learn more about the conference visit Transformed online. People can register to attend the host site at Asbury UM Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, or a number of simulcast sites across the country.

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