by Jay Therrell
September 20, 2022
As more and more churches are disaffiliating and breaking free from The United Methodist Church, the next question that faces them is: what do we do now? Do we align with the Global Methodist Church? Do we choose to go independent? Or something else?
It’s a good and right question to be asking and one I pray and trust local churches will take seriously. Successfully disaffiliating is only half the battle. Deciding how a church wants to be connected is the second half.
I acknowledge that I’m biased. I have the humbling privilege of serving the Wesleyan Covenant Association as its president. Through the power and leading of the Holy Spirit, the WCA birthed the Global Methodist Church. We are her proud parent. We believe that the GMC has the potential to be a strong force for the Kingdom of God with a robust Wesleyan witness. We believe that the GMC’s mission statement is true and right, “Our mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ who worship passionately, love extravagantly, and witness boldly.” Amen!
That said, the WCA will continue to advocate and be an ally for all churches seeking to disaffiliate from The United Methodist Church no matter where a church ends up: independent; as part of the Global Methodist Church; or connected to some other body of believers. We believe The UMC will become increasingly uncomfortable for theological conservatives and want to help churches get out now before the last exit ramp closes at the end of 2023.
Allow me to share three primary reasons why I hope churches will choose to align with the Global Methodist Church and not become independent or part of a loose connection/association.
The Bible Calls for a Strongly Connected Church
The New Testament calls for a strongly connected church. The apostles clearly launched the church with the idea of various offices and a strong connection. There are three offices established by the New Testament: the diakonos (deacon), the presbuteros (elder), and episkopos (overseer/shepherd/bishop). The deacon and the elder serve the local church as part of a connection shepherded by an overseer or bishop. All three offices are referred to in multiple places throughout the New Testament. The qualifications for these offices are set by the Scriptures.
The authors of the New Testament would not have envisioned an office of an overseer/bishop if they didn’t also envision a strongly connected church. These offices were created by the church fathers and mothers so that local churches would be taught and served by sound men and women who were held accountable to biblical doctrine by overseers. Moreover, repeatedly in the early days of the church, various councils of leaders would come together in a strong connection to ensure that doctrine was sound and adhered to. These are the chief reasons, why I hope churches will choose to remain connected instead of going independent or becoming part of a loose association.
To be sure, we humans have messed this up over the 2,000 years the Church has existed. Time and time again, we’ve allowed our fallen nature to win out over the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying work. We’ve allowed the church structure to become corrupted by the two vices that always seem to be working to destroy the Bride of Christ: the love of power and money. I believe this is true in The United Methodist Church. Going independent, however, throws the proverbial baby out with the bathwater.
The fix, it seems to me, is not to be independent or part of a loose connection. The fix is to seek the face and will of God like never before. I would argue that for far too long, we theological conservatives focused on our local churches under the guise of making disciples to the detriment of also overseeing the larger connection. Progressives filled the void, and we are now reaping some of what we have sown. Going forward we must do both. We must watch over our own churches to ensure they are strong in the faith while also watching over one another in love – true love – love that exemplifies the costly nature of Jesus Christ who died to give it to us. We can only do that in a strongly connected structure.
John Wesley Could Not Imagine an Independent Methodist
I’ve talked with numerous Wesley Scholars about this, and they have all been unqualifiedly unanimous in their opinions: John Wesley could not imagine an independent Methodist. In fact, I would argue that the term “independent Methodist” or “independent Wesleyan” is an oxymoron. There’s no such thing. A church can be independent and have Arminian theology, but it can’t be independent and truly call itself Wesleyan.
A connectional structure is a hallmark of what it means to be Wesleyan. By connectional structure, I mean a true structure with accountability and interdependence. John Wesley was an Anglican priest his entire life. The Church of England is a connectional church with accountability and structure. The Church of England separated from the Roman Catholic Church which also has accountability and structure. Wesley would never have envisioned any other way to be a Methodist than having a strong connection with accountability.
The connection is necessary for two reasons: protection of doctrine and accountable supervision of churches and clergy. Again, as I already mentioned, we have failed at this in The United Methodist Church. The answer, however, is not to abandon a connectional structure. The answer is to get it right this time around. Our doctrine and theology are the foundation of the Church of Jesus Christ. If we do not stand guard over it, Satan will always find ways to pick it apart.
It is much harder (although clearly not impossible) to erode doctrine in a strongly connectional church. In the GMC, the office of bishop has been redesigned with a strong emphasis over teaching, preaching, and protecting doctrine. I have a fear that United Methodist Churches that disaffiliate and go independent may well no longer have a Wesleyan/Arminian theology after a couple of pastoral changes. While I pray I am wrong, I think many former Methodist Churches could easily become Calvinist with the hiring of the wrong pastor. And while we’re all playing for the same team, we are humbly proud to be Wesleyan/Arminians because we believe our understanding of the way of salvation is the most helpful way for non-believers to come into a saving relationship with Jesus.
A strong connection also provides accountable supervision for clergy and churches. Once again, this is something at which The United Methodist Church has badly failed. That doesn’t mean; however, we should abandon connection. It means we should lean more strongly into the power of the Holy Spirit to do it better. The Global Methodist Church has placed vigorous accountability at all levels of the church. Ordination candidates must pledge to preach and teach GMC doctrine. They also must take written exams to demonstrate their competency in orthodoxy. Local churches can be disaffiliated from their annual conference (after a warning) for teaching bad doctrine (paragraph 354). Further, bishops will no longer be held accountable by fellow bishops. In the interim, the Transitional Leadership Council will hold bishops accountable. It is anticipated once the convening General Conference occurs that a completely independent commission or council will oversee bishops. There will be no more proverbial foxes guarding the hen house.
The GMC is NOT the UMC 2.0
Lastly, the reason why I hope most disaffiliated UMCs will choose to join the GMC is because the GMC is not The UMC 2.0. The differences are real and significant. We have returned the local church to be in the “driver’s seat.” Any level above the local church only exists to support the local church and is only large enough to ensure doctrine is protected and accountability is preserved. The funding structure is completely different and will ensure local churches have more money with which to do ministry. The clergy deployment system ensures local churches have increased, guaranteed input into who their pastor is. This new denomination has been designed at every level to be a permission-giving organization, not a gate keeping one. For more on this, I encourage you to read the article Ten Reasons Why I’ll Join the Global Methodist Church.
The WCA will continue our work to help every church depart The UMC that wishes to do so regardless of where the church ends up. We pray, however, that churches will resist the temptation to go independent or seek loose affiliations. The Global Methodist Church is a redesigned, theologically conservative expression of Methodism that is better poised to protect the doctrine of our Christian faith, ensure clergy, bishops, and churches are truly accountable, and keep the “Main Thing the main thing.”
The Rev. Jay Therrell is president of the Wesleyan Covenant Association and an ordained elder in the Global Methodist Church.