September 5, 2023
By Rev. Dr. Scott Field
(Who is the new president of the Wesleyan Covenant Association and why does the WCA need a new president now, anyway?)
Let me attempt an extended analogy drawn from the world of sports, particularly from American Baseball. I recognize that from a global perspective, there are vastly more sports fans for soccer (3.5 billion), cricket (2.5b), field hockey (2b), and even Table Tennis (850 million) than for the venerable American pastime of baseball. But since I am a baseball fan, I’d like to suggest an apt comparison between the pitchers in a baseball game and my new role with the WCA.
What’s a “Closer”?
In general, there are three types of pitchers in major league baseball games: starters, relievers, and closers.
Starting pitchers are typically proficient with 3-5 types of pitches, seek to establish the momentum of the game for a win, and can effectively face the whole string of batters on the opposing team. The WCA has had an outstanding “starting pitcher” in Rev. Keith Boyette. Keith is an innovative leader who helped lead the launch of the WCA, became its first President, was instrumental in developing the Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace Through Separation, and connected a widespread network of advocates, both laity and clergy, seeking a pathway for separation from the UMC. We are all deeply in his debt. The growth of the Global Methodist Church has in no small part been facilitated by his visionary and detail-oriented leadership.
Relief pitchers most often take the middle or later innings of the game with several types of pitches particularly effective as the game develops. With the UMC’s 2020 General Conference postponed three times, the withdrawal of support for the Protocol that had previously been pledged by centrist and progressive UM advocates, and the subsequent launch of the Global Methodist Church, Rev. Keith Boyette moved on to help lead the development of the GMC. The WCA Board wisely chose a perfect “relief pitcher” in the Rev. Jay Therrell. Jay has worked tirelessly for the past 15 months to develop regional chapters of the WCA, provide a depth of effective, helpful, and useful resources, and given firm, steady, pastoral leadership for congregations, clergy, and United Methodist laity in this chaotic season of disaffiliations. Though Jay will now lead the formation of the Florida Provisional Annual Conference of the GMC, the current overall global strength of the WCA is due, in many respects, to the leadership Jay has provided.
The closing pitcher has a limited and specialized role. A closer is brought into the game by the home team at the top of the ninth inning, usually when the home team is ahead by a run or two. The goal is to “save the lead” and “notch a win.” Most closers have just one or two pitches: a fast ball and an off-speed pitch. By the ninth inning the opposing team is fatigued, so a “fresh arm” often secures the victory. I’ve been brought in as the “closer” for a WCA “win”.
Why now?
Some have observed that as the window for disaffiliation under the UM Book of Discipline paragraph 2553 closes in just a few months, the work of the WCA and other related groups is finished. While it is clear, to continue the analogy, that we are in the ninth inning of the ongoing UMC fragmentation, the “game” is by no means over yet.
Here are my three reasons that the WCA must continue to pursue its mission now:
- There are still a number of special sessions of Annual Conferences in the US that will vote upon disaffiliation for many local churches before the end of this year. In addition, there are legal proceedings underway in several annual conferences that will continue into 2024.The WCA has a well-regarded role in helping inform, resource, and counsel the leaders and members of these churches.
- The disaffiliation process (paragraph 2553) has been available exclusively to UM congregations in the USA. Our sisters and brothers in Africa, the Philippines, and Eastern Europe have been denied access to it provisions. This discriminatory situation simply must be addressed and resolved by the delegates to the UM General Conference in Charlotte next spring. The WCA will bring legislation and advocacy that seeks for the option of disaffiliation to be extended uniformly in all areas of the UMC worldwide.
- The overall outcome of the General Conference next spring is expected to confirm a “new order” for the United Methodist Church. Changes in the Book of Discipline long sought by progressive and liberationist advocates likely will be approved since many traditionalist delegates have departed in this season of disaffiliations. The definition of marriage, qualifications for ordination, sources and norms of authority for what we believe and how we live, including long-held understandings of the mission of the church, will, almost undoubtedly, be substantially revised. On May 4, 2024, the day after the General Conference concludes, many United Methodists, laity and clergy, will find that their denominational home no longer has a place for them. And the WCA will, in partnership with the Global Methodist Church, provide resources, networking, and counsel to those seeking a preferred alternative for their own future.
Enough with the analogy. This is not a game.
Indeed, this is not a game. The stakes in this extended season of change are very high, yes, for individuals and congregations, but also for the well-being of the communities where we live, worship, serve, and witness. A revival may well be on the near horizon. That quickening pulse is being felt among many laity, clergy, and congregations longing to be free from their current denominational constraints to be part of a new, global, movement that is unapologetically Christ-centered and mission-focused.
Will you pray for me, for the WCA Global Council, for those thousands of congregations and millions of Methodists around the worl who want to live faithful and fruitful lives in devotion to Christ and in love for their neighbors?
The Wesleyan Covenant Association has been part of accomplishing much more than any of us imagined even a few years ago, despite the extraordinary challenges of disaffiliation. Now, together, we are pressing on to finish the mission of the WCA. We must still “secure the save” in order to “notch the win”. We are sent, together, under the influence of the Holy Spirit for the healing of the world in Jesus’ Name. This is no time to settle for anything less.
Rev. Dr. Scott Field served as an Elder in the Northern Illinois Conference of the UMC for 41 years, was a member of the Board of Good News for 15 years, led the Reform and Renewal Coalition at four UM General Conferences, established the Northern Illinois Regional WCA Chapter, currently serves on the Leadership Council of the Great Lakes Provisional Annual Conference of the Global Methodist Church, and became an ordained elder in the Global Methodist Church on June 9 of this year. Currently he is the designated Interim President of the Wesleyan Covenant Association. Scott grew up as a Chicago Southsider…so you can probably guess his baseball allegiance.