December 19, 2023
By Rev. Dr. Scott N. Field
Dear Friends and Frequent WCA Outlook Readers,
My apologies for this blog piece. I wanted to write something more Christmas-y, but since several of our constituents noted that one of the unofficial UMC refereeshad called me and the WCA out not once but twicerecently, I’ve chosen to respond.
What is all of this about?
A few weeks ago, I posted information about an initiative of the Wesleyan Covenant Association we are calling Fair for Some Fair for All. That information has been passed along through social media in many places. Perhaps you are aware of it. If you missed it, however, you can read it here.
One response to the launch of our initiative, written byRev. Dr. Mark Holland, Executive Director of MainstreamUMC, contends there is something nefarious afoot. His caucus group, he contends, will need lots of money from donors to combat our campaign. You can read his alarmist warning here: WCA Fundraising to Sabotage GC.
I’m not sure if my writing is so poor or if Brother Holland has completely misunderstood. Apparently, I need to clarify a few things. The MainstreamUMC Advisory Board and constituency will, no doubt, appreciate my second attempt; one of the purposes of that caucus group is to “Call out lies and disinformation that are driving divisions” (Role of MainstreamUMC for General Conference 2024.)Perhaps I can assist in the effort to call out lies and disinformation.
For my part, I am 100% excited about the WCA’s recently launched Fair for Some Fair for All initiative. I’d like to tell you why.
So, to clarify…
Fair for Some Fair for All is not a fundraising campaign.
Brother Holland positions his blog post (December 8) as Breaking News, claiming that we are appealing for funds to upend the UM General Conference. Not so. Our campaign is an appeal directly to General Conference delegates to extend a pathway for discernment and disaffiliation by Central Conference UM congregations that choose to leave. Central Conference United Methodists are in Africa, the Philippines, and Europe. Disaffiliation is an option that has been denied to them and reserved forUMs in the United States alone. The injustice of this situation is obvious. The General Conference can remedy this situation by their action this coming spring. We are not upending, attacking, or sabotaging anything. We are asking for what has been allowed in the USA to be allowed everywhere in the UMC. Period.
I would suggest that there really is no need for fundraising to “defeat” the campaign and the WCA initiative. It is amatter of votes. This is a simple yes or no question put to the United Methodist Church at the upcoming General Conference. Which will it be, UMC?
Will the United Methodist Church allow for its church members in Africa, the Philippines, and Europe to have the same option as its church members in the USA for discerning their future and disaffiliating from the UMC if they should so choose? Yes, or no?
Very simple. Our initiative is an effort to appeal directly to General Conference delegates to overcome the injustice of how the congregational disaffiliation process (described in UM Book of Discipline, paragraph 2553) has, up to this point, excluded all United Methodists outside of the USA.
Why wouldn’t MainstreamUMC want to join us in the Fair for Some Fair for All initiative?
You might think I’m a hopeless optimist for thinking our sisters and brothers at MainstreamUMC would ever cooperate with the Wesleyan Covenant Association on anything. But I am not naïve. As we say in Chicago, “Politics ain’t beanbag.” We’re not playing games. Put on your political goggles, friends. Making a pathway for Central Conference United Methodists to disaffiliate is a stellar political strategy for accomplishing MainstreamUMC’s priorities.
Brother Holland, in his writing about recent General Conferences, has been very clear that from his perspective it is the African delegates to General Conference in particular who have provided the voting bloc that passed The Traditional Plan and sank the One Church Plan in 2019. It is the African United Methodists, he contends, who have become the major impediment that keeps the USA episcopal and administrative leaders of the UMC from achieving the goals of their progressive agenda. And he is, in many respects, correct.
MainstreamUMC’s political opportunity in the WCA’s Fair for Some Fair for All initiative is almost too good to be true: it opens the door for the African United Methodists to leave…under the guise of the UMC’s commitment to justice and decolonization! No more contending with traditionalists from beyond the shores of the USA. Imagine it: the conservatives from the entirety of the United Methodist Church throughout the world would have the opportunity to disaffiliate! No more General Conference battles. No more intramural caucus conflict.
I am sure I will not be invited to the next meeting of the Advisory Council of MainstreamUMC, but I would suggest they put on their agenda the possibility of finding a way to support the effort to provide a pathway for Central Conference United Methodists to disaffiliate from the UMC if, after prayerful discernment, they should choose to do so. They can give whatever name they desire to their effort so as not to be perceived as cooperating with the “enemy” (aka, The Wesleyan Covenant Association). But, seriously, you needn’t raise funds to save the UMC from us. In fact, MainstreamUMC would be more politically savvy, I think, to find a way to support and cooperate with us.
Hold on a minute…there IS a “DONATE” link in the WCA’s announcement of the Fair for Some Fair for All initiative. That sure seems like “fundraising.”
Indeed. To support our effort for extending a fair, transparent, feasible, and uniform exit possibility for Central Conference UM congregations that choose that path, we are intent on allowing African United Methodist laity to speak for themselves, to have observers at the General Conference meeting directly with General Conference delegates, to organize their influence, and to provide for African United Methodists to report back directly to their congregations. And yes, that does involve the WCA providing funds, through our network of donors and constituents, for the means to accomplish this. United Methodist episcopal and administrative leaders provide little to no support for dissident voices. Clearly the Bishops want nothing to do with congregational disaffiliations going forward. Our episcopal leaders are intent on “turning the page” on disaffiliations overall, even if that means locking the door on Central Conference United Methodists.
Brother Holland takes my invitation for financial partnership and highlights it as the primary purpose of the Fair for Some Fair for All campaign. This seems to border on the edge of misinformation which MainstreamUMCpurports to combat. I did the word count on my original post about the campaign: 7% of the 751 words have anything to do with money. 93% explain the current injustice against Central Conference UM congregations and ask for fair-minded General Conference delegates to provide an exit path for them if they should so choose.
Yes, there is a DONATE link. And, I am grateful to report, we have been provided with many faithful financial partners who support the initiative.
You needn’t worry about us, Brother Holland; the WCA is becoming increasingly irrelevant. But beware! It may be that others are readying to take our place…
As of this writing 7,662 congregations have disaffiliated, just over 25% of UM congregations in the USA. We are profoundly grateful that the WCA’s regional chapters have been able to inform, encourage, and resource so many of those congregations. They have chosen the path of prayerful discernment and the difficult process of disaffiliation. Why? They seek a future that is faithful and fruitful…so they are leaving the UMC behind.
As these congregations have left and as the disaffiliation provisions of paragraph 2553 are concluding, the WCA mission is nearly fulfilled.
But there is an important part of that mission not yet completed: the freedom of Central Conference United Methodists to choose their own future. The UMC Bishops will not champion the cause. And, honestly, many UM clergy have a vested interest in the perceived security of the post-separation UMC. But we believe there are open-minded laity who will vote to support the most basic of ethical principles: what is fair for some should be fair for all. We are appealing to them. Why? Because our mission is for all UM congregations to end up where they choose to be at the end of this disaffiliation season.
The Council of Bishops is planning for a Special Session of the General Conference in 2026. The WCA will likely be gone by then. MainstreamUMC will need to find another group/opponent/enemy to use for raising funds. Or maybe, with the days of caucus conflict long over by that point, the post-separation UMC can focus on the missional vitality that has eluded it for so long.
ONE CAUTIONARY NOTE FOR MainstreamUMC:Though the Wesleyan Covenant Association will close down after fulfilling its mission, the Holy Spirit always kindles a fresh fire among passionate Christ-followers for “the faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 3,4). So, pay attention: a new group has formed already. Neither I nor the WCA has anything to do with this upstart movement. But it seems that the WCA is not the last network that will seek reform and renewal in the UMC. If you’d like to know more, check out these new arrivals on the scene: The Protestant Reconquista.
By the way…notice there is no DONATE link here. If you’d like to support the Fair for Some Fair for All initiativethough, please go to www.wesleyancovenant.org. Click on the Fair for Some Fair for All Campaign in the drop-down menu. Many thanks for your support. We are deeply grateful to the Lord for this opportunity to serve in this unique way.