Is There Room for Traditionalist Pastors in The United Methodist Church?

June 11, 2024
By Rev. Dr. Scott Field

Is there still room for traditionalist pastors in the United Methodist Church? 

I get a fair number of contacts asking this question.

Here’s my answer: Yes, but probably not for long. 

Let’s recognize that one of the most difficult spots for pastoral ministry in the US today is to be a traditionalist United Methodist pastor. Think about the range of settings across the ecclesiastical landscape of the UMC where they might be appointed to serve.  

• The traditionalist pastor might be serving in a church that has had many/most of its traditionalist members leave either before or after the recent UMC General Conference. He/she is now a traditionalist pastor in a wounded progressive/institutionalist congregation with an uncertain future. As one traditionalist pastor told me, “The congregation doesn’t have the critical mass any longer to plan much of anything for the future, and they are blaming me.”

• Perhaps the pastor serves in a “purple church” in which neither the progressives nor the conservatives had the “votes” to separate, where the members of the church loved and served together for decades, but who now find themselves strangely divided from and suspicious of one another.

• The traditionalist pastor may also be considered by his/her DS or Bishop as a potential liability, a possible renegade who may or may not be loyal to the UMC any longer now that other options exist. Expect to be appointed to places others might not want to serve.

• And what happens if, at the end of June, it becomes apparent that there will be no exit ramp allowed for congregations wanting to leave your annual conference? What sort of future does a church in “The Fellowship of the Stuck” actually envision for itself?

• How does a traditionalist pastor in good conscience advocate for the payment of denominational apportionments, support denominational programs, and agree to the upcoming mandated SPRC “inclusivity training” that prepares the congregation he/she serves to receive their next pastor without regard to sexual or gender identity or even an agreement to celibacy in singleness and fidelity in marriage?  

• Since traditionalist ministry candidates are unlikely to be approved by the Boards of Ordained Ministry going forward, unless they hide their traditionalist/ orthodox/ evangelical commitments, how does it feel for the present traditionalist pastors to recognize that they are barely tolerated and have been relegated to the “endangered pastoral species” list in the UMC?

Some traditionalist UMC pastors are, without doubt, committed to continue serving within the UMC, but the valuing of their commitments, ministry, and mission priorities has been steeply discounted by the denominational leaders. It is a hard place to be.

Can traditionalist pastors count on support from the Wesleyan Covenant Association?

Though this is likely hard to hear and also hard to write or say, I think the answer is the same: Yes, but probably not for long.

Let me explain in three points (yes, my seminary preaching professor was a wonderful Welshman who insisted on three-point sermons since, in his way of thinking, the human mind is aligned with the Trinity – one mind most friendly toward information coming in threes). 

1. The Wesleyan Covenant Association is more a movement or network than an institution or organization. 

 The WCA formed in 2016, in part, as a reaction to the election of a partnered lesbian to the office of bishop in the Western Jurisdiction and the refusal of the Western Jurisdiction College of Bishops, despite the ruling by the UMC Judicial Council that the person in question was not eligible to be bishop, to process the several complaints filed against her. 

Additionally, the reaction to approval of the Traditional Plan at the specially-called UMC General Conference in 2019, with 22 annual conferences voting to explicitly disobey the decision of the General Conference and some annual conferences withholding apportionment monies from the General Church in protest of the Traditional Plan, demonstrated that the episcopal and administrative leaders of the denomination had openly abandoned their responsibilities for governance of the denomination and had, instead, begun acting and leading in open defiance. It was a “palace coup.” 

2. The Wesleyan Covenant Association revised its mission statement to focus on helping congregations disaffiliate from the UMC and find their way to the Global Methodist Church.

The WCA accelerated the work of its task forces that led, after the dubious third postponement of the 2020 UMC General Conference, to the launch of the Global Methodist Church in 2022. In response to the launch of the GMC on May 1, 2022, the GMC Global Legislative Assembly changed its mission statement to include the following:

• “To act as advocate and ally on behalf of churches and annual conferences which seek pathways out of The United Methodist Church and into the Global Methodist Church.
• “To contend for fair, just, and amicable pathways out of The United Methodist Church for all, including progressives as well as traditionalists.
• “To continue to act as an advisor and contributor to the leaders of the Global Methodist Church, as they work to shape its doctrine, polity, and mission during this formative period, and in preparation for a convening General Conference.”

3. The amazing, glorious reality is that the WCA network of pastors and laity has, in large part, moved on from the UMC to the GMC. Many of the organizers and leaders of the provisional annual conferences of the GMC have been part of the WCA and are now offering themselves for the establishing, strengthening, and expansion of the Global Methodist Church. “This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes” (Psalm 118:23).

The WCA continues to provide significant support for networking, informing, and organizing in Africa.  However, the season of disaffiliation is largely over in the USA. We are indeed monitoring those several annual conferences in which the bishop and conference trustees may still allow for a congregation to separate from the UMC, but these processes are in the hands of the local annual conference. The WCA does not plan to have large-scale gatherings in these annual conferences, but we do provide information and support as appropriate for individual congregations that contact us.

If I’m a traditionalist in the UMC, whether pastor or laity, what support is available to me from the WCA?

Again, three options for your consideration: 

• 1. If you and/or your congregation is in an annual conference that is providing a pathway for exit from the UMC, we welcome your contact through info@wesleyancovenant.org . If you want to speak to me directly, my mobile number is 630-606-6035. We likely have people in your area or not too far away who can provide information and assistance as you navigate the process outlined by your conference.
  2. The other WCA resource available to all is our Revive! landing page with a growing list of consultancy videos and print resources to assist congregations considering separation from the UMC.
  3. For traditionalists seeking an ongoing relational network of others committed to reform and renewal within the UMC as well as a robust community of spiritual encouragement and accountability, I would suggest the New Room Conference sponsored by Seedbed Publishing (coming in September). There is also a newly forming network you might be interested in, the Protestant Reconquista, connecting traditionalist, orthodox Christ-followers across the mainline Protestant denomination. 

We are grateful for the countless individuals and congregations who have been part of the Wesleyan Covenant Association.  Our time as a network and movement is drawing to a close as we celebrate the launch and growth of the Global Methodist Church. For those traditionalists called to remain within the UMC, it is time to weave a new network. For those of us still committed to our sisters and brothers in other parts of the world who are finding their way into a new future, we continue to support, inform, network, and assist them. 

Yours in the Matchless Name of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer!

Scott Field, President
Wesleyan Covenant Association