By Rev. Dr. Scott Field
September 26, 2023
I received an email last week. With minor edits, here is the text:
Take your marbles and leave the United Methodist Church. Why are you people still not in the Global Methodist Church? You have caused enough heartache, already.
And here is my reply:
Thank you for your email in response to our recent posting of resolutions from United Methodists in Africa (Dear United Methodists Listen to Us in Africa).
I take it from your brief email, that you are weary of the ongoing conflict in the United Methodist Church, tired of the Wesleyan Covenant Association (WCA), and frustrated or irked or maybe resentful that we (the WCA) continue to bang the drum about matters concerning disaffiliation from the United Methodist Church.
I probably wouldn’t say it in exactly the same way, but overall, I agree with you. I think I can say that most of the people associated with the Wesleyan Covenant Association agree with you, too. In fact, you got me thinking about the perspectives we hold in common.
Here are four ways I think all of us, you and me, the WCA, and, I dare say, most all United Methodists, agree with each other:
1. You’d like us to leave. We’d like that, too.
Many of us remember the contentious Special General Conference of 2019. The Commission on a Way Forward was established at the UMC General Conference of 2016 to develop and present a legislative proposal to a potential special session of the General Conference that would resolve the long-running denominational divide on matters related to human sexuality. At the 2019 Special General Conference, the Commission brought three options of a way forward to the UMC: The One Church Plan, the Connectional Conference Plan, and the Traditionalist Plan. If you’d like to review the whole Way Forward Commission Report, it is available here.
When it came to voting, the Traditionalist Plan prevailed…barely. And when the Special General Conference was over, many of our denominational leaders and some of our annual conferences refused to follow the provisions of the Traditionalist Plan whatsoever. Progressives wouldn’t live with the decision of the General Conference. Traditionalists couldn’t live with renegade bishops and annual conferences. United Methodism was pulling apart.
We all agree, I think, that something had to give. And it has.
2. We’ll love each other better in separate denominations
You may also remember the Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace Through Separation which was announced in January of 2020. An ad hoc group of Progressive, Centrist, and Traditionalist leaders worked together to develop a proposal to be presented and acted upon at the 2020 General Conference. The rationale for the Protocol includes these articles:
Whereas, The United Methodist Church and its members—after careful reflection, discussion and prayer—have fundamental differences regarding their understanding and interpretation of Scripture, theology and practice;
Whereas, The United Methodist Church and its members are at an impasse, the Church’s witness and mission is being impeded, and the Church itself as well as its members have been injured;
Whereas, the undersigned propose restructuring The United Methodist Church by separation as the best means to resolve our differences, allowing each part of the Church to remain true to its theological understanding, while recognizing the dignity, equality, integrity, and respect of every person; and
Whereas, the undersigned, in recognition of the regional contexts and divergent points of view within the Global United Methodist Church, propose separation as a faithful step with the possibility of continued cooperation around matters of shared interest, enabling each of us to authentically live out our faith.
(Italics added for emphasis. The entire Protocol is available for reading here)
We all agree, it seems to me, that we will be better apart than in the same denomination together.
3. We’re all experiencing separation sorrow
The pandemic and related matters caused the 2020 General Conference to be postponed three times. It will meet next April-May (2024). The Protocol was never acted upon. Some of its original signatories withdrew their support. In the meantime, however, the Global Methodist Church launched. And the process for local church disaffiliation, described in The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church, paragraph 2553, was engaged by thousands of local congregations. This has led to uneven requirements across various annual conferences, lawsuits and countersuits, untold costs, and a number of special sessions of annual conferences in order to complete the disaffiliation process by the end of 2023. The process of separation on all sides has often been accompanied by anger, animosity, confusion, disillusionment, and disappointment.
We can agree, it seems to me, that the season of disaffiliation has led to heartache for us all.
4. What is fair for some must be fair for all
You said in your email that the WCA should take our marbles and leave the United Methodist Church. We would like to, but there is an injustice in all of this that cannot be left unaddressed. WCA’s mission is to advocate for and assist local congregations to engage the future to which God is calling them. We want all churches to end up in the denominational family where they want to be.
But here’s the uncomfortable reality:
The disaffiliation process that has been offered to UM congregations in the US has been denied to UM congregations in Africa, the Philippines, and Europe. Please note that there is nothing in paragraph 2553 restricting its application exclusively to the US; that restriction comes solely from the UM Council of Bishops. And, as long as this disaffiliation discrimination exists, the WCA has not yet fulfilled our purpose.
A hopeful opportunity exists at the UM General Conference next Spring. Delegates to the General Conference can authorize a continuing disaffiliation path for all congregations everywhere, including Africa, the Philippines, Europe, and other Central Conferences, that is fair, transparent, feasible, and equitably administered.
Within a denomination that regularly and rightly decries all expressions of institutional racism, it seems to me that we can all agree the next UM General Conference must address the discriminatory administration of disaffiliation provisions. Providing a continuing separation option for all United Methodist congregations everywhere would overcome this glaring equity gap. What is fair for some must be fair for all.
And then, perhaps, we in the WCA will be able to take our marbles and leave.
Blessings to you, friend, in the Matchless Name of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer!
Rev. Dr. Scott Field
Wesleyan Covenant Association