Wesley Would Be Proud: Methodists Stand Firm

The 2008 General Conference of the United Methodist Church has refused to change its official stance on homosexuality.  The denomination's Book of Discipline states that homosexual practices are "incompatible with Christian teaching" and several proposals to change or water down that language were rejected.  The vote was fairly close - 501-417.

Conference delegates did adopt resolutions stating that “all persons are individuals of sacred worth, created in the image of God,” and that United Methodists are to be “welcoming, forgiving and loving one another, as Christ has loved and accepted us.”  Delegates also approved a new resolution to oppose discrimination and homophobia, stating opposition to “all forms of violence or discrimination based on gender, gender identity, sexual practice or sexual orientation.”

The rejected language was presented in a majority report from the Legislative Committee, which proposed removing the above-quoted "incompatible" statement and replacing it with “Faithful, thoughtful people who have grappled with this issue deeply disagree with one another; yet all seek a faithful witness.”  The majority report also recommended adding “to refrain from judgment regarding homosexual persons and practices as the Spirit leads us to a new insight.”

The Legislative Committee minority report advocated for retaining the "incompatible" language.  Rev. Eddie Fox, who presented the minority report, argued that the Church's stance on homosexuality needed to be “clear, concise and faithful to biblical teaching.”  Fox stated:  “I have seen and experienced the pain and the brokenness in parts of our global movement whenever our church has failed to hold fast to this essential teaching of the Holy Scripture.”

In related votes, the General Conference rejected several attempts to incorporate same-sex unions within those rites authorized by the Church.  They refused to amend paragraph 341.6 of the Book of Discipline, which prohibits Methodist ministers from conducting ceremonies to celebrate homosexual unions; rejected a proposal to add "civil unions" to paragraph 162; and rejected a proposal to amend paragraph 161C to add "committed unions" to a section describing the sanctity of the marriage covenant.

Given the closeness of the vote and the vehemence of several protests that are taking place even as we speak, I doubt the battle is over in the UMC despite the fact that this is not the first time such changes have been rejected.  As a cradle Methodist myself who came to Anglicanism through marriage, this does make me wonder if we will not see some measure of cross-pollination between the two denominations, where liberal Methodists who do not see Biblical issues with homosexuality may consider crossing over to TEC, while orthodox Episcopalians, who have to date been unwilling to leave TEC for the alphabet soup of Anglican orthodoxy, or to swim the Tiber, may see a safe harbor in their Methodist cousins.  I suspect a lot of this decision-making will have to do with how local priests and ministers stand on the issues and conduct their respective parishes and congregations.

UPDATE:  I've been thinking more about this subject and more particularly about the clergy in the Methodist Church and their role in this situation.  The Methodist Church has a very similar problem to TEC, that being the seminaries being led by liberals and thus producing a very liberal young clergy.  This in some ways can be more damaging in a Methodist congregation, at least insofar as worship services are concerned.  In my experience, Methodist services are much less structured than is the Episcopal liturgy, allowing liberal clergy to alter the worship experience in significant and material respects.  Methodist churches are thus more likely to have such aberrations as "contemporary services", etc. 

Asbury Theological Seminary here in Kentucky is an exception to this rule, primarily because it is not directly affiliated with the UMC but independent.  Under the leadership of +Maxie Dunham in recent years, Asbury has reinforced its curriculum of Biblical, traditional theology, and has developed a strong program to develop good, young voices from the pulpit.  Dr. Dunham was specifically hired to build a better mousetrap interms of instruction in preaching, and by all accounts he accomplished that goal at Asbury.  The downside has been reports within the UMC that certain parts of the Church do not want to hire Asbury graduates due to their traditional, orthodox training.

In Methodist services, the sermon is much more a focal point than in the Episcopal liturgy, in which the Eucharist is the high point, thus allowing the clergy a much brighter "spotlight" from which to espouse their causes and beliefs.  This should be contrasted to the many discussions within the UMC over recent years over the decline in the quality of preaching, which I believe has a lot to do with the decline in Biblically-based sermons.  More than church administration realizes, people want to go to church to hear the Word of God, not secular-political drivel, and if they are not getting their "spiritual food" from the pulpit, they will eventually drift away.   Such titans in the pulpit as +Maxie Dunham, +Garrett Evans, +Emerson Colelaw, +Ross Linger, +Lyndsey Davis, +Billy Ray Jennings, and others whom I have had the privilege to hear in my younger years are simply not being replaced by strong, Biblical voices, with a few rare exceptions.

Add to this the administrative system in the Methodist Church, wherein Bishops and District Superintendants exercise considerable control over moving clergy around from church to church and placing certain clergy in "key" churches, and the ability of the UMC to manipulate its theology where the proverbial "rubber meets the road" can, in certain situations, be very significant.  Thus, again, my point above about Methodism perhaps being a "safe harbor" for the orthodox will necessarily be very influenced by local clergy, but also could change with some rapidity as clergy change and are moved about within the UMC.  The 2008 General Conference was a success for orthodox believers, but the war is far from over in the UMC.