UMC won’t
be supporting the Gay Agenda. See below:
United Methodist Court Upholds Traditional Plan, Allows Liberals
a 'Gracious Exit', by Tyler O’Neil, 4/20/19.
On Friday, the Judicial Council of the
United Methodist Church (UMC) — the denomination's highest court — upheld the
key provisions of the Traditional Plan, the conservative policy upholding
traditional Christian teaching on sexuality, and upheld the "Gracious
Exit" policy, enabling dissenting liberal churches to leave while still
holding on to their property.
These decisions finalize an unprecedented move in
increasingly liberal mainline Protestant denominations. The Episcopal Church
and the Presbyterian Church (USA) have rejected the traditional Christian
teaching that marriage is between one man and one woman and that homosexual
activity is sinful. Liberals in the UMC wanted that denomination to move in
that direction, as well.
Yet in February, in a special meeting of
the UMC General Conference, the denomination passed the conservative
alternative. White liberals accused black Africans of using bribery to uphold the
traditional Christian teachings, but no evidence of any such activity came to
light. No, the conservative position prevailed, fair and square.
In recent decades, as mainline
Protestant denominations started rejecting the clear teachings of scripture,
many congregations decided to leave. My church, the Falls Church Anglican, left
the Episcopal Church in December 2006, following Nigerian bishops who remained
devoted to the Bible. The Episcopal Church had ordained openly homosexual
clergy, but it also had firmly rejected the Bible's teaching that Jesus is the
only way to reconciliation with God and eternal life.
While the congregation — not the
Episcopal Church — owned the church building (with a history tracing back to
George Washington), the denomination claimed the building. In 2012, the Supreme
Court awarded the historic property to the Episcopal Church. My congregation
lost the building, worshipped in school auditoriums, and only recently raised
enough money to construct a new church building, which is still under
construction.
The UMC move to allow dissenting
congregations to keep their property is extremely generous, given this recent
history. While liberal denominations fight tooth and nail to take property away
from local congregations who wish to uphold the Bible's teaching, the
conservatives in the UMC not only upheld biblical teaching on sexuality but
also approved a plan to let dissenting congregations leave the denomination
with their property intact.
Many have attacked the UMC policy as
"anti-LGBT," but the policy explicitly holds to the principle of
"inclusivity" in addition to Bible teaching on sexuality.
"The United Methodist Church
acknowledges that all persons are of sacred worth," the policy states. "All persons without regard to
race, color, national origin, status, or economic condition, shall be eligible
to attend its worship services, participate in its programs, receive the
sacraments, upon baptism be admitted as baptized members, and upon taking vows
declaring the Christian faith, become professing members in any local church in
the connection."
Yet the UMC does not cave on the Bible's
clear condemnation of homosexual activity.
"The practice of homosexuality
is incompatible with Christian teaching. Therefore self-avowed practicing
homosexuals are not to be certified as candidates, ordained as ministers, or
appointed to serve in The United Methodist Church," the policy states.
"Ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions shall not be conducted by our
ministers and shall not be conducted in our churches."
In defending the Traditional Plan,
the UMC's Judicial Council struck down seven of the 17 petitions, leaving the
most influential policies intact. Clergy who engage in homosexual activity
or identify themselves as actively homosexual will be disciplined when the plan
comes into effect next year.
The Traditional Plan defines a "self-avowed
practicing homosexual" as a person who is "living in a same-sex
marriage, domestic partnership or civil union or is a person who publicly
states she or he is a practicing homosexual." Such persons are not
eligible for leadership in the United Methodist Church.
Despite the passage fo the
Traditional Plan in February and this recent decision upholding the plan last
Friday, liberal members of the UMC are not yet leaving the denomination. The
UMC General Conference will meet again next year, and liberals have decided
they will attempt to fight back at this conference. If the Traditional Plan
again prevails — as is likely — a mass exodus will begin.
When these liberal congregations
decide to leave, at least they will hold on to their property — and they will
not even have to wage a long legal battle like my church did.
It is tragic that Christian
denominations like the UMC face such divisions. However, Christians must follow
Jesus, no matter how counter-cultural His teachings are. Those who reject
traditional Christian doctrine are distancing themselves from the gospel,
especially if they reject the historic bodily Resurrection of Jesus or the
unique saving power of the gospel.
The church should always be a
welcoming place for struggling people — those with homosexual attractions and
gender confusion emphatically included. However, that does not mean that
churches must embrace LGBT identities and practices. Christians must preach the
message of love and repentance — love and inclusion for those who struggle, but
repentance from what the Bible clearly defines as sin.
Christians must constantly examine
our hearts. We must offer love and grace, but without abandoning the scripture,
the very basis for that grace and love. Jesus calls us to uphold traditional
teaching while genuinely caring for those who struggle with same-sex attraction
and gender confusion. Liberals cannot afford to reject truth, and conservatives
cannot afford to reject love. Yet liberals must not pretend that holding to
biblical teaching is somehow a rejection of love.
The UMC shows how conservatives can
win with grace and love. Allowing liberal congregations to leave with their
property is a gracious act, one befitting followers of the man who told His
disciples to pray for their enemies.
Comments
Gays deserve to be
left alone and so do we.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody
GA Tea Party Leader
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