Purpose of this site
This site started out as a place to showcase my skills, interests, and writings. It has been of help to a number of folks over the years since I started it around early 1996. These parts of the site are accessible through the "About" menu choice at the bottom left.
I've been an advocate for full inclusion of LGBTQIA+ (at first just Lesbian and Gay) persons in the life of the church, especially the United Methodist Church since the '70s. I have been to a number of General Conferences of the UMC but the 2019 GC went especially badly for this inclusion.
This is a collection of articles about that Special Called General Conference of The United Methodist Church held in Saint Louis, MO, U.S.A. in February, 2019, and about the future of The United Methodist Church (UMC) as it has been unfolding since.
A bit of history and background
It all started in 1972, during the debate on a new Social Principles statement for the new United Methodist Church, just formed 4 years prior in 1968. Here's some background. Here's another take on the problem, from an African pastor. Rev. Jeremy Smith, in his blog Hacking Christianity, has exposed the plans from 2004 of a group of organizations to take over if not destroy the UMC.
The addition of the discriminatory words, that "homosexuality" is "incompatible with Christian teaching," has done a lot of damage since 1972. Here's one theological take (text and video). The collection of writings by LGBTQIA+ people is a witness from those most directly affected.
The special gathering in St. Louis in February 2019 of all the official delegates from all the Annual Conferences of the worldwide UMC, in raucous and contentious debate, continued the discriminatory language against LGBTQ persons and relationships, and added punitive measures. Many individuals, pastors, churches, conferences, jurisdictions, and even bishops have spoken out against this result. In fact several bishops, including all in the Western Jurisdiction, have pledged not to forward any complaints they get against clergy for being LGBTQ or for performing weddings or covenant services for same-gender couples.
The future
There was to be another General Conference in May, 2020, which all hoped would finally resolve the controversy, either by breaking up the UMC or by encouraging one or another groups to leave the denomination, and making it easier to do so, or by completely reorganizing the denomination. There were many plans formulated as "solutions," which are in the menu at the left under GC2020, either as full-blown legislative plans or aspirational statements. There are others that were in development and would likely have been presented by Annual Conferences meeting in regular or special session in March 2020. One of these, widely supported at the time was the “Protocol of Reconciliation & Grace Through Separation,” released January 3, 2020. More here. The "Christmas Covenant," produced by members of "Central Conferences" (outside the USA), was announced around the same time. It has been gaining support (2023).
Unfortunately, just as we approached May, 2020, the SARS-CoV2 virus and its related pandemic disease, COVID-19, was shutting down venues where masses of people to gather, as the world tried to contain the virus and the disease. The May 2020 General Conference was postponed first to 2021, then 2022, and finally to 2024.
This site attempts to highlight key developments in the resulting struggle for the future of the UMC. See especially the categories "The Future of the UMC" and "GC-2020/2024" on the menu at the left.
My priorities have changed a bit since 2019. The "rebellion" in the US UMC has been well-documented on this site; time and COVID have changed what's possible in the resolution of the future of the UMC; and most specifically, the Christmas Covenant has emerged as a favorite of mine as a plan for the future. The primary reason is that it leads towards de-colonization of the Central Conferences by the US UMC; it was written by Central Conference folks themselves, it replaces the "Central Conferences" name with "Regional Conferences" which are established, providing an international equity between the Regional Conferences. More detail can be found at the Christmas Covenant web site.
Finally, I am writing my autobiography, and have an increased sense of the limited time-span of a human life, mine in particular. The final document is at the publisher (March 2024). A pre-publication PDF version is here.
Some basics about the "issue" and the denomination
If you're in doubt about whether "homosexuality" is "OK" for followers of the Christian Way, this bibliography has a number of resources to counter the loud voices saying it isn't. Please spend some prayerful time with these resources.
And if all this talk about "General," "Annual," and "Central" Conferences, and "Jurisdictions" is confusing, visit this great overview of who we are as a denomination of Christians whose founding came out of the late Reformation in Europe in the 18th century.
How this site came to be
This part of my web site began when the United Methodist Association of Retired Clergy asked me to try to keep up with what was happening in the UMC. UMARC is not neutral and neither am I, nor is this site. You can read UMARC's founding values here, and my faith commitments here. As my energies and priorities are changing, I plan to discontinue updates after the 2024 GC.
Note that individual stories are updated as new information becomes known. This page lists the most recently updated pages. (Nearly all the links to web sites or resources other than those on this site, JBenjaminRoe.com, open in a new window.) --Ben Roe