This site is the personal web site of J. Benjamin Roe (Jr.), Ben for short. I am a graduate of Nebraska Wesleyan University (1969 B.A., religion), and Claremont School of Theology (1975 D.Min., ethics), a former United Methodist minister (Nebraska Conference 1970-1996), and have been at various times an administrative assistant, applications programmer and trainer for a Unix product and a Windows/SQL product, communications staffer, and website constructor and maintainer, now retired. This site has many of my writings, information about my life and careers, my family and my interests. I named my site "Tuxwheels" because I'm a Linux user ("Tux" is the penguin mascot of Gnu/Linux), mobile in a wheelchair, after years in a 3-wheel scooter (post-polio). If you are interested to know more about me, you can read my writings, visit my Facebook page, or
About the UM Church menus on the left:
My church, The United Methodist Church, has been through a period of upheaval following a couple of contentious "General Conference" (GC) gatherings (2016, 2019). (A "GC" is a gathering of delegates from all over the world who decide the work of the denomination, and the rules.) For over 50 years, the denomination debated whether "homosexuality" is "compatible with Christian teaching." Each General Conference since 1972 has debated this, often in heated exchanges, which reached a crisis point in 2016.
A Special Called General Conference, meeting in Saint Louis, Missouri, U.S.A. in February, 2019, was to have resolved the debate, but instead voted to retain the original 1972 language and restrictions against Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual persons (trans and intersex had not been addressed--yet), their same-gender marriages, and ordained LGB ministers. The conference then added more punitive penalties for disobedience to these new rules. Following that General Conference, many in the denomination, including in the U.S. and Europe, voiced their commitment to continue to welcome all people, including LGBTQIA+ persons, to full participation in the United Methodist Church. Nearly 25% of churches in the UMC in the USA disaffiliated (left), in reaction to the actions taken. The "UM Church" part of this web site attempts to document this "rebellion" and the attempts to finally resolve the impasse which became abundantly clear at the 2016 General Conference.
The main focus of this personal site shifted to the General Conference of 2019 and its aftermath, the (re)forming of The United Methodist Church. My position is clear in my writings (here). I put "homosexuality" in quotes because it is an out-moded term which no longer matches the science of sex, sexual differentiation, gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation. This bibliography lists resources which show why this is outmoded in the terms of John Wesley's four sources for theological and ethical consideration.
The General Conference of 2020 had to be postponed three times to 2024 because of the COVID pandemic. It was finally held in Charlotte, NC, in April and May 2024. The results were a watershed. The 2024 Conference set the denomination on a new course. See especially The UMC Charts a New Course in 2024.