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Judicial Council Rules Traditionalist and Exit Plans Constitutional

United Methodist News Service reports that the United Methodist Judicial Council has ruled that parts of the Traditional Plan and an amended Exit Plan passed at the Special Called General Conference of 2019 held in St. Louis in February, 2019, are constitutional. Read their story here.

"The United Methodist Church’s top court has found that while some provisions of the newly adopted Traditional Plan remain unconstitutional, the rest of the plan is valid as church law....

"In a separate ruling, legislation to provide an exit strategy for local churches wishing to leave the denomination meets three minimum requirements and thus is constitutional “when taken together with the consent of the annual conference” as specifically outlined in the Book of Discipline, the court said."

You can read the decisions from the Judicial Council here (Traditional Plan) and here (Exit Plan). Two summaries of the (now revised) results of the Special Called General Conference of 2019 are here (a blog post) and here (in chart form, modified to include Judicial Council ruling). Here is a simplified, summary chart of the decisions. William B. Lawrence, former Judicial Council President, provides A detailed analysis and warning.

Here is an overview of the decision and initial reactions: Court rulings escalate talk of church split -- by Heather Hahn, UMNS.

And in case you need to hear it or you know someone else who might need to hear it, listen to Mark Miller's original version of "Child of God" here and a more formal version here. Remember the words of Paul in Romans 8:38-39, which is what Mark based his song on:

38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Reconciling Ministries Network has released a statement in reaction to this ruling.

The outcome is not surprising and does not change our plan to continue to resist the decisions of GC2019; continue to live into Biblical Obedience; show up at General Conference 2020; and remain open to new possibilities for our Church.

Notably, the Judicial Council struck down the “certification requirement” that individuals up for nomination to an Annual Conference Board of Ordained Ministry (BoOM) must certify to their bishop their willingness to comply with the entirety of the Book of Discipline. It also struck down a requirement for BoOMs to “conduct an examination to ascertain whether an individual is a practicing homosexual,” as well as certifications that respondents will not repeat an action or actions. [Read the whole statement]

The Western Jurisdiction College of Bishops has also released a statement about the ruling:

...the intent of the Western Jurisdiction remains the same as was stated on the floor of General Conference 2019: to live in the spirit of “One Church.” The Mission Cabinet and the delegations of the Western Jurisdiction endorsed the One Church Plan before the Special Session, believing it to be the best option for allowing faithful United Methodists of differing theological perspectives to be in ministry together. We believed the One Church Plan was an expression of Wesleyan values that we practice in the West. In the wake of the Judicial Council decisions, we continue our commitment to live into Beloved Community as one church in each of the conferences of the Western Jurisdiction.

...The ruling by our Judicial Council will spark new discussions in our churches and in our Annual Conferences and across the connection. We anticipate that difficult decisions will take place during General Conference 2020. Thus, the road ahead may feel like a wilderness. But we, your bishops, are prayerfully in conversation in many places, with many individuals and groups about your hopes and your vision for being Church in this challenging time. We remain committed to ministry as one church for all and we ask for your prayers for the church and for the future of the love and grace as we travel this road together, not knowing where it will lead us, yet, but confident in God’s presence with us. [Read the whole statement]

Highlights from Bishop Oliveto's Statement (via Facebook):

The Gospel message tells the story of Thomas, who wasn’t with the rest of the disciples and so questioned their story of the risen Christ. He said, “Unless I see the mark of nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” The risen Christ comes to him, stretches out his hand and invites Thomas to touch. It is then that Thomas recognizes Christ and realizes the truth of the resurrection. While Thomas is forever cast as “Doubting Thomas” because he was unwilling/unable to believe the stories of the other disciples, we forget that all the disciples had trouble believing in resurrection until they, too, experienced its truth. They doubted the story of the women and they doubted in the face of an empty tomb. It took their own encounter with the risen Christ to believe.

The role of experience is central to faith, and in particular to we who call ourselves Methodist. John Wesley called himself “a man of one book, and a student of many.” While the Bible was central to his faith, it took his experience to open the fullness of scripture to him. It was his Aldersgate experience, when the Holy Spirit caused him to feel his heart strangely warmed, that furthered his faith. Experience, for Wesley, was an important component of faith.
On Friday, April 26, 2019, the Judicial Council released its decisions regarding General Conference 2019. While parts of the Traditionalist Plan were found unconstitutional, the parts that remain are an affront to many in our annual conference who have had the experience of receiving God’s love through the lives and ministries of LGBTQ people. [Much more in her full statement.]

Highlights from Bishop Carcano's Statement:

"...for too long the General Conference has chosen to act like the pharisees who were committed to the legalism of their own creation rather than the laws of grace, mercy, and love for all God’s children that Jesus came proclaiming.  The preservation of those pharisees’ self-righteousness was more important to them than the vulnerability required by the commandments to love God and to love neighbor as we love ourselves, and it so appears to be the case with our General Conference as well....What happened to being the people called United Methodist who dared to make Matthew 28:19-20 its mission and the transformation of the world its bold vision? I believe that the full inclusion of ALL God’s children is the necessary first step to being the Church God calls us to be. [Much more in her full statement.]

Highlights from Bishop Hoshibata's Statement:

  • I pledge to continue to lead us in ways that reflect the vision of a One Church Plan. I believe in this because it honors the freedom that pastors have to officiate at same sex weddings as well as the freedom not to do so.
  • I will support churches that refuse to allow same sex weddings on their campuses; and I will support churches that are called to do so.
  • I will uphold the quality of our inquiry into the gifts and graces of candidates for the ministry of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world at the district and conference levels without intrusive inquiry into a candidate’s sexual orientation.
  • I will lead in ways that encourage all to create spaces that practice open minds, open hearts and open doors.
  • I will lead in ways that honor the gift of being fully oneself as we serve as laity or clergy.

There is much more in his entire statement!

The Methodist Federation for Social Action has published this statement.

The ruling of the Judicial Council and the rules of the Book of Discipline do not overrule the teachings of Jesus. Love God, love your neighbor. Many in our church and our world are still trying to find a loophole in defining who our neighbor is and isn't. The thing is there is no loophole. There is no neighbor, nor living creature, that is excluded. This ruling also does not change our work of resistance and seeking justice. We will continue to stand up and resist the exclusive, punitive, and mean spirited thinking and theology these pieces of legislation are rooted in. [Read the full statement, with suggestions for action.]

Bishop Sally Dyck's Pastoral Letter:

Most importantly, I want to say again (as I did after the Special Session of the General Conference concluded) that I am deeply disappointed that The United Methodist Church has less inclusive of all people. The harsh penalization and limitations set within the Traditional Plan give little space for those of us who have deeply held convictions based on scripture, tradition, reason, and experience that includes all God’s people....

She has also posted a Vimeo video speech, "What's Next?" regarding living under the new regime.

UM-Insight has many reactions to the ruling here.