Retired bishop Forrest C. Stith has written his interpretation of what happened at the General Conference of 2019: 8 myths and the contrasting realities. Here are the myths:
- MYTH #1: The entire denomination prefers the traditional model over all other possibilities.
- MYTH #2: The church in the U.S. is equally divided on the question of full inclusion of LGBTQ persons in the life of the church.
- MYTH #3: Schism is inevitable for The United Methodist Church.
- MYTH #4: Most African Americans reject the inclusion of same-sex orientation persons.
- MYTH #5: The reason for membership decline in North America is due to UMC public stances on sexual preferences and other social issues.
- MYTH #6: Since the assumption is that a majority of the Churches in Africa voted in favor of the Traditional Plan, and assured its passage, it must have been in their best interest.
- MYTH #7: The Traditional plan represents the tradition and history of Methodism.
- MYTH #8: The Holy Spirit is no longer appropriate for our time, and the only hope for The United Methodist Church lies in its legislative parliamentary maneuvers, annual conference debates, strategizing, caucuses, the Judicial Council, and individuals who rail against each other.
Of particular interest to me is Myth 7.
In a 235 year history, a decision made in1972 cannot be seriously called a tradition especially since every General Conference since its inception has had close votes on its continuance.
For many years the Methodist church struggled with instituting a “laundry list” of sins ordained pastors were prohibited from committing. These included alcohol consumption, cursing, gambling, infidelity, tobacco, use, with the final one, tobacco in any form, eliminated only in 1972. Bishop William Lewis reminds us of the irony that 1972 was also the year that a specific sin was re-introduced in the form of homosexuality. Bishop Lewis also offers the irony that tobacco use is the cause of death, illness and family breakup many times more than any ramifications of same-sex relationship.
The only true Wesleyan principle is not hurling Bible quotes “out of context” against each other, but understanding that the Wesleyan method of understanding is based on the Quadrilateral, that is on four sources: Scripture, tradition, reason, and Christian experience.