Bishops plan to explore 'new forms of unity'
By Heather Hahn
May 9, 2019 | CHICAGO (UMNS)
Faced with the fallout of a divisive General Conference, United Methodist bishops said they would join other church members in exploring new possibilities for the denomination’s future....
“There is a sense among the council that we are in untenable times,” said the Council of Bishops in a May 9 statement to the church. “To this end, the council is exploring models and plans of new forms of unity.” ...
- They asked the Judicial Council, the denomination’s top court, to clarify the “meaning, application and effect” of legislation enacted by the 2019 General Conference.
- They appointed 11 of their members to serve on a listening team to accompany conversations already happening about the denomination’s future.
- The bishops also agreed to support a move to having a new U.S. structure that deals with solely U.S. issues, similar to the current Standing Committee on Central Conference Matters that deals with matters that affect the church in Africa, the Philippines and Europe.
- The bishops’ executive committee also requested an independent investigation into alleged General Conference voting irregularities....
Bishop Kenneth H. Carter, president of the Council of Bishops, told United Methodist News Service that what he’s hearing from people around the connection is that “God is doing a new thing. Something is dying, and something new is being born,” said Carter, who also leads the Florida Conference. “I don’t meet many people who want to maintain the status quo.”
Full UMNS Story by Heather Hahn
Council of Bishops Press Release
The Council also issued a "Common Letter" to the Church
[Some of the Bishops met in a closed meeting with members of the coalition who promoted the Traditionalist Plan. Another excerpt from the story:]
Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson, who leads the North Georgia Conference, expressed her distress that colleagues from Africa, Europe and the Philippines, had forgone a scheduled time of fellowship to meet with a coalition of leaders who advocated the Traditional Plan.
“I think this is an intrusion into our relationship and intrusion into our authority as bishops,” she said. “I desperately want us to represent a church open to all people and when we disagree about theology, we don’t punish each other.”