Cynthia Astle has written her take on where the UMC is right now. Here are excerpts:
A Parody Sprinkles Comic Relief into UMC Tensions
The Latest Steps Toward the UMC's Future
September 3, 2019
By Cynthia Astle, editor of UM-Insight
For those who've never heard The Beatles (or can't remember the tune), here's an original cut of "Revolution," on which Chris Weitzel based his parody of The United Methodist Church's struggle over its future. (YouTube Video)
OK, Baby Boomers, we’re starting the first “UMC Future” update of September with a blast from the past. Thanks to Chris Weitzel for this gem from his Facebook post. We’ve provided a YouTube video of the original version for those who’ve forgotten the music.
Resolution
For the UMC with regards to John Lennon.
You say you want a resolution. Well, you know, we all want to change the world. ... [read more at UM-Insight]
Where We Are: Venn Diagram
I tried to come up with an illustration of where we are now in terms of the various proposals for United Methodism’s future. The accompanying Venn diagram is what I devised.
I included the results of the Our Movement Forward gathering in May because that group has written out its guidelines for a new expression of United Methodism, even though it didn’t come up with a structural scheme. I didn’t include anything from the July consultation convened by Bishop John Yambasu of Sierra Leone because no formal statement resulted from that discussion...
Most of all, this diagram repeats the pattern of activity that I’ve seen so often over the past 31 years of reporting on The United Methodist Church: most leaders are attempting to use structure to address a spiritual problem. The problem stems from the competing visions of biblical and theological interpretation around human sexuality....I think we’ve lost John Wesley’s greatest genius, namely the relationships of spiritual guidance that occurred in the class meeting....
New Reconciling church in Kenya
Ophelia Hu Kinney, communications director for Reconciling Ministries Network, posted this news on Facebook:
"On Sunday, September 1, 2019, FUMC Moheto in Kenya became the first African Reconciling Church!
"----- What that means in plain language is this -----
"While The United Methodist Church has taken a cruel turn for increased exclusion and punishment for LGBTQ folks and their allies, there are colonial institutions working to drive people of color - especially Africans - away from LGBTQ folks, profiting off the lie that people of color don't love LGBTQ folks and LGBTQ folks don't love people of color.
"Because of the way the chess pieces stand right now, there's a lot at stake for African United Methodist churches. For an African United Methodist church to take such a public stand against that lie is a really, really big deal. We have so much to celebrate, but this church will also need our support and encouragement. They can't do this alone. [read what the pastor has to say, and the address to send encouragement notes to]