Divide or Stay Together?

: Created: 29 March 2019; Last Updated: 30 September 2022

The discussion continues: split the UMC into several parts or stay united somehow? Are the differences really irreconcilable?
Its not a pretty picture. Actual disaffiliations are on a different page.

UM-Insight and Hacking Christianity have been carrying articles on the subject. They are two of the main sources for the stories below.

A sampling of the voices since February, 2019:

A Letter from Tom Frank, emeritus professor at Wake Forest University

Dear Disaffiliating United Methodist congregations,

The pastors and lay members who are leading you to vote to leave the UMC tell you that your local church will remain the same as it always has been. No. It will never be the same. And here’s a few of many reasons why:

+ some of your members will vote to stay in the UMC. Votes like this are deep wounds that people rarely get over. Divisions like this can scar your congregation for generations to come. If you thought the vote to sell the parsonage was bad, just wait till you vote on this. (read the whole letter here) [top]

A Reply to Tom Frank: About Our Disaffiliating Kin, by Darryl Stephens. From UM-Insight.net

Some of our United Methodist kin are disaffiliating for very different reasons than supposed in your letter....

I agree with your warnings, particularly about the Global Methodist Church. However, not every disaffiliating congregation embraces the Traditionalists’ quest for a purer expression of their version of Wesleyan piety, centered on LGBTQ exclusion. Some disaffiliating congregations find themselves in quite the opposite situation: seeking a safehouse from their domestic abusers....

I can no more insist on a continued union with kinfolks who have enshrined their discriminatory opinions as essential doctrine masquerading as church law than I can insist that a battered wife remain within a marriage to her abusive husband. In both cases, the abuser broke the covenant long before the survivor of abuse sought safety by leaving. Tom, in stating the dangers of disaffiliation, I think you have understated the violence of continued unity. To shame such a congregation for seeking disaffiliation is tantamount to victim-blaming—or worse, collusion with the abuser....
Read the entire piece here. [top]

California-Nevada Extended Cabinet Issues Statement on Disaffiliation

Some members of the Wesley Covenant Association, Institute for Religion and Democracy, and others have been planning this deconstruction of the connection for almost 40 years. The schismatic endgame of this strategy is apparent. Yet many of their movement are no longer represented in General and Jurisdictional delegations. This does not mean the tide is turning; the numbers bear witness that they are not. However, facilitating THEIR exit should be the primary goal rather than having us waste valuable time and energy planning what is ultimately the will of the WCA and IRD. Remember, it was the Methodist Episcopal Church South that left the Methodist Episcopal Church. [top]

The Case for Unwinding and Recreating the UMC (Part 1) (Part 2) - Nate Berneking, Director of Finance and Administration for the Missouri Conference

...the institution of the United Methodist Church must be brought to an end, “unwound” or “dissolved” responsibly so as to protect individuals and churches, and then, in its place, we must (re)create a new structure in which local churches and clergy serving them gain the benefit of the protections offered by a common connection, while also benefitting from greater freedom to act, restrictions and requirements replaced by a focus on resources shared through the judicatory(ies) of which they are a part. [top]

Who will "lose" in a split? Some thoughts by Cynthia Astle, editor of UM-Insight.

In reply to an article by Mark Tooley, of the IRD, Cynthia writes that, contrary to his pronouncement that "radicals will lose" in a church split,

"Faith in God’s love and justice does not build a 'Christendom' where authority is exercised from the top down by a elect few. Faith in God’s love and justice as Jesus taught builds a community where all are welcomed and affirmed, where authority is shared collectively, and where grace upon grace extends to all. Of this gospel truth we can be assured, even in significantly ambiguous times such as ours today. God's mathematics are as infinite as God's love and not bound by official membership rolls. In Jesus’ kingdom, receiving, believing and practicing the truth of God’s love constitutes 'winning.'" [Read her whole article!] [top]

Defiance, Schism Talks Continue While Awaiting Top Court's Ruling -- Cynthia Astle

A collection of stories: FUMC Omaha, Trinity, Austin, Greater NW, Nordic and Baltics, and a proposal for two UMCs. [top]

Centrists, progressives to discuss church's future -- Sam Hodges, UMNS

A large meeting of centrist and progressive United Methodists from the U.S. is set for May 20-22 at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas. The question to be asked is a big one: What should become of The United Methodist Church?

“We hope that this will be a diverse group of leaders who will help shape Methodism’s future and whatever comes out of those conversations will be our next steps and strategies moving forward,” said the Rev. Jasmine Smothers, lead pastor of Atlanta First United Methodist Church. Specific options to be considered include breaking up the denomination or creating a financially smooth exit plan for traditionalist-minded congregations, said the Rev. Adam Hamilton, another organizer, in a blog post. Read the complete story at UMNS. [top]

It's Time for Separation -- Gregory Stover

The time has come for United Methodist leaders across the theological spectrum to come together for honest and honorable conversation about how to accomplish an “amicable separation” in the United Methodist Church. I am certainly not the first person to suggest that a separation provides the best direction for our denomination. Nor is “amicable separation” the only metaphor suggested. Many have spoken of “divorce.” Others label a potential division as “schism.” (Read the whole article) [top]

Options for the Future -- Mark Holland

The most important thing right now is to be empowered about the future of the Methodist Church. We lost the votes for 4 days in St. Louis. We win the remaining 361 days of the year as we vote with our actions and our dollars. The 2/3rds of the U.S. church that is in support of full inclusivity cannot be controlled by votes from outside our mission field. Paragraph 101 of the Book of Discipline gives the global church broad autonomy over their mission fields. This is not currently reciprocated to the U.S. church. Yet, we have all the members and resources we need to form a church in the Wesleyan tradition that is filled with grace and not mean-spirited rules. The Traditional Plan lives in the past. Together, we need to form a new future. Here are three things we can all do.... (Read on) [top]

UMC: Take the Bait or Seize the Moment? -- Jeremy Smith

The language from the Traditionalist wing of The United Methodist Church is: we won, you lost, now get out..... So since 2004, efforts had to be made to get the progressives to be the ones who left, to leave the denomination in the hands of the Traditionalist minority. That is the ultimate goal of the Traditionalists....But...the 2019 General Conference has awakened the moderates and LGBTQ-inclusive conservatives to their antics and started to nullify their effects. [top]

Universities Ponder Traditional Plan’s Implications -- Cynthia Astle

Ohio school, United Methodist-related Baldwin Wallace College, considers disaffiliation; Cal-Pac CFA offers a kind of designated giving to churches for General Church budget. [top]

What does the UMC stand to lose in a split? -- Rebecca Holland, chair of the Disability Ministries Task Force of the Susquehanna Conference [top]

After the events of the 2019 General Conference, many people have called for LGBTQ+ Methodists and their allies to split with the established United Methodist Church in order to form a new and more “progressive,” denomination; however, in the midst of strong feelings, few people have stopped to consider the complex and unforeseen repercussions that a schism would cause. Even with my poor eyesight, I can clearly see that if the United Methodist Church splits, the gains that have been made for women, people of color, and people with disabilities will be lost. A schism threatens the very diversity that it claims to want to protect. [top]

Leaders Gather to Discuss What’s Next -- Western Jurisdiction

On March 27 and April 4, 2019, centrist and progressive leaders from across The United Methodist Church gathered in Dallas, TX and in Atlanta, GA. Facilitated by Gil Rendle and Bishop Janice Huie, the aim of the meetings was to bring together thoughtful leaders representing various stakeholders in the church to see if a consensus could be reached about a better way forward for The United Methodist Church than that which was passed at General Conference 2019. [top]

A Wee Reminder to My #UMC Friends -- Diana Butler Bass

A wee reminder to my #UMC friends -- Methodism began as a spiritual movement to renew a decaying institutional church and serve the outcast, the marginalized, and the poor. It is the WCA "traditionalists" who are NOT traditional. They are like 18th century Anglicans (sorry Anglican friends!) who tried to quash a spiritual movement of inclusion and love. It is the WCA "traditionalists" who are appealing to authority and order and ecclesial control -- like the Anglican bishops who criticized and chastised John Wesley and the early Methodists. [top]

John Wesley Should Have Left the Anglicans -- Michael Airgood

We believe God is patient and gracious and God calls us to be patient and gracious with folks who are afraid that acknowledging God’s unrelenting grace will unravel all that they hold foundational to faith. When faith is characterized by Victorian notions of morality (enforced by colonialism and the vestiges of colonial era governance) rather than the liberating freedom of God’s grace, any crack in the wall is enough to flood out the dam. It would be easier to leave. We might yet be forced out by trials and legislative action. But I don’t believe we will leave of our own choice. Dissent and disobedience have always been the path of Methodists. [top]

Denomination’s future under discussion — quietly -- Sam Hodges, UMNS

Discussions about the future of The United Methodist Church are quietly occurring among leaders, after a recent special session of General Conference that underscored deep divisions over homosexuality.

A group of centrists and progressives — including some U.S. bishops — are meeting to consider options for the “broad center,” said the Rev. Adam Hamilton....Meanwhile, the Rev. Keith Boyette, president of the Wesleyan Covenant Association that successfully pushed for strengthening restrictions against same-sex unions and ordination of openly gay clergy, said he’s been part of difficult dialogue with leaders on the other side. [top]

The Burden Is On Us To Leave by Darren Cushman Wood, pastor of North United Methodist Church in Indianapolis (3/28/2019)

The denomination is like a dysfunctional family and we should leave for the sake of our emotional and spiritual health. Why keep going back home when Daddy has rejected you year after year? The equivocations of moderates over the years created false hopes that are now exposed. [top]

We're Not Designed to Be a 'Worldwide Denomination' by Thomas H. Griffith, retired clergy member of the California-Pacific Conference (3/28/2019)

Unless and until we insist that the churches in the Central Conferences have the same rules defining local church membership as do the U.S. churches, and to keep their lists of professing membership honest, we will always have a dysfunctional organization....We conned ourselves into buying the idea that we are a 'worldwide denomination' without putting in the operational safeguards that would allow us to maintain ourselves, worldwide. [top]

Key African Leader Calls for Split in UMC by Mark Holland, executive director of Mainstream UMC. (3/25/2019)

Our call for unity has been answered with a call for divorce. In response to a recent email sent out by Mainstream UMC, prominent Liberian delegate, Rev. Dr. Jerry Kulah sent me a message offering a 'new game plan' that promises in part to 'advocate that you move out along with all of your churches.' Apparently my 'brand of UMC' is an 'embarrassment' to him and other Africans....It is one thing to hold a conservative view of Scripture; it is quite another to advocate for all who disagree to leave the church. [top]

Why the UMC Must Split: by O. Wesley Allen, Jr., Lois Craddock Perkins Professor of Homiletics, Perkins School of Theology (3/28/2019)

The General Conference of the United Methodist Church has been arguing about homosexuality for nearly a half a century, about 20% of the time the Methodist church in America has been in existence....We must split....all have misunderstood what is really at the root of our current division. Sexual orientation and gender identity are not the root issues. [top]

Another View of UMC Integrity by Cynthia Astle, editor and publisher of UM-Insight. (3/27/2019)

I’ve come to the conclusion that we United Methodists have deluded ourselves into thinking that the UMC’s integrity rests upon adherence to its structure – obedience to a set of institutional rules – when in reality we’re tussling over two sets of morality whose matrices don’t mesh. The result: We’re savaging one another for not following a moral code that the other finds immoral and repugnant. [top]

A Hopeful Way Forward for Progressive United Methodists by Jack Jackson, Ph.D., E. Stanley Jones Associate Professor of Evangelism, Mission, and Global Methodism and Director of the Center for Global Methodism at Claremont School of Theology. (3/25/2019)

...the denomination’s traditionalist direction is now set. United Methodist progressives have three options before them...The hopeful option is for progressives to form a new progressive Methodist denomination....Fighting is simply no longer an option if the progressive goal is a vital missional community that welcomes all numerous visions of human sexuality. [top]

IRD’s Mark Tooley Reveals All: The Full African Takeover Of The UMC -- Christy Thomas (3/11/2019)

Tooley writes: More telling: Manila will host the 2024 general conference, the first ever outside the U.S. Four years later the church will meet in Harare, Zimbabwe—with African delegates in the driver’s seat. When the general conference returns to the U.S. in 2032, Americans will be a decided minority in what was once called 'America’s church.'
"And now we have it: the takedown of the US part of the UMC will be complete by 2028. Yep, Mark Tooley reveals all," says Thomas. [top]

Stay or Go? How United Methodists Decide -- Thomas Bandy is writing a six-part series on the subject on Ministry Matters. (3/5/2019) [top]

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Divide or Stay Together?