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Articles about developments of alternatives for the future of The United Methodist Church: discussions of options, other expressions of the Methodist or Wesleyan Way, new alignments, petitions and resolutions approved in annual conferences, etc.

The five jurisdictional conferences in the US United Methodist church have held elections of bishops and introduced significant resolutions, all of which point to the kind of future the United Methodist Church in the USA is building. Two sources give their takes on what that future might look like.

UM-Insight has this story: Grassroots Resolutions Point Toward UMC's Future, an exclusive by Cynthia B. Astle, November 10, 2022

Months of conversations among jurisdictional conference delegates resulted Nov. 2-4 in a historic event when all five U.S. regions approved three resolutions that repudiate The United Methodist Church's past and point the way toward a more inclusive future.

While the resolutions aren't binding on jurisdictions or annual conferences, their topics and the strong majorities by which most were approved signify that a clear shift has taken place, say United Methodist leaders. Furthermore, conference delegates foresee that the process by which they worked across jurisdictional lines portends more grassroots activism ahead of the 2024 General Conference, the UMC's worldwide legislative assembly now slated to take place April 23-May 4, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. More...

The United Methodist News Service story has another good summary of the actions of the jurisdictional conferences. Here are highlights:

Jurisdictions see shift in bishops, more cooperation
By Heather Hahn, Sam Hodges and the Rev. Tom Kim
Nov. 7, 2022 | UM News

Read more: Jurisdictional Conferences Point Towards New Future

Disobedience didn’t start with sexuality debate

Commentary by the Rev. Dr. Lovett H. Weems Jr.
Feb. 6, 2023 (UM News)

Key points:

  • Defiance of rules passed by General Conference is nothing new for the people called Methodist.
  • Examples include violation of prohibitions against slavery, women clergy, smoking and, these days, rebaptism.
  • The Rev. Lovett H. Weems Jr. questions why defiance of church restrictions related to homosexuality is seen as different from those examples and a reason for church separation.

Read more: Ecclesiastical DIsobedience Isn't New

By Heather Hahn and Sam Hodges
Dec. 15, 2022 | UM News

Key Points:

  • The United Methodist Church is completing its first big wave of church exits under a church law that allows churches to leave with property if they meet certain conditions.
  • More church withdrawals from the denomination are to come before the disaffiliation provision expires at the end of 2023.
  • But amid these losses, church members see signs of hope including lay-led efforts to “Stay UMC.”

Much is in flux in The United Methodist Church as 2022 draws to a close. What’s clear is that the denomination’s long, gradual numerical decline in the U.S. has accelerated due to local church disaffiliations.

Yet even as they mourn these departures, a number of United Methodists also see signs of hope and opportunities for growth in what is still the second-largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. and a global church with members spread across four continents.

Just as fire tempers steel, Council of Bishops President Thomas J. Bickerton said he sees the current struggles refining The United Methodist Church to be stronger in faith and sharper in mission and ministry.

“Are we going to be less than we were before? Yes,” said Bickerton, who also leads the New York Conference. “But that’s not a bad thing. I believe we are beginning to discover what it means to reframe and reset this denomination.”

Read more: Taking stock after a season of disaffiliations

'Everybody's Doing It' ­– United Methodists Ignoring Their Own Rules as Break-up Continues

Editorial by Cynthia B. Astle, UM Insight, December 15, 2022 (Used by permission)

I am utterly spent and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart. – Psalm 38:8 

Church politics, like all politics, creates noble achievements and questionable dealings. As the year draws to a close, United Methodists find themselves coping with their leaders bending – and breaking – the rules as the 12-million-member worldwide denomination splinters. With the politics of disaffiliation becoming more widely known, they're perceived by observers to straddle a thorny fence of money-motivated appeasement to the dismay of both those staying and those leaving.

Those leaving often cite "failure to enforce United Methodist Book of Discipline" – the denomination's rule book – as a prime reason for departure. Yet that standard only seems to apply to offenses related to The United Methodist Church's stances that "the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching," rather than myriad other violations.

Read more: Injustice Continues in the UMC During Splintering

  1. Summary: Is the UMC Really...?
  2. Bishops push back against recruitment tactics
  3. Communicators Share Information to Counteract Lies About the UMC
  4. African Bishops Repudiate WCA, Africa Initiative
  5. 'UMsConnected' Offers a Way Station on the Journey toward a New UMC
  6. Where Do We Go From Here?
  7. The "Protocol" Dies
  8. Developments in Annual Conferences
  9. Highlights from David Scott's Blog
  10. Ruling opens door for bishop elections in 2022
  11. Judicial Council: Annual Conferences Can't Leave -- Yet
  12. UMC Update May, 2022
  13. General Conference Postponed a Third Time!
  14. Update, January 2022
  15. Catching Up With The UMC -- and Me
  16. Neocolonial Manipulations by Good News and WCA Are Resurfacing
  17. Delegates discuss mapping new church vision
  18. Wrestling with budget after GC2020 postponed
  19. Looking at financial impact of GC2020 plans
  20. New Website and Educational Materials Introduce the Revised Social Principles
  21. New Era Begins with Resistance, Warnings
  22. Greater New Jersey Creates New "Discipline"
  23. Church Future Under Negotiation Before GC2020
  24. Central Conferences Speak Up Against Dissolution of UMC
  25. Background and Update on UMC Debate
  26. Separation Outlook: It's All in the Details
  27. The WCA: How Did We Get Here?
  28. Western Jurisdiction's "Fresh" Summit Envisions Inclusive Church
  29. WCA looks toward new, traditionalist church
  30. WJ Bishops Promise Safe Harbor, Invite Others To Do Likewise
  31. Bishop Carter Suggests Moratorium on Trials
  32. Bishop Carter reflects on journey to GC2020
  33. Greater New Jersey Conference Chooses a Way Forward
  34. An Inspiring and Courageous Episcopal Address
  35. The Filipino UMC Link Between Revival, Unity, and Mission
  36. A Filipino Experience With Schism
  37. BIshop Announces "Guiding Coalition" For Future
  38. Background: Breaking up would be hard to do
  39. We're Not in Kansas Anymore
  40. Will Filipinos Resolve the UMC's Three-Way Standoff?
  41. Leadership Gathering Holds Conversations on UMC Future
  42. COR Leadership Institute Focuses on Future of UMC
  43. 'Reform & Renewal' Forces Acknowledge 20 Percent Delegate Drop
  44. Black Leaders Meet to Discuss Future of United Methodist Church
  45. The Current Three-Way Standoff in the UMC
  46. The winding road ahead for United Methodism
  47. The Bursting of the Methodist Wineskin
  48. Reflections on Where We Are

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