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.
By Kathy L. Gilbert
July 29, 2019 | UM News
“Every United Methodist now knows our denomination is heading for a separation,” Sierra Leone Bishop John K. Yambasu said in an address to a diverse group of church leaders meeting in Chicago.
But the bishop also called on the group attending the July 19 meeting to find a new way forward through consensus. He was speaking to a group with a wide range of viewpoints about the denomination’s inclusion of LGBTQ persons during a meeting that he termed “a call to action.”
Read more: Church leaders look at options for future of denomination
By Sam Hodges
July 22, 2019 | DALLAS (UM News)
The United Methodist Church continues to face a financial hangover from the 2019 General Conference in St. Louis, where passage of the Traditional Plan led unhappy churches and individuals to a range of resistance actions, including withholding money.
Board members of the denomination’s General Council on Finance and Administration, meeting July 18-19, learned that this year’s January-to-June annual conference apportionment remittances to the seven general church funds were $4.9 million behind the first half of 2018....“There was an initial reaction to St. Louis that just happened dramatically, and I think we ought to name that,” said North Texas Conference’s Bishop Michael McKee, who serves as GCFA board president. [Read the article on UMNews.org]
Here is a summary of the debate over the future of the UMC that took place during the Annual Conference Sessions during the months of May and June. Many of the details can be seen here on this page.
By Kathy L. Gilbert
July 17, 2019 | UM News
Several United Methodist annual conferences meeting this summer looked at plans for a new Methodism centered around how to divide The United Methodist Church.
More than 20 of the regional gatherings rejected the Traditional Plan approved by the 2019 General Conference and voted to remove the phrase “homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching” from the denomination’s lawbook. The United Methodist Church has 54 U.S. regional conferences that meet in May and June.
Other conferences had passionate discussions about the future of The United Methodist Church but stood by the action of the 2019 General Conference.[Read the whole summary at UM News Service.]
July 17, 2019 by UMJeremy (Rev. Jeremy Smith, senior pastor, First UMC, Seattle)
One of the options for The United Methodist Church is dissolution: ending The UMC denomination and dividing resources and churches. What does that look like in practice?
Dissolution is not a Divorce
A commonly-used metaphor for the United Methodist Church is to say we are in a divorce proceeding. Divorce makes it seem straightforward and simple. That metaphor is not helpful (if anything, we are in a domestic violence proceeding as an abusive spouse has done harm to the other for 47 years), and, it turns out, it isn’t legally accurate either.
Read more: What does it mean to Dissolve The United Methodist Church?
- Where The Money (Doesn't) Come From
- Bishops Release Rulings of Law on Ordinations, Finances
- Two Bishops Offer Plan for UMC Future
- Arbitration: A Possible Help in the Coming Separation
- UMC Bishops pose five questions to Judicial Council on Traditional Plan
- A Letter to Centrists
- General Conference is Broken; Annual Conferences Are Not
- US elections see shift in GC2020 delegates
- 76% of US Annual Conferences Reject Traditional Plan
- How To Restructure The UMC
- "Where Do We Go From Here?"
- June 20 Marks Four Significant Elections
- Inclusive Methodists secure Jurisdictional Conference majorities
- Recommended candidates offer open letter to leaders and colleagues
- A Texas-Size Wakeup Call for WCA
- "Know When To Hold 'Em, Know When to Fold 'Em..."
- Mountain Sky Conference Report
- An Open Letter to the WCA
- How The West Can Help the Rest
- Annual Conference 2019 Petition Results
- A Primer on UM Apportionments
- UMC-Next: Reports and Docs
- Methodist Movement New England
- Loved and Liberated: Our Movement Forward Proclamation
- Summit Plans Inclusive Methodist Movement
- Creating a Future with Hope
- How will denominational divide affect mission?
- Petitions to the 2019 Annual Conferences
- Bishops Meet, Plan, and Ask Judicial Council For Ruling
- Journalist Cynthia Astle on Secret Meetings
- 'Does The UMC Have A Future?' Christy Thomas says No
- What's Next? Hamilton and Coyner
- Stith: GC 2019: Myths and Realities
- UMNS: Centrists, progressives to discuss church's future
- Options for the Future
- An Open Letter to Adam Hamilton
- What To Do About Apportionments?
- How did the U.S. get to LGBTQ acceptance?
- Diana Butler Bass on Methodism
- Five Reasons for a U.S. Church