From Rev. Megan Armstrong, General Conference Delegate, Associate Pastor:
#UMCNext #UMC #MtnSkyUMC
My perspective on the UMC Next gathering in Kansas City:
There was a gathering of United Methodists at the beginning of this week looking at the future of the denomination. The UMC Next meeting at the Church of the Resurrection was organized by a caucus group self-identified as ‘UMC Next.’ More than 600 United Methodists gathered from every Annual Conference from within the United States. The gathering represented both centrists and progressives. The idea was that we would sit together, listen carefully, hear testimony, pray for one another and our denomination, and do intentional work on what the next steps are for those of us in the UMC who cannot abide by the Traditional Plan that was voted into place at the 2019 General Conference.
Let’s start with some history. In 1939 the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC), the Methodist Episcopal Church-South (MECS), and the Methodist Protestant Church united to form The Methodist Church. At the time of this merging, we institutionalized our personal racism into the system of our denominational organization. The Central Jurisdiction was formed and Blacks were segregated from the rest of the denomination. After 29 years of this discrimination, the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren merged together as the United Methodist Church in 1968. In this newly formed expression of the Methodist movement, the Central Jurisdiction was dismantled and institutionalized segregation ended. However, the racism that was inherent in the segregation of the previous denomination was never addressed; rather while actions were taken like the forming of the General Commission on Religion and Race, for most white UMC members, it was a taboo conversation that made people uncomfortable. We followed the example of the country and leaned into “color-blindness” not willing to do the hard work of dismantling racism within our pews, conferences, or denomination. People of color (POC) continue to experience the effects of racism throughout the church treated as less-than, voices excluded from the table, or tokenized when included. I share all of this because I am a part of this racism.
I share this history because the homophobia that is present in our current expression of Methodism is riding on the shoulders of racism. It is the undercurrent of a river of oppression that we have allowed ourselves to become very comfortable with. Instead of leading our country on dismantling the roots of racism, we have climbed on the raft and added oppressions for POC, women, the LGBTQIA+ community, and more.
This week at the UMC Next meeting we heard stories of these oppressions in the lives of our brothers, sisters, and siblings in Christ. We heard it from the chancel and in our small groups; we heard the exclusion present and how it goes beyond the lives of those of us who identify as LGBTQIA+. We have hard work to do, and it will only come to fruition if we are willing to acknowledge the harm being done, repent for the role each of us play, and be honest with ourselves and others about the benefits we receive from the oppression of others. We must remove ourselves from leadership so others, whose voices have been systematically removed, can bring leadership. We have to stay present, continue to identify our privilege and dismantle it, and remain at the table staking our claim as those willing to follow with new ears and new eyes, willing to be transformed by the liberating Spirit. We are called to recognize that by creating a space for the wholeness of others we too will become more whole.
I am terribly disappointed by the outcome of UMC Next. The stance that we should “stay and resist” is the comfortable remaining in their comfort of the status quo. I also would be terribly disappointed if we continued the mistakes of 1968. Just because we eliminate the language that discriminates against LGBTQIA+ siblings does not mean we create safe spaces and eliminate the inherent ‘-isms’ of our system. If those of us serving in local churches are not willing to engage in the work of dismantling racism, sexism, and homophobia, then it will not matter whether we stay or leave the current expression of Methodism, injustice will still be the story we tell.