The United Methodist Church (UMC) was created in 1968. Every 4 years since, there has been a meeting of the only body that can speak for the church, General Conference (GC). The topic of how we, as a denomination, are in ministry with persons who are lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender (LGBT) has been a topic of every GC since 1972, including a special GC in 2019. Some of the highlights of GC decisions include the following: In 1972 the words, “We do not condone the practice of homosexuality and consider it incompatible with Christian teaching,” were added to the phrase “persons of homosexual orientation are persons of sacred worth.” In 1984 GC added that persons who are LGBT shall not be clergy candidates or appointed as clergy in the UMC. In 1992 GC declared that ceremonies to celebrate homosexual unions shall not be conducted by United Methodist clergy or in United Methodist churches. In 2019 GC added a minimum penalty for clergy found guilty of performing a same-sex wedding - one year’s suspension without pay for the first offense and loss of credentials for the second. A more thorough review of these developments can be found here. Since GC 2019 several proposals have been submitted for consideration at GC 2020, to be held May 5 - 15. While we will not know what the future of the UMC is until after GC 2020 it does look like there is a strong possibility the UMC will be changing, likely with at least some churches/persons forming a new denomination, or denominations. With that statement, please breathe -- take a moment and breathe. We know nothing yet, and will not until at least May 15. You may remember we at Marble Memorial UMC had 'conversations' last fall. Those were to prepare us to talk with each other in a respectful, calm manner. This, and other topics, are very important to many people so we spent time looking at how. We are in the process of setting up further meetings about this specific topic where we will explore what we think, what others think and why, especially looking at how the Bible addresses this topic and how it affects people. These dates have not been firmed up yet but will likely begin in April. Watch for specific meeting days and times. I believe this will be time well spent for any decision we as individuals and as a congregation may need to make following GC 2020. I encourage you to keep up with developments regarding the UMC from our Michigan Annual Conference at Michiganumc.org where you can sign up for weekly emails about denominational news and mission. You also may want to go to www.umnews.org/en to sign up for a daily United Methodist News service email. We also provide hard copies of the monthly Michigan Conference magazine. You may want to schedule a time to talk with me about this, or another topic. You can e-mail me at revjackieroe@gmail.com or call the church office, 734-439-2421, to set up an appointment. Please be in prayer for those of the LGBTQ community, who these discussions and decisions directly impact, our denomination and leaders, here at Marble Memorial UMC and around the world. Also, let us remember and always be living into our denomination mission of 'making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world' and our church vision of "Inviting people, living the love of Christ." May we be prepared to address this very important issue while we continue in our entire ministry. See you Sunday! - Pastor Jackie Roe
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |