A Guest Post by Cara Nicklas
I hesitate to post about my views on General Conference because I don’t want to contribute to the divisiveness in our church. No matter how I try to be careful with my words, someone will misconstrue them and misinterpret where my heart lies. However, I am being asked my impressions on what many have called a historic event in the United Methodist Church. I don’t have a simple “Love All” type of post that can capture my thoughts. That would be like proof texting which is not the Wesleyan way. If you really want to know my perspective, you’ll have to read a long post and not even that will adequately explain my thoughts. This may not be pastoral. After all, I’m a lawyer, not a pastor. But if you make it to the end, I offer a word of hope.
I am posting an article by Chris Ritter (it has two parts that are important to read). Chris’ article is one of the best I have read in terms of capturing why I have lost sleep all week and feel an incredible sense of sadness about our church. Chris only identifies a few of the many ugly tactics that were used. I am embarrassed and appalled by how our church conducted itself. You may not believe in spiritual warfare but that is how I heard some describe what they saw. This cannot continue into 2020. I offer a critique of General Conference in hopes we can reflect and self-examine our actions before GC 2020. I agree with Chris that “[t]hings need to be named so they can be healed.”
Holy Conferencing?
General Conference is supposed to be a time of “holy conferencing.” Delegates are invited to seek God’s wisdom through the Holy Spirit. Chris touched on some of the tactics used by the One Church Plan (OCP) proponents. There are many other examples of lying, name-calling, stalling, deception, etc.
- Traditionalists were accused of “killing people” with our theology and bringing a “virus” into the church.
- During the plenary session when the Traditional Plan (TP) was being debated, the rules called for three speeches for and against a motion. Delegates opposed to the TP entered their name in the que to be called on as a speech in favor and gave sarcastic speeches (which, of course, prevented the traditionalists from their allotted number of speeches).
- There were innumerable ridiculous points of order raised with absolutely no integrity at all.
- During the legislative committee session, a OCP supporter called the question to end debate before traditionalists could make all of the amendments to make perfect the TP. In an article by one of the chief strategists for the OCP, he admits knowing the motion would confuse international delegates due to the language barrier and unfamiliarity with parliamentary procedures. African delegates complained later that the translation made it confusing to know whether it was a motion to end debate on only the amendment or on “all things before us.” Thinking it was a motion to call the question on only the amendment, the motion passed. That confusion resulted in a TP without the constitutional fixes. And for that, the OCP proponents were gleeful.
The tactics didn’t just come from delegates.
- The presiding bishops helped facilitate the stall tactics by starting the plenary session late and having several lengthy breaks knowing full well the traditionalists needed time to perfect the TP. Someone told me it felt like the opposing team was wearing referee uniforms.
- Maxie Dunnam offered a packet of materials to help efficiently move through the process for presenting amendments that would have corrected the constitutional issues in the TP. The packet had been sent to the General Secretary in early December so it could be translated. The General Secretary used a critical tone of voice when wrongly suggesting to the body that Maxie had not cooperated in providing what he requested which was the apparent excuse for not translating the materials and thus denying the request to provide the packet with the written amendments. Maxie had no opportunity to correct the misinformation.
- The presiding bishops were informed by some traditionalist delegates that they had eight amendments to present on Tuesday, several of which would fix the constitutional problems with the TP. There should have been plenty of time to present those eight amendments. I believe there were 20-30 delegates in the que to present those eight amendments. During the entire day, only one traditionalist delegate was called on to present a motion so only one of the 8 amendments was presented.
Does anyone really think the Holy Spirit would guide someone to use such tactics? If I am truly seeking God’s will for our church, would I be led to use deceptive tactics or exploitive tricks to achieve God’s will? Is that holy conferencing?
Children Squabbling
I have read many comments about the two sides being like squabbling children. To be frank, I am irritated by the suggestion that there was wrongdoing by both sides. Were the traditionalists perfect? Of course not. Were there mean-spirited tactics by the traditionalist delegates? I’d like to hear an example (and I don’t want to hear the example of a delegate who quoted scripture that offended you). What I can tell you is I was a part of a large group of TP proponents who talked strategy. When I say we talked strategy, I mean we tried to organize how we would present motions to amend that would fix the constitutional issues with the TP… that sort of thing. At no time was I involved in any discussion of strategy that lacked integrity. Quite the opposite.
During the legislative committee session on Monday, a motion was on the floor that would have prevented the Simple Plan (SP) from being debated at all. [The SP would have mandated that all conferences permit practicing homosexuals to be ordained and pastors would have been required to marry same-sex couples]. The SP had no chance of passing but there were pleas by the proponents to be heard. The traditionalists could have easily prohibited the SP from being heard but many voted in favor of the motion so that it passed. During the debate on the SP, I was involved in discussions by traditionalist delegates who agreed we would not speak against the SP. We would allow folks to be heard. This, of course, took up a lot of precious time that could have been devoted to fixing the TP. But this is one of many times throughout the GC that I heard traditionalists say, “Take the high road” and “Be gracious.” What did we get in return? On Tuesday during the plenary session, the OCP proponents announced loudly and boldly from the microphone that they would use every parliamentary trick in the book to prevent a vote on the TP. They almost succeeded.
To give equal blame to both sides for the horrible display we witnessed as so-called “holy conferencing” is wrong.
Colonialism
I was standing with Chris Ritter when he spoke with the Russian who commented about the colonial attitude he witnessed. The young Russian was not the only international delegate who made that comment to me. Progressives in our country are usually outspoken about the harm of colonialism. Yet, colonialism was not called out by OCP proponents when it furthered their agenda. In 2016, a progressive US Bishop lectured the Africans about their need to “grow up.” This insult only served to inspire the Africans.
I would have left the UMC a long time ago if we were not a global connection. I appreciate that we as United Methodists do not primarily send Americans to other countries as missionaries. Instead, we support African pastors and Russian pastors and Filipino pastors who lead African churches and Russian churches and Filipino churches. International delegates have equal voice in our church because we don’t (or shouldn’t) think we Americans are more enlightened or have an elevated understanding of God’s wisdom.
Every two years, I go to Beni, Congo for a Justice Conference where Congolese Christian attorneys discuss how to combat corruption in their judicial system. We US attorneys do not go to “fix” their problems. We go to walk alongside them and encourage them. How arrogant would I be to suggest I know how to fix their corruption issues? Likewise, I attend General Conference notwith an arrogance that suggests our international delegates need my US culturally-influenced wisdom; I go with an appreciation for what they bring to the table.
It was no secret our US bishops had an agenda to pass the OCP. The Council of Bishops is not proportional to our membership which skews the numbers of US bishops higher than African bishops. I would suggest this perpetuates the perception of colonialism felt by our international brothers and sisters.
There were accusations throughout the conference that traditionalists were bribing the Africans to vote for the TP. It was suggested the Good News’ offer of breakfast to international delegates was a bribe for votes. I can tell you I received the free breakfast from the Good News. Why are there no allegations that I was bribed for my vote? The OCP proponents spread rumors that the Africans were manipulated by the offering of a “guide” or training. I was offered a “guide” for voting by the renewal groups. I appreciated the help. Why wasn’t I accused of being manipulated? To quote Dr. Jerry Kulah, “the vast majority of African United Methodists will never, ever trade Jesus and the truth of the Bible for money.” The suggestion the Africans are so easily manipulated is patronizing.
A Global Church
I love the richness that comes from our global denomination, one that is committed to the great teachings of the Christian faith that reach all the way back to the early church. The church’s historical and global context keeps us from making a mistake we are prone to make which is to interpret Scripture and the great confessions of our faith solely within the context of our own culture. Our Wesleyan expression of the faith is truly cross-cultural in its appeal. I simply do not believe the definition of Christian marriage can differ depending on geography. And I want to be a part of a denomination that allows voices from all over the world to discern God’s will together so we aren’t tempted to let our culture dictate our doctrine. I don’t have a sense that US centrists and progressives place the same value on connection with our Central Conferences which is why I propose it is time for an amicable separation.
The Substantive Issue
GC2019 was not an environment conducive to a meaningful discussion on church doctrine. How can we discuss the authority and interpretation of Scripture in the midst of name-calling and accusations? Proponents of the OCP argued simply that their plan promoted “love for one another,” implying the TP did not. “Love” is viewed as acceptance of any and all sexual behavior. If it feels good, do it. (In a recent interview, Bishop Oliveto refused to even condemn polyamory).
There was no discussion of I John where the word “love” is used 18 times (more than in any other book in the New Testament) and the word “sin” occurs 27 times. Proof texting allows us to simply quote the Great Commandment while ignoring any parts of Scripture that help define “love.” No mention of scripture regarding the evidence of love or sanctification. Folks, I’m a lay person; yet even I know how Wesley abhorred proof texting.
How do we have discussions with Wesleyan depth at GC2020? We must find a way.
Worship
First let me say, overall, I thought the music in worship was exceptional (despite some theological issues). The background music while voting was brilliantly played. Now for the bad part. In opening worship, we were asked to pray to “Father Sky” and “Earth Mother.” Yep. And then we heard a sermon with undertones of advocacy for the OCP. If there is to be integrity in the process and worship, we need Wesleyan theologians on the worship team.
Generalizations
As a woman, I do not appreciate the assumption that because I am a woman, I must think identically to all other women. I am not a young person. But I received feedback from young persons. One of the arguments for the OCP is that if we do not liberalize our definition of marriage, we will lose young people in the church. I heard from young people who did not appreciate the suggestion that all young people believe in same-sex marriage. I can only speak anecdotally. Young people I know who have left the UMC are going to more biblically-based nondenominational churches. They are looking for more depth than they get in the UMC. I do not doubt there are young people who have left the UMC because they desire a church that accepts their homosexual behavior. I am grieved by that. But in 2020, I hope we can refrain from speeches that suggest all women or all young people think alike. No identity group has unified thought which is why we cannot determine our doctrine and discipline based on how any one identity group feels. I am a follower of Christ. Not a follower of an identity group.
WCA
I serve on the WCA Council. I was disappointed in the snarky way Adam Hamilton referred to the WCA from the floor. Mostly, I was saddened by his misrepresentation of the WCA. It is true we made plans to leave if the OCP passed. I can tell you (because I have been in the room for the discussions on an exit from the UMC) the WCA made no decision to leave the denomination if the TP passed. For Adam to misrepresent the WCA’s intentions was disheartening.
Leading up to GC, we did not have discussions of an exit from the UMC if the GC process lacked integrity. Who could have expected the lengths delegates would go to advocate for the OCP? I know there are traditionalist folks and churches who may leave our denomination because of the ugliness of GC2019. I get it. At our WCA Council meeting following GC, we spent the first couple of hours expressing sorrow and shedding tears – real tears— about what we witnessed at GC. I do not see how traditionalists will remain in the UMC if we see the lack of integrity at GC2020 that we did at GC2019. But our international members helped us recognize how God worked in the midst of the ugliness of GC2019 (thank you global church!). The passing of the TP was miraculous given the obstacles.
I am excited about the direction of the WCA. We are not focused on human sexuality. As we said from the inception of the WCA, we desire to see a movement within the UMC. If our bishops and OCP supporters long to see renewal and revitalization within our denomination, they will get on board with us. If not, we will see more disobedience gone unaddressed and a fracturing will occur.
The WCA has announced its intention to work within the denomination to bring about revival. Now that the myth about the WCA has been debunked, I encourage you to join the WCA and use the resources available. Our general agencies fail to properly resource local churches to make disciples for Jesus Christ, which is why the WCA is valuable. We are talking about some exciting ideas.
For instance, what if we refocus our idea of mission in the world. Do Africans need water wells? Absolutely. And we must drill more water wells in Africa. But what if we saw US churches in true partnership and relationship with Central Conference churches. Not a partnership based solely on financial support or a trip to build houses but a relationship between churches with opportunities to study Scripture and worship together. Might we have something to learn from our international friends about how to grow the church? The WCA can serve as a coordinator of those efforts.
An Exit Plan
OCP proponents were so intent on vilifying TP supporters they could not see straight. They could not consider that the motive of the TP was pure. Many of us do not see how we can continue to be “one church” when the truth is we have been two churches for a long time. Many in our church chose to blatantly disobey our discipline. There simply is no compromise on the issue of human sexuality. Even centrists have admitted the OCP was merely a step towards a complete change to the church’s sexual ethics. If the TP passed, we offered a gracious exit to those who could not in good conscience stay. We traditionalists did not ask for a fight but wanted to be gracious to those choosing to leave. And yet, at GC, we were criticized for proposing generous terms for local churches who chose to leave.
In the book Are We Really Better Together, Renfroe and Fenton state:
We have been in a cage match, not able to stop fighting and not able to escape each other. Both sides have been bruised and battered. . . . I’m certain neither of us wants to hurt God’s church. But that’s what is happening because neither of us can compromise our deeply held beliefs. And that will continue to happen as long as we’re together. How many more years do we need to stay in this destructive cage match? . . . There is a better way than continuing the cage match where one side is defeated and the side that wins is bruised and battered. Let us stop fighting, wish each other well, and open the cage. That’s not a lack of love. That’s the way of love.
Traditionalists may have “won” but we are bruised and battered. Our Central Conferences are not ready to leave the UMC so I continue to walk alongside them. I hope the cage match we witnessed at GC2019 will persuade our leaders to find a way to amicably separate instead of going for round 2 in 2020. That was the purpose of the exit plan that could not be perfected due to the obstructionists. An avoidance of round 2 now lies in the hands of centrists and progressives. An “honorable, gracious, and amicable way forward” was offered by traditionalists for which we were denigrated. I pray some self-reflection will bring centrists and progressives back to the table with a more honorable plan.
Hope for Our Church
How do we move forward as a church? Our US church is in significant decline. I suggest we best grow as a denomination by emphasizing the global nature of our church and deeper Bible study using a Wesleyan approach to Scripture. GC2019 sent a message loud and clear that our global church’s doctrine and discipline will not be guided by our US culture or a relativist (anything goes) approach to Scripture. Because of that, our church is strengthened.
Perhaps . . . just perhaps, this bloodbath we witnessed will lead to a spiritual awakening before GC2020 and folks can finally shift our church’s focus to matters of evangelism and discipleship. If not, I hope it leads to an amicable separation. That is my hope – not because I don’t want to be in unity with my progressive friends, but because I don’t want to be in a continual battle on issues of human sexuality.
Finally, I want to share a story. It was the very end of the conference. The Traditional Plan had just passed. The protesters in the stands began to chant and sing loudly. The presiding bishop called for a break. I left to go to the restroom feeling sad and heartbroken despite the vote having gone my way. Actually, I felt sick to my stomach as the protesters’ voices rang loudly throughout the conference center. When I returned, there was a large group of Africans near my table gathered in a circle singing a hymn. As I approached, two women from Cote d’Ivoire, who did not speak English, saw me and with huge smiles ecstatically exclaimed, “Cara!” (apparently knowing my name from a speech I gave earlier). They opened their arms wide, gave me a huge hug, and pulled me into their circle where I joined them in song. And so, I ended General Conference still feeling sadness about the process but blessed to be a part of a global church.
Cara Nicklas is an attorney and served as a lay delegate to General Conference 2019 from the Oklahoma Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church.
People Need Jesus 
Very well written. It is spiritual warfare. Satan is doing his best to destroy the church from within. The progressives are being used by him & don’t even know it. Only a spiritual awakening & prayer shall prevail. The Methodist church has become self satisfied & needs shaken. We need an old fashioned revival in this land, & that means letting go & letting God work in our mausoleums. Young adults are leaving & going where they feel free to worship God, not being shut down. I am for the Traditionalist Plan, but we need to dig deeper spirituality.
I feel it is time for the traditionalist to break away. If we stay we will continue to fight this battle. If we break away we can use our energy and resources to do God’s work in making disciples. I do believe this is a battle of good and evil.
Please, do leave. Go set up your exclusive elsewhere but not under the banner of Methodism.
Amen! It was indeed spiritual warfare that you experienced. My husband and I were both third generation active United Methodists when we made the very hard choice to leave the UMC 16 years ago. It was the best decision we could have made for growing in Christ. In our opinion, true bible study, evangelism, and discipleship is watered down in the UMC. When I once asked our pastor for the reason for infant baptism, and not infant dedication like other denominations, he recited the verse from Mathew 19:14. I was startled that that verse was the basis for infant baptism, when it could clearly support “infant dedication” with just as much fervor. Additionally, when I really started to dig into what the Bible actually says, it is clear that baptism comes after repentance. “But United Methodists fulfill their baptisms at confirmation,” I have heard. What? When I was confirmed at 12 years old, I was told it meant that I was now my own member of the church, and not under my parent’s membership. There was no talk about salvation or becoming saved. No talk about confessing my sins and repenting of them. Instead, everything was so canned and so formal. I was so confused. I couldn’t understand why my relatives and friends were sending me congratulatory cards. Years later, while still in the UMC, how the UMC is failing its young people, hit me squarely between the eyes. There were two young ladies that my husband and I had known since they were approximately 5 and 8 years old. One Sunday morning, they came to the front of the church and announced that they had been to a lock in at an evangelical church that past Friday night, and they had confessed their sin, turned from their sin, and put their full trust in Christ as their Savior and Lord. They were radiant!! My husband and I just stared at each other. We had literally watched these girls grow up, and yet the formality of our church never connected in a life changing way for them. Instead, it took one Friday evening at another church for them to clearly understand how to trust in Christ as their Savior. I realized then that people can love their church, God (with a head knowledge), serve on boards, work with UMCOR, counsel at church camps, go to UMYF, serve on the PPRC, the trustees committee, and whatever else they want to do, and still sit there on a pew for their entire life, as lost as a goose with no personal relationship with Jesus Christ, nor any understanding of how to have one. For us, leaving was about a quest to passionately know Christ and grow in holiness to be His salt and light in a very dark world. It was difficult to leave, but for my husband me, it was the best decision we could have ever made.
Ma’am Infant Baptism is valid and biblical. The problem is, there is no deeper form of Cathechism. accepting Christ as personal savior is unbiblical and was never taught by the Apostolic and Church Fathers. i am an Evangelical Protestant for 30 years of my life. But, now im a Catholic, this faith is the fullness of the Christian Faith. im from the Philippines!
Amen! I wholly agree. Satan is running amok through our denomination and we have allowed him to do so by not speaking up before as we have watched this happen over the last 40 -50 years. I believe the people in the pews in the majority of the UM churches across America agree with the Traditional Plan. It is the Council of Bishops and the District Superintendents across the country, who want to be Bishops and suck up to the COB, who have driven this, along with some mega-church pastors like Adam Hamilton whose congregations are mostly Liberals. That these people would treat Maxie Dunham in that manner is shameful! Maxie, through his writings and Bible Study books, did more to promote real Discipleship and Evangelism in the UMC in the 80s -90s, than any other UMC minister, I believe. My church’s Lay Member to Annual Conference is a GC Delegate from the Great Plains Conference. He gave his report to us this morning and described much the same things as Cara did here. I was aghast!
Thank you Cara for your bravery and courage.
Cara, thank you for your courage and service to the Church. I was discouraged watching online; I can’t imagine the feeling in person. I’ve long believed we don’t win God’s battles with Satan’s weapons. Thank you for your integrity. Keep the faith!
Thank you Cara, for your post. I thought there was a lot going on that I couldn’t pick up on, from the broadcast.
Thank you for holding true to God’s word. Our church membership is mostly traditional, yet we have a progressive bishop and many progressive clergy in the conference. How do we handle this, more than likely, “lukewarm” leadership going forward?
Thank you for this well-written article. It gives me hope for the UMC.
Thank you for your steadfastness in biblical scripture. The great deceiver is at work! Please, I beg that the left leave and form their own. There will never be agreement and a single denomination cannot have churches making up their own rules and disciplines. The left have shown their true “colors” pardon the pun, but it speaks volumes. You cannot force a change of biblical theology on true believers of the bible as God’s Word. Harm will only come to God’s people if we continue to bicker about this. It is time to go our separate ways, better to be divided in scripture then united in deceit. Shame on the bishops ,for trying to bully the OCP through. Everyone knows that is was strictly a money issue, what good is it to gain the world but lose your soul . Their credibility is gone, as is their faithfulness to God’s Word.
I appreciate your insights and your love of God. I am a pastor that believes in full inclusiveness or all people – regardless of their particular sin or perceived sin. I am a pastor who has dealt gay people rejected by their families, and, heartbreakingly, a boy who was surgically made a girl as an infant since his penis was underdeveloped. There is such a large world out there, and we need to minister to all people inclusively. I hope and pray all of us can spread the word of God and love of God without demonizing one another.
No one is demonizing gay people. Folks who support the traditional plan don’t hate the gay community. It’s a matter of what the Bible calls sin. I am a sinner, you are a sinner, and homosexuality is a sin according to the word of God.
Thank you for posting. Those supporting the OCP certainly tried to ‘shut it down’ using any tactic they could. It’s too bad the ‘leadership’ wouldn’t take charge of those in shutdown mode and didn’t presumably because they publicly supported the OCP and didn’t mind showing favoritism. Sometimes when leadership does nothing to stop wrong doing, chaos ensues – as seen at GC2019.
Cara,
Thank you for a more in-depth accounting of, not only what you saw as a delegate, but helping UMC members to better understand what the different plans currently stand for, and the obstacles encountered which caused the TP to pass without the necessary fixes.
I am also traditional in my views, and see our societal degradation and resulting desensitization as spiritual warfare. That being said, we still need to be able to take “The Great Commission” to all people. (More on this thought to follow). How we accomplish that will vary, but I do agree that our Church should not change so much that the definition of a Christian Marriage is different from God’s plan. The continuous push of our pagan society is to allow people to feel good about anything they want to, or could conceive of doing. This mindset serves to weaken God’s intention for how his people should live. Those people who push on in this effort will ultimately get their wish. God allows us to make that decision with free will. However, we need to stay strong if we are to call ourselves followers of Christ. Let those who wish to be joined outside of God’s provision call their secular union something else; but it is not a marriage.
Now I will get back to what I said about taking God’s plan of redemption to everyone. I strongly believe that we are all God’s children; I am not a Calvinist. That being the case, I will tell you that we have an openly Gay couple who attend our church. I was afraid that this issue we are facing would send them away. They are wonderful people with a Christian heart, for whom, I would agree are living outside the boundaries set by God. In Matt 12:31, we are told that the only sin that is unforgivable is blasphemy. So, since the only sin that is greater than any other, is not thievery, lying, adultery, homosexuality, or any unspoken thing we can do to each other that is nasty, despicable or hateful, I would suggest that there are times we are all guilty of doing things outside the Will of God. Please don’t think I am saying that, as Christians, we do not try to learn from our failures, and get past repeating the ways in which we sin in our daily lives. Even more importantly, I know that we have been saved by the blood of the cross, and not by anything we could do for ourselves. I absolutely need His Grace and His Mercy every moment of every day. What I am saying is there was a time in my life, where I was lost, and was guided to a loving relationship with Him by loving Christian people. God allows us to find Him, especially through our failures, but also by who He changes us to be. I could not do this without God, or the people He put into my life. So I believe that the Traditional Plan needs to include all the lost, who could be saved. And I would say that since only God knows who the people are, we need to be proclaiming Him to everyone. Did I get saved in one day? Oh No; and I am stronger for it. Still, I need to go to Him daily to ask for His forgiveness. The funny thing is that we tend to look at sin using our perspective instead of what we have been told.
When and how we are saved is in God’s timing and is, thank God, not my job, but that of the Holy Spirit. When I learned about His plan of redemption and that HE SAVES, it freed me from performing a task I knew I would fail at. What I do know is that when we ask God to use us to do His Will, we need to be ready to be used.
Since I don’t know what the proposed changes to the Traditional Plan would have been, I cannot say if what I have stated is mirrored in those changes; I just don’t want us, as proponents to the TP, to leave out the lost, no matter who they are. Thank you for listening.
Thank you so much Cara!
From so many of us across this country who weren’t there in body, but in spirit and prayers.
Many hearts are broken over this whole mess, but maybe that’s exactly what God is requiring from all of us, since we all have to take responsibility for failing our Lord and grieving the Holy Spirit in this matter for many decades. We have allowed the broken and abused, who for many have reached out to a church for healing, love and hope, that has only received, rejection, objective and apathy. We are simply reaping what we have sown for far to long and have sat back in silence, as we watch the carnage and result of a lost people trying so desperately to find true meaning and purpose for their lives.
You are so correct, the UMC has been two churches for two long! And may God Himself open our eyes the reality around us, and burden us again to a true revival, that as Wesley said himself, “that others would come to watch us burn!”
Forgive us Lord Jesus for allowing the world to “proof text,” to us who you are, instead of us being the “proof,” of your Glory, Grace and Power! To the world around us!
Cara, there are not enough positive adjectives to attach to my response to your post. Suffice it to say, I appreciate all of it, and glad to meet you, and proud to be a supporting member of WCA.
Thank you for your observations and thoughts. For those of us that didn’t experience this “political nightmare”, you have done well to provide a law person within insight. God Bless you for integrity and graciousness as a delegate. A grateful UMC member from West Tennessee
Cara,
Thank you for your thorough perspective on the Special Conference in St. Louis. I am a WCA nember from Athens, GA and met you when you spoke at the breakfast hosted by the North Georgia Wesleyan Renewal Group at the North Georgia Annual Conference. For those of us watching the Conference at St. Louis from afar your perspective today provided the absolutely best “wrap up” of where we now find ourselves as a denomination. I have actually used your piece to bring others up to speed on where everything stands now. Again, I thank you for your time and effort put into this article and your sacrifice in representing us on the WCA Board. Grace and Peace, Hoke Howard, Athens, GA
Oh Cara, your side won; they are not victims. I truly don’t care about the politics at GC 2019 as I have never cared about the politics in any GC. I especially don’t care who said what to whom or who may have been accused of bribery, or whether some TP supporters are polygamous. I realize emotions were probably very high so you should just let that part go and work on the future. Stop the rankling; it is not productive or helpful. Your post is pouring salt; just keep remembering, you won.
What I don’t see is any empathy at all for LGBTQIA people or the legions of us cisgendered United Methodists who support full inclusion in the United Methodist Church. What I care about are people in the United Methodist Church; those of us who sit in the pews and stand in the pulpit on Sunday and try to do the work of God in our lives and our communities each week. Those people are hurting; the adoption of the TP has produced real suffering.
As a life long United Methodist (51 years), I had no idea the sheer pain this would invoke. It has rocked me to my core. My Conference will likely be forced to leave the United Methodist Church that I have loved my whole life, as I am certain we will not meet your Gracious Accountability standards ( which BTW is a completely disingenuous and condescending term). Never mind the punitive “Gracious Exist Plan” which sets financial hurdles that few conferences or congregations can meet. Where does that leave us? We are the victims here. It feels like a death.
I read your post to the end as you asked thinking there might be some sort of (now don’t get triggered with this word) Reconciliation. That didn’t happen. Peace Be With You.
Karen, you sound very nasty in your post. No one has ever bashed the LGBTQIA community in this post or at GC2019. No one said they don’t have compassion or empathy for this community.
Ruth, Treating the LGBTQIA as “lesser than” Christians, welcome to be preached at, but not to be afforded the dignity of equality in the ability to serve the church, or to wed in the church, is bashing them.
What she sounds like is hurting. Many of us are.
Karen: I’ve only been a United Methodist 34 years, but I see the same pain you do. GC2019 will be remembered by our successor churches much as Lambeth 2008 is by the Episcopalians and ACNA-as when their church fell victim to the US culture wars.
Karen
How strange that this GC “rocked you to your core.” GC19 simply upheld the rules that have been in place for many years, simply adding some enforcement teeth to deal with those who willingly break the rules they promised to uphold when they were ordained. Perhaps this “rocked you” and others because you saw it as the last chance to change the rules, since the more liberal areas of the UMC are losing members and therefore delegates, while the more conservative areas are growing in membership and delegate count?
Yes, thank you Cara for your insight. I don’t know how you & others sat thru 4 days of that political nonsense… and what a waste of resources! GC2019 cost upwards of $3 millon?? And for what?
I too believe that traditionalists should break away as I have lost complete confidence in the COB and the whole process. This will never be resolved and there is NO compromising God’s Word.
Lord, bring revival to the UMC!
I am 72 years old and a life-long Methodist / United Methodist. My roots run generations deep. It appears that our bishop has handed down a “recommendation” for a soothing pablum series of sermons based on “love one another.” Yes, we are called to do that, but why isn’t some focus on…gasp….horror…. our denomination condoning SIN? I’m disgusted. We won’t have to wait until 2020 since the Judicial Council next month will surely cave to the roaring voices of the OCP people. Satan is having a field day with our denomination in tatters.
I’m so saddened by the tone and misrepresentations in this article. I support full inclusion based on scripture just as those that supported exclusion do so based on their interpretation of scripture. That’s why the OCP made so much sense. It left the global churches with every ability to continue as they are and the traditional churches here in the US to do so as well without fear of being made to do anything at all. Instead through fear-mongering and deception, many TP supporters completely misrepresented the OCP as a mandate that all conferences and congregations had to make sweeping changes. I’m thankful for people like Karen Friel and Curtis Ehrgott who work to show the love of Christ to fellow Methodists. In the end, those that claim to be ‘traditional’ in their views are still picking and choosing what they want to define as a sin and who they want to punish for said sin and who needs to be overlooked (such as a divorcee that’s remarried). I pray for reconciliation in this body and like you, hope that if that is not possible that the least Methodist group can take their ‘gracious exit.’
Maybe both sides should exit. That way neither side would have to call it an exit. The UMC brand might be better off laid to rest anyway.
It is not showing the love of Christ to teach others that homosexuality is not a sin. Christ would say “Go and sin no more.”
Ruth,
Exactly right.
Do the OCP supporters take scissors and cut out Bible verses like Romans 1:26-27:
“Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.”
Mr. Johnson, I strongly believe there would have been no respect for those churches and conferences that chose to stay Traditional in the US. They would have been marginalized and shamed into conformity. OCP was merely a stepping stone to Simple and full adoption by the US UMC. It was the “lukewarm” solution.
Sadly, this delegate received a law degree before she decided to use her verbal skills to mischaracterize the work of the delegates favoring the OCP with words like “gleeful”, “critical tone of voice”, “wrongly”, “deceptive tactics”, “mean-spirited”, “every parliamentary trick in the book,” “snarky”, “vilifying”, “bloodbath” … THEN she flat-out LIED with the following words: “The SP would have mandated that all conferences permit practicing homosexuals to be ordained and pastors would have been required to marry same-sex couples.” I rest my case, counselor!
That was a mean spirited post, Wayne. Exactly as Cara described.
Mean? Perhaps. But accurate. Neither the SP nor the OCP would have required any clergy to do anything against their conscience, although I hear rumors that WCA persons spread this lie amongst our international kindred.
Wayne, I was thinking the same thing. Cara’s facts are wrong about the OCP, therefore the rest of her blog is not to be believed.
Thank you.! My husband was there as a Clergy Observer. He was sicken as well.
I pray God brings every thought into obedience
Thank you Cara for this insightful description. Thank God there are still gifted people like you to plead for the truth.
Well written and spot on. You were one of the few highlights in an otherwise dark day Tuesday as I watched the pharisaical procedural politics that would make D. C. blush and the first century kangaroo court of Caiaphas want to take lessons.
Make God Bless your practice of both faith and law,
David W. Edwards
Retired Elder New Mexico/NWTX Area
Residing in Kerrville, TX in the midst of the Rio Texas Conference where I drive 1 and 15 to a likeminded congregation to worship.
Who ever said homosexuals would not be loved as any other sinner is loved in our churches! The issue is not excluding homosexuals from our congregations. They are welcome! The issue is celebrating and supporting homosexuality as if it was Godly. You can’t pick and choose what you like or dislike in the Bible.
Even in this string of posts, nasty comments are being made. It is sad and straight from hell.
Thank you Cara for sharing a timely report of you GC2019 experience. What has been very clear to me for quite some time it that the orthodox sector of the UMC and the progressively liberal sector indeed need to have an amicable separation. There are other mainline denominations that have lowered or totally dropped all standards of holiness. Denominations such as the Episcopal Church in America, the Presbyterian USA, and United Churches of Christ, to name as examples, would gladly open their doors in welcome to the unhappy progressive liberals of the UMC. Yet, in my opinion that will never happen because it is a matter of power and control with them, as your article so clearly depicted. While they would be welcome by those denominations, they would not be included in the hierarchy of those organizations. They do not want the TP people to leave either, because I think they know that it is mostly from faithful adherents of the Wesley traditions that funding in the UMC derives.
You guys have known since October that your plan is largely unconstitutional. The Judicial Council already ruled on it, and told you exactly what needed to be changed to bring your plan into compliance with the UMC constitution. This you failed to do, so instead you tried to amend your own plan on the floor of GC2019. I don’t know if your failure was due to negligence, or if you intended to shove an unconstitutional plan down our throats in order to further divide the UMC, or if you just couldn’t bear to submit a plan without punitive enforcement measures. I’m not sure if you yourselves know-if you truly are receiving most of your funding from the IRD, than you’re probably puppets in all of this.
All the centrists did was take advantage of an obvious flaw in your strategy. The ‘Good News’ folks, and now the WCA, have been playing hardball for fifteen years-you’ve no right to get salty now that your opponents are playing hardball as well.
The OCP needed changes to make it constitutional, too. WCA is supported by committed United Methodists. Reconciling Ministries, however, has received $1.7 million in secular money over the past few years from the Arcus Foundation to change the UMC’s teachings on marriage.
WCA is supported by the Institute for Religion and Democracy and we all know it. The IRD is as outside an influence as there can be and the mission is to destroy mainline denominations. Their funding comes from wealthy right-wing individuals much like the Koch brothers. WCA is backed by IRD so it is disingenuous to point fingers at Reconciling Ministries.
Regarding your other complaints;
The majority of our Bishops believe that the TP will destroy the UMC and that the OCP has an outside chance of preserving the denomination (I use present tense intentionally). They have made no secret of this, nor have they hidden their support for the OCP. The TP is a bad plan, and the OCP is the only plan actually submitted to GC2019 by the Commission on a Way Forward (you recall, that international committee tasked with finding a way to keep the Church together despite our long-standing disagreements on sexuality?) I don’t see why you’re surprised that the Bishops would make it more difficult for you to clean up your own plan, especially when you had half a year to do so before the conference.
I am sorry that you found some of the comments about your position hurtful. From where I stand, your entire position is hurtful (and I’m a cisgender, heterosexual male-I can only imagine the pain your position causes our LGBT+ kindred). Your position regarding ‘self avowed practicing homosexuals’ is based on six scriptures (two of them are duplicates) stripped of any textural or cultural context. That’s the worst sort of eisegesis, and it’s killing people. It’s killing people in Africa, where LGBT folk are routine thrown in prison or executed, it’s killing people in Russia, where LGBT folk are often beaten to death in the streets, and its still killing people here in the US, where LGBT folk continue to kill themselves at a rate several times that of the rest of the population-according to the American Psychiatric Association, in large part due to the condemnation they face from people who take that handful of verses as the unfiltered Word of God without bothering to read the surrounding text.
Y’all have blood on your hands. I don’t know if you will ever be called to account for it-many Christians believe God forgives freely and unconditionally. For my part, I find the position of Origen of Alexandria most consistent with the Scriptures, in which everyone gets to spend time suffering for our sins prior to joining Christ in the Kingdom. Regardless, please stop trying to force the rest of the UMC to be complicit in your guilt. Let us begin to help our African and Filipino siblings recover from the damage done by two hundred years of colonialism and fifty years of missionaries teaching them bad theology. Let us work to heal the damage done to our LGBT siblings by a thousand years of that same bad theology. If you can’t, then take advantage of your exit plan and go.
You said, “the OCP is the only plan actually submitted to GC2019 by the Commission on a Way Forward.” Not true! The Commission passed on to the Council of Bishops the Connectional, Traditional, and OC Plans. The COB then developed legislation for Connectional and OCP, but refused to do so for the Traditional. A few conservative bishops picked it up and, with the help of a few conservative friends, developed the legislation for the Traditional Plan. Telling untruths (lying?) about the process is unbecoming and not helpful even to your own cause.
Hey Cara,
Thank you for your heartfelt words. As I watched online, I too was embarrassed by the lack of integrity with the use of harsh words and false accusations in order to manipulate the direction of GC2019. Our God is not the Father of chaos nor does he manipulate. He mandates and we either obey or disobey: the price of free will I guess.
Our church recently began to make a plan to disaffiliate from the UMC because the fight has become a distraction of our focus to make transformed followers of Jesus Christ. We began this process months before GC2019. The bad behavior at GC2019 proved our point.
It was good to see the UMC uphold the traditional values of the UMC. However, it was sad to see how truly divided the UMC is in the United States. I do believe we can learn some lessons from our global brothers and sisters in the Central Conferences. This battle is not about cultural relevance as much as progressives and centrists would like to argue. This is truly a spiritual battle about the integrity of the Word of God.
Thank you for sharing especially your final story of hope. It was powerful indeed. My thoughts and prayers are with you as well as all those who are willing to resolve and reconcile in order to move on. I too believe it is time to go our separate ways as a denomination in order to conduct ministry in an effective manner for all.
The OCP never had a chance of winning my support. The TP, though I believe it to be the only plan with integrity, has so far in the history of the UMC proven it will not work either due to the many clergy including bishops who have broken their vow to uphold the Discipline. As I understand, many of those who have broken their vow are now making a vow to continue to break their vow. This is the paradox we are being asked to live into as the UMC.
I applaud the WCA and you (as part of this healthy movement) for standing your ground on behalf of all of us who prefer a more conservative stance in Biblical values. I am truly grateful for your work to remind us of our Wesleyan roots. Thank you for being the voice of reason and purpose for all of us who feel powerless to make a difference in resolving these issues. May God continue to bless you on this journey.
Out here in the far reaches on the West, where we dwell in perpetual ideological winter and the White Witch (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe) is firmly in control, Cara’s words are like springtime sunlight, melting away the icy cage. The truth sets us free.
Reading the comments just reinforces my belief that the UMC ( Currently the ununited Methodist Church) will have to undergo a painful split…
‘Untied Methodist Church’ has been a running joke in some circles since 2008.
Your comments in particular indicate irreconcilable differences. But you seem to want the majority to exit (and that’s the position of most of the progressives) rather than those who don’t agree with and openly violate UMC doctrine. It really is past time to start removing pastord and bishops who not only openly violate church doctrine but also encourage others…it will be ugly but it seems the only path forward…
That’s sort of the problem, actually: our Social Principles are not doctrine. UM doctrine is the creeds, the original articles of religion, and the sermons of John Wesley. That’s it.
None of them refer to homosexuality, and there is even very little mention of marriage in them, although Article 14 of the Methodist articles of religion explicitly states marriage is non-sacramental.
We’re splitting the church over irreconcilable difference of opinion, not doctrine. The OCP, flawed as it was, would have made space for us all to remain in communion. You guys have made it clear that you don’t want to remain in communion with people who disagree with you on this. Those progressives remaining in the UMC have not-any progressive who didn’t see value in communing with our political opponents left the UMC long ago.
One small correction to my prior comment: only one creed is included in UM doctrine: the Apostles Creed. That was an explicit choice by John Wesley when he sent Asbury and Cook to start up American Methodism. Charles really wanted to include the Nicene creed as well, on the grounds that the Nicene creed had defined the institutional Church since its founding in the fourth century, but John said he thought the nuances of that creed would be beyond us backwoods colonials. Personally, I wonder if the time John spent studying with the Orthodox Bishop Erasmus has made him question the filioque.
You don’t believe homosexuality is a sin; the traditionalist do…those two conflicting beliefs can’t exist within the same denomination. Both groups welcome all sinners into their congregation but the traditionalists would require a homosexual to repent and stop practicing homosexuality before they could be in the pulpit. Clearly this is offensive to those who don’t believe homosexuality is a sin. But no more so than allowing an adulterous minister to remain in the pulpit while continuing in his sin.
I’d like to see it work going forward but having such conflicting beliefs under one denominational umbrella just makes it impossible in my opinion. While sexuality always takes the spotlight there are other issues that indicate serious differences. I know of some Methodists who teach no heaven/no hell; others who teach universalism; some teach Jesus was not Devine; some teach the trinity and others don’t. I’m all for people searching for the truth and understand we are all just touching a piece of the elephant; I just don’t see the point or value of trying to be united in name when there are so many different beliefs.
I’m a former Methodist and don’t have a dog in the race so speak so my opinions are just those of a bystander. I wish you folks the best moving forward.
Sister-in-Christ Cara, I am not a lawyer. I am a pastor.
If a husband and wife with deep difficulties came to me for spiritual guidance and the husband — or wife– had already made an exit plan with a lawyer and came into our counseling time saying: “Either you agree with me or I am out of the relationship”, I would consider that a lack of good faith.
And if member a member of the Church Council came to the Council and said, “Either you make a decision that I agree with or I am leaving — and I have already recruited others to leave”, I would consider that immature (at best) and, probably more accurate, bullying. That is not Christian behavior by any standard I have been taught.
My roots run deep in the evangelical side of the family. Names in your post are people who have been lifelong friends of my family. I was in Wilmore, Ky and part of the beginning of Good News 50 years ago. This comment is not an attack. It is an expression of grief, deep, deep grief that this fight has become an obsession that has corroded the heart of evangelical faith. This fight has superceded commitments to the Jesus-defined highest principles (Golden Rule, Great Commandment, prayer for His disciples) It feels like watching someone I love deeply seek out a path of suicide and hurting as many people as possible along the way.
Since John Wesley was adamantly, openly, consistently opposed to schism, how can it be Wesleyan? And since covenant is a pledge of fidelity and the WCA is organizing people to break (not keep) Covenant, how can it honestly use “Covenant” in its name? On both counts — Wesleyan and Covenant– it betrays what Wesley and covenant stand for. I feel a deep, deep sense of loss for the integrity of the core of the church that raised me and taught me faith.
Perhaps the lack of good faith has been turning a blind eye to UMC’s clear statement for 50 years that marriage is between a man and a woman. In your example, if a husband (or wife) ignored a basic marriage vow, to cleave only unto each other, that would be adultery and a basis for separation. In the ELCA, a seminary now proposes open marriage as ‘healthy’ in their proposal Naked and Unashamed. https://wearenakedandunashamed.wordpress.com/about/
Adultery by commandment is a sin to be repented.
Mary John…
If a husband and wife with deep difficulties – he frequently has affairs and is adamant that it is ok; it’s not wrong or sn – came to you for spiritual guidance and the wife had already made an exit plan with a lawyer and came into the counseling time saying: “Either you agree with me that adulatory is wrong and you will repent and sin no more or I am out of the relationship”, would you try to help the wife be more accepting of her husbands beliefs and practices?
I couldn’t get past the point where you don’t believe you are killing people. If you aren’t killing people, why did I hear of a story of a girl whose church and parents celebrated the passing of the Traditional Plan and is now in a psych ward for suicidal thoughts? That is what GC 2019 and the TP did. That is just ONE story.
A decision is made. Someone is so upset with the result they have suicidal thoughts. And that means those who made the decision “are killing people.” Really. So if I became deeply distressed and had suicidal thoughts if the OCP had passed, would the promoters of that plan be responsible for my reaction? What if the church calling adultery a sin “caused” an adulterer to become depressed and suicidal? Is the church responsible for their reaction? Or is it possible this inflammatory misuse of the idea of “responsibility” just a convenient way to deflect attention from the real issue at hand?
As an outside observer (Christian member of a different denomination), I think you’ve all lost your way. If you’re going to be completely honest, you have to admit that Holy Scriptures are not clear on the issues you’re arguing about. People of good faith can have good-faith differences over the interpretation of Scripture. The Bible doesn’t teach that we must all agree with each other. It teaches that we must love one another. Are you loving each other when you accuse others who disagree with you of being tools of the devil?
Why can’t you all, as Methodists, just live and let live? Don’t you trust the Holy Spirit to guide everyone in ways that are good and right? Where is your faith? Is it not possible for the Holy Spirit to guide one group in one direction, while leading another group in a different direction?
The book of Proverbs says, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Paths, plural. Sometimes, our paths lead us into conflict; and when they do, we ought to be able as Christians to carry on without questioning one another’s motives.
Maybe the next Methodists will be able to. The UMC May be dying, but the UMC is only a part of the Church, not the whole. I take great comfort in that.
Stay strong, Cara. So that the steeple isn’t toppled in Minneapolis in 2020 as it was in 2009. See https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-tornado-the-lutherans-and-homosexuality
Cara, Stay strong. So that the church steeple in Minneapolis isn’t struck down as it was in 2009.
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-tornado-the-lutherans-and-homosexuality
The one thing that excites interest in United Methodism right now is the GC2019 decision affirming our moral doctrines and our ordination standards. This decision provides a refuge for the many who seek a church proclaiming real redemption and sanctification, not just an approving echo of trending American culture. The culture would be yawning right now except for this valiant decision. This is the Holy Spirit’s hour.
The serious problem with homosexuality in the Church is that it is the only sin where those committing the sin thumb their nose at God. Most other sinners honestly try to repent but with homosexuals see no need to repent because God is love and God made them this way. Big money is funding leftists to mainstream the LBGTQIA initiative which further emasculates “toxic masculinity.” When you take the men out of the culture, you can more easily over take it. Wake up Church, the great falling away is already happening.
The UMC leadership has “lost their way” in an effort to “get their way”…I see it in politics all the time. In a recent meeting with Bishop Carter, I pleaded with him and his team not to turn the UMC into a RED vs BLUE church. Despite the name, the One Church Plan would have done just that and in an attempt to get it passed, their have further divided the UMC. Prayers for our Church and our County!
The UMC leadership has “lost their way” in an effort to “get their way”…I see it in politics all the time. In a recent meeting with Bishop Carter, I pleaded with him and his team not to turn the UMC into a RED vs BLUE church. Despite the name, the One Church Plan would have done just that and in an attempt to get it passed, they have further divided the UMC. Prayers for our Church and our County!
Thank you for speaking up to Bishop Carter. The attempted theft of GC2019 by One Church Plan advocates and complicit bishops was outrageous. But their aggressive tactics have been exposed to the light. Their abuse of holy conferencing is now an archive of dirty tricks, insulting speeches, duplicitous orchestrations, and wicked calumnies. All of it is now public transcript. The truth sets us free. Don’t stop speaking the truth.
Amen exactly
Thank you Cara for your work and for giving people like me (ones who just want to come to church to worship and center without secular debate) an inside look at General Conference. You must be extremely patient and dedicated.
It has been just an awful year at my church leading up to GC2019. To be honest I selfishly thought that it would have probably been better for our church if the OCP has passed, only because that’s the only way I see us being able to participate in worship and other activities in the church without having this constant drumbeat in the background coupled with other subtle suggestive ideas in speech and literature within the church. I’m selfish about this, but it is critical that I get weekly spiritual centering and direction from activities at my church. Otherwise I’m unable to be the person my family and the rest of the world need me to be. I believe there are many like me who just want to worship and be the body of Christ without controversy. I’m confident God will sort all of it out.
Sadly it’s becoming clear to me that the liberal progressive movement is in it to stay, and will not stop short of changing the hearts and minds of everyone who doesn’t agree with them, even if it means the dismantling of our church all together.
I think the only hope for church survival at the local level is for courageous pastors to stand up and tell their congregations that we (our local church) are not going to solve this problem that God will ultimately be the judge of. And to go further to declare that we (the local church) will go about the business of being the body of Christ and abiding by the rules set forth in the book of discipline until that day comes.
We had a pastoral change announcement today that gives me hope, but this next year will ultimately be the survival test in my opinion, at least for my church.
Thanks again for your dedication and hard work. Take care and be well. May the Lord bless you.
I see this article is what is needed to explain where the UMC is today. We are at a time that the Book of Jude spoke of clearly as well as other scripture.
An Imagery 2nd Letter from Jude nearly 2000 Years Later:
Dear Friends, and to all true believers in Christ Jesus, the anointed one, our redeemer, who by His grace has redeemed us, has provided for us eternal life in heaven through faith in His life as fully God and fully man, the complete and exact image of the one and only creator God who loved us in the past, loves us now, and will love us in the future just as your beloved teacher and fellow follower of our faith eloquently preached in a heartfelt message on May 5, 2018. Mr. Jim T. explained that no one, nothing can stop God from loving. Yes, God is indeed love, but not all love is God!
I wanted to write you a letter about our shared salvation which we have in Jesus the Christ and the hope we share in many things, in particular the hope we have of seeing our loved ones who have died when Jesus comes again. That day is nearer than when I first wrote to you. However, there has recently been a crisis in your beloved Methodist churches in America and in particular in Illinois and Indiana where you, my beloved brothers and sisters, worship and glorify our great and awesome God.
The main reason I wrote to you in 67 A.D. was to warn of false teachers coming into the church. I’m writing you today to tell you there are many already here and have become bolder and are insisting everyone agree with their false ways of doing. Their beliefs have intensified especially the past few years with the things they do being “worser and worser.”
Many of our fellow Christian believers are succumbing to what sounds like love, but is not the love that Jesus, or Paul, or Peter, or Little John and all the other God inspired writers wrote about. False believers are saying and teaching things which are not true love; what they proclaim sounds true, but it is not. Sadly these false teachers think what they are doing is good and compassionate, but they are things God does not like. These false leaders are somewhat different today than in my first letter to you. They believed in the teaching of Gnosticism which has been explained to you clearly by your scriptural coach and Sunday School teacher Mr. Jim T. This belief was popular in that first century when I wrote my first letter to you.
Today many do not know or ever heard of Gnosticism, but they are doing and believing what it teaches. False teachers today are doing the same thing by abusing the free grace that God gave us to do good, by doing bad stuff. This false doctrine has multiplied greatly in your Methodist churches. Many of your members are sincere, honest, moral people who are allowing themselves to be duped by what sounds good in the name of love and tolerance towards others by not witnessing to the true gospel they knew, but now have forgotten
A perfect example of failing to witness to the true gospel was on May 6, 2018 in your Bible study Sunday group when Mr. Jerry R. failed to support the true gospel. He kept silent to the truth that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and there is no other way but through Christ to the Kingdom of God when good works were being considered to be included as a way to heaven. Please pray for Mr. Jerry for he is remorseful. He knows he failed to witness to the true fact he believes, thus giving strength to false teaching.
Leaders, teachers, pastors, bishops are abusing, in great numbers, the free grace of God as a license to allow and/or enjoy sexual activities that God clearly stated through His word, especially in the New Testament book of Romans, what these wrongdoings are—sins are what they are. False teachers proclaim what they are supporting as good, but they are not.
Yes, it is true what brother Mr. Jim T, quoted from written 2600 years ago, that the world was a mess similar in some ways as it is today. Hundreds and hundreds of years after creation the world became evil; so evil that God destroyed a whole bunch of people and animals. We can see from cave drawings of those years all kinds of sexual sins and perversions, even with beasts, were prevalent. Today we can see these same events happening now on computer screens.
I wrote you in my first letter long ago what God had in store for those people who dishonored God, and that those who do these wrong doings today can expect no less than what happened to those I reminded you in my first letter in verses 6- 16. If you do not remember, look it up.
False teachers are actually fulfilling Scripture before your eyes in many ways besides sexual sins. For example, I Timothy 4:1-3 says that in the end times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of devils (v. 2), speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own consciences seared as with a hot iron (v. 3) forbidding to marry (in other words saying sex outside of marriage and with whomever they desire, male or female is ok and good). Some are commanding laws to abstain from certain food such as meat, which God (v. 3) says is OK.
These false leaders act as though what they believe in their spirit has no connection to what they do with their bodies. You may remember, if not you can look up what Paul, a bond servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, said in chapter one in his letter to all who are called saints. Romans 1 explains what is happening in the United Methodist churches in 2018. In verse 21 Paul writes some who knew God, but did not glorify (worship) or give thanks to God, became futile (empty, vain, foolish, useless and confused) and began to have foolish thoughts of what God is and as a result their hearts were hardened.
Paul continues, “they changed in their life the glory of the awesome God who saved them to the glory of honoring themselves and other humans, relying more and more on their own thoughts and ideas of right and wrong rather than what God says.” ( v. 24). Therefore we see what has come to fruition in the lives of many. God allowed them to seek after the lusts of their hearts and as a result they dishonored their bodies with one another and did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. Thus they have traded the truth of God for a lie and have begun and continue worse to enjoy things God created, instead of God. Trusting more and more in things as human, they slowly moved from not believing Jesus was both human completely and God completely to believing God was only for the poor and the ignorant, believing that humans can solve all problems.
The truth is these people, Jesus said, are no longer God’s children receiving all His promises of peace, heaven, etc, but are now the children, because of their trust in themselves, of Satan. But still they who do these sexual previsions call themselves children of God.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, I remind you to look at what Paul said it would be like when human intelligence is trusted more than God. That time is here in abundance and it is rapidly spreading. Romans 1:20, “Women have turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulge in sex with each other (v 27) and of course men continue more and more of not having normal God given sex to procreate and to have sex with women, instead they burn with lust for sex with other men and with boys. Paul writes as a result of this sin, they suffer within themselves the penalty they deserve. I am sorry friends, but at this time I do not know what all that suffering they deserve implies.
Friends, you may recall how I described these false teachers in my first letter to you all and the condemnation of what happened to those long ago who refused to honor and obey God. In my first letter, I called them grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts and they bragged, at the same time they flatter others to gain their own advantages. Look around, you will see rude, conceited people who brag about what they do is right and good. They proclaim those who disagree are ignorant and unloving and they are presently insisting on laws to approve of their way of living. False teachers, leaders, pastors and bishops are attempting in 2018 to change the doctrine and constitution of the Methodist church and have already succeeded in some of the churches of your Christian friends. These unbelievers are asking to become teachers, preachers and leaders to our children, teaching them godless ways, and they do this in a loud, demanding manner, insisting others should honor the rights they feel they deserve. By so doing they are calling evil good and good evil, which has been prophesied, would occur in the latter days. Their false love is about to create hell on earth to those who disagree. There is no shame in what they openly do; that which they once kept secret. (v. 13)
The problem today, friends, is that some of us, by not doing anything to prevent this, are actually (Romans 1:32) applauding and encouraging those who would do those godless things they promote.
These false teachers say many loving sounding things and preach tolerance of and to everyone; they appear to have love and compassion and are fooling many who are not rooted and abiding in the truth, Little John wrote about. But, rightly so, Romans 2:2-5 says only God can really judge them. It is not our job to do so (v. 5).
(v. 7) On that day we all long for, God will reward or punish every person for what that person has done. The people that continue to do right and live for God’s glory and live for the heavenly life that has no end – God will give them eternal life. This is the gospel truth preached from the beginning of time.
In verse 4 long ago I, Jude, wrote to you that God showed His condemnation of ungodly people who pervert the free grace of God into lewdness, unashamed, indecent, unbridled lust and unrestrained immorality. I once again remind you of something you once fully knew from people who knew that Jesus, who saved people out of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe and so on through verse 16. If you have forgotten my message then look it up. It is the same as I wrote you nearly 2000 years ago.
I close my 2nd letter to you on May 6, 2018. Friends, believers in Christ Jesus, followers of His way, and in particular members of the United Methodist Church across your own country and especially my fellow workers in Christ in the states of Illinois and Indiana. Your board of Bishops are working on plans to implement into your church beliefs, teachings, and methods that I believe will harm the transformation of the world in making disciples of Christ and defeat john Wesley’s encouragement to do good and to do no harm.
Contrary to the Scriptures we hold dearly, many of the LGBTQ in the church are seeking the rights of homosexual, lesbians, and transgender to have the right to preach, teach, or lead this perverted gospel of theirs which we clearly laid out is a bad, ungodly belief, a bad doctrine that if adopted will lead the way out of the promise of heaven into the death of God’s punishment and His Wrath.
These people hold beliefs that sound good, but are not. Believing that all people are children of God, which 2nd John’s letter, Paul’s letters, and Jude feels and Jesus Himself states that not all have God as their father, some have Satan as their father. They believe and tell us love is God and God is love and therefore He will not punish anyone and will definitely not assign anyone to hell if there is a hell, which many of them believe there is not.
False teachers and leaders believe in trusting themselves as to what is right and to do whatever feels good they do. They believe there are no absolute truths, let alone believing in a man who taught 2000 years ago. They tell us this is a different age, a different time. They tell us there are many ways to heaven, and sadly some of them believe that there is no heaven or hell. They tell us that if there is a heaven the way to get there is doing good that others can see.
These false teachers, ministers, leaders and bishops are compiling a plan called “The Way Forward”. This group tells us Christians who are opposed are narrow minded, selfish and hypocritical
Some hate us because we say Jesus or Bible, or speak of salvation, or repentance, or sins. They plan to have this new sexual teaching adopted by the UMC in 2019 – less than a year away.
As I wrote to you earlier in verses 20-21 of my first letter, I encourage you to build up, to pray to wait for Jesus’ return, the one who gives eternal life, for in this way you keep yourself safe in God’s love. 1st John 3:3 adds all who have this eager hope and expectation purify their heart. Be sure not to neglect the gathering together for He is able to keep us from falling.
I encourage you to take to heart in 1st Timothy 6:12 “Fight the good fight for the true faith. Take hold of eternal life to which God has called you, which you confessed before many witnesses.
In closing, I repeat to you. Do not slander or criticize and do have mercy on those who doubt the truth. Merciful people do not only help with physical needs, but also share the spiritual food that they have.
We must be aware of those:
Who deny Christ was both fully God and fully human,
Who believe they have a license to do whatever they feel like, with an it if feels good,do it attitude,
Who are selfish, proud, disparaging and bitter in demanding their own way,
Who are divisive and fault finding of gospel truths,
Who believe all sexual activities are God approved for them to do what they desire.
As Diotrephes took the warning of beware of false teachers too far, false teachers today are taking to love one another too far.
May you always stand up for Jesus.
This article was extremely well written and explained why all delegates left GC grieving. Our South Georgia Conference held an informational meeting March 9, 2019 to educate our general membership that my husband and I attended. Our Bishop and task force led the meeting in an honorable and prayerful way and I am thankful for that. Cara explained their grieve to me and I’m thankful for that as well. We must continue to pray for our church and its ministry in these times.
Joyce Akins, Local member of a country church named Community UMC in South Georgia
The liberals and progressives cannot operate in a civil manner, in religion just as in politics. They oppose every decent value that upholds the banner of Truth for every generation. They need to take a hard look at themselves and their lives as authentic Christians and adherents to the infallible Word of God, infallible meaning the commands contained there in do NOT change no matter the current social climate. The winds need to begin blowing in a new direction, or they can pack up their beliefs and head in whatever direction their faulty mindset leads them!
Thank you, Cara. Your comments and description are most helpful.
Cara, ICYMI: Another report on the chicanery at 2019 GC.
http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?m=1108936514096&ca=d594becc-4cb5-424a-bfe4-6f702c580b36
Although I wasn’t aware of the shenanigans that took place, I share your sadness. As I saw friends on Facebook share how disappointed they were in the vote, I was so surprised – people who I thought believed as I, were upset. I had already made the decision I was leaving the church should One Church be passed. My husband who has spent most of his adult career in UMC church ministry kept telling me it wouldn’t survive because of the Global UMC church, but I had my doubts. While relieved Traditional was passed, to see so many mistake “love all/accept all” as to mean we not still adhere to Biblical teaching is very disheartening. I saw drama…a children’s minister who had taught my children when they were young…express how that night she would go home and over dinner try to explain to her children that we were not a hateful church (and all the people who agreed with her). That was the one that shocked me the most. Teaching truth is not hate. What I have loved about the UMC church is the message of, “Come as you are; all are welcome.” I believe we teach God’s Word, and through a relationship with Christ, your heart is transformed. Judgment is for the Lord. But we also have to teach truth. And One Church (or Simple) was an attempt to say that homosexuality is not a sin.
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Further, I believe strongly that One Church was not a solution. It was a stepping stone. It would have split the church, and any churches choosing to still follow Traditional, would have been marginalized and shamed into conformity. There would not have been respect or acceptance of adopting traditional teaching. The progressive agenda does not tolerate opposing views.
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There is something about being “lukewarm and being spit out.” This is where the church was headed and may still be.
Reblogged this on Kerry's blog and commented:
I watched part of the GC19 online. Your description matches the parts I viewed.
Thank you. It must have been heartbreaking to witness such division. We must stand up for our beliefs. God is in control of HIS church. May we be true disciples of the truth.
Cara,
You are indeed a brave person to write your views of what transpired. God bless you and protect you.
I can understand spiritual leaders debating scripture and its meaning, that is healthy. But the tactics that were used at this conference were appalling. How can the leadership of UMC condone this behavior, let alone participate in it? It is time that the theologians of the church take a careful look at Jezebel’s spirit. She destroys churches from within by using scripture. Wake up bishops you are being manipulated by Satan, not because of your debate on the issue of homosexuality but on your tactics that will lead to the separation of the church. As Jesus told his disciples. there are some spirits even they could not dispel.,Jezebel is one of those spirits and it has a grip on the UMC leadership.
John MacLean
I witnessed many of the same things you did, Cara. The prayers to the sky and earth were shocking. The last bishop that was openly advocating for Mardi Gras , and to go get party favors at her table were odd for a general conference. The obvious delay tactics. The retired liberal bishops that were brought in as “advisors”, more like intimidation mob bosses . The tshirts and pins that people were wearing that said “God is trans”. All of these things and many more make me want to run, not walk away from the UMC. The teaching in our seminaries has become downright blasphemy. The preaching from the pulpit has become twisted in so many UMC churches. You never know what you’re going to get. This is not the UMC I grew up in. It’s time to go. Thank goodness for the WCA, the voice of reason.