Random Thoughts and Ramblings

Tag: UMC

  • “What’s Going to Happen at General Conference?”

    The title reflects the question that I, and I’m sure most UMC pastors, are asked constantly. I always tell my people that I’m not afraid to tell them when I don’t know the answer, and this is the answer I give here. Simply, I don’t know. The pre-conference editions of the Daily Christian Advocate have been released and they contain a ton of legislation. Honestly, I haven’t had a lot of time to review the material. If history holds, the vast majority of the proposed legislation won’t make the floor for a full debate and will be swept into the proverbial dust pile.

    I have seen that there is a lot of interest in a myriad of legislation that would result in the United States becoming a regional conference, operating much the way the central conferences operate. I don’t want to comment on the implications of this because, again, I haven’t had a good opportunity to review everything. I do know that there are multiple pieces of legislation that would have to be passed to bring regionalization about, including changes to the UMC constitution (something that I believe will be a tough sell), which is all the more reason I need more time to review the legislation.

    Since I don’t feel comfortable commenting on legislation, I’d like to comment on what I know will not happen at General Conference. Let’s name it: There are outright lies being spread by people and organizations that are seeking to destroy the United Methodist Church for their own pursuit of power and a perverse desire to “win” at any cost. They want you to believe they are fighting for God when, the truth is, they’re only seeking to fulfill their own ambitions. They’re quick to say that there are decisions that have already been made and want you to believe that they know what the delegates will approve. This is pure fiction. Many of the GC-related questions I field are in response to things shared to incite fear and anger.

    I may not be able to tell you what will happen but I can tell you what will not happen, and share one thing that I do believe will happen.

    The UMC Will Not Reject the Divinity of Jesus or the Virgin Birth

    One of the most popular pieces of misinformation is the notion that the United Methodist Church is set to rid itself of doctrine related to affirming Jesus as divine and the virgin birth. A close second to this notion is that the UMC will embrace universalism and reject Christ as the sole means of salvation. This idea is unfounded and totally without merit.

    Within any church organization, you’re going to have people that don’t affirm every piece of accepted doctrine. We have some people – a very small percentage, I’d say maybe 1% – who do not affirm faith in Christ as the sole means of salvation and the virgin birth. Yes, such people exist in every church. I know for a fact there are Southern Baptists who baptize babies. Separatists have latched on to the words of these few people and asserted that these are the official positions of the UMC and that the delegates will vote to strip the UMC of these points of doctrine.

    First, the only people who speak for the United Methodist Church is General Conference. That’s it. No one else has that authority, period. Not even our bishops can speak on behalf of the entire church. Second: Even if there were a significant number of people wanting to change our doctrine on Jesus and the virgin birth (there aren’t), following through with these desires would be impossible. These doctrines are contained in our Articles of Religion, written by John Wesley himself (well, technically, they were taken from the Church of England and altered somewhat, but I digress) and the 16 articles of the Confession of Faith of the Evangelical United Brethren (the UMC came to be when the former Methodist Church and EUB merged in 1968).

    The General Conference does not have the authority to change the Articles of Religion or the Confession of Faith. The United Methodist Church have restrictive rules built in to the constitution that forbids changes.

    Don’t believe me? Here are the relevant portions of the Discipline.

    ¶ 17. Article I.—The General Conference shall not revoke, alter, or change our Articles of Religion or establish any new standards or rules of doctrine contrary to our present existing and established standards of doctrine.40

    ¶ 18. Article II.—The General Conference shall not revoke, alter, or change our Confession of Faith.

    https://www.umc.org/en/content/book-of-discipline-section-iii-restrictive-rules

    The above paragraphcs are part of the UMC’s Constitution that works much like the constitution of the United States. The Constitution of the UMC lays out the powers, responsibilities, restrictions, and authority of entities from the General Conference down to the local church. Making changes to the articles of confession is clearly banned.

    In short: Even if the General Conference delegates wanted to change these doctrines, they can’t. Even attempting to do so would require amending the constitution of the church and this would be an impossible task. Rejecting Jesus and the virgin birth simply are not going to happen.

    Clergy Will Not Be Required to Perform Same-Sex Weddings

    Another fear-mongering tactic is the idea that clergy will be forced to participate in same-sex marriage ceremonies or face defrocking. Even if prohibitions against clergy performing same-sex weddings are lifted (I believe that’s not likely to happen this time), I find it hard to believe that clergy would be compelled to solemnize same-sex marriages if their convictions will not allow them to.

    The reason is simple: UMC clergy are currently not under any obligation to perform any weddings. There is nothing in the Discipline that says a pastor must marry two people simply because the pastor is asked to. The Discipline does require clergy to conduct counseling with the couple prior to a wedding. If anything is discovered during that counseling that causes the pastor to believe the couple should not be wed, they can refuse.

    Clergy are currently not obligated to perform any wedding. I do not see that changing.

    What Will Happen: Fundamental Change in the United Methodist Church

    One thing that I do believe will happen is a fundamental shift in how the United Methodist Church is structured and how it operates. The United States lost 25% of its congregations to disaffiliation and there is no way the UMC will continue to operate in the same manner than it did prior to the departures. Structural revamping was already in the works, but disaffiliation has increased the urgency of the restructuring.

    I believe for 2024’s GC, we will see more in the way of budget cuts and perhaps some reshuffling in the general boards. There will also be initial discussions of reform, but I believe any significant restructuring will take place at the upcoming General Conference sessions that will take place between now and 2028.

    What Do You Think?

    What do you believe will happen at GC2024? Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

  • Sermon: The Guardian of the Soul

    religion, faith, shepherd

    More or less, here’s the sermon I delivered at Salem UMC and Pleasant Hill UMC on April 30, 2023.

    1 PETER 2:19-25 (NLT)

    For God is pleased when, conscious of his will, you patiently endure unjust treatment. 20 Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you.

    21 For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered[a] for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.

    22 He never sinned,

        nor ever deceived anyone.[b]

    23 He did not retaliate when he was insulted,

        nor threaten revenge when he suffered.

    He left his case in the hands of God,

        who always judges fairly.

    24 He personally carried our sins

        in his body on the cross

    so that we can be dead to sin

        and live for what is right.

    By his wounds

        you are healed.

    25 Once you were like sheep

        who wandered away.

    But now you have turned to your Shepherd,

        the Guardian of your souls.

    In 2006, a movie called The Guardian was released. The film stars Kevin Costner who plays decorated Coast Guard rescue swimmer Ben Randall and Ashton Kutcher who plays a rookie rescue swimmer named Jake Fischer. Kutcher’s character is a young, cocky swimmer bent on being the best. Jake is obsessed with breaking the training center’s records, most of which are held by his lead instructor Ben Randall. Ben spends much of the time as Jake’s instructor trying to knock the chip off the younger swimmer’s shoulder, which turns out to be the result of trying to make up for being the driver of a car that was hit, an accident that killed most of the other members of his high school swim team. Jake asks Ben repeatedly what his “number” is, meaning the number of people he has rescued during his career. Finally, toward the end of the movie, Ben provides an answer: “22.” Jake is surprised that it’s not more and Ben responds, “22 is the number of people I lost, Jake. The only number I kept track of.”

    Like a good person who does things for the right reasons, Ben doesn’t keep track of the numbers that some people may view as important, rather he does his job but uses the tragedies to improve his skills and to fuel his determination. Later, Ben dies during a rescue mission. Later, another mission in the same area is conducted and Jake responds as the primary rescue swimmer. One of the men who’s rescued asks who the other guy who saved him was. Jake smiles at the thought that his friend and mentor may have had a spiritual hand on saving the man’s life. Thus, the legend of the guardian of the Alaskan sea was born.

    A few years ago, I attended a workshop where the speaker reminded us that Jesus is in the rescue business. Indeed, Jesus rescues the sin sick soul from certain eternal death through his death and resurrection. It’s no accident that we talk of people “being saved” when they convert their lives over to the ways of Jesus, because their souls are being saved. Jesus makes this possible. We often look at Jesus as a shepherd and, perhaps, you’ve seen that shepherd theme in our scriptures today (if you’re joining us late online, our responsive reading today was Psalm 23). Today’s gospel reading is John 10:1-10 that records Jesus giving a lesson of his being the messiah being like the gate that separates the sheep from those seeking to harm them. Verses 6 through 9 says this:

    Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, 7 so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me[a] were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. 9 Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved.

    This sounds very guardian-like to me. Jesus, protecting the sheep – that is, his people – from evil. Jesus is the guardian of our souls.

    Remember that Peter’s purpose for writing this letter is to encourage Christians in the Roman world who are suffering under the oppression of the government. We do have some historical records that recorded the kind of persecution the early believers often suffered. I won’t go into all of that today but, suffice it to say, the level of persecution was heavy. No matter how strong and committed someone is to a cause, everyone has their breaking point. Peter knew that some of these folks were getting close to theirs. Perhaps some of them had already caved under the pressure, fearful of death or what might await them on the other side. Perhaps some uncertainty had crept in with some of them. It’s easy to criticize but, when your family is starving because the government says Christians can’t buy the essentials of life, it’s also easy to understand that the temptation to cave is intense.

    Peter is reminding them that they have a savior who has their back, front, sides, and everything else under his protection, especially their souls. Peter is telling them that it’s a safe move to follow the example of Jesus who suffered a human death and everything that came before it. As he points out, Jesus never returned the abuse he suffered at the hands of the Romans with insults or any sort of retaliation. As I mentioned, everyone has their breaking point and there were people who felt that responding to Roman oppression in kind was justified. Peter reminds them that it was Jesus who didn’t defend himself physically and instead let God have the final say. Peter gives us this example to remind us that God can still be trusted to deliver us as well. Remember that final say that God had: That death does not win, the sword does not win, that love wins, resurrection wins, and nothing can beat those facts no matter how hard one wants them to be beaten.

    Peter is so convinced of God’s keeping these promises that he breaks out into song. If you look at verses 22 through 25, see that it’s intended. Indention typically indicates poetry or song. I can’t help but think that Peter is giving us a hymn, praising God’s faithfulness and praising Jesus for being the one who defends us against every evil. This isn’t a lament; this means that we should celebrate and be excited about Jesus defending us with his very life and defeating death for us by rising from the grave even when the enemy tried every trick in the book to keep him in that tomb.

    Note: It was at this point in the sermon that I opted to trust the Spirit and say something prophetic for each church. Obviously, it came out a bit different at each church. To see how it came out, watch the videos on each of the church Facebook pages linked at the top of the post.

    We need to be excited about the fact that we have a savior, a defender, a shepherd, a guardian, who watches over us every single day. Y’all, our guardian has secured the victory for us out of his immeasurable and eternal love for us. Bad things may come our way. Poverty may happen. Any number of things may come our way. BUT GOD… is watching over our souls. Peter calls Jesus the guardian of our souls. Think of what a guardian is – a defender, protector, or keeper. This is Jesus! We can trust him with everything we have and everything we are. If you’re doubting him, let him prove himself to you. He will not let you down. He already died and rose again from the dead for you.

    Don’t worry about what the future holds. Trust in Jesus to guard your soul.