Some time back, I had a conversation with a former Wesleyan Covenant Association member (they were also a WCA leader in their annual conference) who revealed to me that they were no longer part of the organization because they were concerned with their trajectory. In addition, a parishioner of mine told me she had a conversation with my former predecessor shortly before his death. He was a former WCA insider who purportedly worked on some of their proposed legislation. My parishioner says they were told not to trust WCA or the Global Methodist Church (is there a difference at this point?) because he did not like the direction the organizations were headed in.
I’ve written extensively about my distrust and dislike of WCA and GMC because of their activities and what I believe is a sheer lack of integrity. While WCA and GMC may not be directly responsible for the misinformation being pumped out, they are complicit because they have refused to hold those spreading it accountable. This has led to many congregations making rash decisions based on lies, decisions that I believe will harm them down the road. The Instagram account @Gnarles_Wesley has been documenting the GMC debacle within their annual conference, including promises made to small congregations to have pastors in time for Christmas Eve communion, only to have GMC devote resources to planting congregations in affluent areas.
I’ve said it once, and I’ll repeat it: The GMC does not want, nor do they care, about small congregations.
And, why do I include the above? Questions about integrity, which leads to the true purpose of this post.
I know for a fact that there are clergy and laity who have made their intentions to leave the United Methodist Church and to join the GMC well-known and who continue to serve on UMC boards, to serve as leaders, and who unashamedly share GMC social posts and who are actively leading their congregations out of the UMC (ironically, this is a violation of the Book of Discipline, Paragraph 2702). This is dishonest and shows an apparent lack of integrity on their part. The saddest thing is that many of these people serve on DCOMs, BoOMs, and General Conference delegations, positions with much power and responsibility. People planning to leave the United Methodist Church should not be in these positions, period, full stop.
I don’t wish for any of this to sound lacking in grace or friendship. I consider some of the people I’ve talked about above friends and hope to continue those friendships for many years. Ultimately, we are brothers and sisters in Christ. With that said, anyone desiring to leave the UMC should stop the dishonesty and have the integrity to resign from positions that involve ministerial credentialing and their annual conference General Conference and Jurisdictional Conference delegations. If one who is in the ordination process in the UMC intends to depart for the GMC, they ought to stop the process immediately. To make vows that one cannot uphold (also known as lying) and accept a stole from a bishop they intend to serve no longer is a severe lapse of integrity and honesty.
Jesus is recorded as saying, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” (Matthew 6:24 NLT) While Jesus was teaching about money, this truth can be applied to having one foot in the United Methodist Church and the other in the Global Methodist Church. How is serving in the UMC while openly promoting and recruiting for the GMC not a lack of integrity? How is this not dishonest? I note this accusation hurled at the UMC regularly: the leadership lacks integrity. Does a lack of integrity make up for an alleged lack of integrity? Let’s say both parties are wrong: Two wrongs do not make a right.
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