Human Sexuality: A Way Forward in The United Methodist Church

Recently, we hosted Bishop Laurie Haller and the East Central District. 215 people came to hear about the official proposal going before the specially-called General Conference in February 2019 about our way forward as United Methodists.

Currently, The United Methodist Church declares that all are welcome and all individuals are of sacred worth but the practice of homosexuality (not homosexual people themselves) is incompatible with Christian scripture and tradition. Further, the church prevents clergy from officiating at same-sex unions, teaches that marriage is between a man and a woman, and prohibits the ordination of self-professed practicing homosexuals. Not everyone agrees with this position and want it changed. Therefore, some have broken our covenant as an act of defiance or justice by marrying same-sex persons. Further, some annual conferences have ordained LGBT persons.

This debate around human sexuality has been waged, really, since the first General Conference in 1972 after the merger between the Methodist and Evangelical United Brethren denominations in 1968. It came to a head in 2016 and the Bishops, rightly or wrongly, took matters into their own hands and formed this Commission and called for this special General Conference to determine how we will move forward. We now have an official answer. While the Commission gave three plans to the Bishops, they are recommending one of them in February.

The recommended One Church Plan neither affirms or condemns LGBT persons. It would remove language from our Book of Discipline restricting pastors and churches from conducting same-sex weddings and restricting annual conferences from ordaining self-avowed practicing homosexual persons. Therefore, pastors and churches, locally, would choose whether to perform or host same-sex weddings, and each annual conference would determine who to ordain.

This plan allows different practices in different places in America and around the world. It’s based on the belief that we can be a church with a large enough tent for people to disagree about homosexuality and yet remain together in unity and mission.

This “live and let live” plan, however, doesn’t satisfy progressives, who say it doesn’t bar discrimination against LGBT persons in some parts of the UMC. It doesn’t satisfy traditionalists, who say it violates their interpretation of scripture.

The Bishops are also sending to the General Conference the other two plans considered but not recommended. The Traditionalist Model would affirm the current language about homosexuality in the Book of Discipline and seek to strengthen enforcement for violations of church law. Congregations and clergy not able to abide by this would be provided a gracious exit, allowing them to keep such things as property and pensions. Interestingly, this is the only plan that allows for a gracious exit from the UMC if they don’t agree with the General Conference decision in February.

The Connectional Conference Model would create a complex structure of three overlapping branches, one traditional, one progressive, and one centrist. Annual Conferences would choose to join one of them, but local churches and pastors who disagree with that choice, would be allowed to join a different branch.

Click here if you would like to read the final report from the Commission on the Way Forward. Scroll down to the link for the English version or for one of the other official languages of General Conference: French, Portuguese, and Swahili.

This is where we stand for now. There will be changes. The Bishops asked the Judicial Council (our version of the Supreme Court) to review the One Church Plan ahead of time, and some are already arguing that it is not constitutional and parts of it could be rejected. Further, other unofficial plans have already been crafted. There will be an attempt to bring them before the General Conference, too. And whatever ends up before the delegates will likely be amended.

While it’s impossible to know what this means for Salem or the larger church yet, it is possible to read scripture, have conversations, and pray together. We can continue welcoming and loving all people, trusting that God will lead us forward.