The Methodist Mosaic Volume 61 Number 1 The United Methodist Church of Kent— A Place to Grow
January 2019
Dear Friends, In less than two months, from Feb. 23–26, our United Methodist Church will be holding a special General Conference in St. Louis for the sole purpose of considering, and perhaps significantly changing, our denomination’s stance on human sexuality. Currently, the United Methodist Church, in its official “rule book,” the Discipline, has a statement that “The United Methodist Church does not condone the practice of homosexuality and considers this practice incompatible with Christian teaching.” Along with that, the Discipline has a rule against same-sex weddings being performed in a United Methodist Church or by a United Methodist pastor, and a rule against the ordination or appointment of what the Discipline calls “self-avowed practicing homosexuals.” At the same time, there is a statement in the Discipline that “We affirm that all persons are individuals of sacred worth, created in the image of God. We implore families and churches not to reject or condemn lesbian and gay members and friends. We commit ourselves to be in ministry for and with all persons.” For years, many United Methodists have been pushing for the church to change the Discipline to move the denomination toward a stance that is fully welcoming and affirming with respect to LGBTQ persons. Debates have raged at every General Conference, and the votes have been close, with the vote at every General Conference being tipped toward the conservative side by the international delegates. At the last General Conference, in 2016, with more debates and lots of petitions looming, the Conference resolved to take a new direction, to seek to find a “way forward” that would accommodate the divergent perspectives in the church, while being faithful to the call of Christ. A special commission was established to explore new approaches, which would be presented to a special General Conference, which is the one about to take place. Our Council of Bishops is bringing a recommendation to the General Conference that, if adopted, would make broad-reaching changes in the Discipline. With all this before us, I will be doing a sermon series, starting on Sunday, January 13, entitled, “The Way Forward: What God Says to the Church on Human Sexuality.” In the series, I will elaborate further on what is unfolding in the church; but most of all, the series will enable us to look at what the Bible actually says about same-sex relationships. We will find in the process that the relevant Bible passages have a lot to say to every one of us! The series will conclude on March 3, just past the end of the General Conference. Obviously, there is a lot of controversy in this realm; and some pastors are inclined to say nothing at all, since to say anything will surely make somebody mad! But I believe I owe it to this congregation to help us to clearly hear God’s Word. There have been numerous misunderstandings and distortions of the Bible on the subject; but through the course of this series, I hope we can all get a picture of how God is leading us on “the way forward” in our discipleship as followers of Jesus Christ.
In His Service, Dr. David Palmer