My Twelve Convictions as the UMC Moves Forward

As I pray and continue to find healing and perspective after last year's season of church disaffiliations from the main body of the UMC, on a recent retreat I wrote down these twelve convictions. What would yours be?

My Twelve Convictions

1. Ministry is messy because relationships are messy. It’s by grace that we are saved! I love church because it’s the gift God gave us to bring people to Christ. So I embrace the messiness with joy. I choose the Jesus way and work things out in love.

2. As I said in my book, “the arc of Christian history bends toward inclusion.” Christianity, since the early church, has reformed itself over and over to come back to this gospel value. Here we are again. Reform is painful but it’s necessary to meet the times.

3. My personal views were changed by decades of ministry with LGBTQ+ Christians, in and beyond my local church. The idea that you can’t be gay and be Christian is bogus. I know too many that are. Their witness formed me over time. I have experienced the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15 in slow motion.

4. I don’t worship Wesley. But I find the Wesleyan way an unparalleled, balanced, and passionate expression of biblical Christianity. Wesley’s sermon “The Scripture Way of Salvation” and our core doctrines in the Discipline spell it out. I just love being a mainline United Methodist. I believe the holiness tradition the separatists claim is a derivative of Wesleyan spirituality. I don’t believe we can arrive at a sinless life. I choose to be overwhelmed by grace!

5. It’s clear from Wesley’s writings, especially “On Schism” and “The Catholic Spirit,” that he would be mortified by how the separatist leadership has functioned over the last ten years. The secessionists caused the schism, not the people they demonized.

6. The initial concerns were valid … how do we move forward in light of dramatic changes in our culture? But the WCA formed in 2016 to openly plan schism. They overturned the One Church Plan presented by the Commission on a Way Forward in 2019, though they knew they would probably leave anyway. They also knew full and well that the Traditional Plan was not sustainable, so I have concluded that it was never intended for unity. It was to say “either they’re leaving, or we’re leaving.” I saw this from the beginning and protested. It turns out they followed through with their end game.

7. The separatists did not leave the UMC for theological or biblical reasons. They left for sociological reasons, rooted in American culture wars and ideological politics. They simply made justification for it using the Bible and theology. This exposed the underbelly of American religious history, as such movements have done in the past. I love our religious freedom because it leads more people to Christ, but this experience has shown me this is the biggest pitfall.

8. Diversity, not division, is a sign of the Holy Spirit. Unity has never been the same thing as uniformity. Wesley coined the phrase “agree to disagree” because he strove for perfection in love. Love is what matters. Love wins.

9. The gospels never even mention the hot button topics that separatists left over. But the gospels definitely teach about unity. Jesus prays for it for a whole chapter in John, noting that our unity comes from abiding in him (not agreeing on everything).

10. Yet here we are, and those who left us are our siblings in Christ who we must now love, just as we love people of other denominations. This will involve forgiveness and healing. I am on a journey of opening my heart.

11. The communion table is the gift Christ gave us to bring unity in our diversity. It’s not just about me and Jesus. It’s about the kingdom of God. We need to come back to the table in order to move forward. This message is the gift I brought to the larger discussion, for such a time as this.

12. The UMC can now robustly stand for the positive biblical value of unity in diversity, over against the divisiveness of our culture. We are unhindered by the divisions of the past and can truly embrace the vision of open minds, open hearts, and open doors. We can grow by bringing all kinds of people into vibrant relationship with Christ and a life of being immersed in grace. I’m excited about our future.

Thank you for remaining UMC!

I saw a post in a clergy forum on social media, from a pastor of a church that disaffiliated but he remained with the UMC. He simply want to say thank you to others who did so as well. He said that while filling in at a church, he had a lay person thank him for remaining UMC. He realized that no one had done that … no denominational leader had done that.

He simply wanted to say "thank you” and wish God's blessings on them in their new ministry setting!

I responded with the following comment.

Yes! I want everyone to know I have gratitude in my heart for all of you who persevered. Thank you for your loyalty to Christ and to the mystical church God gave us.

I realize I am personally fortunate … I serve a local church that chose not to enter a discernment process, and we only lost 10% of our people which was painful but not disruptive to ministry. And I was blessed beyond measure to be in appointment from which I could openly lead our Stay UMC movement in North Alabama.

I admire people like you who held to the faith, who believe what the Bible says about Christ’s prayers for unity and about the DNA of the early church called to live the radical love of Jesus even when it’s uncomfortable. It was hard to hold fast when those around you were falling into the schismatic fear. Yet you did.

Thank you. You chose to remain in communion with me and such a diverse group of other Christians, though you and I may only know each other on social media. We are family, the body of Christ.

It meant the world to me that a bishop at Jurisdictional Conference went out of his way to thank me for standing up as a leader to defend the faith. You all should be thanked as well!

More than that, know that Christ holds you close to his breast. Well done, good and faithful servants.