There's at least one area of agreement among conservative, centrist and liberal leaders in the United Methodist Church: America's largest mainline Protestant denomination is on a path toward likely breakup over differences on same-sex marriage and ordination of LGBT pastors.
Back in February of this year, The United Methodist Church narrowly dodged the bullet that would have split their once on fire denomination right down the middle. After a very close vote was held,
members voted to not allow the
LGBTQ+P for pedophile to take over the church. But any elation over that win has already dissipated in the gritty reality that the LGBTQ+P for pedophile is giving up or back off. The split they dodged a few months ago will happen before too much longer.
"And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth." Revelation 3:14-16 (KJV)
Jesus prophesied that the last Church Age, the Laodicean church age, would end in utter powerlessness and in effectuality. The apostle Paul prophesied that the main condition that had to be met before the Rapture of the Church could take place would be the great 'falling away' mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2. Encapsulated in this article today on the United Methodist Church we see both those prophecies accurately encapsulated and on display as we watch their fulfillment coming to pass.
"For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet." Romans 1:26,27 (KJV)
Allowing same sex-marriage in the church is like allowing AA members to drink beer at their meetings, or letting girls join the Boy Scouts. They are two things that are forever mutually exclusive. Homosexuality is a sin, and while we seek to win the lost LGBTQ person to Jesus, it is something that has no place in the church of Jesus Christ. God didn't make anyone gay, that came as a result of sin. God blesses no homosexual unions of any kind, and never will. That is not hate speech, that's bible.
United Methodists edge toward breakup over LGBT policies
Many believe the vote will prompt an exodus from the church by liberal congregations that are already expressing their dissatisfaction over the move.
Some churches have raised rainbow flags in a show of LGBT solidarity. Some pastors have vowed to
defy the strict rules and continue to allow gay weddings in Methodist churches. Churches are withholding dues payments to the main office in protest, and the UMC's receipts were down 20 percent in March, according to financial reports posted online.
"It's time for some kind of separation, some kind of amicable divorce," said James Howell, pastor of Myers Park United Methodist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, who posted a video assailing the proposal for its "real meanness."
The UMC's nine-member Judicial Council convenes a four-day meeting in Evanston, Illinois, on Tuesday to consider legal challenges to the Traditional Plan. If the plan is upheld, it would take effect for U.S. churches on Jan. 1. If parts of it are struck down, that would likely trigger new debate at the UMC's next general conference in May 2020.
The UMC's largest church — the 22,000-member
Church of the Resurrection with four locations in the Kansas City area — is among those applying financial pressure. Its lead pastor, Adam Hamilton, says his church is temporarily withholding half of the $2.5 million that it normally would have paid to the UMC's head office at this stage of the year.
"We'll ultimately pay it," Hamilton said. "But we want to show that this is the impact if our churches leave."
Hamilton is among the opponents of the Traditional Plan leading
an initiative dubbed UMC-Next that seeks the best path forward for those who share their views. Clergy and activists in the alliance have met in Texas and Georgia, and a bigger meeting is planned for May 20-22 at Hamilton's megachurch.
Hamilton, in a telephone interview, said two main options are under consideration. Under one scenario, many centrists and liberals would leave en masse to form a new denomination — a potentially complex endeavor given likely disputes over the dissolution process.
Under the other option, opponents of the Traditional Plan would stay in the UMC and resist from within, insisting on LGBT-inclusive policies and eventually convincing the conservatives that they should be the faction that leaves under what's envisioned as a financially smooth "gracious exit."
"There's a sense that some conservatives have been wanting to leave for a long time," Hamilton said. "They're tired of fighting about it."
While other mainline Protestant denominations have embraced gay-friendly practices, the UMC still bans them, though acts of defiance by pro-LGBT clergy have multipliedv. Many have performed same-sex weddings; others have come out as
gay or lesbian from the pulpit.
Enforcement of the bans has been inconsistent; the Traditional Plan aspires to beef up discipline against those engaged in defiance.
Traditional Plan supporter Mark Tooley, who heads a conservative Christian think tank, predicts that the UMC will split into three denominations — one for centrists, another oriented toward liberal activists and a third representing the global alliance of U.S. conservatives and their allies overseas.
"It's a question of how long it takes for that to unfold — and of who and how many go into each denomination," Tooley said. "A lot of churches will be irreparably harmed as they divide."
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