This post may appear to be early, since the General Conference continues through tomorrow evening, so as I write this post, we have two full days left before it ends. You may recall that General Conference, an event held once every four years, is a conference between United Methodists from all corners of the globe to make decisions for the direction of our church. This quadrennium's conference will last from May 10-20 and is being held in Portland, Oregon.
In case you have not been keeping up with General Conference 2016, allow me to give just a few highlights which I've selected to share. They are in no particular order:
1) As always, the worship sessions at General Conference are easily the highlight of the time, and are what directs and centers this conference a Christian event. United Methodists from all over the world travel to General Conference to offer the best of their gifts of song, dance, rhythm and proclamation. And General Conference 2016 has been no exception. Merely search YouTube for "General Conference 2016 worship" and you will find plenty of examples of powerful worship.
2) Technology has played a significant role in General Conference 2016. Delegates have all been provided with tablet computers which help to provide all information from all sub-committees, and are used to queue for speaking on the conference floor. It has helped to reduce paper waste and inefficiency, but at the same time has caused unforeseen difficulties in parliamentary procedure.
3) Some interesting pieces of legislation and judicial rulings have taken effect or been voted down. In 2020 the UMC will elect four new bishops on the continent of Africa due to numerical growth; bishops will continue to be bishops for life, as a provision to term limits was voted down; and ordained deacons now have an easier road to practicing the sacraments in the church.
But of course, there is a huge pink elephant in the room: there continues to be a hotly contested debate in the United Methodist Church over the issue of the LGBT community and how to remain a united denomination while remaining divided theologically. If you have seen any press released over General Conference 2016, there is a 98% chance that it involved, directly or indirectly, this core issue which has dominated discussion and has all but prevented any other real progress. And I'm sad to report that much of the debate has been dramatic, overly emotional and often insulting. It is what was expected, but is sad nonetheless. Allow me to do my best to offer a very brief and over-simplified summary of what is happening in my best understanding and viewpoint:
1) As the United Methodist Church was forming out of the merger of the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Evangelical United Brethren, at the 1972 General Conference the delegates voted to support wording in the Book of Discipline that read that "homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching". This is the language that remains in the Discipline to this day, and while there are many other passages in the Discipline that cite human sexuality in one way or another, it is this particular passage that receives the greatest amount of attention. This is due to the fact that it is language written into the constitution of the church and is very difficult to amend; if it were altered, it would then impact the rest of the Discipline moving forward.
2) Moving forward in time, at the present date there are three "positions" within the United Methodist Church as relates to the issue of human sexuality. Those known as the "left", "liberals" or "progressives" are pushing the church to remove this language from the Discipline in favor of new legislation which would incorporate the LGBT community on equal footing fully in all areas of the church, specifically ordination. All language would reflect a theology of inclusiveness of LGBT persons within a paradigm of monogamous marriage, and as a denomination we would officially be in full support and solidarity with the LGBT community. In contrast, those known as the "right", "conservatives" or "evangelicals" are pushing for the church to maintain its language from the Discipline with the opinion that, while all people are of sacred worth, LGBT sexual orientation is not compatible with Scripture and cannot be affirmed by the church. Furthermore, where ordained pastors are holding marriage ceremonies for the LGBT community, there should be uniform and significant disciplinary measures taken to hold everyone accountable to the standard of the Discipline. Finally, a third position, one which is much quieter and poorly organized, are those known as "moderates" or "centrists", who, while each one has an opinion on human sexuality, does not view the issue as paramount for the future of our church. Moderates are not without opinion or conviction; however, they do not find the issue worthy of the attention which it receives, and generally are held in fear that those on the "left" and "right" are going to split the denomination apart. Moderates are constantly torn at General Conference, but they are the "swing" vote for sure.
3) In the past four years, the United States of America has officially ruled the constitutionality of gay marriage in all 50 states, leading to the legal validity of gay marriage by any United Methodist minister. While this is theoretically not allowed according to the Book of Discipline, pastors have been performing such marriages in defiance all over the country, including right here in Tennessee. Annual Conferences have responded differently, with some punishing those who perform such ceremonies, while others do not. In practice, the United Methodist Church is already operating under non-uniform standards, largely based on region. In the more "left" or "liberal" conferences, such as in the Northeast or West Coast, many clergy have even come out of the closet at LGBT, with full support from their colleagues and, most importantly, their bishops.
4) So the "left" wants to officially recognize the full validity of the LGBT community, since in many regions they are still treated unequally; the "right" wants very much to crack down on those who are defying the Book of Discipline; and the "moderates" are being encouraged to go with one side or the other at every turn. In fact, the only ones who are happy with the status quo, even remotely, are the moderates, because for them the issue of gay marriage is not paramount to the church's mission, so they are less concerned over the issue of social justice (as the "left" proclaims) or church discipline and consistency (as the "right" proclaims). Of course, what would make moderates the happiest is if both sides would stand down and drop the issue entirely, but this is a really contentious debate with all kinds of history and implications that are far deeper than I can explain in a blog post!
5) Being a highly organized church (we're not known as "Methodists" for nothing!), with an 800+ page Book of Discipline that orders our denomination, there is plenty of opportunity to use legislation, politics and maneuvering to achieve your agenda. If you can't beat 'em, drag 'em into a hopeless void of stalling tactics, voting blocs and manipulation of Robert's Rules of Order. We spent three days during this ten-day conference debating whether or not to adopt a rule to open the conference which described ways to build trust among one another; ultimately it was voted down. If there is one clear theme to this General Conference, it is that we have legislated ourselves into so many rules and systems that few people have a clear understanding of what implications new rules and systems will have. My understanding is that most of the moderate legislation that has not been passed at General Conference 2016 is due to a really high level of confusion and disorder, much of which has been intentionally caused by factions on both the "left" and "right" to pursue their respective agendas. In addition, some of that legislation was sloppy when it was presented to the conference, and did not define parameters well enough, which is another good reason to vote it down.
6) Yesterday (Wednesday, May 18) we set all sorts of new records at General Conference. You can read reports from other sites for details: www.umc.org; www.unitedmethodistreporter.com; among others. In a nutshell, our bishop from Tennessee, Bishop Bill McAlilly, just happened to be presiding over the conference during a heated vote over a proposal regarding sexuality. Being a white male originally from Mississippi, with an accent to verify, he was targeted by a "liberal" delegate who, at the microphone in front of the entire conference, accused him of "telegraphing votes" by using hand gestures, as if to rig the vote, and then requested he step down from his role of presiding. McAlilly then called for a ten-minute recess and returned to preside, moving forward. So far as we currently know, this was the first time since the 1800s that a bishop was asked to step down from presiding during a General Conference. What a lovely piece of history. (By the way, McAlilly is well-known as a staunch moderate.)
7) The General Conference voted narrowly in favor of a piece of legislation that will, at the discretion and direction of the bishops, call for continuing conversation of human sexuality to re-convene at some point between now and General Conference 2020, marking the first time in United Methodist history of calling a special session of General Conference since its founding in 1968. It would happen as early as 2018, or as late as early 2020. This continuing conversation will involve delegates to this 2016 conference and will review each and every word in the Book of Discipline regarding human sexuality.
So...what should you make of General Conference 2016? Lol!! I can't tell you that, as you need to decide for yourself what you think about all of this politicking and drama! However, I can tell you a few things in the final (ongoing...) analysis and what to expect coming up next:
A) First and foremost, much of the business of the church has taken a back burner to the issue of human sexuality, and our denomination is very likely to suffer as a result. It is difficult to cast vision and forge a plan forward for bringing reconciliation into God's world if we can't even agree to be civil with one another as delegates to the General Conference. This single issue has jeopardized the UMC for a long time, both in terms of unity and effectiveness. And this is not going to stop anytime soon.
B) If you are staunchly on the "left" or squarely on the "right" of the human sexuality issue, you are not too happy, because the moderates have succeeded in fighting a war of attrition. So much energy and heartache has been unleashed between the "left" and the "right" that finally enough people (narrowly, mind you) were willing to vote for a special conference at the guidance and leadership of the Council of Bishops (who normally have no legislative authority at General Conference). It seems that you do not "win" by seeking division and absolution, but rather by keeping faith in the Holy Spirit and allowing God to be your sustenance, rather than your personal convictions or understandings.
C) The most natural course of events into the future is to allow the UMC to deal with the issue not through the General Conference, but through the Annual Conference, where different regions will deal with the issue differently, much to the chagrin of opponents. Currently, the "left" and "right" factions are largely drawn out upon geographic lines, with "left" factions primarily in the Northeastern and Western US, and "right" factions in Africa and parts of the Southeastern US. Due to financial matters, my guess is that the UMC is unlikely to divide or schism anytime soon, but we will continue having this conversation over and over again at the cost of millions of dollars and uncountable human resources.
D) But don't walk away with all bad news. In the end, the United Methodist Church is the last major Christian organization remaining which is holding a conversation--however heated--about the issue of human sexuality. This means that at our core, there is something that continues to keep us together as a family, something which binds us even though many of us personally are pitted against one another. We are the last bastion of Christian unity left in the US, perhaps the world, and unified we remain, however high and difficult the cost. The fact that the UMC remains united is still a fantastic witness to the world, that no matter how difficult the road ahead lies, we are one body of Christ and we are in this together.
May General Conference 2016, which came in like a lion, go out like a lamb, with our eyes and ears focusing intently on the Lamb who was divided that we might be made whole again.
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