Denominational Conflict Articles

Sinking Sand: Why I’m Leaving United Methodism

I was about 5 years old, sitting next to my mother in church when we came to the place in the service where we say the Lord’s Prayer. My mother looked down at me, a little taken aback, when I joined in the liturgy. I heard those familiar words recited so many times that they were ingrained in me already, even at such a young age.

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That Time Has Come!

For over four generations the roots of Methodism have run deep in the soil of my family. Beginning with my great-grandfather Peter, my grandfather Edward, and my father Robert, the only spiritual home that me and my ancestors have known has been the Methodist Church. As a young boy, to this day I can vividly remember my grandmother “marching” me and my sisters in an orderly cadence on any given Sunday to the Trinity East Methodist Church in Houston, which by the way, is still located on McGowan Street where several generations of Hayes’ have called home.

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The Politics of Postponement and the 2020 General Conference

The United Methodist General Conference has been postponed until 2024. For a brief, gleaming moment it looked as if we might be able to resolve our differences in the UMC without further hostility. The Protocol for Reconciliation and Grace through Separation provided a way beyond our ecclesiastical death embrace. Traditionalists, progressives, and centrists came to the table. They worked with a highly-respected, experienced professional mediator. No group came away with everything it wanted, but everyone could agree to terms that were at least acceptable. That is the nature of compromise.

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A Day Older and Wiser: Why I Resigned from the Commission on General Conference

President Abraham Lincoln was once taken to task by a congressional ally for changing a policy position. “Mr. President, you have changed your mind entirely within a short time.” Convinced that recent events and new information required a change of heart, Lincoln replied, “Yes, I have, and I don’t think much of a man who isn’t wiser today than he was yesterday.”

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The Ill-Conceived Plan to Seize Mt. Bethel's Assets

In a dramatic and unprecedented move, the North Georgia Annual Conference has initiated action to seize control of the assets of the largest congregation in the conference, Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church in Marietta, Georgia. The conference cited “exigent circumstances [that] have threatened the continued vitality and mission of Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church.”

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Confronting the Mess My Bishop Created at Mt. Bethel Church

When Christians feel mistreated, how should we respond? As devoted church members, what recourse do we have when we believe church leadership has behaved badly? The Bible addresses the first question. The United Methodist Church has established ways to address the latter. But when put to the test, does our denomination’s Book of Discipline afford any real measure of comfort or resolution of grievances? I’m afraid this Methodist has been left wanting.

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An Episcopal Fiasco in North Georgia

CORRECTION: After the posting of this article it was brought to our attention that on July 7, 2021, the North Georgia Annual Conference announced that the Rev. Brian Tillman had been appointed to be the conference’s first Director of Inclusion and Advocacy.” We have removed from the article the paragraph having to do with the claim that Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson has not filled a position having to do with racial reconciliation that she had originally intended to have the Rev. Dr. Jody Ray assume. We regret the error and have communicated our apologies to the bishop.

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Protests Mount Against Cal-Pac Bishop

California-Pacific Conference Bishop Grant Hagiya is facing public criticism, even protest demonstrations, for his decision to move three Korean American pastors from their current churches. The Korean United Methodist Church Laity Network, Cal-Pac Korean Church Caucus and other groups accuse Hagiya of targeting the three pastors for their traditionalist beliefs and affiliations. They claim he failed to consult with the pastors and their churches in the appointment process.

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New Jersey Korean Pastor Responds

Several weeks ago, I shared the story of the Rev. James Lee, a pastor in the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference at Bethany Korean UM Church. His district superintendent notified him that Bishop John Schol was appointing him to a different, much smaller congregation. (Bethany is the largest congregation in the Greater New Jersey Conference.)

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Turmoil in New Jersey

Complaints about bishops exerting autocratic authority are nothing new in Methodism. Such grievances leveled against Francis Asbury, the first Methodist bishop in America, were the cause behind Methodism’s first schism. Rev. James O’Kelly objected to pastoral appointments made by Bishop Asbury and introduced a proposal to allow pastors to appeal an unsatisfactory appointment to the conference, which could override the bishop’s decision.

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A Fight for the Faith Delivered Once for All

The searing words of the second paragraph of the letter of Jude both frame and highlight a fight for the Christian faith going on in The United Methodist Church today. “Dear friends, I wanted very much to write to you concerning the salvation we share. Instead, I must write to urge you to fight for the faith delivered once and for all to God’s holy people. Godless people have slipped in among you. They turn the grace of our God into unrestrained immorality and deny our only master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Judgment was passed against them a long time ago” (Jude 2-4, CEB).

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A Strange Split In the UMC

The United Methodist Church has decided to divide over the issue of same-sex marriage. This is not surprising, given the longstanding disagreements on this matter that have afflicted the denomination. The UMC has arranged the separation in a remarkably civil way: The proposed solution, formulated by a committee of members drawn from both sides of the debate, will (hopefully) avoid the rancor and distress and disputes about properties and pensions that have marked other such denominational splits in recent times.

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UMC Seminary Training Wiccans

David Dashifen Kees first heard about it from an alumni when we ended up seated next to each other on a plane flight. We had both attended the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Salt Lake City, Utah, and we were flying home to the Baltimore-Washington area. In chatting about our experiences at the parliament, the topic eventually turned toward her time at Iliff.

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If They Do These Things Now

Not long ago I spoke via Zoom to the Zimbabwe General Conference delegation. They have asked several persons representing all theological views to talk to them about the future of the United Methodist Church. The man who spoke before I did would classify himself as a “centrist” with progressive leanings. He’s a genuinely good man and has been a good-faith partner in working for the separation that we desperately need. I respect him, his thinking, and his sincerity.

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Distinctions, Differences, and the Future of Methodism

What will the proposed new Global Methodist Church look like? How will it operate? In what ways will it be different from what we have been accustomed to in The United Methodist Church? These questions weigh on the minds of people who are thinking about the option of aligning with the GM Church after the UM Church’s 2022 General Conference adopts the Protocol for Reconciliation and Grace through Separation.

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The Struggle to Launch the Global Methodist Church

Today's post is by UM & Global blogmaster Dr. David W. Scott, Mission Theologian at the General Board of Global Ministries. The opinions and analysis expressed here are Dr. Scott's own and do not reflect in any way the official position of Global Ministries. United Methodist Traditionalists have been a fairly successful bunch over the past several decades. They have achieved many of their legislative goals in the church, have undercut the power of bishops and bureaucrats that they deem too liberal, and have created a plethora of paradenominational organizations with extensive membership.

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Tomato Throwing Methodists and Enabling Bishops

It’s no secret that there are tense, irreconcilable, and often emotional differences between United Methodists. But surely our divisions would never escalate to the point of literally throwing tomatoes, right? Wrong. Last week Jay Therell and Col. Russ Graves, the president and council chair of the Florida Wesleyan Covenant Association (WCA) chapter, were invited to give a presentation at a local church before a divided audience that included some vocal liberals.

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Three Bishops Stir Controversy

Clergy appointment controversies in the California-Pacific, Greater New Jersey, and North Georgia Annual Conferences of The United Methodist Church continue to fester and roil the congregations involved. Sam Hodges, from the United Methodist News Service, reported last week that United Methodist Korean laity and their allies engaged in public protests against Bishop Grant Hagiya, the episcopal leader in the California-Pacific Annual Conference. Protests were reported at Christ Church in Honolulu, Hawaii, and at the conference’s office in Pasadena, California.

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United Methodist Drag Queen Gets Star Treatment from UMNS

A United Methodist candidate for ordination who performs as a drag queen has been favorably profiled by the denomination’s official news service. “Drag is over-the-top and joyous,” a pearl-bedecked Isaac Simmons shared, his tall 23-year-old frame balanced atop high heels and crowned with a bright red wig to preach on Pentecost Sunday as his drag persona, Ms. Penny Cost.

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Global Methodism’s New Church

This week conservative United Methodists unveiled The Global Methodist Church, which will launch when the denomination formally splits. When will that split occur?

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It is Time to Separate

As 2021 creeps along under the burden of COVID-19, the future of the denomination appears to have moved further into the future, unless the May special session of General Conference does something to alter things. The agonizing question about whether we should separate nevertheless remains upon us.

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Primary Reasons for Separation

As we approach a possible separation in The United Methodist Church this year, one of the important questions to answer is, “Why should we separate?” There are many reasons for the conflict in our church that have led us to this point. Rob Renfroe and Walter Fenton explored many of these issues in their book, Are We Better Together?

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Why the United Methodist Church is REALLY Splitting: The Big-Picture History

Why is the United Methodist Church splitting? The following is an adapted and slightly abridged version of remarks I shared on January 13 giving a bird’s-eye-view of the long history that has led the United Methodist Church to its present point of division. I delivered this speech for the Missouri chapter of the Wesleyan Covenant Association (WCA) as part of their monthly Speaker Series.

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Forward into a Faithful Future

Launched in October 2016, the Wesleyan Covenant Association’s mission has evolved with events. We have never wavered in upholding the Lordship of Jesus and the authority of Scripture over our individual and corporate lives. We have been passionate in our commitment to the great confessions of the Christian faith and the ethics that flow from them.

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