Last Saturday night, on the eve of the first business session of the United Methodist Church’s specially-called General Conference, the “Uniting Methodists” met at the St. Louis Hyatt for “A Rally for the One Church Plan”. The Uniting Methodists included many of the brightest stars in the firmament of progressive Methodism: Adam Hamilton, Tom Berlin, and Mike Slaughter, among others. The Uniting Methodists comprised the primary supporters for the One Church Plan, which was devised by the UMC’s Commission on the Way Forward and supported by a majority of Methodist bishops as the best way to address almost 50 years of fraternal division regarding human sexuality. The One Church Plan sought to maintain denominational unity while giving conferences, congregations, and clerics options with respect to gay ordination and marriage. The Rally was billed as a “fun time of fellowship, inspiration, and refreshments” before the rubber began to meet the road at the first GC business session on Sunday morning, where the Uniting Methodists hoped and prayed the OCP would prevail.
Despite the prayers, passion, and planning of these supporters, however, and long before the refreshments were served, the fate of the One Church Plan had been sealed.
Three years earlier, following the 2016 General Conference’s quadrennial debacle in addressing sexuality issues, another group of US Methodists had coalesced: the “Wesleyan Covenant Association”. WCA members believed that “persistent and and escalating disobedience to the order and discipline of our church has created anarchy.” And the WCA saw the 2019 GC as the place either to quash that anarchy and assume control of denominational governance, or failing that, to pull up stakes and cede the denomination to the anarchists. The WCA was not without leading lights, including Central Texas Conference Bishop J. Michael Lowry, who proclaimed to the WCA’s 2018 gathering that “the days of casual Christianity are over.” The WCA’s favored plan for the 2019 GC, referred to as the Traditional Plan, had largely been quashed by rulings of unconstitutionality from the UMC’s Judicial Council. But the WCA’s president, Keith Boyette, assured WCA members that the Plan would be modified to conform with the Council’s rulings. The WCA said its Modified Traditional Plan “would maintain the denomination’s current standards on homosexuality and marriage, while mandating stricter enforcement in the case of violations”, in an analogous but more humane way than the Spanish Inquisition adopted for “stricter enforcement” of heresy laws.
The WCA and its fellow travellers in the US were well aware they constituted a minority of the US delegates to the 2019 GC, but they also knew their views aligned with another, crucial group of GC attendees—the central conference delegations from Africa, Asia, and Russia. At prior General Conferences, conservative US delegates had combined with these overseas voters to thwart progressives’ efforts to revise the Book of Discipline’s governance on human sexuality matters. The conservative views of these overseas delegates were not surprising; after all, homosexual conduct is still punishable by death in Nigeria and is unlawful throughout most of Africa. Nevertheless, the WCA left nothing to chance with this critical voting bloc.
The Africa Initiative is an unofficial, but crucial, Methodist advocacy group comprised of delegates from all three African central conferences. Before the Uniting Methodists rolled out their refreshments, the WCA already had hosted a two-day gathering of Africa Initiative members. WCA member Tom Lambrecht acknowledged “the event was paid for by persons in the U.S. who made donations to ensure that the African delegates had a chance to meet together.” If they weren’t aware before, the roughly 200 delegate attendees learned the lay of the land from the Africa Initiative’s and the WCA’s perspective. In the words of Zambian delegate Rev. Daiman Mainsa, “we are here to end this discussion [of human sexuality] once and for all.”
The beginning of the end for the One Church Plan came during Sunday’s opening GC session at the St. Louis dome, when delegates voted to prioritize the issues to be considered during the conference. The Modified Traditional Plan, as well as two WCA-supported departure plans for churches to leave the Methodist denomination but mostly keep their property, were prioritized for debate ahead of the One Church Plan. This early vote demonstrated the majority power, and unity, of the WCA and the overseas delegates, along with others comprising the conservative bloc. It was apparent that the die had been cast for the OCP and its supporters, but the confusion for all, and the pain for progressives, was just beginning.
GC delegates began consideration of the prioritized plans on Monday. In an effort to satisfy the Judicial Council’s concerns, the Modified Traditional Plan had become less of a Plan and more of a hash of proposals cobbled together that everyone, including its supporters, knew remained largely unconstitutional and none seemed to fully understand. On Monday morning, MTP supporter Maxie Dunham presented a fistful of papers to the dais that constituted 30(!) amendments to correct the MTP’s defects, which served only to highlight the disorganization and flaws of the MTP. On Tuesday morning, as expected, the Judicial Council concluded that much of the Modified Traditional Plan remained unconstitutional. The Council also found that the conservative’s two exit plans were unconstitutional. But MTP supporters were undeterred. MTP speakers frequently relied on the tropes of “hate the sin but love the sinner”, declining progressive churches, and the “God said it and that settles it” views of heterosexual marriage derived from Leviticus and the writings of the Apostle Paul. But their heartfelt message, frequently delivered through interpreters for the overseas delegates, was clear: this is what we believe, we shall not be moved, and we will adopt the MTP.
Supporters of the One Church Plan delivered equally heartfelt and impassioned pleas for denominational unity while living in the tension of differing views, compassion for the LGBTQIA community, and a more holistic interpretation of scripture. Finally, on Tuesday afternoon, the body voted on, and defeated, the OCP by a tally of 374 in favor and 449 against, and it didn’t feel that close. Once the OCP went down to final defeat, the mood and tenor of the debate became all too reminiscent of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Kavanaugh hearings. Former Kansas City, Kansas mayor Rev. Mark Holland threatened to stall a MTP vote by presenting amendments until the next scheduled Dome event, a monster truck rally, commenced. Nevertheless, and despite their constitutional flaws, the MTP and the departure plans proceeded to final votes and were adopted. Singing and anguished pleas from non-delegate attendees in the dank and cavernous dome, many of whom were members of the LGBTQIA community, soon overwhelmed the floor proceedings, leading to a pause in the proceedings and a police presence barring non-delegates from returning to their seats for the closing worship service.
As delegates and attendees began to leave the frigid St. Louis weather behind on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, the headlines regarding Methodism were triumphant for conservatives but irredeemably ugly to the progressive Protestant and more secular community at large: “United Methodists Tighten Ban on Same-Sex Marriage and Clergy”, said the New York Times; “United Methodist Church on Verge of Breakup over LGBT Issues”, wrote the Washington Post; and “Methodists Reject Plan to Open Door to Gay Marriage”, proclaimed the Wall Street Journal. And the General Conference intended to find a unified Way Forward for the Methodist Church instead spawned a denomination in greater confusion and likely more divided than ever. It could take months and perhaps years for the Bishops and Judicial Council to sort out the constitutionality, enforceability, and impact of the adopted MTP and departure plans, but 2019 annual conferences, and the 2020 General Conference, are just around the corner. Adam Hamilton already has promised to convene a post-Easter meeting with key UMC leaders “to discuss where Methodism goes from here.”
Two things do seem clear: first, God’s will, in whatever form that may take, always shall prevail, and it remains best expressed by local congregations and pastors, who will continue to minister and evangelize to those who seek refuge and a personal way forward with Jesus Christ. Many if not most UMC church members likely will continue to give scant consideration to denominational affiliation and issues of human sexuality, regardless of the turmoil that may surround their pastors and leadership, and they will continue to serve together regardless of differences on any issue. Second, and equally clear, however, is the damage that has been inflicted on the United Methodist Church, regardless of whether the MTP and departure plans ultimately are constitutional and enforceable, and no matter whether conservative and progressive congregations, pastors, and church members stay or go. It is incredibly painful today for me and many lifelong Methodists to grapple with the possibility that the monster trucks arriving at the St. Louis dome may be compressing the remains of the “United” Methodist Church we’ve known and loved.
John Miller
I'll Be Brief 