Wednesday, January 23, 2019

The Bombshell You May Have Missed

There was a firestorm on social media yesterday when Mainstream UMC released a letter they obtained from the North Alabama Chapter of the WCA. The letter is real. It has been independently verified and there has been no denial that I'm aware of. Honestly, there is nothing in the letter that was surprising to read. It largely confirmed what many of us deeply involved in preparations for General Conference already knew. It's just disturbing to see it in print. Here are the major takeaways along with the important pieces that you may have missed. If you don't read all of this please skip to the last point. It's the single most important point the letter makes that you may have missed.

We already knew: The WCA is serious about leaving if they don't get their way. We already knew that if the One Church Plan (OCP) passed that the WCA would form a new denomination. That has been in writing before. The letter also says there is a 70% chance that they will leave "if the special General Conference adopts neither the One Church Plan nor the Modified Traditional Plan, or adopts a Traditional Plan with no enhanced accountability provisions." I'm told by people who would know that the 70% figure is speculation on the part of the author. This single statement is the only item in the entire letter that I've seen refuted.

You may have missed: The Judicial Council ruling in October stripped the Traditional Plan of most of the accountability mechanisms. The only fix that I'm aware of is given in this article by Tom Lambrecht. This fix has two major flaws that I'll try to attend to at another time (In short, it still may not be constitutional and it creates a major problem for Central Conferences). But the point for now is that even the Modified Traditional Plan needs new legislation that we haven't seen in order to add "enhanced accountability" that the North Alabama WCA says is essential for them to stay. Some argue that the OCP is not a compromise. At least the proponents of the OCP are willing to talk about it as a compromise. This letter shows just how firm the WCA is in their unwavering commitment to getting precisely what they want or leaving.



We already knew: the WCA knows that they don't have the votes to pass the Traditional Plan (TP). This has not been said out loud before, but virtually every article and blog we've seen published in the last month has reinforced this. Their focus has been on the problems with the OCP, selling us on the Connectional Conference Plan, and/or telling us how important an exit plan is. I don't think it is fair to say that the TP is dead on arrival, but it is on life support. The leadership knows this and has made it clear by where they are putting their energy.

You may have missed: This is why the "gracious exit" is so important for the WCA. Please remember that the Traditional Plan includes a gracious exit for progressives that 1) the progressives never asked for and 2) contains a giant loophole that lets the WCA leave also. Petition 10 for the Traditional Plan (#41 if you have the ADCA) says churches, etc. may leave if "it is in irreconcilable conflict...on issues of human sexuality, or with the way such requirements are being enforced..." Note that this is the same kind of language used in the North Alabama WCA letter. If the accountability that they are seeking is not in place (and by their own admission it probably will not be) then they will most likely exit. If the TP's exit provision is passed then they have exactly the exit plan that they need. This is important. If the first item we tackle at General Conference is an exit plan then the remainder of General Conference will include planning for a future that some of the delegates have no intent to be part of. 



We already knew: The WCA is well organized. They have an executive meeting already scheduled for the days immediately following General Conference and they have a tentative meeting planned the week after Easter to organize a new denomination. It makes sense to be prepared, and they have done this. We should have no animosity towards them for this.

You may have missed: The WCA is organized for an exit. Here's the key sentences: "We urge churches and pastors to participate in the convening conference if necessary and to take steps to withdraw in concert with one another. The WCA will be providing counsel throughout this period and will provide steps for churches and pastors to follow in transitioning from the UM Church to what is next if that is needed. A team of legal strategists will provide overall strategic advice." The WCA is preparing for a mass exodus, including having attorneys ready to go. The response to this is "Why wouldn't we be organized like this? Every group should be." I disagree. I have made no preparations in case I decide to divorce my wife. Because I'm committed to her. That's not what you do when you are committed to a person or an organization. In 2015 an elder in the Great Plains Conference surrendered his credentials at Annual Conference. It felt like a big deal. He brought his framed certificate with him just in case we voted the way he thought we would vote on a key issue so that he could make a big spectacle of surrendering his credentials. It was a charade. Nobody hires a divorce attorney if they are not planning on divorce. Nobody comes to Annual Conference with their credentials in hand unless they already plan to turn them in. Nobody lines up the attorneys and "legal strategists" to leave the denomination unless you plan to leave.


And the most critical piece that you may have missed: This is the real bombshell in the letter. This is the one part that surprised me and that is most disappointing. The exodus will happen no matter what we decide at General Conference. 


We already knew that there was at least one member of the WCA executive board who guided his church out of the denomination. The WCA never removed him or discouraged him. Now listen to this word for word quote from the letter: If the special General Conference adopts the Modified Traditional Plan with the enhanced accountability provisions, there still may be churches which are intent on departing from the United Methodist Church. The WCA will work with those churches to transition into a new Methodist movement. Those churches which indicate a desire to be part of something new will be invited to a convening conference. Other churches would be given the opportunity to move to what is new at a later time, if they decided that became advisable."

Even if we get precisely what we want, there will still be churches (like that of the person mentioned above) that choose to leave. "The WCA will work with those churches to transition into a new Methodist movement." and "Other churches would be given the opportunity to move to what is new at a later time..."


Friends, it does not get clearer than that. The radical right in the UMC is leaving. Period. Some say that the One Church Plan will lead to their departure. That is not true. They have already announced their departure. Some say adopting the Connectional Conference Plan will keep them in the fold. That is not true. They have already announced their departure. The question for the rest of the UMC, and for General Conference, is whether we should give the radical right permission to take others with them. I'm not inclined to do that.

16 comments:

  1. Thank you for your interpretive and insightful work, David. I’m proud to have you as a colleague.

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  2. Great warning for all of us, David! Be sure to warn the GC not to begin with the exiting plan.

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  3. A very helpful and insightful analysis. Honest and painful. Thanks.

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  4. What will happen to the church in Africa? What will happen to those who do not go with the traditional plan?

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  5. I've had a gut feeling for months that the most zealous WCA members, churches, and a couple of bishops were planning to leave regardless of what happens at CGC2019, but it's good to have it confirmed ahead of time. If enough delegates learn of this and take a long hard honest look at what is (1) most faithful to our heritage and (2) in their best interest, this foreknowledge may end up being what saves the UMC in something resembling its present form--or maybe even a better one.

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    1. I too, have been watching the WCA grow into a political entity. Making demands for it's members and ignoring the rest of the Good United Methodists..Is that what the UMC is about. My wife and I became members in 1941 and we are disturbed at what is happening.

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  6. None of this should be a surprise. The surprise is that others don't understand why we have to leave even though we have been saying it over and over. The current disobedience of some progressive clergy combined with an overall lack of accountability gives us no choice.

    You are incorrect about there not being enough votes to pass the Modified Traditional Plan. That is the plan we expect will pass. The gracious exit is for anyone who cannot live with the discipline or with the continued disobedience which would most likely continue even if the MTP passes.

    "The radical right" as you put it stands by the discipline of the church. The only "radical" thing about us is that we will not compromise our beliefs. If the rest of the church wishes to redefine itself based on the whims of society, so be it. We will remain true to God. Don't be surprised.

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    1. Hi Sean,
      Thanks for commenting. I don't know which plan will pass. I do know that nobody has challenged the statement from N. Alabama that there are not enough votes right now for the MTP to pass. If you are counting on it passing I think you will be disappointed.

      I also encourage you to think more deeply about whether or not you are willing to compromise your beliefs. I think it's fair to say that most WCA folks are pro-life. I'm not a fan of those labels but if you had to nail me down I'd say that I'm pro-life too. Yet for decades the UMC has had a statement in the Social Principles that was termed by some "pro-choice with regrets" and was a member of RCRC. Why didn't that drive you out of the denomination? The reality is we all have competing values. The pro-life value for many was not strong enough to overcome the value of staying in the UMC and for many the opposition to LGBT marriage and ordination is strong enough to overcome the value of staying in the denomination.

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    2. Hi David. I have not seen a statement from the North Alabama WCA or any other WCA entity that claims there are not enough votes to pass the MTP. The letter you referenced actually claims there are not enough votes to pass the OCP. That said, I'm not counting on any plan passing. I think the most likely outcome of GC2019 is no change at all. I hope that is not what happens. Our denomination cannot afford to do nothing in the face of the current disobedience.

      There are many statements in our social principles that are troubling. If we are to bring reform to our wayward denomination, the social principles need to be addressed. Perhaps they simply need to be deleted along with the GBCS. But the proposed changes to our Book of Discipline under the OCP go far beyond social principles.

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  7. I am a liberal umc clergy and I have been tired for some years with bowing to "unity". We have not been united for years, rather we fight and fight like an old, unhappy couple. I think it takes courage to says it is time to leave, I respect the conservatives for taking this step. If I knew that there would be a Methodist Church that didn't have to debate this issue over and over again, spending millions of dollars for debate to be "unified" when we are not, I might consider returning (I am in extention ministry.) There are a lot of us, laity and clergy who are awaiting an authentic separating of ways... I think this movement on the right is a blessing in disguise. pensions, seminaries, property, etc can all be solved... (Really and truly). Other industries handle more complex mergers and dissolvements and we act like this would be impossible or sinful.

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    1. Thank you for reading, Rebecca. I have a friend who says everyone wants 10% of the denomination to leave - we just disagree on which 10%. If my friend is right about that then what I would say is that I hope we only lose 10%. I'm convinced that 90% of United Methodists can live together with the One Church Plan. I'm equally convinced that the right wing fringe wants to dictate to the other 90%. That is not acceptable. So I agree with you that if the fringe wants to leave on their own it would be fine to give them our blessing and "their" property. It is a problem when that group wants to take a large number of churches with them that don't really need to leave.

      To personalize it, I would not be the pastor of a reconciling congregation today if I had not been able to be in a denomination that gave space for disagreement. I would have been in the WCA denomination and probably never changed my opinion. We are best with a big tent UMC that includes people more conservative than you or me so that we can continue to learn and grow. And that also means there will be some big fights...just like the Church has had all the way back to Acts 6.

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  8. I am deeply saddened by this movement among us. I too am a liberal UMC pastor. I am concerned about the influence of the Good News people and the IRD within the WCA group.
    As with our nation at the moment, the WCA do not want to believe or worship as they please. Like the evangelicals supporting the current administration, what they desire most is the power to force everyone else to behave, and preferably believe, as they do.
    But I agree with Rebecca. It is time to stop worshipping the idol of false unity, time for the appeasement of the right wing fringe to end.
    I only wonder how the churches of the new WCA denomination will treat each other, considering how they have been, and are, willing to treat the rest of their brethren.

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  9. Amazing deductions. I would liken it to 1 + 1 = 3. I have no fear about the future of the Wesleyan Movement. So as to prevent you from jumping to more conclusions, please note that I said WESLEYAN MOVEMENT, as the the movement that began through the leadership of John Wesley and other like-minded people who saw the need for both personal and social holiness. I have no issues with the LBGTQI community. I have friends in this community. I have served them Holy Communion because I believe, like Wesley, that Holy Communion is a means of Grace.

    Every WCA event I've attended has been filled with understanding, patience, kindness, grace and love. Here is where my heart breaks--it's from the lie being told to the LBGTQI community--that their feelings must be right, and since those feelings are right, there's no need for the transforming grace of God. I'm a sinner in the process of transformation. I need, I long for God's grace to transform me back into His Image. But you would deny the LBGTQI community this same process of transforming grace.

    There is another great Awakening Happening right now. It's in the UMC as structured now and in the future. It's also in other Tribes who embrace the truth that God's grace works in us for personal and social holiness.

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    1. Hi Randy,
      I don't think I really made any deductions. I pretty much just reported what the North Alabama letter said. Since people are completely fine with its content. I'm not.

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    2. Randy, you say, "I'm a sinner in the process of transformation. I need, I long for God's grace to transform me back into His Image. But you would deny the LBGTQI community this same process of transforming grace."

      I am not trying to deny that LGBTQ person's need God's transforming grace. Of course they are all sinners. So are you. So am I.

      But here's the difference between you and me. I don't attribute sinfulness to their sexual orientation. I see it as part of who they are, how they were made, not something to be repent of or be transformed from. By the same token, I don't consider your heterosexuality part of your sinfulness. I see it as part of who you are, how you were made, not something to be repent of or be transformed from.

      BTW, if you are tempted to quote some Bible verses back at me to show me I'm wrong, please don't bother. Years of preaching, teaching, and biblical study have brought me to my current stance.

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