Buyer Beware: The GMC Book of Doctrines and Discipline, Pt. 7: Social Concerns

 I've written previously in this series about issues related to inclusion and representation. Five of the six points in this post related to other kinds of social concerns. The sixth is related to inclusion, which I missed on my first reading of the GMC's Book of Doctrines and Discipline (BDD). As you'll see, the GMC doesn't seem to have a clear position on the importance of our social witness in the world.

Social Concerns

1. The Social Creed: To the best of my knowledge, the Social Creed adopted by the Methodist Episcopal Church North in 1908 was the first such statement in Methodist history. It is a well written, orthodox statement that concludes our current Social Principles. Paragraph 202 of the BDD affirms it as, "still remarkably relevant even today," This "relevant" paragraph is neither mentioned again nor included in the BDD. I'm not sure what to make of this simultaneous acknowledgement and exclusion. It could have been an oversight.

2. Social Issues that Matter: Excluding the Creed, our current Social Principles cover 39 pages in the Book of Discipline (BOD). The new section of statements is less than two pages, with only 14 statements. As one who prefers a slimmer BOD, I don't mind a slimmer set of principles. I think this goes too far, but whether this is good or bad is in the eye of the beholder.

3. Not Just Opinions: When I teach on the Social Principles, I say that any individual will likely find at least one statement to which they say, "I'm so glad I'm in a church that says this!" and at least one to which they say, "I can't believe I'm in a church that says that!" The Principles say of themselves that they are not church law. Not so in the GMC. Paragraph 339.16 orders each church to "promote awareness of and concurrence with...policies relative to the Social Witness of the church (paragraphs 201-202)." Via paragraphs 808.d and 808.k, I think this means a person, clergy or lay, could be kicked out of the denomination for promoting a belief contrary to those in the Social Witness. You can be kicked out of the UMC for promoting contrary doctrine, but the GMC seems to expand this to the Social Witness as well.

4. Local Churches and the Social Witness: Individuals can be eliminated; so can whole churches. Paragraph 355 gives the process for a local church to join the GMC. One of the requirements is a vote to "endorse the doctrinal standards and Social Witness...". Part of the significance of this and the previous point is that the Social Witness clearly rises to the same level of importance as doctrine; effectively, it is doctrine.

5. Making Changes: Part Six, section One of the BDD anticipates the Convening General Conference. Paragraph 604 sets the powers of that conference. Throughout the entire BDD, I can find no mention of a voting threshold for any amendments. The only indication that any portion of the BDD would require something other than a simple majority vote is paragraph 109 which, like the UMC, prevents changing the Articles of Religion or Confession of Faith. That is, until we get to 604.14-15. Any change to the Social Witness section or "resolutions dealing with social concerns" require a three-fourths vote. This means in the GMC it will be far easier to change the entire ordination process, the appointment process, tenure of bishops, apportionments, or any of the other hot-button issues (other than human sexuality and abortion) than to add or remove a single sentence from the Social Witness. It is harder to make a change to the Social Witness than it is to amend the Constitution of the UMC.

6. The One I Missed: My last post was on theology and sacraments. If you read that you will recall some surprising changes to the baptismal vows. In my first reading, I missed a glaring one. Our UMC ritual includes a promise to serve Jesus, "as your Lord, in union with the Church which Christ has opened to people of all ages, nations, and races." Some pastors have added additional phrases to make it more inclusive. Some pastors don't use the official language at all in order to make baptism seem more authentic or natural. But this is our official language. Not in the GMC. The baptismal covenant in paragraph 316 makes no use of this or any similar language. To be clear, there are other places in the BDD where the GMC says there will be no discrimination based on race or, at least implicitly, age. I can understand how this could have happened if the liturgy was written from scratch, but it clearly wasn't. It's a bizarre omission. If you have an explanation, please let me know.

If you've been reading along as I've written, we're nearing the end. One last post is planned, and it's a doozy. I've lost track of the number of people who have said they might go to the GMC simply because of how much their church will save in apportionments. If that's you, the apportionments are not what you think they are. We'll also look at what I call "trust clause lite" in the GMC.