May 28, 2024
The long-delayed United Methodist Church’s General Conference was held in Charlotte, North Carolina from April 23 – May 3. A myriad of changes were made by the attending delegates that are both shocking, and heart-wrenching, at least to those of us who hold firmly to traditional Christian morality, and Scriptural authority. Since 2019, nearly 8,000 congregations, most of them holding to a conservative view, have left the United Methodist Church. With the departure of those voices, the remaining clergy and delegates took the opportunity to re-write the Disciple in a multitude of ways that stand in stark contrast to traditional Christian standards.
Two of our own pastors Trey Harris, and Lynn Malone have helped keep me informed as to all the issues in play, and changes made. Pastor Lynn, a former United Methodist District Superintendent himself, has written a very informative blog post about the changes. You can read his blog by clicking THIS LINK and reading his May 5th post, “What Did You Expect?”
Pastor Trey’s Facebook post on May 2nd deftly shares some of the differences between the EMC and the UMC, and some of what happened in Charlotte. If you are on Facebook, you can locate Pastor Trey’s page, and scroll to his May 2nd post by clicking HERE. Thanks, Pastors, for working to keep us and others aware of these things.
Among other things, the UMC made changes to the definition of marriage, they removed restrictions against homosexual lifestyles for both clergy and laity, clearing the way for avowed homosexual pastors. Delegates edited the language regarding chargeable offenses pertaining to sexual immorality, making it more subjective and less clearcut. Changes were made regarding abortion and right-to-life issues, and even the church’s stance on support for Israel. UMC Churches will be required to undergo orientation and training of their pastor-parish committees to ready them to accept pastors of varying sexual persuasions. Wow.
It would be hard to find a significant subject on issues of morality and sexuality / gender identity that were not changed by the church.
Why does this matter? Well, I hope that isn’t even a real question in our minds. It matters a lot.
It matters because truth matters. It matters because the church ought to be a place where people are guided by Scripture, not by some socially-driven subjective opinion about this or that. And it matters because evil is being re-defined as good, and merciful, and loving. We don’t need to bellow condemnation, nor hate (certainly NOT) at those doing these things. But we mustn’t condone them, nor allow ourselves to be pulled along in the same direction. The truth is too important!!