Why Stay a United Methodist?

John and Charles Wesley started a movement to reform the Church of England in the 18th century that remains a significant institution in the world.  There are over 75 million Methodists of all persuasions, the largest being the United Methodist Church with a declining 8 million members in the United States and a fast growing 4 million members in Africa and Asia.

John (left) and Charles Wesley

The Wesleys wanted to bring their gospel message of personal spirituality and social responsibility out of the confines of England's rigid class systems.  They preached in marketplaces, coal mines and prisons.  They offered Holy Communion to non-church members, non-property owners and people of color.  Women were accepted as small group leaders and un-official preachers.  Methodist music and worship were scorned by the establishment as "enthusiastic," while their embrace of science and natural law, and their scholastic approach to the Bible and church history made them "reasonable enthusiasts."

I grew up in a United Methodist family and was introduced to Christianity in that tradition.  Feeling a strong call to professional ministry as a teenager, it was only natural to pursue such a life-style in the United Methodist institution.  In 36 years of ordained ministry I have been privileged to participate and lead in a denomination that stands for many values I continue to hold essential to the Christian life-style, including:

-In the life, death and resurrection of Jesus we see the incarnation of the One God of all people.  All people.

-We don't take the Bible literally and we don't take it lightly.  This sacred text is best understood within the context of history.  Its interpretation and application is found in the dynamic relationship of faith.  God did not stop speaking when the scriptures were canonized in the 4th century.  It is the "living word of God."

-Our default is grace.  Doctrine and dogma are secondary to compassion.  People are more important than rules and regulations.

-With the conviction that God is at work in our worship sacraments (Holy Communion and Baptism) we offer them to all people, not just church members, not just the pious, not just the "understanding."  Such grace cannot be regulated or restricted by human-created institutions.

-We celebrate, welcome and nurture a diversity of worship expression, theological thought and cultural/ethnic participation.  We do not insist on conformity.

-We are not in this life alone.  The power of spirituality flourishes in community.

-We are a global church, with interests and convictions beyond our own ethnic/nationalist concerns.

-We exist as an institution to welcome and nurture disciples of Jesus, not as an end in itself, but for nothing less than the transformation of the world.  The promised future of God...a society of love, peace and justice...is the spirit that frames our present.  When we pray "...thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" we mean it.  We advocate for and serve in a myriad of social efforts that will contribute to that day.

-The only religion that really matters is the one you live.  How we treat each other is how we treat God.

I have given my professional life to promote such ideals.  The rewards for me and my family have been enormous as a result.

Such principles have motivated me to oppose my denomination's restrictions on the full participation of self-avowed homosexual people in the life of the church since first legislated in 1972.  Publicly affirming members of the LGBT community currently may not be ordained as our clergy nor hold committed relationship celebrations in our church.  They are labeled "of sacred worth" and also "incompatible" as Christians in the confusion of our official language.  (Please note that as long as LGBT clergy stay closeted they are welcomed and honored as our leaders.  There are many such folk doing just that at a great price.)

Such blatant prejudice violates many of the principles that I hold dear about being a Methodist.  The recent General Conference (April 23-May 4, 2012 in Tampa, Florida), our quadrennial governing council, even defeated a proposal "to agree to disagree" over the issues of the full inclusion of the LGBT community in the life of the church.  The majority would seem to be saying, "We don't want to hear from the minority position on this matter, please go away!"

So why do I stay?

Being the "loyal opposition" has been my justification in hopes of contributing to that day of full inclusion, but that won't happen anytime soon, at least in my lifetime.  Oddly, I did not have great expectations for any significant changes during the 2012 General Conference but that a Methodist proposal quoting John Wesley "to agree to disagree in love and grace for each other" was defeated, leaves me stunned.  This pastor won't be so "loyal" in opposition anymore.

I stay to stand in solidarity with my colleagues, Bishops and laity who continue to courageously advocate for the day of full inclusion.  

But I have no delusions about reforming this institution.  It will happen in its own time. 

I stay because thirty to forty years from now when full inclusion of the LGBT community in the life of the UMC is a given, and we look back at this painful time...as we now look back at the days when women weren't fully ordained or the thought of electing an ethnic minority Bishop was an impossibility...I want my grandchildren to know that at least I wasn't silent.

I stay because I am privileged to serve the precious people in my congregation and community and I will continue to do so as God gives me the grace and strength to do so.