Approaching Sodom > Now that UMC has divested itself of all its Christians, it's free to practice ungodly doctrine

 

UMC ends funding ban on LGBT advocacy groups,

scraps punishment for officiating gay weddings

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Wednesday, May 01, 2024

The United Methodist Church General Conference voted to drop a ban on funding LGBT advocacy groups and removed a required punishment for pastors who officiate gay weddings after thousands of theologically conservative congregations left the mainline Protestant denomination in the last two years. 

On Tuesday, delegates approved a petition that struck from the UMC Book of Discipline Paragraph 806.9 language that prohibits the General Council on Finance and Administration from "ensuring that no board, agency, committee, commission, or council shall give United Methodist funds to any gay caucus or group, or otherwise use such funds to promote the acceptance of homosexuality."

The change was among the bulk of legislation approved by a vote of 667-54, which also loosened restrictions on the ordination of noncelibate homosexuals and mandatory punishments for clergy who officiate same-sex weddings.

Measures passed in Tuesday's consent calendar scrapped elements of the Traditional Plan enacted at the 2019 General Conference to bolster UMC's restrictions on same-sex marriage and ordination of noncelibate homosexuals.  

According to UM News, other measures approved Tuesday include the striking of a ban on "self-avowed practicing" LGBT individuals from being considered for ministry. The delegates also voted to scrub the requirement for a one-year suspension without pay for any pastor who officiates a same-sex wedding and to allow gay pastors with good standing to be appointed to positions across annual conferences. 

The Rev. Jeff Campbell, the top executive of UMC Discipleship Ministries, told UM News he welcomed the removal of the funding ban, saying it freed his agency "to fully serve all those who seek our support without worry of unnecessary, discriminatory oversight."

"Discipleship Ministries staff remains committed to challenging and supporting all leaders for our missional task of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world," he added.

For decades, the UMC has faced a debate over whether to change its Book of Discipline's biblical stance on LGBT issues, which labeled homosexuality "incompatible with Christian teaching."

Although numerous attempts at past General Conferences to change the various provisions failed, many theological progressives within the denomination refused to follow or enforce the rules.

In December 2022, for example, the UMC General Board of Church and Society gave a $2,000 grant to Reconciling Ministries Network, an LGBT advocacy organization that is not an official part of the UMC, to develop a Vacation Bible School curriculum.

A GBCS spokesperson argued in an earlier interview with The Christian Post that the grant was compatible with the Book of Discipline since the money would not be going to LGBT advocacy directly.

In response to the longstanding debate and progressives' resistance to the rules, approximately 7,500 mostly conservative congregations disaffiliated from the UMC from 2019 to 2023.

Most of these departing congregations have affiliated with the Global Methodist Church, a theologically conservative denomination launched in 2022 in response to the UMC debate.

Due to the large number of conservatives that have left the UMC in advance of the General Conference, many expected the churchwide legislative gathering to finally remove the Book of Discipline rules banning the blessing of same-sex unions and the ordination of people in same-sex relationships.

=============================================================================================

Approaching Sodom > UMC Splintering; Street preacher arrested for reading Bible near obscene LGBTQ event

..

Oklahoma megachurch leaves UMC over ‘irreconcilable’

theological differences; changes name

By Anugrah Kumar, 

Christian Post Contributor| 

Sunday, March 27, 2022

Asbury Church Senior Pastor Tom Harrison preaches during the traditional service in Tulsa,

Oklahoma, on March 27, 2022. | Asbury Church

A megachurch in Oklahoma has dropped “United Methodist” from its name and started fully disaffiliating from America’s second-largest Protestant denomination due to what it describes as the United Methodist Church's “slow and steady drift” from its historic Christian mission.

Asbury United Methodist Church in south Tulsa is now officially called Asbury Church, the megachurch says in a statement on its website, adding they “have begun the process of disaffiliating from the denomination.”

“We do not know where or when we will affiliate with a new denomination,” the church continues. “Currently, our main focus is protecting the assets and interests of Asbury and fully disaffiliating from the UMC.”

Asbury Church’s announcement comes weeks after the UMC delayed its General Conference meeting for a third time earlier this month, citing the COVID-19 pandemic.

Postponed to 2024, the General Conference is expected to be contentious as delegates negotiate a denominational split over theological differences, including the full inclusion of LGBT members into the denomination and the ordination of ministers in same-sex relationships.

On Jan. 30, Frazer United Methodist Church, a congregation of about 4,000 members in Montgomery, Alabama, disaffiliated from the mainline Protestant denomination, saying in a statement to The Christian Post that the congregation intends to join the Free Methodist Church: “[W]e believe that the Free Methodist Church is a better fit for our present identity and future fruitfulness.”

The Rev. Tom Harrison, Asbury Church's senior pastor, said the split had been inevitable for some time, according to Tulsa World.

“There isn’t one issue driving this separation; rather, after years of operating under vastly different approaches to theology, ministry and Christology, it was determined by the leadership of the Church, in conjunction with the pastoral staff, that these approaches are irreconcilable and no longer sustainable,” Harrison explained. “As Asbury Church, we will continue to pursue our mission of helping others follow Jesus.”

The UMC has been engaged in a long battle over the church’s teachings on sexuality, prompting more conservative churches to leave the denomination. The UMC’s official stance, as outlined in the Book of Discipline, labels homosexuality a sin, bars the ordination of non-celibate homosexuals and prohibits the blessing of same-sex marriages.

However, progressive United Methodists have, on several occasions, defied the rules by ordaining openly gay clergy or officiating same-sex marriages.

The Asbury megachurch says it might consider joining the Global Methodist Church, a more conservative Methodist denomination, which has announced it will officially launch in May.

“This future denomination will be made up of former United Methodists from North America, Africa, Europe and elsewhere who uphold the authority of Scripture,” Asbury says in its statement. “The formation of this new denomination has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The creators of the GMC previously said they would hold off on launching until after the General Conference.

The denomination’s website says thousands of Methodist clergy and laity from around the world have worked together for “over three years to lay the groundwork for a new, theologically conservative Methodist denomination steeped in the great ecumenical and evangelical confessions of the Christian faith.” 

“It is anticipated that some theologically conservative local churches will find annual conferences willing to negotiate fair and just exit provisions, while others will, unfortunately, face obstacles placed in their paths,” the denomination said in a statement.

“The Transitional Leadership Council decided it was time to launch the Global Methodist Church, so those who can leave early will have a place to land, to begin building and growing, and making room for others to join later.”

The Rev. Keith Boyette, chairman of the Transitional Leadership Council that has been overseeing the creation of the GMC, has said theologically conservative churches and annual conferences “want to be free of divisive and destructive debates, and to have the freedom to move forward together.”

Seattle police arrest street preacher for reading the Bible:

‘Risk to public safety’

By Anugrah Kumar,

Christian Post Contributor

Street preacher Matthew Meinecke | Twitter/Journalist Jonathan Choe

Seattle police arrested a street preacher on charges of being a risk to public safety for reading his Bible aloud at a public park near an LGBT pride event.

Matthew Meinecke, who identifies himself as The Seattle Preacher on Twitter, was surrounded by Seattle police officers as he was reading his Bible and was subsequently arrested and fingerprinted at a police station before being released.

“SPD has enough resources to send 10 police officers to arrest a preacher reading his Bible in a public park. Because it's such a horrible crime now!” Meinecke wrote on Twitter, posting a video showing his arrest.

Certainly, the abundance of police was to discourage rioting as LGBTQs are not known for tolerance.

“So at this point, we can no longer stand by. The risk that you pose for public safety by remaining here can be mitigated if you leave. It’s your last chance,” a police officer can be heard saying.

The preacher told the officers, “I don’t want to leave because I’m not in danger.”

“I was at the Seattle Center, reading the Bible, not aggressively preaching, not stirring people up, not anything. People throwing things. People vandalizing our property. I think about 10 police officers showed up," the pastor told journalist Jonathan Choe with the Discovery Institute.

“Your job is not to silence me and move me. Why are they so offended by words? I just believe in using the word of God.”

The preacher also posted a video showing a protester seizing his Bibles and ripping pages while shouting, “Get the f--- out of here! Get your holy water off my ovaries, b----! Get the f--- out!”

Another person shouted at him, saying, “Forget about your imaginary fairy in the f---ing sky.”

Meinecke said he saw “a bunch of naked people walking around over here, not even 200 feet away. … Naked grown men around little children.”

And were they arrested? Not very likely!

Last weekend, Meinecke was also arrested during a Roe v. Wade protest, Choe added on Twitter. “Far-left extremists ripped up his Bible and assaulted him. But they got away.”

In a video Meinecke shared online, he added: “We’ve got a city full of crime. We’ve got needles all over the place. Lawless homeless camps everywhere. We’ve got assaults. We’ve got broken glass. We’ve got Antifa running the place. But they’ve got time to send in 10 police officers to arrest a street preacher reading his Bible in a park.”