People of Kearney First United Methodist Church:
This Easter in worship, we’ve been reading and pondering the resurrection appearances of Jesus from the gospels. Most of these sermons have been implicitly grounded on affirmations in the Apostle’s Creed. They’ve sought to explore both what we profess to believe and the real-life implications of these beliefs as we follow Jesus as a community.
While this has been our focus in worship here, nearly 800 United Methodist clergy and laity from around the world have recently concluded their service at General Conference. General Conference is the highest legislative body of the church that meets every four years. They too have been seeking God’s wisdom for the entire denomination, with the goal of helping as many people as possible in as many places as possible grow in their relationship with Jesus through United Methodist ministries.
Today, I want to update you about a few things that General Conference has discerned. I also want to invite you to participate in one of the two State of the Church Gatherings, May 13 and 16 (see at right). I planned these meetings prior to General Conference to include information about our church, about our denomination, and a question-answer time.
While General Conference sought to deal with over 1,100 petitions, these are four major items cared for by General Conference this year:
1. Regionalization: This plan, originating from the Central Conferences (outside the US), equalizes areas of our global church. It allows for a greater degree of contextual and culturally-specific ministry needs to be decided at a more local or regional level, while maintaining our unity in central doctrines, theology, and practice. Regionalization will require ratification by a 2/3 aggregate of all 130 annual conferences around the globe.
2. Return to Pre-1972 Language in The Discipline on Homosexuality: This removes all language about sexuality from The Discipline, equipping contextual ministry in accordance with a pastor, church, or conference’s conviction and ministry needs. (Since this is likely the most controversial piece of legislative change, I’ll speak to it more below).
3. Revised Social Principals: The Social Principals are a non-binding section in The Discipline addressing how faith impacts everyday life. General Conference 2012 commissioned this work, with the goals of making the denomination’s social teachings more globally relevant, theologically founded, and succinct.
4. Reduction of the General Church Budget: The global budget was reduced from 2016’s budget by almost 40%, with the base rate for annual conferences reduced from 3.29% to 2.6%. This means more mission share money will be used locally in our local churches and annual conference.
I will share more information about other actions of General Conference at our meetings, and more can be found at https://www.resourceumc.org/en/churchwide/general-conference-2020/resources.
Now, I anticipate that the decisions regarding sexuality made at General Conference undoubtedly stir up deep emotions and reflections among us. Some may be disappointed, concerned, or angry. Some may be surprised to learn this is a conversation at all. Some may be pleased or indifferent to this news. Whatever emotions you may be experiencing, know that they are valid, and you are not alone in navigating them. I welcome conversation with anyone about this topic or any other topic. To begin this conversation, I’ll share a few initial thoughts.
First, I did not anticipate this change this year. I suspected that it would happen someday, but not this year – apparently, I was naïve. I did, however, expect (and shared in many groups, meetings, and conversations at Kearney First UMC) that if or when a change in The Discipline occurred regarding sexuality, it would serve the purpose of fostering the big-tent approach to ministry for which we have often been known. This year’s decisions serve this purpose, allowing us to be a connectional church that affirms the faithfulness and value of traditionalists, centrists, and progressives.
Second, this change may seem significant, largely because of the rancor and cultural divisiveness of our time; however, this decision effectively returns The Discipline to the character and language of all pre-1972 versions of The Discipline. Our US culture-wars may lead us to think this is a liberal agenda; however, instead, the General Conference sought to embrace our roots and foster contextualized ministry for a global denomination. It’s the same language and spirit of The Disciplines that united and guided our denomination from its 1784 Christmas Conference through its growth and expansion up to 1968. Here’s what our bishop, the Rev. Dr. David Wilson says about this:
[The] work here [at General Conference] does not shift the church in general or any local congregation into a position of promoting any group or stance. Instead, it moves the denomination to a place of neutrality. […] [No] church will have to do anything that makes it uncomfortable regarding aspects of human sexuality. Nor will any pastor be forced to do anything that goes against that person’s conscience. [These protections were added this year to The Discipline].
The Cabinet and I strive in every appointment to make the best match for each pastor and congregation. To allay any concerns, I want to be clear. The Cabinet and I would not send an openly gay pastor to a church that would not be accepting because doing so would not be healthy for the local church nor for the pastor. Also, local churches have the authority to determine wedding policies. That does not change with any of the decisions made at General Conference. (Bishop David Wilson, episcopal letter, 5.1.24)
Third, I recognize that the people of Kearney First United Methodist Church are not of one heart or mind regarding how God views people who are homosexual, or how to interpret scripture regarding same-sex attraction and intimacy. Yet, I deeply believe that a posture of gracious diversity has always been part of the church, is part of the character of God, and can be a hopeful and meaningful way forward in ministry and mission together. We can better learn to love Jesus together. We can better learn to love each other and our neighbors together. And we can better follow Jesus faithfully as his disciples, who help others grow as his disciples, together.
While the actions of General Conference are significant and will surely shape our denomination’s global ministry and mission for the next four years and beyond, I continue to believe that the foremost location of discipleship is the local church. This is a season in which we can grow in ministry by reaffirming our commitment to Jesus through our core convictions about who we are and what we’re about: that Jesus calls us to be a people who love God, love our neighbors, and grow as his disciples, as a community of practices through which the Holy Spirit works in us, and as a community driven by the God-reflecting values of holiness, caring, graciousness, and equipping. I believe God is working through the ministries of Kearney First United Methodist Church to help people live and grow as disciples of Jesus. I believe Jesus equips us with all we need for his mission (Phil 4:16). I believe that the Holy Spirit continues to inspire us together for the sake of God’s restoration of the world to God’s original intent.
Grace and peace,
Matt Fowler
Senior Pastor and Resident Spiritual Leader
mattf@kearneyfirstumc.org | 402.650.9480