Posted on 11/18/2013 8:53:42 AM PST by imardmd1
The United Methodist Church’s division over homosexuality grew heated Friday (Nov. 15), as the denomination’s Council of Bishops called for charging retired Bishop Melvin Talbert with presiding at the Oct. 26 wedding of two men, which the church forbids.
The council asked its president, Bishop Rosemarie Wenner, and Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett of the North Alabama Conference, to file a complaint accusing Talbert of undermining the ministry of a colleague and conducting a ceremony to celebrate the wedding of a same-gender couple at Covenant Community United Church of Christ in Center Point, Ala.
Talbert, who served as bishop of the San Francisco area, ignored a request not to perform the ceremony. He has said in the past that the church’s position on homosexuality "is wrong and evil . . . it no longer calls for our obedience."
The retired bishop did not respond to calls Friday.
The council’s statement, made after a weeklong series of meetings in North Carolina, comes as the church’s disagreement over ministry to gays and lesbians grows divisive and vocal.
Next week, the Rev. Frank Schaefer of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference faces a church trial in Spring City, Pa., for performing a same-sex wedding for his son in 2007.
To show support for Schaefer, 36 Methodist clergy and nine clergy from other faith traditions presided at a Nov. 9 same-sex ceremony in Philadelphia.
Three other Methodist clergy in New York face formal complaints for violating the denomination’s policies on homosexuality.
Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church in Cambridge, Mass., announced in October that its church building is available for same-sex weddings, and the congregation said it would support its pastor if he performs services there. Church law forbids same-sex marriages in United Methodist churches.
It’s unclear if Talbert, who is the only United Methodist bishop known to have publicly presided at a same-sex wedding, will actually be charged. The Western Jurisdiction College of Bishops would receive the complaint and have authority for processing it. That jurisdiction, which stretches from Colorado to Hawaii and from Alaska to Arizona, overwhelmingly passed a resolution in July 2012 that says the church "is in error" on homosexuality and will operate as if the teaching does not exist.*
In its statement, the Council of Bishops acknowledged the denomination is "not of one mind in matters of human sexuality." The council also called for a task force to lead "honest and respectful conversations regarding human sexuality, race and gender in a worldwide perspective."
John Lomperis, Methodist program director of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, praised the Council of Bishops for urging action against Talbert.
"When individuals choose to accept election as bishop, they choose to make a covenant with God and the rest of the church to uphold our code of conduct," he said in an email. "And if our bishops cannot be trusted to not lie to God and the church, we have no basis left for unity as a denomination."
Matt Berryman, executive director of Reconciling Ministries Network, which affirms gays, said the council is attempting to silence Talbert.
"The Council of Bishops has showed a lack of leadership by saying the only way forward is by putting on trial those clergy who can no longer follow discriminatory, unjust laws that limit their ministry with specific members of our church because of their sexual orientation," Berryman said in a statement.
=========
* bolded by poster imardmd1
LMAO This is too good.
The council asked its president, Bishop Rosemarie Wenner, and Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett of the North Alabama Conference, to file a complaint.
They make two Bull Dykes into Bishops and then they want those Dykes to condemn a father for Marrying his son off to a Fairy Queen.
What planet are these clowns living on.?
Now, a whole slew of "pastors" are planning to defy the church in the same way in protest. It took over 5 years!!!! to address this most recent violation, so I don't expect these reprobates to face much of a consequence any time soon, if at all.
This is why some ELCA Lutherans are heading for the exits and over to the LCMS. Wonder if there will be a conservative Methodist church started soon?
From what we read, this outfit is no longer a Christian organization.
I left when our associate UM pastor preached that there was no devil, no demons and no hell.
>>Wonder if there will be a conservative Methodist church started soon?
Probably. Most of the clergy is Leftist and most of the members are Conservative, or at least truly moderate. These two recent gay marriages (Talbert in Alabama and the 50 pastors in PA) will fracture the church. I’ve already scoped out a Nazarene Church and a Wesleyan Church, and I’m corresponding with an LCMS pastor to discuss the possibility of becoming Lutheran if the Nazarenes and Wesleyans turn out to be like the UMC: having one position on paper and the exact opposite in practice.
My current UMC pastor is one of the few good ones. He was as fired up about the bishops’ cowardice this past week and was even preaching against gay marriage on Sunday.
I attended UMC during my first marriage, as that was her denomination. I was raised in the LCA and ALC (depending on which was closest, we moved a lot) and spent 8th grade in a LCMS school. I’d never heard left-wing pastors before, so it was quite a cultural shock to me. We once had a female pastor (for exactly one year) who somehow always steered the sermon to LGBTQ issues, no matter what it was supposed to be about. Another pastor received Christmas cards from Daniel Ortega, the Castro brothers and every major union leader you can think of.
Good. If it means scriptural Christianity is upheld, let’s have a train wreck. The merger of the Methodist Church and the United Brethren was a mistake from the start.
The sad thing about the UMC (in its current state) is that Wesleyan/Arminian theology is good biblical theology. We were a church that focused on holiness when we were at our peak in this country, and we believed that social justice must begin with salvation.
Today, our clergy won’t even speak of holiness because that draws attention away from corporate salvation through social justice. They preach more about Marx than Jesus (except for the parts were Marx and Jesus are superfically on the same page with regards to results, but never on method!). They believe that is good to confiscate a man’s wealth so a bureaucrat can then “give it away” but when you ask if taxes can count towards our tithe, we are cautioned against legalism.
And then, there is the gay issue. It has been settled for 40 years and the gay agenda is allowed to be brought back every 4 years so we waste time and energy on it again and again. Now, they aren’t even content to wait the four years. They are invalidating the Book of Discipline through their actions and that is going to split the church.
After all, the local church is always told that we have to do things a certain way, because of the Discipline. Now, our bishops and clergy are breaking it because they don’t agree with it. They took a vow to follow it. The laity didn’t promise anything with regards to the BoD, so why should we adhere to any part that we don’t like?
The W/A theology contributes to departure from the Scriptures you are observing in their behavior. It is not good biblical theology. Free will, prevenient grace, self-determination, and loss of salvation are all parts and pieces of the errors which eventually lead to the UMC claiming that homosexuality is normal. Actually, the old, retired fellow is simply extending the line the UMC has already drawn.
There are no organizations which hold the truth of the Scriptures...and there never were. Check the Book: All gatherings were simple independent congregations subject to individual failings. Some worked, some did not.
Yes, actually I recalled this, and was searching for a link to info on it when I stumbled upon this article.
Ha! We know someone who walked out when told from the pulpit that there are no angels and that God does not help anyone today or answer any prayers Sort of like a secular hamburger stand without the food. Couldn’t imagine why waste anymore time there
LOL. As soon as I hit “post” on that one, I knew that some Calvinist would step in and tell me that Wesleyan/Arminian theology was the work of the devil, or words to that effect.
The UMC needs to split. There are too many factions claiming to speak for the whole denomination, and these factions are invariably the most liberal, unbiblical groups claiming to be Methodist. Bible believing Methodists should not be in the same denomination as the MINO’s. The strongest Methodist Churches I have seen are more Baptist anyway.
Rosemarie and Debra huh? Well there’s your problem right there!
Also, LOL. As soon as I hit “post”, I knew that all W/A would think this is Calvinism speaking...and not biblicism.
“They make two Bull Dykes into Bishops and then they want those Dykes to condemn a father for Marrying his son off to a Fairy Queen.”
That’s not fair, do we even know the women are bull dykes?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.