Posted on 05/17/2016 9:40:18 AM PDT by xzins
The United Methodist Church is considering splitting over the full acceptance of gay members, according to reports by top clergy and advocacy groups. Church officials say the president of the Council of Bishops will address the rumor Tuesday in Portland, Ore., where the denomination is holding a major convention.
The rumors about the United States’ third-largest faith group began spreading on social media Monday night, when some prominent pastors reportedly told crowds in Portland that a plan is in the works. Details about what the plan entails and who was on board with it were unconfirmed.
United Methodist Church spokeswoman Diane Degnan said only that “there will be a response this morning from the president of the Council of Bishops.” The church-affiliated United Methodist News Service reported no other details. Some said the response could come late morning, Portland time.
The denomination has been increasingly divided in recent decades — like many other global faith communities — over social issues. The split has been especially marked between Western liberals and the fast-growing, more socially conservative segments of the church in Asia and Africa. Short answer was no. The far right and far left are entrenched in their theological understandings. The group also faced a reality that by 2020 and beyond our African United Methodist sisters and brothers would control the church so what this would mean practically is that the United Methodist Church would be on a trajectory to become ever more conservative on a whole host of issues.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Here’s praying that a split happens. We would have a biblical church committed to historic Christianity and a liberal church as the result.
Charles Wesley must be rolling in his grave...
Part of the great falling away...
The wheat separating from the chaff continues.
Charles Wesley wasn’t a Methodist. He was Anglican (Church of England). “On his deathbed he sent for the church’s rector John Harley and told him “Sir, whatever the world may say of me, I have lived, and I die, a member of the Church of England.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Wesley
I never would have believed we would see the day, where major mainstream religious denominations would face schisms over homosexual marriage and homosexuality.
Yet here we are.
Perhaps there is a silver lining, in that, if denominations split, we people of faith can join with the “conservative” version of our chosen faith.
It would be great if the country could be split up between the conservatives and liberals.
UMC has always been a hippy liberal type church.
I would expect the liberals to try for a split along Africa/US lines so that they could dominate the church in America. The conservatives should hold out for a split on ideological, not geographic, lines.
We had a minister a few years ago, a single woman.
People talk and the overwhelming consensus was that she was gay. She never said she was, never said she wasn’t, it was never brought up and she never dated anyone (that we know of). She played softball and had short hair, that was enough for the majority of our church to form an opinion. She made one comment once about how she thought the church should be more open to homosexuals but only once.
If she was, she was very closeted about it.
The Conference supplied tablets to voting member. Many of the Africans had never seen one before.
The fix is in.
Officially, the UMC is both pro-life and anti-gay.
In light of the “abomination” expressed in Leviticus regarding sexual deviation to relations with one’s own sex, how can a professional “religious institution” advocate acceptance of that same sexual deviation? Anyone?
Bkmrk.
from the story:
‘....The far right and far left are entrenched in their theological understandings....’
curious, what are they using to arrive at their separate theological understandings?
the U Meth church in Fairport NY openly flies the rainbow flag...simply amazing
That THIS seems to be the issue that splits them when they have been going apostate for decades is appalling.
With a split, both would carry the Methodist Church name. That’s wrong in so many ways starting with tolerance and continued acceptance. The Christian Bible followers should be the only Methodist Church while the non followers should be kicked to the curb.
My church would do the same if it wouldn’t cost them money. But we can barely make budget now. If General Conference goes down like I think, it will get FAR worse.
The conservatives are the biggest givers.
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