PK writes:

On Tuesday June 1, I packed up my car and bid farewell to my cat and my dog and headed up to Buckhannon WV for a few days of Annual Conference. Although there was hope during the fall of 2020 that we’d be able to have a “normal” in-person conference in 2021, as June 2021 got closer and closer the decision was made to have a hybrid conference, with options for folks to participate online or on campus. So I went up a few days early as part of the conference’s award-winning communications team, and we set up cameras and microphones and tested video broadcasting and remote voting and blended live/virtual business sessions. The preparation paid off. On Thursday evening we shared in Opening Worship; on Friday, we had our Clergy Session, and the Rev. Mark Conner delivered an excellent sermon during the Memorial Service; on Saturday we had the business of the conference; and on Sunday Bishop Steiner Ball commissioned and ordained several men and women for ministry. Some of these sessions and services are viewable by going to www.WVUMC.org.

(enter this into your browser for the official recap of WVAC21: https://mailchi.mp/wvumc/weekly-short-circuit-2944302?e=5f479d3c82 )

Along with the normal crowds of people, conspicuously absent from our business proceedings were the standard controversies. There were debates about wording in insurance policies and various amendments for consistency, but by and large there was little contention.

And when I returned to Kanawha County, several people asked me about the “church split”, so I figured it was high time to address the issue. Before that: I hope you know that you can ask me any question any time and I am happy to engage in discussion with you. I trust that there will be things we agree on, and I anticipate there are some things we don’t agree on. And that is one of the reasons I say “I love you and there is nothing you can do about it.” We don’t have to agree on every detail. I hope we can have reasonable dialogue even if we have differing opinions.

A bit of background: The General Conference is the only organization that can set United Methodist policy, and the General Conference typically meets every four years. The last regular GenConf was in Portland, OR, in 2016, and one of the main issues discussed was the church and homosexuality – briefly, whether The UMC will allow same-sex marriages, and whether The UMC will allow for gay clergy. The delegation in 2016 was unable to come to any agreement, and ended up authorizing the bishops to come up with a way to address the divide. The bishops orchestrated the “Commission on a Way Forward,” a group of 32 clergy and laity from around the world who met nine or ten times in 2017, partly under the leadership of our own Bishop Sandra Steiner Ball. At the end of their extensive study, the Way Forward Commission put forth three proposals, and the bishops recommended the one called the “One Church Plan”, which would allow but not require United Methodist clergy to perform same-gender weddings where legal, and allow but not require annual conferences to ordain LGBTQ pastors.

The bishops then convened a special General Conference in 2019 so that elected clergy and laity delegates from around the world could discuss the Way Forward Commissions proposals. At the end of that conference, the “Traditional Plan” passed by a narrow margin, and the denomination retains our prohibition on the ordination of gays and on same-sex marriage.

Tension has been particularly high between opposing sides of The United Methodist Church for the last decade or so, and there has been much discussion about the church splitting, but COVID-19 threw a wrench into the denomination’s ability to facilitate global discussion, and General Conference 2020 was postponed until August 2022. My personal understanding regarding why 2021 was skipped is that the global church cannot guarantee the ability for delegates from around the world to meet in person because of travel restrictions, and the global church does not have the ability to facilitate a virtual global meeting.

So the “bottom line” regarding the question “Is The United Methodist Church splitting?” is there will be no official split until the General Conference agrees on one, and the General Conference does not meet until August 2022, and even then, the delegation may not come to an agreement. Regardless, until that time, you’ll hear rumors of splitting, and some congregations will choose to leave the denomination before then, seeking either more conservative or more progressive waters.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, and I mean it when I say it: I love you and there is nothing you can do about it. I stand by my ordination vow to teach and uphold the rules of The United Methodist Church, and I am happy to be in service and ministry to and with you.

- Pastor Kerry

P.S. I’d like to do a sermon series, maybe five weeks, maybe in August, on questions that you have. In July I’ll make opportunity for folks to submit questions to “Ask-A-Pastor”. You’re free to email me at any time, or leave a note in my church mailbox if you wish to ask a question anonymously. I’ll cull questions and come up with a reply. What would you like to hear me address? – PK

P.P.S. Thanks for reading all this. And remember that we are the church, and that our mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ, for the transformation of the world!