Palmer Uniting
Bishop Gregory Palmer (Ohio West Area) talks about receiving a letter from a distraught church member who asked of the Way Forward report, "Is this the best you can do?" Bishop Palmer likened her outcry to Jesus' sense of dereliction on the cross. (UM Insight Screencap from YouTube)
DALLAS – Part rousing revival, part strategy session, and all hope, the Uniting Methodists movement held its second national gathering July 16-18 focused on assuring the adoption of the “One Church” model of unity recommended by the Commission on a Way Forward and recommended by the Council of Bishops.
“(The One Church Model) isn’t perfect, but it’s promising,” said the Rev. Gregory Palmer (Ohio West Area), who was a member of the Way Forward Commission, in his keynote talk, “The Church We Are Becoming,” before some 250 participants gathered at Lovers Lane United Methodist Church.
Retired Bishop Janice Riggle Huie of Austin, Texas, used a similar metaphor in her presentation on the event’s final morning. “Think of a bell curve. What we’re trying to do with (One Church) is to widen the center of the curve.” She explained that there are some United Methodists who might tend toward the more traditionalist or progressive extremes on questions of human sexuality, but that they might not feel pressured to leave the church if they could feel at home in a broader middle.
Uniting Methodists is the only interest group in the denomination that has formally endorsed the “One Church” model. The conference used a hashtag theme reiterated throughout two days of presentations: #RoomforAll.
In setting forth its strategy for the 2019 special General Conference, Uniting Methodists focused its Dallas conclave on
- Defining itself as the broad center of United Methodism;
- Celebrating and encouraging diversity including theology and gender identity;
- Emphasizing common mission such as disaster relief;
- Questioning assumptions, especially about people and biblical interpretation;
- Hearing from younger, emerging church members and leaders; and
- Preparing participants to support Uniting Methodists’ “playbook” for the 2019 General Conference.
Of the keynoters, Bishop Palmer’s presentation, delivered in powerful cadences akin to a sermon, drew the audience’s most enthusiastic responses.
“I’m not unmindful that the One Church plan still causes pain for many,” Bishop Palmer acknowledged. “But this will let some air into the room, and pour some healing balm in our wounds. As the gospel song says, ‘there’s plenty good room’ (on the glory train).”
Bishop Palmer also noted that the recommendation to remove Book of Discipline passages that condemn homosexual practice is a “big honking deal” for some United Methodists. However, he insisted, that questions around human sexuality and gender identity aren’t a “church-dividing issue.” He encouraged participants to consider not just the organizational polity of the One Church proposal, but also what it says theologically about recognizing all people as children of God.
Dave Nuckols, co-lay leader of the Minnesota Annual Conference and a Way Forward member, explained the basics of the commission’s report. Ironically, the English version of the report became available later July 17 when it was included with the next docket of the Judicial Council, which has been asked to assess the constitutionality of its proposals.
Mr. Nuckols said that the commission had worked to move the denomination away from the polarizing atmosphere of “I’m right – you’re wrong” to where “contextual differentiation” (adapting theology, polity and practice to local cultures) could take place. He noted that “contextual differentiation” already happens in the UMC, such as where annual conference boards of ordained ministry set certain local standards for clergy candidates, or when a pastor chooses not to marry a couple where one of the partners has been divorced.
Mr. Nuckols said that while the full Way Forward report includes three models – labeled “Traditional,” “One Church” and “Conference Connectional” – the commission recommended One Church because it
- Maintains the unity of The United Methodist Church as a denomination;
- Removes condemnatory language from the Book of Discipline;
- Allows for “contextual differentiation” on matters of human sexuality;
- Avoids multiple votes at various levels of the church to enact;
- Requires no constitutional amendments.
Not everyone in attendance agreed with Bishop Palmer’s “promising” assessment or Mr. Nuckols’ pragmatic predictions.
Jan Lawrence, executive director of the Reconciling Ministries Network, said that One Church remains unacceptable to those who support full inclusion because it allows annual conferences to continue discriminating against LGBTQ+ people.
“The report is 231 pages; I’ve only read parts,” she told United Methodist Insight. “From RMN’s perspective, (One Church) still does a lot of harm. We gave protections to people who didn’t need protecting. In doing so, we allowed harm to continue by letting conferences to officially state positions not in alignment with full inclusion.
“We’re all very aware that getting rid of the (Book of Discipline) language and (the phrase) ‘incompatible with Christian teaching’ is a huge step. It’s the balance of the harm that remains (in the One Church model) that we need time to digest.”
Laura Young, Reconciling Ministries Network coordinator for the South Central Jurisdiction, concurred with Ms. Lawrence. “It’s a compromise. It’s still very, very (geared) to the status quo. It’s the LGBTQ community that’s constantly giving more, waiting longer. I’m not opposed to a compromise, but this is a very unbalanced compromise.”
Helen Ryde, Southeastern Jurisdiction RMN coordinator, termed “One Church” “codified discrimination.” She said, “That’s what it will be, especially in the South. What we’ve heard is that One Church is a ‘progressive’ plan, and that’s very, very, very far from being the truth, and we have to speak up about it.”
One attendee, who wished to remain anonymous, shared his thoughts. “The One Church model is only one small step toward broadening the circle,” he said. “No one will be completely happy, but it makes room for everyone and provides an opportunity to move forward one step at a time. Institutional change is a slow process but it must begin somewhere.”
Just before the conference closed with Holy Communion, Lonnie Chafin, a lay delegate from the Northern Illinois Annual Conference, and the Rev. Ginger Gaines-Cirelli, a clergy delegate from the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference, spoke about specific actions around support for the “One Church” model.
Mr. Chafin said he had met with some 60 “lead” delegates in Nashville July 13-15 to build relationships among those who support “One Church.” He said that, in coordination with Uniting Methodists, teams are building across Africa and in the Philippines to support delegates who favor the model. In contrast, United Methodists in Europe “aren’t talking about it all,” he said.
Mr. Chafin invited participants to reassure their annual conference delegates of their support for “One Church” via letters, emails and telephone calls in advance of the 2019 General Conference. He also said that some 120 delegates want to “livestream” discussions with local church members over the Internet.
Participants broke into laughter when Mr. Chafin said that Uniting Methodists envisions having a “parliamentary ninja” responsible for guiding the group’s floor strategy at General Conference. Ms. Gaines-Cirelli added that smaller, more informal groups are connecting with Uniting Methodists to be part of its legislative strategy.
Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, which she founded in 2011.