Editor's Note: This article is part of a package of "Best of 2016" stories distributed Jan. 9 by the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry. United Methodist Insight is reprinting the article because we find the information worth repeating as we enter 2017.
United Methodist theologians will consult with one another in March to come up with a scholarly foundation to aid the work of the special Commission on A Way Forward organized by the Council of Bishops.
UMNS Photo by Mike DuBose
Kim Cape
Rev. Kim Cape, general secretary of the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry
The General Board of Higher Education and Ministry (GBHEM) and the Association of United Methodist Theological Schools (AUMTS) will co-host a theological colloquy March 10-12, 2017 at the Candler School of Theology, Emory University, in Atlanta, Ga. The theme for the event will be “The Unity of the Church and Human Sexuality: Toward a Faithful United Methodist Witness.”
An kind of informed theological conversation among scholars, the colloquy will bring together professors from the 13 official United Methodist seminaries in the United States, as well as from multi-denominational Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky., and seminaries in the central conferences of Africa, Europe, and the Philippines. Asbury is included because it educates the greatest number of United Methodist clergy, even though it is not an officially related United Methodist seminary.
UM Insight Screencap, Candler
Jan Love 2017
Dr. Jan Love, dean of Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, GA.
The Rev. Dr. Kim Cape, top executive of GBHEM, and Dr. Jan Love, dean of UMC-related Candler School of Theology and president of AUMTS, issued a call for papers to nearly 30 United Methodist scholars in the areas of history, doctrine and polity. All invited participants must write and submit a paper in advance.
“Ever since the Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church proposed A Way Forward at General Conference, the staff of the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry has thought, talked, and prayed together about ways this agency can best be of service to the church in the current context,” said Dr. Cape in a press release.
“We are convinced that the key issue before the church at this moment is the question of unity: the unity of the church as a gift from God; the unity of the church as a calling in response to Christ’s prayer in John 17:11; the unity of the church in light of our unresolved questions regarding human sexuality; and the unity of the church in light of our common desire to provide a faithful United Methodist witness,” she added.
In planning this colloquy, the ministry board and the seminary association emphasize that it is offered in collaboration with, and following the guidance of, the Council of Bishops and their plans for the Commission on a Way Forward. Bishop Ken Carter, one of three Way Forward moderators, and Dr. Cape will co-convene the colloquy.
“The AUMTS is delighted to partner with GBHEM in this endeavor under the direction of the Council of Bishops. We are eager to use the rich intellectual resources of our schools in service to the church in this way,” said Dr. Love in a press release.
“We know that throughout history, The United Methodist Church and its predecessor bodies have encountered situations where committed followers held very different perspectives on one or more pressing issues of the day," Dr. Love continued. "Clergy and laity alike genuinely, intensely disagreed on what being a faithful Christian in the Wesleyan tradition required in relation to those critical issues. We hope that by exploring these historical encounters together we will gain insight on the dilemmas and challenges we face today.”
After the colloquy finishes its work, GBHEM will publish papers submitted by the scholars, and will also share the results of this process with the Way Forward Commission, boards of ordained ministry, district superintendents, campus ministers, the orders of elders and deacons, the Fellowship of Associate Members and Local Pastors, and others. All of these groups within the church help determine clergy candidates' fitness, or provide professional support for ordained elders, ordained deacons and licensed local pastors. Giving the papers to these groups is intended to provide tools and resources for these influential groups to have an informed, more substantive theological conversation about this subject.
Ebony Lincoln serves as director of communications for the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry. United Methodist Insight Editor Cynthia B. Astle contributed to this article.