God Finds a Way

by

Many wise and faithful voices have shared their vision, commitment, pain and passion with a uniting belief that the people of the United Methodist Church will walk together into an increasingly global, complex and diverse reality. Nowhere does this growing need cause more debate than in the church's stances regarding homosexual practice.

One underlying question impacting many of our legislative questions is “Are we seeking uniformity or unity?” and the answer is probably “both.”  As we continue to debate the question of inclusiveness, I wonder if we are having the right conversation in the right place? By this I mean, will continue wrangling at the General Conference bring United Methodists the kind of nimble, contextual ministry needed to serve our complex world?

If we are united in our desire to live into the vision of a more authentically global denomination, we will continue to become increasingly diverse in the places and ways that ministry is experienced. Extensive rights and responsibilities are given already to Boards of Ordained Ministry and local congregations in developing lay and clergy leadership and determining appropriate ministries for their contexts. What might it look like to trust those entities to set standards and goals for such decisions, rather than trying to force uniformity around the rights of, or restrictions on, LGBTQ people during great societal changes and in the midst of significant global diversity? 

We are already broadly diverse in many aspects of our ministry delivery sites.  Our Boards of Ordained Ministry supervise the development of our "set-apart" leadership. Annual Conferences authorize their Boards of Ordained Ministry to discern gifts, talents and qualifications for ministry leadership.  Their authority already encompasses assessing multiple forms of diversity.  We should expect them, not Annual Conferences, to set the standards that ensure competence and effectiveness in ministry. 

Meanwhile, congregations are the places where people encounter, engage and grow in their faith and understanding about God’s creativity.  Congregations in particular have the freedom and responsibility to determine how communion elements are distributed, how baptism is practiced, how new members are received and instructed, how worship is styled and even how much local organization is structured.  We trust congregations to manage and administer ministry in ways that are faithful to our beliefs and appropriate for their context, size and the culture where they are located.  If we trust congregations with these responsibilities, I believe we should prayerfully consider empowering congregations to become as inclusive and welcoming as their ministry contexts will allow. 

Given the responsibilities granted to these conference and local church units, the removal of denominational language that excludes certain persons because of their sexuality likely would generate growth in one of our four areas of focus: creating new and renewed congregations. Rather than focusing on which Biblical interpretation of certain scriptures is right or wrong, congregations could apply the whole Wesleyan quadrilateral of Scripture, tradition, experience and reason to their ministry setting. 

I can envision communities or regions where some congregations are more open and inclusive, while others are free to follow their more traditional views, possibly even multiple congregations in the same community! 

And, since it is increasingly clear that there are different levels of risk in different parts of the world regarding certain populations at different times in history (for example, lepers, slaves, abolitionists, women, Jews, LGBTQ, etc.), the question about inclusion isn’t likely to go away anytime soon. Our global identity requires all of us to set aside some of our need to be right as we continue to discover and seek to understand differences and diversities we are blessed with already.

Are we ready to move from polarized positions to a new place where local readiness is considered more important than perpetuating a divisive debate for the right to be “right”? This move would not be a new way of being, but rather a restoration of previous rights and responsibilities before the language about homosexuality was added to the Book of Discipline. Let’s trust our Boards of Ordained Ministry and local congregations rather than hampering them with either Annual Conference or denominational rules that explicitly exclude this latest “identified population” from exercising their gifts and call within our beloved United Methodist Church. 

Ours is a resilient faith that is continually forming and reforming. After more than 40 years of wandering and disagreements about the best way forward, God’s people may discover that what we need is already available to us.

A General Conference delegate for the New England Annual Conference, Bonnie Marden serves as a mediator and parish consultant, specializing in leadership, team-building, transforming conflict and financial stewardship.