GC2020 – Is There Cause for Optimism?

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I’m not an optimist by temperament or training. Given the current state of the United Methodist Church, it appears that the news filtering out across the denomination is creating more despair than hope, especially in the United States.

As I read about the events of the past few weeks it’s almost as if there is a centrifugal force casting pieces of the denomination outward in separate trajectories.  Part of the denomination celebrates actions that impose a moratorium on parts of the discipline; others are discouraged by the same action.  Some are distressed by calls for separation; others see the formation of new expressions as the key to revitalizing our witness in the world.  Many are ready to quit; others already have.  To use a metaphor, it seems we are a denomination where the gravitational forces holding us together might well be overcome by the centrifugal forces spinning us apart.

Is there a reason to view our current situation with optimism?  Is any good coming from our current debates and ongoing events?  I think so.

Steel is strong because it’s known the hammer and white heat.  I believe the people who are called United Methodists are currently in the forge, being tempered by the hammer and white heat.

I suspect many members in our local churches have only a general sense that something big is happening within the denomination.  Perhaps this is the result of human nature, the leaders of our local churches don’t want to “borrow trouble”.  Talking about the things that may divide us is often looked upon as something that will in fact cause or hasten a potential fracture.  But for those that are aware of the events, the denomination’s current circumstances are creating a time for reflection on deep issues of faith that often go unexamined.

Beyond the presenting issue of human sexuality, I think the following questions are examples of the questions that our current debate is causing members of local congregations to consider, discuss, pray about and seek to discern God’s answer.  They are presented in no particular order.

  • What is the role of the Bible?
  • What does it mean to be a Methodist?
  • What is the core of Wesleyan values?
  • What is the proper balance in dealing with matters of connectionalism?
  • What does it mean to be in covenant with others?
  • Does a covenant relationship imply mutual obligations?
  • What is the unity that Christ calls for among believers?
  • What did Wesley mean by social holiness?
  • What did Wesley mean by the catholic spirit?
  • In the “Wesleyan Quadrilateral”, what is meant by “experience”?
  • Where is the proper balance between the catholic spirit and holiness?
  • Can we still speak truth in love?

I’m sure each person reading this post could add to the list of questions.  But it’s not my purpose to create a checklist of questions that need to be answered.  The purpose of the list is to illustrate the good that may happen when are called to examine our faith. I don’t think these are academic questions, I think they reflect our struggle to understand the will, majesty and character of our God; a God whose ways are far beyond our human comprehension.

Some have pointed out that in the United States, we now are living in a post-Christian society.  The UMCNext Petition 1 describes this as follows: “The US is now a mission field rather than an exporter of Christendom.”  Perhaps the place we currently find ourselves is God’s way of preparing us for a new thing, our role as missionaries.

Our hubris sometimes causes us to forget that God has worked towards the resurrection kingdom, heaven on earth, since the fall.  On the other hand, we’ve been a denomination for about 50 years.  God has worked through a great cloud of witnesses through the past ages.  I’m confident he is preparing a new generation of witnesses to continue his work.  I believe the people who have experienced the hammer and white heat will be stronger for the work they are called to do.  They have entered the forge as United Methodists, after hammer and heat they may well emerge as a new creation.

Grace and peace to you.

United Methodist layman Frank Holbrook of Martin, Tenn., refers to himself as a "repurposed" attorney since his retirement. He has authored a plan for the UMC's future that he calls "Plain Grace" and will serve as a delegate to the 2020 General Conference from the Memphis Annual Conference. This post is republished with permission from his blog, "Plane Grace."