
Discipline Clergy
The 2012 Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church is held by an ordained elder. General Conference is expected to debate what church teaches about ministry with gay individuals. Photo illustration by Kathleen Barry, United Methodist Communications
November 3-6, 2019 is the last meeting of the United Methodist Council of Bishops before the Traditional Plan takes effect January 1, 2020. Mainstream UMC is asking for your help to ask the Bishops to call for a church-wide moratorium on harmful complaints, charges, and trials. Please take these four actions:
- Please click here to sign this letter to the bishops (text below): https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/UMC_Moratorium
- Please forward this email to everyone in your congregation and on your United Methodist contact list. We have less than a week to make our voices heard! Our strength is in our numbers.
- Please call or email your bishop today at your annual conference office asking him or her to please support this moratorium. If you are not sure how to contact your bishop, click here http://www.umc.org/who-we-are/annual-conferences-directory. This will link you to your annual conference website where you can find your bishop’s phone number and email.
- Please ask your congregation to pray for a moratorium during worship on Sunday, November 3.
Thank you! Together we can stop the harm the judicial process inflicts on our LGBTQ clergy and allies and find an amicable path forward for the church.
In Christ,
Mainstream UMC
www.MainstreamUMC.com
If any of the weblinks do not work, please cut and paste them directly into your browser. Thank you.
Letter to the Bishops:
Dear Bishops,
We, the undersigned, faithfully request the Council of Bishops issue a pastoral letter calling for a moratorium on all complaints, charges, and trials of LGBTQ clergy and for clergy performing same-gender weddings pending the outcome of the May 2020 General Conference. We ask you to be proactive to reduce the harm that will occur once the Traditional Plan takes effect January 1, 2020.
These complaints, charges, and trials are deeply harmful to our clergy, divisive to our congregations, and destructive to our connection. Faithful people throughout the connection are actively seeking a solution to the global impasse around human sexuality; this judicial process only exacerbates the impasse. Our history has proven we cannot and should not adjudicate our divisions in the church’s courts. Failing to call for an immediate moratorium on these processes could cause irreparable harm to our connection at this fragile moment when we are engaged in negotiating an amicable, global solution.
There is precedent for such a time of gracious waiting, as expressed by the North Central Jurisdiction Committee on Appeals in March of 2018 regarding the complaint filed against Rev. David Meredith in the West Ohio Annual Conference. The Committee wrote in part: “In fairness to all parties, we order…the West Ohio Conference of [The] United Methodist Church [to] pause this judicial proceeding until after the proceedings of the Special Session of the General Conference in 2019 are concluded.”
While non-binding, our bishops calling for a moratorium will help prevent the denomination from diverting valuable resources from outreach, mission, and ministry to church trials. Our history shows that processing a single trial can cost $100,000 or more. In addition to the exorbitant financial cost, local churches are increasingly unwilling to fund conference apportionments for this purpose. Imagine the lost opportunities across the connection for service, mission, and witness these funds represent! Taking a stand to preempt complaints, charges, and trials that will follow the Traditional Plan is good stewardship of the time, energy, and resources in our annual conferences.
We understand that no one can control what others will do. Yet, a letter of moratorium from our episcopal leaders will establish a spirit of cooperation and give direction to annual conferences on how to proceed. Anything our bishops can do to discourage and postpone charges being filed once the Traditional Plan goes into effect will give our delegates more space to find an amicable agreement. We seek your help to reduce the harm and create a better environment for constructive and courageous conversation.
Thank you for your prayerful consideration.
In Christ,
The Undersigned
Click Here to sign the letter: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/UMC_Moratorium
Here are more resources for local churches: https://mainstreamumc.com/resources/for-the-local-church/
Here is a letter from a local church to their bishop, pledging to withhold all conference apportionments if there is a trial related to human sexuality: https://mainstreamumc.com/documents/resources/LouisburgUMC-LetterToBishop.pdf