United Methodist leaders in Liberia continue to struggle with misunderstandings about the effect of the removal of anti-LBGTQ policies by the 2024 General Conference, with a retired bishop asserting that the UMC is not "a gay church."
Ironically, the conflict in Liberia pits two half-brothers who are both United Methodist leaders against one another in the struggle over perceptions of the church.
Retired Bishop Arthur F. Kulah has stated unequivocally that the UMC is not now "a gay church," according to an article by Naneka A. Hoffman in New Dawn Liberia.
Retired Bishop Arthur F. Kulah
Photo Courtesy of New Dawn Liberia
Speaking recently in Sinkor, Monrovia, at what Hoffman described as "a national day of worship for peace and sustenance of biblical Christianity in the United Methodist Church," Bishop Kulah emphasized that only the Liberia Annual Conference "has the authority to approve same-sex marriage in its churches across the country."
“If anyone tells you that the United Methodist Church is now a gay church, please tell them that he or she is lying unless it is agreed by the Liberia Annual Conference.”
Bishop Kulah's remarks were a sharp rebuke to his half-brother, the Rev. Dr. Jerry Kulah, who is leading a push for the Liberia conference to withdraw from the global UMC. Dr. Jerry Kulah is the coordinator of Africa Initiative, a program of the dissident Wesleyan Covenant Association that is working to have African United Methodists leave the worldwide denomination.
Bishop Kulah said he supports having his episcopal colleague, resident Bishop Samuel J. Quire, call a special session of the Liberia Annual Conference to "explain and interpret the discussions held at the global conference." Bishop Quire has resisted calls for a special session, saying the issue can be address at the Liberia Conference's annual meeting in January 2025.
Bishop Kulah also apologized to Bishop Quire for the violent attempt against him recently while he was in Ganta, Nimba County. He also commended the Liberia Council of Churches for efforts to resolve the crisis in the United Methodist Church of Liberia.
According to Hoffman's article:
Paul Jeffrey Paul Jeffrey/UM News
Debate over Marriage
The Rev. Jerry Kulah, a clergy delegate from Liberia, holds up a Bible as he speaks on the floor of the 2024 United Methodist General Conference in Charlotte, N.C. Kulah spoke in opposition to a revision of the denomination's Social Principles. The gathering approved the document with one minor revision on a definition of marriage. (Photo by Paul Jeffrey/UM News)
"Delivering a sermon at the service, the Vice President for Graduate Program at the United Methodist University, Reverend Dr. Jerry Kulah, said the United Methodist Church worldwide is in crisis because the majority of its members are liberals and progressives.
"According to (Dr. Jerry Kulah), 'the progressives and liberals in the United Methodist Church worldwide believe that the Holy Bible is progressing and, as such, they have more ideas than Jesus, and they know better than God.'
"Reverend Jerry Kulah continues that (traditionalist United Methodists) think that ‘the Bible is absolute and it is not relevant for this time,’ and based on this, the progressives and liberals are denying the Bible in many respects. Among these aspects, Dr. Jerry Kulah said, is "to introduce a lot of social and cultural practices that contravene the Christian teaching and living; one of such is the same-sex marriage.”
Dr. Jerry Kulah said that the new definition of marriage in the UMC's Revised Social Principles means that "man can marry man, woman can marry woman, man can marry his daughter and woman can marry her son." The exact language of the new Social Principles is: "a sacred covenant between two people of faith (adult man and woman of consenting age or two adult persons of consenting age) into union."
The amended language on marriage was proposed by delegate Molly Hlekani Mwayera from the Zimbabwe East Conference who currently a member of the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe. Her amendment was seen as a compromise not only regarding same-sex marriage as practiced legally in the United States and elsewhere, but as a stand against forced child marriage as practiced frequently in Africa and Asia.
Justice Mwayera was elected to the UMC's "high court," the Judicial Council, by delegates to the recent General Conference.
The "national day of worship, prayer for peace, and the sustenance of biblical Christianity in the United Methodist Church" reportedly was organized by worshippers demanding a special session on the issue, according to Hoffman's report.
Insight Editor Cynthia B. Astle contributed to this report.