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The Wesleyan emphasis upon the Christian life—faith and love put into practice—has been the hallmark of those traditions now incorporated into The United Methodist Church.” (Book of Discipline, paragraph 101)
Our United Methodist Church is bound together by practical theology–by a commitment to put into practice our love of God and neighbor. In the midst of a global pandemic, the necessity of this commitment is as clear as ever: our connection to one another matters. It makes a difference in the world full of tremendous human need that Christ calls us to serve with the good news of God’s love and tangible acts of mercy. We celebrate the rich diversity within our connection as a sign that the love of God and neighbor transcends all our human barriers that separate, dismiss, and devalue God’s children.
The decision, announced last week, to postpone General Conference 2020 until 2022 respects the magnitude of the pandemic, and honors the value and necessity of gathering in person to deliberate about the future of our rich, diverse denomination. This delay will not prevent the Church, in all its diverse places, from living out our ongoing commitment to make disciples of Christ for the transformation of the world.
With the delay of our global gathering, some within the Church have been actively working toward separation. On Monday, members of the WCA, Confessing Movement and other groups announced their plans to start a new denomination named the Global Methodist Church, clarifying their desire to leave our connection.
As the leaders of UMCNext we acknowledge that different groups within our Church have long held divergent views; we proposed legislation to the 2020 General Conference providing a method for groups of churches to form new expressions of Methodism. To this end, UMCNext participated in negotiations around the Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace. UMCNext continues to support the Protocol and its legislation when it properly comes to the planned 2022 General Conference and until it can be considered, we call on all Episcopal leaders to continue the abeyance to avoid further harm. This General Conference, to be held in Minneapolis Minnesota, will enable our global delegates to have equal access to discussion, deliberation and voting related to this important legislation.
The United Methodist Church will remain a global church. We see our connection as more critical than ever, and are committed to working together. We are committed to living out our common mission, making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. We are committed to following a Wesleyan vision of Christianity which is anchored in scripture and informed by tradition, experience and reason as we live a life of personal piety and social holiness. We believe that by God’s grace and the power of the Holy Spirit, we will faithfully engage in God’s mission together and move toward perfection as individuals and as a denomination.