‘Next Generation UMC,’ ‘Indianapolis Plan' Outlined at Gathering

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LEAWOOD, Kansas – For those expecting clear-cut strategies on The United Methodist Church’s future, the presentation of two major proposals proved that the future is still in flux – and will require lots of reading in the coming months before the 2020 General Conference.

“I hoped to come away from here with a clear idea on what these plans mean, but now I’m more muddled than before,” said a participant.

Since the 2019 special General Conference’s adoption of the Traditional Plan rocked United Methodism worldwide, this year’s session of the Leadership Institute sponsored annually by United Methodist Church of the Resurrection had been promised as the time when a concrete future scheme would be unveiled. Instead there were summaries about aspirations of two high-profile plans, warnings about the dire consequences of splitting the UMC, and urgent pleas to the General Conference delegates in attendance to read through all legislation involved before the 2020 General Conference May 5-15, 2020.

The Leadership Institute’s focus may have been diluted by an unexpected development – the late July unveiling of a rival scheme, the Indianapolis Plan. That design was devised originally by a group of 12 pastors and other leaders organized by the Rev. Darren Cushman Wood, pastor of North UMC in Indianapolis; the Rev. Kent Millard, president of UMC-related United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio; and the Rev. Keith Boyette of the Wesleyan Covenant Association. The “Indy Plan” was revised in August after soliciting input from around the worldwide church. As a result, it was renamed “The Indianapolis Plan for an Amicable Separation of The United Methodist Church.”

After the Indianapolis Plan was announced in July, the UMC Next group, which had been working on its design since April, hastily unveiled the basics of its plan, renamed “Next Generation UMC.” The result of the confluence of two plans was an invitation for the Indianapolis Plan to be discussed alongside the “Next Generation UMC” plan.

'Indy Plan' drafters 'disagreed a lot'

The Rev. John Stephens, senior pastor of Chapelwood UMC in Houston, Texas, and one of its original 12 drafters, presented the Indianapolis Plan to the Leadership Institute Sept. 26.

“We disagreed a lot,” Rev. Stephens said of the “Indy Plan.” “The WCA presented some ideas that my responses to were, ‘No,’ ‘No,’ ‘Maybe’ and ‘Hell, No.’ Still, we felt we needed a forum where all sides were involved.”

The Indianapolis Plan’s key point is that it doesn’t “dissolve” The United Methodist Church as proposed by the Wesleyan Covenant Association, Rev. Stephens said. Instead, it makes provisions for a Progressive Methodist denomination and a Traditional Methodist denomination, but those who remain will be The United Methodist Church.

Without going into specifics, Rev. Stephens said that Wespath, the UMC pension and benefits agency, provided significant help to the Indianapolis Plan drafters in framing the language about the entity called The United Methodist Church. Unlike other plans, the Indianapolis Plan provides that annual conferences and local congregations can vote to leave the UMC by a simple majority.

Another key point of the Indianapolis Plan is its moratorium on charges for violating the anti-LGBTQ stances in the Book of Discipline during any realignment, Rev. Stephens said. The full Indianapolis Plan legislation is posted on Rev. Stephens’ blog, EmbodyGrace.org

'Separation' no longer 'bad word'

The Rev. Tom Berlin, senior pastor of Floris UMC in Herndon, Va., and a former member of the Commission on A Way Forward, presented the “Next Generation UMC.”

“After the 2019 General Conference, everybody wants something new,” Rev. Berlin began. “We have common desires to share Christ with the world, but without being bound so tightly as to be unable to respond in our respective contexts. We no longer see ‘separation’ as a bad word.’”

“Next Generation UMC” rests upon the “four commitments” drafted earlier this year by UMC Next leaders (see accompanying graphic). In brief, Rev. Berlin explained, “Next Generation UMC” calls for:

* A moratorium on charges being brought against clergy who resist the policies and punishments enacted by the 2019 General Conference.

* Repeal of all legislation that enacted the Traditional Plan.

* Remove from the Book of Discipline all language holding homosexuality as “incompatible with Christian teaching.”

* Repeal of the ban on funding ministries for LGBTQ persons.

In addition, Rev. Berlin said the “Next Generation UMC” plan includes legislation to change Paragraph 140 of the Book of Discipline that lists “barriers we want to remove” such as race, gender and sexual orientation.

“Next Generation UMC” also calls for the creation of a Commission on the 21st Century Church, which would be tasked with producing a new constitution for The United Methodist Church to be voted upon at a special called General Conference in 2023. Rev. Berlin said the plan recommends retaining the historic Articles of Religion and creating a new form of governance suitable for a worldwide denomination.

Rev. Berlin said the drafters of “Next Generation UMC” also support the recommendation from the Connectional Table, the denomination’s program coordinating body, to reconfigure the United States into a regional conference with the authority to create its own contextualized Book of Discipline. Central Conferences – those units outside the United States – also would be reconfigured as regional conferences with similar rule-making authority.

“You are in for a very complicated set of reading,” Rev. Berlin said to the General Conference 2020 delegates in attendance.

Bishops promote 'unbelievable good'

Dividing the United Methodist Church proved a unwelcome prospect for a follow-up panel including Bishops Cynthia Fierro Harvey (Louisiana Area), Sue Haupert-Johnson (North Georgia. Area), Mike McKee (Dallas Area) and Sally Dyck (Chicago Area).

Former top executive of the United Methodist Committee on Relief, Bishop Fierro Harvey said she had witnessed firsthand the wealth of “unbelievable good” done by United Methodists around the world. Bishop Haupert-Johnson echoed her sister bishop, warning that “missions will lose if we aren’t careful in decision-making.”

Bishop McKee, president of the General Council on Finance and Administration, cautioned that despite its millions of dollars in property, the denomination doesn’t have sufficient liquid assets to pay legal fees for dismantling interconnected church entities. He urged delegates to ask “Who benefits?” from dividing the denomination, and answered his own question by saying, “Attorneys.”

Bishop Sally Dyck closed the panel by proclaiming, “the gates of Hell shall not prevail against the church! All that is not hopeful, that is not life-giving, will fall away.”

Leadership Institute participants, especially General Conference delegates, were urged again to have conversations in their annual conferences and local congregations about the various prospects under consideration for the denomination’s future.

Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, which she founded in 2011.