Malone and Warren
Bishop Tracy Smith Malone (East Ohio Area) comforts J.J. Warren after the 2019 General Conference voted to tighten the UMC's anti-LGBTQ restrictions. (Courtesy photo)
Context: On Saturday, February 13th, 2021, U.S. delegates to General Conference and the five Jurisdictional Conferences of the U.S. gathered to hear a proposal from some members of the Council of Bishops that recommends no additional bishops be elected at the next Jurisdictional Conferences. You can watch the Webinar here.
To the U.S. Bishops of The United Methodist Church,
As a seminarian and (mostly) proud United Methodist, I yearn to reject the idea that there are evil or destructive forces at play in the Council of Bishops. Unfortunately, my faith in you has been misplaced yet again. After your hands held my tears at the Special Session in 2019 as we gathered for prayer on the edge of the stage, and after so many of you came up to me and encouraged me to keep the faith, after we as a Church begged you to lead us and placed you in charge of this process in 2016, you have yet again let us down. Even writing that sentence—admitting you’ve let me down—causes me so much pain. I want to believe that there is good among you. Unfortunately, as a recent article on Hacking Christianity noted, “Instead of increasing the apportionment and actually paying for the bishops, GCFA’s budget defunded the bishops and caused this crisis in the first place. It has nothing to do with the COVID-19 pandemic. But instead of call them to accountability, the Bishops are falling on their own sword.” The sudden crisis you’re proclaiming is one of our own making, and one you seem to be exploiting at the expense of the Church. I hope you’ll read this letter with care because even while disappointed, I hold onto the hope that resurrection is possible.
A Call to Servant Leadership
As servant leaders, we are all called to walk in the ways of Jesus, to reject the seat of honor, to be the last, to serve and not be served. Many United Methodist clergy have not taken raises or had their salaries adjusted for the cost of living due to the financial troubles facing local churches and the UMC in general. Several clergy disclosed during the gathering on Saturday that they have sacrificed their raises year after year so that their churches would be able to pay their apportionments. This is profound servant leadership. Throughout the reports on Saturday, we heard a decrease in the funding for the missional work of the Church from 2017-2020: -15.1% for Africa University, -15.5% for the Black College Fund, -27% for Ministerial Education, -20.6% for Church and Society, -20.4% for Global Ministries, among many other decreases (available here). What does it say theologically and missionally that the only fund to increase is the Episcopal Fund by 6.7%?
Local pastors are sacrificing for the sake of the denomination, the African College of Bishops cut their salaries significantly, and the missional boards and agencies have been forced to lower their budgets. Why, then, would we not expect the same of our episcopal leaders in the U.S.? If we truly value missional vitality and the flourishing of local churches, why haven’t you seriously considered reducing your salaries, travel budgets, office budgets (or your rumored Admiral Status on American Airlines) for the sake of the Church? It is past time to lead by example.
As Bishop Fierro Harvey repeated several times on Saturday, “this is not permanent. We’re talking about the interim.” If you believe it is best not to strain the Episcopal Fund, which still had a reserve of $14.1 million as of 2020, why have you refused to lead sacrificially by cutting episcopal expenses, and have instead (possibly) over-extended your authority by strongly encouraging us to do your bidding at the Jurisdictional Conferences without fully disclosing the implications of your proposal?
Disturbing Implications of Your Proposal
If your proposal were to be followed, the bishops in league with the Wesleyan Covenant Association, which has already made its intent to separate from the UMC clear, would gain a slim majority in the Council of Bishops. As Hacking Christianity points out, “in 2016, the power to kick out any bishop, no matter their regional accountability through the colleges, was changed to be a majority vote of the whole council.” If your proposal were to be followed, Bishop Oliveto, the first openly Lesbian bishop, could be ousted, and the satanic forces of exclusion would prevail in our executive branch—led by sectarian leaders who intend to depart and leave us in shambles. Are we supposed to believe this is all coincidence? Why were these implications not listed in your recommendation? It would appear that some among you are using this manufactured “crisis” to gain control of our already troubled Church. I plan to vote for electing new bishops to honor the movement of the Holy Spirit and the hard work of grass roots United Methodists who elected an unprecedented number of inclusively-minded delegates to the General and Jurisdictional Conferences.
I urge you to withdraw your proposal in light of its disturbing implications, to seriously consider lowering your salaries and expenses, and for those among you who oppose this proposal to speak out vocally so that we might be led honestly and prophetically into the uncertain future ahead. I believe in the work God is doing through The United Methodist Church around the globe, which is why I cannot stay silent as our executive branch manipulates delegates through this manufactured crisis and actively works to secure conservative majority. Ecclesia semper reformanda; the church must continually be reformed.
J.J. Warren serves as a General Conference Lay Delegate for the Upper New York Annual Conference. This post is republished with permission from his website.