NC Pastor Repeats Plea: Tell Dissidents to Stop Falsehoods about UMC

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Methodists have been my people from birth. That is 73 years. I am trying to remember something. Maybe you can help me.

Do you remember the times when devoted church members invited other denominations to come, point out the shortcomings of Methodism and recruit fellow Methodist church members to join another denomination? I don’t ever remember that happening. Do you?

In all my years as a Rotarian, I don’t ever remember a program chair inviting someone from Kiwanis or Jaycees or Optimist clubs to come give an “information session” on the shortcomings of Rotary and to recruit us to leave Rotary and join another club. Anyone had that happen?

In my many years as a medical patient, I don’t ever remember an employee of my doctor’s practice inviting me to an “information” session where I could learn the unflattering things that my doctor did —and to recruit me to go see another physician. Any of you been invited to such a meeting?

I’m seriously interested if you have had that experience. Because I haven’t .

In the world of mutual respect that I was raised in, inviting others to critique, point out flaws and recruit people away from their commitments was not done. It was a matter of integrity—the integrity of the church members, the club, the medical employees etc. And it’s a matter of integrity for those who would accept such an invitation.

Dear brothers and sisters in the Global Methodist Church, you have my prayers and best wishes to build a church of integrity. A church that points people to Jesus—who taught us the primacy of loving others as Jesus did. To treat others the way we would want to be treated. Fail at that and you will not have a foundation in Christ.

This is the truth: you can’t build a church of integrity if you don’t act with integrity. Accepting invitations to go into another church without the blessing of the pastor or leadership (especially if the invitation is counter to the pastor and leadership) does not have integrity. Would I ever go lecture in a classroom without the invitation of the professor? Never.

Setting up and accepting these opportunities to criticize the UMC —especially with unfair, out of context, sensationalized, false criticisms —-has no integrity.

If you love the GMC, speak the truth in love. Tell them to stop

UMC members, you have made a sacred vow to support the church by your prayers, your presence, your gifts, your service, your witness. Learn all you can about what is going on in the church and the world. But sabotaging your church, fueling divisions (especially through sneaky, underhanded ways of communicating with people) has no integrity. It violates your promise. The UMC life is a life of reflection and repentance with holiness as its goal. Inviting others for presentations to foster mistrust based on misinformation has no integrity.

If you love the UMC you attend, speak the truth in love to your brothers and sisters who promised you and God they would support the church. Tell them to stop.

I have just come from attending the fourth such misinformation session.

They should stop.

They should stop NOW.

T

he Rev. Dr. Mary John Dye is a retired pastor in the Western North Carolina Annual Conference. This post is republished with permission from her Facebook page. To reproduce this content elsewhere, please contact the author on Facebook.