tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4615496199721498323.post3968087669855275731..comments2024-03-22T08:29:51.173-05:00Comments on UM & Global: The Struggle to Launch the Global Methodist ChurchDavid W. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17024204453848260271noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4615496199721498323.post-66729682071834577522021-08-31T11:32:54.794-05:002021-08-31T11:32:54.794-05:00Jack, as one who teaches in the seminary, belongs ...Jack, as one who teaches in the seminary, belongs to two ACs, and serves two churches in the UMC, the people with whom I am in contact are not cooling off. They want to move forward. Regardless, the bishops have said that they want to keep the UMC together. Having witnessed how they use institutional power to get what they want, delaying the GC has worked out well for them. Most of the ACs have approved the protocol. Stop forestalling and let the delegates vote on this one issue so that the will of the people can be realized. At the same time, remove the illegal moratorium if we are not going to have the vote on the protocol. That is a fair outcome. Billhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14141558221519018805noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4615496199721498323.post-15733300532614459572021-08-31T10:18:17.426-05:002021-08-31T10:18:17.426-05:00Jack....your wisdom and leadership is always appre...Jack....your wisdom and leadership is always appreciated!!! Roger Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00298188888415890565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4615496199721498323.post-4819181980310649692021-08-31T08:47:14.603-05:002021-08-31T08:47:14.603-05:00It feels like the excitement about leaving the UMC...It feels like the excitement about leaving the UMC for this wonderful new GMC is waning, so the WCA leaders are trying desperately to keep their base fired up while they wait. But that also gives folks time to look deeply into what the GMC would actually be. Can they really deliver on "lower apportionments"? Will there be enough clergy to serve the congregations and will be there enough congregations for clergy to foresee their future in ministry? Do you really want to be part of a denomination that demands "accountability" and expects everyone to be "like-minded"? When they have spent so much time criticizing bishops, will their folks trust the new bishops in the new denomination? As the author says, forming a new denomination is more difficult than tearing down the old one, which is what the Traditionalists have been doing for the past 40 years. Jack Harnishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12940382186704406866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4615496199721498323.post-54827245125168038542021-08-31T07:54:40.251-05:002021-08-31T07:54:40.251-05:00Bill, I think you've raised an important point...Bill, I think you've raised an important point: Other groups in the church don't have the same sorts of incentives for the General Conference to meet quickly, and there are some upsides for Institutionalists and Progressives to delayed General Conference (along with other downsides related to bishops, budgets, etc.). I wouldn't say Progressives or Institutionalists have everything they want right now or that there are no negative consequences to delay. Progressives really want those clauses in the BOD removed, not merely suspended, and they're losing people from waiting as well. But part of what makes the situation in the UMC complex right now is that not only are different groups working towards different goals, but they each have different incentives to focus on different parts of UMC procedure to reach their goals.David W. Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17024204453848260271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4615496199721498323.post-86935226299003647072021-08-31T07:36:01.168-05:002021-08-31T07:36:01.168-05:00As an evangelical UM, I have a slightly different ...As an evangelical UM, I have a slightly different perspective. When the Council of Bishops unilaterally suspended the portions of the Discipline on homosexuality pending the next General Conference, they got everything they wanted without having to go through a GC. Of course, the action has no precedent in the UMC and the Discipline makes no provisions for such an action. The actions were done with the support of the evangelicals because the protocol of separation was agreed upon in advance. Since the progressives already got what they wanted without having to go through a GC, they feel no urgency about this matter. For them, postponing the GC for another few years has no negative consequences. In fact, it helps them. They get apportionments from evangelicals and are able to use their institutional power to hurt evangelical congregations and clergy when they want to do so. <br /><br />So, in the spirit of the protocol, the bishops should allow the traditionalists to go free with their property or start enforcing the disciplinary provisions on homosexuality. Anything short of this is a gross abuse of the covenant and the agreement with the goodhearted evangelical UMs. Billhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14141558221519018805noreply@blogger.com