Any semblance of Christian forbearance over the anticipated split in The United Methodist Church tore away this week in response to the continued delay of General Conference and the announcement that a breakaway traditionalist denomination, the Global Methodist Church, will launch May 1.
WCA proponents openly acknowledged their anger at the third delay of General Conference that has effectively derailed the agreement that would have provided a financial foundation for a new traditionalist denomination. By the end of the week reports came of closed-door recruitment meetings around the United States – many held at United Methodist congregations that are WCA members.
The most public confrontation occurred in the Florida Annual Conference. There at Waukeenah UMC in Monticello, Fla., the Rev. Wayne Wiatt, superintendent of the Northwest District, and his wife Ramona were escorted out of a Global Methodist Church meeting organized by Jay Therrell, a former UMC clergyman and president of the WCA Florida Chapter. Mrs. Wiatt made a video of herself (at left) outside the church to describe the incident and posted it on Facebook. Mr. Therrell responded to Mrs. Wiatt’s minute-and-a-half video with a six-minute video of his own (at right), contending that the Wiatts had “intimidated” those at the meeting, and that the WCA had a right to close its meeting to those not interested in joining the Global Methodist Church. Cynthia B. Astle collected both videos along with expanded responses from Mr. Therrell and Florida Bishop Ken Carter.
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So in short, General Conference has been postponed again and the conservative group is no longer willing to wait. They are launching their new denomination in six weeks on May 1. Many churches will be taking a vote on whether they will stay United Methodist or leave with the new denomination.
It seems all so sad to me.
Once they new Global Methodist Church is launched on May 1, they will be the denomination that believes that Homosexuality is a sin and that they should not be married in the church. The United Methodist Church is expected to change the language of the Discipline to indicate that Pastors can perform Gay weddings and that relationships with the LGBTQ community will become normalized. Personally, I am staying with the United Methodist Church.
The church should have never been in the business of shaming people.
It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.
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I am, along with Sherri Swanson and Aaron Brown, leading a trip to the Holy Land January 23-February 2, 2023.
For more information, click the link below. And if you have any questions, please feel free to email me at jsbrink57@gmail.com
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