Grace Community UMC,

I wanted to write to you all in light of the special session of the General Conference that
was held this past week in St Louis, MO on behalf of the global UMC. If you weren’t already
aware, United Methodists have a General Conference every four years where delegates from
around the world come to make decisions that guide the rules and mission of our global church.
This special session of the General Conference was specifically called by the Bishops to try and
find a compromise between differing viewpoints in our global church body on the inclusion and
ordination of LGBTQ+ Christians.

First of all, I want to address the sensitivity of this issue. This discussion is not about an
abstract theological concept, it is about real people. There are those in our church who feel that
self-avowed practicing homosexuals are practicing sin, and there are those that feel that
LGBTQ+ Christians cannot possibly be sinning by living the way that God made them. Our
denomination is not of one mind on this issue. Both viewpoints are very well-represented, and
we are called to always let our speech be “full of grace” towards one another (Colossians 4:6).

No matter what the news headlines might be saying about the UMC and no matter how
our political process within the church progresses from here, our church still confesses that “all
persons are of sacred worth” (Book of Discipline 2016). All people are made in the image of
God, and every person is welcome to participate in our worship services, congregations,
sacraments, and receive membership in the UMC. Our foundation is Jesus Christ who saves us
through grace. We believe that God showed his love for us by sending the savior for everyone,
declaring authoritatively to us that God is love (1 John 4:7-9).

Secondly, the special session of the General Conference was filled this year with a lot of
conflict and heartache between Christians of different viewpoints struggling to be the church
together. Both “sides” of this disagreement were very passionate in the way that they have used
and interpreted the Scriptures to explain their point-of-view. Neither conservatives nor liberals
are trying to abandon the Scriptures, the idea of sin, nor the concept of grace in Christ.

Finally, the vote this year came down, as usual, to a slim margin. The vote to adopt a
more inclusive set of rules was defeated 47%-53%. And the vote to maintain the current,
traditional language in our Book of Discipline on homosexuality was passed 47%-53%.
 The Traditional Plan that was passed also did more than just maintain the current
traditional language in the Book of Discipline. It also includes several new petitions about
enforcement towards dissenting clergy. However, right now, we do not actually know how much
of the Traditional Plan will change anything. The Traditional Plan was voted on successfully on
the last day of the conference despite the fact that the large majority of petitions within the
legislation were ruled unconstitutional by our church’s Judicial Council before the vote took
place.

Sometimes, it is extremely unpleasant to see “how the sausage is made” when it comes to
church politics. The governance of the United Methodist Church looks a lot like the government
of the United States, given that our roots go back to some of the same founders of both
organizations. We have a legislative, judicial, and executive system with checks and balances.
The Judicial Council reviewed the Traditional Plan during the conference and ruled many of its
petitions as unconstitutional. One or two small amendments were made during debate in order to
bring it closer to constitutionality, but the legislation was passed largely unchanged due to the
time constraints of the conference. The last act of the General Conference was, once again, to
refer the Traditional Plan back to the Judicial Council. But the Judicial Council will not meet
again until April 23-25, 2019 and we do not know if they are going to cut out all the
unconstitutional parts from the Traditional Plan and enforce the rest or rule out the whole thing.

In other words, the governmental process of our church is still not finished for this
legislation. The media has enflamed the issue with a lot of strongly provoking headlines about
how the United Methodist Church has updated its rules to attack LGBTQ+ Christians. Right
now, nothing has changed in our practices. We don’t know what is changing due to the
legislation. And whatever has changed, it won’t change until January 1, 2020. Furthermore, 2020
is the next regular session of the UMC’s quadrennial General Conference. And so, I suspect, we
are very likely not finished having this discussion in the church.

Once again, I caution patience and grace throughout this governmental process in our
global church. If you have been hurt, if you have questions, or if you want to raise concerns—
please talk to me. This has been a very tense and difficult season for many. And I pray that,
above all, Jesus Christ will be the one who speaks to us. May the Holy Spirit come quickly to
help us!
 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against
us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also,
along with him, graciously give us all things?

Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.
Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who
was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution
or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to
be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through the one who loved us. For I
am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present
nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all
creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(Romans 8:31-39)

Peace in Christ,

Pastor Amos Dillman