A common charge leveled against the United Methodist Church, like other mainline denominations, is that its bureaucracy is out of touch with the people in the pews. Grassroots Methodists, however, delivered a strong message to the 998 voting delegates of their general conference, the 8.8 million-member denomination’s highest lawmaking body, which met last month in Louisville, Kentucky.
The message came in the form of the “Memphis Declaration,” drafted earlier this year and signed by nearly 200,000 conservative United Methodists. The document set forth, without equivocation, how its signers wanted delegates to vote on major issues facing this year’s quadrennial meeting. Among other things, the statement, drafted in January, affirmed faithful, monogamous relationships between men and women, and it called on the denomination to “cease to debate homosexual practice as if the witness of the Scripture and of the tradition of the Church were not clear from the beginning.”
Alleging that the church’s boards and agencies fail to serve the local church, the declaration also supported a study committee’s recommendation that the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) move out of the New York metropolitan area, where it currently shares space with the National Council of Churches and other mainline, ecumenical groups. And it called on delegates to mandate the exclusive use of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in reference to the Trinity in church worship resources.
Maxie Dunnam, pastor of Christ United Methodist Church in Memphis and the main force behind the declaration, said the issues it raised reflect division in the church “not between political conservatives and liberals, but between evangelicals and nonevangelicals.”
Suspicions Confirmed
In Louisville, action on the issue of homosexuality appeared to bear out conservative contentions that the bureaucracy does not represent grassroots Methodists. A study committee, by a 17-to-4 margin, had advocated that the church rescind its position that homosexual practice is “incompatible with Christian teaching.” But to the dismay of a prohomosexual contingent that staged a demonstration during one of the business sessions, nearly 75 percent of the delegates voted to uphold the language in the church’s law.
Delegates did vote, however, to make the study committee’s report on homosexuality available to the church. David Seamands of Asbury Seminary, one of the four dissenting votes on the committee, stressed that the delegates’ action did not constitute a recommendation. Nevertheless, he expressed disappointment that the report was even received by the conference and said its acceptance was due to a false portrayal of consensus among committee members.
The fate of the homosexuality report now rests largely on the shoulders of an eight-member advisory council, which will be appointed by the church’s Council of Bishops. Seamands said he would like to be a part of that council.
In what some regarded as a more telling vote of “no confidence” in the church’s bureaucracy, conservatives were successful in their drive to mandate that the GBGM leave New York. “Given the size, the power, and influence of this board, this vote had enormous significance,” said James Heidinger, executive secretary of the Good News renewal movement. He noted that the GBGM staff of 500 supports only about 500 missionaries overseas. “It has become a program-supporting and grant-making board, which is a major shift in the church’s missions philosophy.” The move is not scheduled to take place until after a new site is recommended to the 1996 general conference.
God As Father And Mother
There was less enthusiasm among conservatives for action taken on the church’s Book of Worship, the first since the formation of the denomination in 1968. As brought to the general conference, the book contained several references to God as Mother. Before the document reached the entire body of voting delegates, a committee had deleted most of those references and added traditional language referring to the Trinity. But a few references in prayers to God as both Mother and Father remained.
Floor debate on the Book of Worship never materialized, thanks to what a disappointed Seamands called “the most clever parliamentary move I think I’ve ever witnessed.” When the opportunity for debate arrived, Bishop Roy Sano, who presided over the evening business session, noted that discussion of the many amendments put forth for the book could last late into the night. He also stressed that the Book of Worship was only a resource, not church law. In response to his leading, delegates declined to open debate.
Abortion Rights
The biggest defeat for conservatives, however, was their failure to move the church toward a stronger prolife stance. An effort to end the denomination’s support for the ecumenical Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights (RCAR) fell short in a 485-to-448 vote. Delegates later referred the issue to the denomination’s judicial council to determine whether support for RCAR violates church law.
In another abortion-related issue, prolife forces tried to modify a resolution on responsible parenthood, passed several years ago by the conference, which they said included language that supported the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision. The prolifers argued that the resolution was inconsistent with the position the church established at its 1988 general conference that stated that while the church recognized “tragic conflicts of life with life that may justify abortion,” it specifically rejected abortion as a form of birth control or gender selection. Delegates voted by more than a 2-to-1 margin to retain language in the “Responsible Parenthood” resolution supporting Roe.
After the vote, renewal leaders openly wondered whether there was enough consensus among evangelicals on the issue to force a change. The Memphis Declaration did not address the issue.
In other general conference action, delegates:
• Took up an offering of over $21,000 to support relief efforts in Los Angeles and moved to create a “Shalom Zone” in the city, a neighborhood block to be rebuilt by the church with homes, businesses, and social-services outposts;
• Identified the nation’s continuing rural crisis as a special concern of the denomination;
• Approved a four-year, $3 million Hispanic Ministries Plan;
• Authorized the election of a bishop to oversee the church’s work in the new Commonwealth of Independent States;
• Voted to commend a four-year study on baptism to United Methodists worldwide, though study members could not reach consensus on all issues related to baptism. The study had been mandated by the 1988 general conference and was presented this year. Mark Trotter, head of the study committee, said there was tension between belief in the Christian sacraments “as a means of grace and belief in the necessity of personal conversion.”
By Randy Frame in Louisville, Kentucky.
