Good News at General Conference
Faithful disciples - a renewed church

Three rivers surround Pittsburgh, the site of the upcoming General Conference of the United Methodist Church. The water quality in these rivers has been significantly improved in recent years so that they are better able to support life. Those rivers are a metaphor of three dynamics—identity, leadership, and mission—in the life of the UM Church. Those dynamics relate directly to the health of our denomination and will be the subject of many resolutions and petitions when the General Conference convenes in April. While the General Conference cannot bring renewal and revitalization to the church, it can remove obstacles to the life-giving work of the Holy Spirit.

In the last issue I outlined the importance of doctrine to the identity of United Methodism and particular legislation to strengthen our doctrinal self-understanding. In this final article, I would like to briefly highlight ways in which the General Conference can strengthen UM leadership and mission.

Leadership: Focusing on leadership in the UM Church is a little like attempting to watch a children’s soccer game: there is a lot of motion, but you are never quite sure who has the ball. Who leads the denomination? On the one hand, we have a tight “command and control” form of episcopal government, and on the other hand we have a highly diffuse voluntary organization. No wonder sometimes sparks fly when various parts of our denominational structure find themselves at odds with one another! The best way for this amalgam to work is with a level playing field and an even-handed application of the Book of Discipline. General Conference delegates are the only ones officially authorized to level the playing field and amend the Book of Discipline. Everything else the church does is an application of what the delegates decide.

We see several areas in which the playing field needs to be leveled in the interest of greater access and participation.

First, the judicial system of our church, while attempting to guard the rights of all parties when church conflict has risen to the judicial level, has a glaring injustice. For example, when formal complaints are brought against bishops, the decision depends on a single episcopal colleague to either investigate or dismiss the complaint. We believe a process instituted for appeal of unresolved complaints against bishops is needed. We also believe that, rather than having formal complaints against bishops adjudicated by a single colleague bishop in the same jurisdiction, the jurisdictional episcopacy committee should receive and decide upon formal complaints. Letting a little daylight into the complaint system would do a great deal to avert the present impression that the system is grossly leveraged against any and all who would bring a formal complaint. Good News has promoted legislative petitions to help address this need.

2. Local pastors should have voting rights. Local congregations are being served by an increasing number of local pastors who do not have traditional seminary training and credentialing as Deacons or Elders. Many, perhaps most, are second career individuals who often bring vibrant faith and practical skills through decades of life-learning. Many serve effectively as pastors, yet when it comes to voting rights within the Annual Conferences, they are second-class United Methodists. Serving in a clergy role, they are denied clergy voting rights. Good News, and others, have proposed legislation to remove this barrier to full participation.

3. The Women’s Division of the UM Church should adhere to a level playing field. When United Methodism was organized in the 1960s a decision was made that, while reasonable at the time, now bears the bitter fruit of conflict and alienation. The Women’s Division was organized as a separate entity so that, today, it is not integrated into the life of the UM Church. All other boards and agencies of our denomination are accountable to fiscal review by the GCFA; the Women’s Division is not. The directors of all other boards and agencies have open elections; the election of Women’s Division directors is not open to the wisdom of the General Conference. All other administrative and program bodies of a local church are accountable to the church council, council on ministries, or administrative board; the local unit of the United Methodist Women is independent of local church direction or accountability.

Currently The Book of Discipline mandates the United Methodist Women as the only recognized means of women’s ministry in the local church. We must do better than offering a “take it or leave it” option. By allowing local churches to create alternative women’s ministries that suit their local setting, our outreach and nurture can be both indigenous and effective. Legislation allowing for alternative women’s ministries needs to be passed at this General Conference.

This structural alienation must end. The mutual benefit to the Women’s Division and the rest of United Methodism would be significant. A level playing field means full integration of the Women’s Division into the life of the denomination. We are no longer well-served by this separatist structure.

Why bother with the organizational machinery such as appeals process, the status of local pastors, and the full integration of the Women’s Division into the life of the church? Because, above all, our focus is on mission.

Mission: Our mission, as stated in The Book of Discipline, is to make disciples of Jesus Christ. This is not only a matter of helping people to make a decision for Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, nor is it a simplistic plea for UM congregations to get more members. Making disciples, at least as Wesleyans understand it, is related to an older and enduring mission of spreading Scriptural holiness throughout the land. We are to engage the cultures as well as individuals throughout the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In the U.S., as well as other parts of the world, a high price is being paid for our sexual brokenness. Sexuality has been turned into another commodity, marriage between a man and a woman is under withering assault, and the unintended consequences of divorce are bringing a floodtide of human misery. The General Conference cannot ignore the issues of sexuality and certainly must not simply go along with the tide of cultural accommodation.

United Methodism must act to strengthen marriage through our Social Principle statements, our local church ministries, and our general agency advocacy. For example, continuing to use UM funds to affirm abortion without any limits, and the use of our denominational name in support of even the most gruesome and inhumane abortion procedure, is an affront to the conscience of most United Methodists. It is time to end the confusion. The bias of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice is beyond the bounds of United Methodist understandings that indeed allow for abortion, but only in limited situations.

Petitions have been submitted that affirm sexual relations only within marriage, discourage divorce, strengthen our valuing of pre-born human life, and prohibit agency participation in the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. In a culture left confused and hurting by the false promises of sexual freedom, a word of clarity, truth, and redemption is tragically lacking. United Methodism must speak clearly in this arena.

The issue of the church’s ministry within the gay/lesbian community will again be a concern of the General Conference. A recent book, Staying the Course: Supporting the Church’s Position on Homosexuality (Abingdon, 2003), edited by Dr. Maxie Dunnam and Dr. H. Newton Malony, carries essays by bishops, theologians, ethicists, pastors, and laity that bring depth, clarity, and context to the wisdom of the current position of United Methodism in these important matters. We highly recommend retention of the current statements in The Book of Discipline related to homosexuality as another gift to the confusion of our world and its peoples.

We also believe, in light of the growing missional opportunities among increasing ethnic and immigrant communities, that the United Methodist Church must provide vigorous support for ethnic ministries, evangelism ministries, and local church cross-cultural experiences. The commitment to combat racism must move beyond rhetoric to real relationships. The flexibility needed to effectively engage our contemporary culture must allow local churches latitude not only in structural organization, but alternatives in basic programming.

Our deepest desire is for a renewed and revitalized United Methodism serving effectively and fervently for the sake of the world Jesus Christ came to redeem. The choice in Pittsburgh is between continuing stagnation and decline or fresh focus for effectively serving the world in which we live. General Conference must underscore the integrity of our doctrinal affirmations, must open the doors for accountability of our leaders, and must engage our culture with the gospel in ways that are strong, loving, and wise.

How can you be involved?

1. Be informed. Log on to the Good News websites (www.GoodNewsMag.org and www.UMDecision2004.com) for current information on General Conference issues.

2. Be active. Contact delegates from your annual conference and let them know your concerns and expectations.

3. Be prayerful. E-mail us at Prayer@GoodNewsMag.org and we will include you in the daily e-mail prayer prompters.

4. Be generous. Legislative efforts are very expensive. Your special financial gifts designated for General Conference and sent to Good News will have a direct and immediate impact on our ability to serve as an influence for renewal.

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Scott N. Field is the senior pastor of Wheatland Salem UM Church in Naperville, Illinois, and the chairperson of the Good News Board of Directors.

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