Bishops plan to model relationship-building at caucus events
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Bishop Scott Jones |
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Aug. 31, 2005
A UMNS Report
By Victoria Rebeck*
Amid questions and protests from United
Methodists and others, Bishops Sally Dyck, Scott Jones and John Schol
will participate in a panel discussion at an event being held by a group
that advocates the full inclusion of gays and lesbians in the life of
the denomination.
The three bishops aren’t stopping there,
though. A few weeks later, they will attend a conference being held by a
conservative group that advocates for doctrinal precision in the United
Methodist Church and opposes the ordination of homosexuals.
The first convocation, set for Sept. 2-5,
is sponsored by the Reconciling Ministries Network, an unofficial
United Methodist group supporting the participation of gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgender people in the church.
That annual event has stirred emotions
around the denomination, in part because it’s being held at Lake
Junaluska, N.C., a United Methodist facility and a bastion of the
church’s largely conservative Southeastern Jurisdiction. Some United
Methodists have protested the meeting being held there, and the furor
has attracted the attention of the Ku Klux Klan, which has said it will
picket the event.
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Bishop Sally Dyck |
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The second conference is the Sept. 22-24
national gathering in Cincinnati of the Confessing Movement, an
unofficial United Methodist group that disagrees with the Reconciling
Ministries Network.
Dyck, leader of the Minnesota Area, is
attending the meetings of both of these very different groups because
she believes bishops, as leaders of the whole church, have a
responsibility to “do a new thing” in response to denominational
conflict.
“The prophet Jeremiah says, in a time of
religious and political turmoil, that God is going to do a new thing,”
she said. “Building bridges across divides of opinion, through
conversation and listening, is a ‘new thing,’ an alternate way to
address division in our church. When there is this kind of animosity
toward an event, it indicates we need to do a new thing, and that is the
role of episcopal leaders.”
Bridging differences
The “Bishop’s Plenary” on Sept. 4 will
begin with an address by retired Bishop Richard Wilke on the Jerusalem
Council, recorded in Acts 15, and how it might serve as a model for
Christian discernment and dialogue. Afterward, bishops on the panel will
respond to previously submitted questions around the 2008 General
Conference theme, “A Future with Hope.” The panel will comprise bishops
Dyck; Jones, who leads the church’s Kansas Area; Schol, Washington
(D.C.) Area; Susan Morrison, Albany (N.Y.) Area; Melvin Talbert,
retired, of Nashville, Tenn.; and Minerva Carcaño, Phoenix Area.
“We will be asking these bishops
questions about how we might see the United Methodist Church having a
future hope,” said the Rev. Troy Plummer, executive director of
Reconciling Ministries. “How do the bishops see their role in these
times of conflict, in finding a new way, and in being bridge builders?”
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Bishop John Schol |
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Dyck said a purpose of the panel discussion is to help bishops bridge their own differences.
“The Council of Bishops can more
effectively enhance church unity and lead the church forward if we are
able to relate and talk to each other about matters upon which we
differ, such as sexuality,” she said. “Although we differ, I believe we
all sense a strong mandate to provide leadership in unity as well as
discipleship. And many of us have begun to establish strong bonds with
each other across those divisions, bonds that I believe God will use for
the good of the whole church.”
Jones will be a keynote speaker at the
Confessing Movement conference. He is not a member of either the
Confessing or Reconciling group, but he is attending both meetings as a
member of the Council of Bishops’ Unity Task Force, formed after the
2004 General Conference—the church’s top legislative assembly. He will
also attend an upcoming United Methodist Commission on Christian Unity
and Interreligious Concerns meeting, and will convene meetings with
other interest groups in the church.
“Too many people draw hard and fast
lines, demonizing those who disagree with them. That is not the spirit
of Christ,” Jones said. “For me to attend both meetings doesn’t mean I
am in full agreement with either group, but reflects my recognition that
both groups are composed of my sisters and brothers in the United
Methodist Church, and I care about them and want to be in dialogue with
them.”
The bishops believe that modeling these
conversations, and meeting with United Methodist groups that have
conflicting agendas, is crucial to their episcopal role.
Handling conflict
Conflicting theologies have been part of
the church since the first century, the bishops noted. Yet the church
rarely faces those differences in a healthy way.
“We can take three steps to deal better
with conflict,” Schol said. “First, we can recognize there is ongoing
conflict in the life of our denomination. Conflict often points to
growth and development. Organizations that have no conflict aren’t doing
anything significant.
“Second, we need to identify and develop
processes that help us engage in conflict in healthy ways. Third, we
must de-personalize conflict and identify what the real issues are for
us and work on those real issues,” he said.
When facing conflict, “we need to take
our doctrine very seriously; we need to take the authority of Scripture
very seriously, and to engage in holy conferencing to discern God’s will
as revealed in our doctrine and our Scripture,” Jones said.
“Unity within the life of the church is
critical and important because we are the body of Christ,” Schol said.
“Unity is a critical demonstration to the larger society. While we do
not all think alike, we can have a unity of purpose.”
Pursuing dialogue
Dyck said she asked the Confessing
Movement’s executive director, Patricia Miller, to meet with her during
the conference to talk about church unity. Miller agreed to do so.
Miller said she is glad some bishops are
attending both events. “It is important that the bishops know what is
going on in the church.”
“However, I am disappointed that bishops
would participate in the (Reconciling Ministries) event at Lake
Junaluska,” Miller says. “The content of its programming is in clear
violation of church doctrine and discipline, and the bishops pledge at
their ordination and consecration to uphold the church doctrine and
discipline.”
The United Methodist Book of Discipline
states that gays are people of sacred worth but that the practice of
homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. The book forbids
the ordination and appointment of self-avowed practicing homosexuals and
the performance of same-sex unions in the denomination’s churches or by
its ministers.
Plummer, of Reconciling Ministries, and
Miller both expressed support for dialogue among differing groups such
as theirs — but with qualification.
“I think there is value in dialogue if we
are able to resolve differences or to come to a meeting of minds,”
Miller said. “I participated in a number of such sessions, and we have
not been able to do that. At times I felt we were so far apart, short of
God performing a miracle, we could not make that happen. But I pray
that it could occur.”
“I believe there is value in Christian
conferencing that allows the Spirit to move and that is open to
surprises,” Plummer said. “There is no value in dialogue with people
with entrenched positions who use the dialogue to delay justice. I do
believe Christian conferencing has a place if we are willing to listen
to each others’ hearts.”
*Rebeck is director of communication for the United Methodist Church’s Minnesota Annual (regional) Conference.
News media contact: Tim Tanton, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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Resources
Lake Junaluska
Reconciling Ministries Network
Confessing Movement
Church policy on homosexuality
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