Commentary: For the sake of unity April 30, 2004 A UMNS Commentary
By the Rev. A. William “Bill” Martin*  | | Rev. A. William “Bill” Martin |
Talk
of schism in the United Methodist Church has increased, following the
recent trial of the Rev. Karen Dammann in the Pacific Northwest Annual
Conference.
But there is a way to preserve unity for the
foreseeable future, if the General Conference of 2004 is willing to make
a few changes in the 2004 Book of Discipline.If
enough delegates can agree to these changes (and of course the balance
of power rests with the “moderate” voters), then the denomination will: · Allow for a cooling-off period about a volatile issue.
· End almost all church trials over questions related to ordination and holy unions.
· Affirm
that West Coast annual conferences and similarly minded conferences, as
well as local congregations such as Glide Memorial in San Francisco,
are vital parts of the United Methodist communion.
· Guarantee
central conferences (the church’s regional units in Africa, Asia and
Europe) that they need not fear changing mores and moral standards in
the United States.
· Allow people entering the ministry to be
true to their convictions about homosexuality, whatever they have come
to believe, since they will be able to relate to an annual conference
where they will feel at home.
· Open the door for ministers who
feel isolated where they are because of their beliefs about
homosexuality to transfer to conferences where their concept of ministry
is affirmed.
· Encourage open dialogue in those annual conferences where a variety of beliefs exist about homosexuality. The
first change, primarily symbolic, would be to replace the language
condemning “the practice of homosexuality” in the nonbinding Social
Principles (Paragraph 161.G) with a statement that the church is not of
one mind on this issue. Among
the many petitions along this line, the one from the California-Pacific
Annual Conference (40078) is noteworthy for its spirit of respect for
divergent opinion. While removing the condemnatory language, it
maintains “the right of families and churches to offer renewal through
the transformation of sexual identity,” no small concession when one
remembers that many gay persons and their friends view transforming
ministries as of little or no value. At
the level of church law, delegates will need to give annual conferences
the final say on matters of ordination and same-sex ceremonies.
In
the former area, it is a matter of extending a principle that already
exists to include the final decision on ordaining gay or lesbian or
transgender clergy. Two petitions open the door for modifying Paragraph
304.3 along these lines (40701 and 40077). In the latter area, the Troy
Conference has proposed qualifying the prohibition against “(c)eremonies
that celebrate homosexual unions” (Paragraph 332.6) by adding “except
within annual conferences that have authorized such ceremonies”
(Petition 41082). Without
some kind of accommodation along these or similar lines, the United
Methodist Church will, it seems likely, continue to make national and
international headlines over the next four years with one high-profile
church trial after another. But if we place many of the concerns related
to homosexuality on the backburner for a while, recognizing that
sincere Christians disagree on this issue, then there is a chance that
our church might merit an occasional news report about something else —
like its witness on poverty and world peace or perhaps its rapid growth
in some parts of the world. We could even do worse than a complete
absence of headlines for a while! *Martin is a retired elder in the Arkansas Annual Conference and professor of religion emeritus at Oklahoma City University. News media contact: (412) 325-6080 during General Conference, April 27-May 7. After May 10: (615) 742-5470.
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