United Methodists in Kansas and Nebraska debate sodomite/lesbian relationships and clergy

Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. Romans 1:24-32

As reported by Katherine Burgess of the Wichita Eagle, June 15, 2018 (updated June 20, 2018):

Roughly a month after bishops announced proposals for how same-sex weddings and gay clergy should be handled, Methodists gathered in Wichita said they were hopeful their church will find a resolution to conflicts over sexuality.

“We’re discerning the shape of how we will live out our Christian faith in the future,” said Bishop Ruben Saenz Jr. at a listening session that began the Wichita conference for Kansas and Nebraska Methodists.

Later he joked, “Someone once said wherever there are two Methodists there are three opinions.”

The debate over sexuality has consumed energy and resources for decades, said the Rev. Andrew Conard, preacher at First United Methodist Church of El Dorado. He hopes the church will come to a resolution in February, choosing from three plans created by the Commission on a Way Forward.

“It’s important work and I’m glad we’re having the conversation that we are, but I’m hopeful that we can go on to whatever’s next,” Conard said. “I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to move the conversation forward across our denomination and within our local churches in such a way that we can get back to sharing God’s love with people that don’t know Jesus.”

The One Church Plan, which a majority of bishops recommended, would allow individual churches, conferences and pastors to decide whether to ordain gay and lesbian clergy and offer same-sex marriages. It would remove language in the Book of Discipline (the denomination’s governing document) that says the practice of homosexuality is “incompatible with Christian teaching,” but would also protect pastors and conferences who “due to their theological convictions cannot perform same-sex weddings or ordain self-avowed practicing homosexuals.”

The Traditional Plan would maintain the current ban on ordaining “self-avowed practicing” gay clergy and performing same-sex weddings. This plan would also strengthen enforcement for violations of those laws.

The Connectional-Conference Plan would create three conferences, abolishing the five existing U.S. jurisdictions. Each conference would decide its own adaptations of the Book of Discipline. If they disagree with their conference, churches could vote to join another.

The Rev. Amy Lippoldt, pastor at Basehor United Methodist Church, passed out buttons in the conference supporting the One Church Plan.

“I really believe it’s the best way forward for the United Methodist Church as a whole in the United States and globally. I feel like it’s the one viable option for our intractable conflict over the rights of LGBTQ people,” Lippoldt said. “We’ve been fighting in a really overt way about the rights of LGBTQ people for 40 years. Keeping things status quo is not going to help us thrive as a church.”

Lippoldt said she had many good conversations about the plans during the week. Some people are uncertain, others have their minds made up. She will be a general conference delegate voting at the February meeting in St. Louis.

For some of the Methodists gathered in Wichita, the conference was their first detailed exposure to the plans. For others, it was a chance to grapple with issues they’ve considered for years.

Saenz said many Methodists have questions about the plans and want to know what happens next — a question he can’t answer.

At the same time, waiting isn’t hard, he said.

“I’m glad we’ve had this time to pause and think deeply about what our next step would be,” Saenz said. “It’s a gift. We can all discern who we are as Christians and as United Methodists and then figure out how we are being faithful moving into the future.”

Saenz has formed a Forward in Unity Process Team to compile resources and lead discussions about sexuality. He has plans to visit each of the Great Plains’ 17 districts in the fall to discuss the Way Forward plans.

“Admittedly, there is great anxiety across the church and in the world,” Saenz wrote in May, after the plans were announced. “Still, I am profoundly hopeful about the future of The United Methodist Church at such a time as this amid swirling uncertainties and rapid change.”

Oliver Green, a member of a Methodist church in Topeka, will lead the team from the Great Plains Conference to the February meeting in St. Louis where the denomination is expected to make decisions on the plans.

It’s going to be a “very complicated” conference, Green said, with many different opinions. He supports the bishops' recommendation of the One Church Plan, although he also points out that full details haven't been released.

Full details of the plans are expected by July 8.

Green said he hopes people won’t focus only on these controversial issues, but rather on how to do ministry.

“Whatever happens in February in St. Louis, we’ll still be ministering here in Kansas and Nebraska, so how do we do that?” Green said. “How do we live out the Wesleyan way in Kansas and Nebraska?”

The fact that the United Methodist Church is even debating an issue on which the Bible is clear speaks volumes as to the denomination's apostasy. The comment about "two Methodists...three opinions" is an old line usually used in reference to Jews. The fact that a woman in the United Methodist Church has the title Reverend in front of her name is more evidence of UMC apostasy. There are still real Christians in the United Methodist Church, but they should obey the Lord's command in II Corinthians 6:17, and "come out from among them, and be ye separate."

August 6, 2018 update: A Methodist church in Mississippi has taken the proper step of obedience, as reported by Sarah Fowler of the Jackson Clarion Ledger, March 28, 2018 (links in original):

A Mississippi church has chosen to leave the United Methodist Church over conflicting views on homosexuality, abortion and the teaching of Islam.

The First United Methodist Church of Louisville decided to leave the denomination Sunday morning during a "membership affirmation," said the Rev. Mike Childs. The vote was 175-6 with one member abstaining.

Going forward, the church will be known as First Methodist Church of Louisville.

"While our church will no longer be a member of the United Methodist denomination, it will continue to be a Christ-centered church that is faithful to the Scriptures and the theology of (Methodism founder) John Wesley," Childs said. "It will forever be a Methodist church but not a United Methodist church."

Childs said he believes it is in the "best interest of the church and the Mississippi United Methodist Conference" to reach a property settlement out of court.

"We expect both sides to act in good faith and Christian charity," he said.

A spokesperson with the Mississippi United Methodist Conference was not immediatey availble for comment.

Several factors played into the Louisville church's decision to leave, Childs said, but congregants largely felt the denomination had strayed from the teachings of the Bible and the United Methodist Book of Discipline.

In recent years, the United Methodist Church has allowed a gay bishop to preach after voting that it violated church law, and has equally affirmed "the sacredness of the life and well-being of the mother and the unborn child" when it comes to abortion.

In addition, the United Methodist-rooted Claremont School of Theology opened up clerical training to Muslim and Jewish clergy. (However, the seminary later created separate graduate schools for Muslim and Jewish students, and only the Christian school receives money from the United Methodist Church.)

With those events in mind, the decision was one "our consciences forced us to make," Childs said.

Visitors to the Louisville church would find a "very loving and welcoming congregation" who believe no sin is greater than another, he said. The church felt the need to separate themselves, however, because they believed the denomination was not "accepting the authority of the Scripture."

Wednesday night, Bishop James Swanson Sr., Bishop in Residence of the Mississippi Episcopal Area, sent an email to members of the Mississippi Uniter Methodist Conference, asking for prayers for the congregation as they begin the process of separating from the conference.

Childs said that, just as before the vote, all are welcome at his church.

The Louisville church isn't the first in Mississippi to leave the United Methodist Church. The Orchard in Tupelo and Getwell Road United Methodist Church in Southaven left last year over the denomination's "intensifying homosexuality debate," according to the United Methodist Church.

See also my posts 50 years ago: Two denominations merge to form the United Methodist Church (April 23, 2018)

Methodist church in Bermuda holds sodomite "pride service" (July 4, 2018)