It’s time for another religion-beat journey beyond “whataboutism” and the basic assumption that all controversial subjects have “two sides,” and that’s basically that.
Of course, we live in an age in which many elite newsrooms decline to cover “one side” of a story if, according to newsroom doctrines, it’s already obvious which side is good and which side is bad. Here at GetReligion we have a term for this — “Kellerism,” a nod to candid remarks once made, on the record, by former New York Times editor Bill Keller.
In this case, we are looking at a religion-beat superstory at the local, regional, national and global levels — the break-up of the United Methodist Church, the second largest Protestant denomination in America.
To get the big picture, please see this recent GetReligion post by Richard Ostling: “The latest United Methodist bombshell will create news throughout 2022 and beyond.” To see how long this battle has been going on, check out this “On Religion” column that I wrote in 1998: “United Methodists — Breaking up is hard to do” and two more on a related topic, “Old fault lines can be seen in the ‘seven churches’ of divided Methodism” (and then part II).
Here are Three Big Ideas for today. Remember that I have, as a reporter, been wrestling with this ongoing story since the early 1980s.
(I) Never forget the unique element of this story, which is that the United Methodist Church has a GLOBAL structure that includes the growing churches of Africa and Asia, as well as the splintering (and usually shrinking) congregations in the United States. Readers should question news reports that fail to mention — or even stress — the racial and cultural diversity of the global conservative United Methodism coalition.
(II) While fights about LGBTQ issues make headlines, the United Methodist wars have — behind the scenes — included clear divisions on basic, even credal, issues in Christian theology. In addition to clashing views of biblical authority, we’re talking about splits on salvation, sin, heaven, hell, the Resurrection and the very nature of Jesus Christ. Reporters need to ask questions about issues other than sex.
(III) There are, at the very least, three major groups involved in this story. Let’s call them the “candid left,” the “establishment left” and then the “traditional” United Methodists, as in the defenders of the existing laws and doctrines in the United Methodist Book of Discipline. However, there are subgroups on the right. Never assume that the global conservatives have precisely the same views as their American counterparts.
To see that these issues look like “in the wild,” consider this recent Religion News Service story: “Vote delayed again, some United Methodists say they quit. Now what?” The “vote,” of course, is a reference to voting — long delayed — on the formal proposal for dividing the denomination.
In the body of this story there is an important reference to UMC leaders “right, left and center” holding “their collective breath.”
In this case, the “left” is the “candid left” that wants to proceed immediately on major changes in doctrine. Activists in the “center” are the patient establishment Methodists who want to convince conservatives that it will be safe for them to stay in the post-schism UMC, even though major doctrines will change and/or be made optional. The top of this RNS story notes:
… When the United Methodist Church postponed — for the third time in as many years — a vote on an orderly plan to split the mainline Protestant denomination long riven by disagreement over the full inclusion of its LGBTQ members, some conservative United Methodists announced they were finally done: They would launch a new denomination in May, orderly plan or no.
And United Methodists across the theological spectrum were left asking a number of questions, not only about the logistics of congregations leaving one Methodist denomination to join another, but also about the meeting where delegates are expected to discuss those plans to split.
Note: Sexuality is the only issue mentioned. However, there is a reference to Methodists “across the theological spectrum,” which is important.
What about the global element of this story? Note this passage:
At a 2019 special session of the denomination’s General Conference, the denomination’s global decision-making body, delegates approved what’s known as the Traditional Plan. Backed by conservative United Methodists, the Traditional Plan strengthened the denomination’s standing bans on the ordination of LGBTQ clergy and same-sex marriage.
But after progressives and moderates rebelled against the Traditional Plan, leaders across theological divides negotiated a proposal to split the denomination called the Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace Through Separation. Delegates were expected to vote on that proposal at the 2020 General Conference meeting, to be held in Minneapolis.
Note: “Progressives” and “moderates” did not, when combined, have enough votes to defeat Traditional Plan advocates, who were trying to find ways to defend the CURRENT teachings of the church.
Why did the right keep winning? Readers really need to know about the global structure that includes the GROWING churches of Africa and Asia, as well as the DECLINING (for the most part) churches of North America. Without that information, decades of voting patterns make zero sense.
Why are the global churches growing? That’s a big question that reporters need to ask.
Here is one more important passage in this functionally “moderate” RNS report:
There also are questions about how churches and conferences can leave the United Methodist Church to join the new denomination. The Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace Through Separation would have allowed them to leave with their buildings and other assets. A “traditionalist” Methodist denomination was slated to receive $25 million over the next four years.
“Every theologically conservative local congregation and annual conference should have the right to join the Global Methodist Church with all of their property and assets intact,” the new denomination’s organizers said in the statement announcing its plans to launch this year.
Currently, the Book of Discipline allows annual conferences to instruct the board of trustees of a church to deed that church’s property to other Methodist or evangelical denominations in certain circumstances.
Here is a major irony that readers need to know about: The establishment inherits the entire structure of the existing UMC and that “$25 million” payment to new Global Methodist Church is, relatively speaking, a drop in the bucket compared to assets the establishment will retain.
Why is this the case, since “traditionalists” have been winning the crucial votes?
It helps, in this case, to compare the RNS report with this recent story by The Birmingham News: “With Methodist split delayed again, churches mull whether to go now or stay.”
This story features plenty of comments from Methodist “traditionalists,” since it is based on an Alabama meeting organized by the right. Thus, there are signs of some strategic debates on the doctrinal right, with some Methodists choosing to leave NOW, while others favor being patient and trying — finally — to get the Protocol passed. Also note that some conservatives want to join other Methodist bodies in America, as opposed to the new global church. Why is that?
The AL.com overture noted:
With a long-anticipated split of the United Methodist Church being delayed again after the denomination’s national meeting was pushed back a third time until 2024, unrest that was on hold during the pandemic has bubbled back up again.
Conservatives announced they were going ahead with the launch of the Global Methodist Church on May 1, but many churches may opt to stay in the fold until 2024 when a plan could be adopted that would make leaving the United Methodist Church easier.
More than 200 United Methodists attended a meeting called “The Next Steps Gathering” … at Clearbranch United Methodist Church near Trussville to hear leaders talk about repeated delays in a planned denominational split. Local leaders of the breakaway movement still advised churches that it may be better to stay until 2024 and support a proposal that would lessen penalties for leaving.
Here is a final passage — long, but essential — that hints at some reasons (follow the money) that the UMC establishment may be delaying a protocol vote (for reasons other than COVID-19 concerns).
Read this carefully, while taking into account that this report lumps the “candid left” and “establishment left” into one group:
Even though the denomination has repeatedly voted to keep its traditional stance on marriage as only between a man and a woman, conservatives complain that progressives in the denomination have repeatedly ignored the rules.
“We’ve come to an impasse,” said the Rev. Vaughn Stafford, pastor of Clearbranch Church. “The laws we’ve passed are not being upheld.”
Both sides appeared to widely support a plan called the “Protocol of Reconciliation & Grace Through Separation,” which was originally expected to be approved at the 2020 General Conference. That meeting has now been postponed three times.
The Protocol plan proposed splitting the United Methodist Methodist Church into two groups. It called for allowing conservatives opposed to same-sex unions to walk away, keep their church buildings and start a new denomination. Progressives would keep the denominational structure, and then be able to update policy to allow same-sex unions.
Under the current rules, churches that leave have to negotiate to take their property with them and may have to pay for clergy pension liabilities and apportionments to the annual conference they are leaving.
In other words, delaying the protocol may save the establishment a few dollars and allow some of its leaders to control the local and regional exit procedures. But wouldn’t this pour millions of dollars into the pockets of lawyers, which exactly what the protocol negotiators were trying to avoid?
Stay tuned! And, when reading the coverage, keep looking for the Three Big Ideas listed above.
FIRST IMAGE: Illustration from the Universal Life Church Monastery website.