Prayers for the United Methodist Church

Last Sunday, Pastor Kris lifted up the United Methodist Church in her prayers, since our denomination is at a theological crossroads.  For those of you who may have heard bits and pieces of this on the news,  this is an attempt to keep our church family informed about changes facing the United Methodist Church.

Currently, there are three primary factions in the United Methodist Church, each with strongly held, diverse viewpoints:  the Traditionalists, the Centrists, and the Progressives.  The main controversy has to do with the following of our Book of Discipline (the UMC “rule book”) which does not allow the ordination of pastors of the LGBTQ community or allow the marriage of members of that same community in the United Methodist Church.

At the end of the 2019 special General Conference, the traditional side won the vote, but the conflict did not end.   Progressives and centrists made it clear that they would continue to resist and were not willing to leave the denomination.

On January 3, 2020, our Iowa Bishop Laurie posted the following press release:

“A diverse group of representatives from United Methodist advocacy groups with contrasting views and bishops from around the world has collaborated on a proposed agreement for the separation of The United Methodist Church (UMC) that has the unanimous support of all the parties involved.

The agreement, the Protocol of Reconciliation & Grace Through Separation, was achieved on December 17, 2019 and announced today.

The action comes amid heightened tensions in the church over conflicting views related to human sexuality after the 2019 Special Session of the General Conference failed to resolve differences among church members.”
The link to Bishop Laurie’s entire message is here:   https://www.iaumc.org/newsdetail/united-methodist-traditionalists-centrists-progressives-bishops-sign-agreement-aimed-at-separation-13135069

For more information, read the UM News article:  https://www.umnews.org/en/news/protocol-process-painful-but-fruitful

Please continue to pray for the UMC as a whole during this time, when separation appears to be inevitable for our church.