Hensley: Local United Methodist churches, pastors prepare for future
It was a different two days recently as the Northwest Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church came together for its yearly meeting at the Overton Hotel and Conference Center. Different because it was during this gathering that a process was established for local churches to leave the denomination.
What, exactly, that will look like remains to be seen. There has been a lot of speculation, but this much is certain: churches and pastors will make decisions about their future between now and the end of the year. A quick caveat before I go any farther. This is only my opinion and is not meant to reflect the church or annual conference of which I am a part.
I am also only writing about the Northwest Texas Annual Conference. How things will play out here is not necessarily how they will play out anywhere else or even how they might play out here in a year. For now, the decision for churches is whether to remain with the United Methodist Church or “disaffiliate” to join another denomination or become an independent church. For pastors, it’s basically stay or leave.
No wonder there seemed to be an undercurrent of melancholy present throughout the proceedings. For those who might be unaware, the United Methodist Church is on the brink of a schism over two matters of human sexuality. That’s on the surface, but the overarching concern is whether this is about biblical authority or biblical interpretation.
We don’t have enough space to go into all the pros and cons here. Nor is there the desire to talk about traditionalists, progressives, centrists and who holds what position and why. Suffice it to say, this is a church split that has been decades in the making. In the past few years, it has reached a point of irreconcilable differences.
Unfortunately, the dispute, in many cases, has turned nasty, spilled into public view and not been an example of kindness. There has been name-calling, fear-mongering and insult-trading. This should never be the church’s witness to the world, especially in what might be perceived as the worst of times.
Here we are, seemingly at the point of no return. United Methodist Churches across the conference will spend time deciding what they wish to do. Our church has begun a two-week period of prayer and fasting as we seek to discern what God’s will might be for us. I sense this is not an easy thing for the congregation to even process.
Our church will in the not-too-distant future observe its 75th anniversary. It was a Methodist church before it was a United Methodist Church (name change resulted from a 1968 merger). There is great tradition here as I imagine is the case with a lot of churches in the area.
An option that seems to be getting traction, at least around here, is moving to the Global Methodist Church. This denomination launched May 1 and bills itself as a more traditional understanding of historic church teaching, scriptural authority and the influence of John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement.
There are those who suggest a cascade of area UMC churches will disaffiliate between now and early December. The conference has put together a process that will make this a smooth undertaking for churches who decide to go this route.
However, a church can’t just decide to exit the denomination. The process requires the calling of a church conference where a vote will be held. The vote is by secret ballot, and it requires two-thirds of professing members present to vote in favor of leaving for a church to disaffiliate. Maybe I’ve spent too many years in newsrooms, but I believe funny things can happen with secret ballots (as opposed to public votes where seeing lots of hands in the air can influence people). Two-thirds is also a pretty high threshold to reach, so we’ll see what happens.
The other part of this is I have to decide as well, and I’m still discerning so no spoilers are coming your way. If I choose to leave, I will have to surrender my UMC clergy credentials after almost a decade of ministry. I have been blessed to serve two incredible congregations who have encouraged me, affirmed me and been so good to my family and me. I can’t imagine what life would have been like without going down that path.
As much as I have enjoyed that part of ministry, it’s been less rewarding in other ways. I’m a licensed local pastor (as opposed to ordained), and in some ways we’re second-class citizens in the eyes of some. I’ve spent most of the past 10 years taking classes around the country (headed to Durham, North Carolina, in a few months) and wish there was more structured support and encouragement to help people like me find their way along the demands of UMC pastoral ministry.
For its part, the Global Methodist Church doesn’t have licensed local pastors, and according to the people I’ve visited with, the intent is to streamline the process to ordination. Selfishly, that has some appeal. I’d hate to be the first pastor to be ordained and retired at the same time.
On the United Methodist Church side, if classes are available at the right time over the next few months, I could complete the Advanced Course of Study and begin the process toward ordination. That also has appeal in terms of having a goal and sticking with it. If there was any upside to the pandemic, it’s the fact that it pushed classes online, and I was able to make quicker progress more economically.
To me, this is not an easy decision, and, really, it shouldn’t be. I can’t imagine pastors who have been doing this 20 and 30 years longer than I have and what they must be going through.
For now, the priority is the church and congregation I serve and helping them navigate this process as we work together to figure out what’s next. As the old saying goes, we may not know what the future holds, but we know who holds the future.
And that's what really matters.
Doug Hensley is associate regional editor and director of commentary for the Avalanche-Journal.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Doug Hensley local United Methodist churches, pastors prep for future
