Special Called Annual Conference
Our delegates to Annual Conference are leaving this afternoon for this second Annual Conference of this year. This special conference was called to address the issues around the denominational upheaval that is happening in the United Methodist Church. In 2019 the General Conference (Worldwide Meeting) allowed for the first time a way for congregations to disaffiliate from the denomination for “reasons of conscience” while retaining their property. There isn’t room here to explain all the reasons churches are choosing to leave the denomination but the debate was sparked by the 2016 election of an openly gay woman (who had served as a UMC pastor for 22 years) to be a Bishop in the denomination. You can read about Bishop Karen Oliveto here. Typically, any church that has wanted to break ties with the denomination has had to forfeit their property or buy out their church from the denomination. This denominational ownership of the property is typical for most mainline denominations. These churches have said that they can not be connected to the denomination any longer.
Our delegates will be voting to allow the 29 churches in the Oklahoma Conference who feel that they can not stay in the denomination to leave. We currently have over 450 churches in the Oklahoma Conference but most of those churches are small. In our area, we have four larger churches who are asking to leave: Tulsa First, Asbury, St. James and BA Abiding Harvest. The pastors of these churches must also decide to either give up their credentials as UMC pastors or resign from their church. It pains me to see these churches and pastors leave but I also want to bless them as they go. Despite our human disagreements, God continues to show up and to work through us. The Bishop has asked us to hold fast to the 3 Simple Rules of Wesley during this difficult time.
Rule One- Do No Harm
Rule Two- Do Good
Rule Three- Stay In Love with God
As for Faith UMC, we are not planning to leave the denomination. We have clear values and mission work to do and as long as we can live into “Inviting people into Christ centered service” then we will stay the course. After this conference, I plan to have a Town Hall gathering and invite any of you who would like more information about what is happening.
This Sunday is the last week of our “Not Ashamed” series and we will be exploring this call to serve that Jesus laid before us. We will also be welcoming my friend, Alan Herndon, who works with the Oklahoma Foundation that manages our endowment. He will be presenting on wills, trusts, endowments and more in the Chapel at 10:00 am. All are welcome to join.
Peace be with you,
