2020 General Conference
Last Friday completed the work of the 2020 General Conference. Yes, that date is correct. This conference had been postponed due to the pandemic. It was a historical conference in other ways as well. But many of the things that were voted on must now go before every annual conference for ratification. We have been told by Bishop Nunn that our annual conference is only three weeks away and we will have to wait a year before voting on these items as Oklahoma Annual Conference. The UMC communications made a great feel good video that you can watch here. Some significant things happened, that I want to share more about.
Regionalization: 78% of the delegates voted to expand what we do in certain regions of the world to all areas. Historically, we have allowed some areas to have a Book of Discipline that fits their culture and context for missional outreach. This was limited to only a few conferences but with this vote will now be an option for all of the places where there are UM churches including the USA. The body recognized that different parts of the world have different values and laws and that flexibility was needed to minister in all of those areas.
Revised Social Principles: These are statements of faith about topics and how we view them. The language about homosexuality “being incompatible with Christian teaching” was added in 1972 and has been contested at every General Conference since then. A new 43 page draft of the Social Principles was voted on with 75% of the delegates voting to approve this document. All of the negative language about homosexuality was removed from the Book of Discipline and Bishop Nunn described it as now being “neutral” allowing every church and every pastor to determine how they will be in ministry with the LGBTQ+ community. This includes both ordination and marriages. In addition, the section about caring for God’s creation was expanded significantly with goals set for environmental impact by the UMC. You may remember that we hosted a “Listening Group” in Tulsa for the proposed Revised Social Principles and you were able to share your thoughts on these topics.
Deacons: A significant change to the way the Deacon will function was changed so that these ordained persons who are under appointment can now perform the sacraments. The two sacraments that we have in the UMC are baptism and communion. These were previously set apart for only Elders or Licensed Local Pastors in their appointed church.
Disaffiliation: This season of the denomination operating under paragraph #2553 is now over. Any church who wishes to disaffiliate can still do so under the clauses and paragraphs that we had in the Book of Discipline before. Also the General Conference voted to allow churches to return who have previously left. This is happening all over the country and the judicial council is crafting language that allows churches to return.
This is just a quick summation of what was two weeks and thousands of hours of work for almost 900 people representing United Methodist churches all over the world. You are probably wondering what this means for Faith UMC? Nothing really, except we are now part of a denomination that is allowing for each mission field to chose how to be in ministry with the people that they serve. We have always operated on the premise that everyone is a beautiful child of God and worthy of being part of the Body of Christ. Two of our Values are “Come As You Are” and “Connect With Love.” But for myself and Seungrok, it is significant because we no longer have to worry about being brought up on charges or losing our ordination credentials when people we love ask us to officiate their marriages.
If you want to hear the Bishop talking about General Conference click here. For those of you who haven’t been United Methodist before, General Conference is a gathering of elected delegates every 4 years to discuss and respond to the world in faith. It is the only body allowed to speak on behalf of all United Methodists. Delegates are elected at each Annual Conference and there are an equal number of clergy delegates and lay people delegates. We are part of the Oklahoma Annual Conference.
I hope to see you on Sunday! Love,
