“Global Segregation” Plan Defeated

Mark Tooley
May 12, 2010

Good news! The United Methodist Council of Bishops has officially announced that the “global segregation” plan to separate the U.S. church from African and other overseas United Methodists was soundly defeated by 49,000 annual conference voters in annual conferences around the world. Only about 38 percent voted for the plan, when two thirds was needed for passage. Read Connor Ewing’s article here.

You will recall that the Council of Bishops touted this plan as supposedly empowering the African and other overseas churches.  But the Africans saw right through this liberal-inspired attempt to bypass United Methodism’s official teachings on homosexuality by disenfranchising the Bible-believing Africans. In fact, African believers voted by nearly 95 percent against global segregation.

Also importantly, a proposed church constitutional amendment that would have virtually mandated automatic church membership to all applicants was likewise defeated by a vote of about 52 against and 48 percent in favor, again falling very short of  the two thirds needed. Once again, Africans voted massively against it. You will remember this amendment emerged from liberal anger over the case of Ed Johnson, the Virginia pastor whom Virginia Bishop Charlene Kammerer removed from his pulpit for refusing to grant immediate church membership to an actively homosexual man in the congregation. Our church’s Judicial Council restored Johnson, saying pastors have discretion over readiness for church membership. Bishop Kammerer’s liberal agenda for mandated membership has been defeated.

In other good news, a church constitutional amendment granting voting rights for non-ordained local church pastors in elections for General Conference delegates was approved. These local pastors, who lead many of our small rural churches, tend to be evangelical. They serve our church faithfully, and their voice will contribute to our church’s renewal.

Let’s praise God for these votes in our church! The bishops and liberal church bureaucracy, including two thirds of the delegates at the 2008 General Conference, supported global segregation and mandated automatic church membership.  But the voice of most United Methodists around the world, especially Africans, who are now over 30 percent of our church, thankfully prevailed.

The growing African United Methodist churches in many ways embody the early Wesleyan, revivalist spirit that caused Methodism to increase exponentially and become our nation’s largest church in just a few decades 200 years ago. This is in contrast to the U.S. United Methodist church which has lost 3 million members over the last 45 years. Key to early Methodism’s success was courageous and tireless Bishop Francis Asbury, who travelled tens of thousands of miles on the frontier with the Good News, building a great church. Read my Weekly Standard review of a great new biography on Asbury here.