“Just Resolution” Reached in Complaint Against Evangelical United Methodist Pastor

This article may be a bit on the lengthy side, but you will want to read to the end of this report on an interesting new development.

Rev. Dr. John Wesley Jones of First United Methodist Church in Washingtonville, Iowa is as United Methodist as they come. He is deeply loyal to Wesleyan theology and traditional Methodist spiritual disciplines, was trained at a United Methodist seminary, and pastors a large, growing evangelical United Methodist congregation. It is precisely because of his deep United Methodist faith and commitments that Dr. Jones has long had serious stewardship concerns about parts of our denominational structure.

For years, Dr. Jones tried to work through the proper channels, including General Conference, to find a satisfactory solution, such as changing the Discipline to allow congregations to designate and restrict their denominational giving.

Last year, he finally decided that he waited long enough. He wrote a report, entitled “Causes for Concern and the Time for Action,” detailing numerous ongoing instances of how the hundreds of thousands of dollars First UMC paid annually in denominational apportionments were being used to support the promotion of teachings directly contrary to the UMC’s own official Doctrinal Standards (which Dr. Jones and all other elders vowed at their ordination to “preach and maintain”), political lobbying that directly opposes more conservative parts of the UMC Social Principles on sexual morality and abortion, and lavish salary and office funding for certain bishops who use their apportionment-funded positions to do the exact opposite of the work the church has charged them with doing (of “guard[ing] the faith, order, liturgy, doctrine, and discipline of the Church” in the words of ¶403.1 of the Discipline). The report also included a shorter list of things funded by First UMC’s apportionments that Dr. Jones, in his unilateral judgment, simply decided were not worth spending apportionment dollars on, even if these expenses did not really support anything that was unfaithful.

Dr. Jones concluded his report by acknowledging the church law requiring him as First UMC’s senior pastor to lead the congregation in full payment of its assigned apportionments, but went on to declare that, given his concerns, this part of church law is “immoral and unjust and no longer deserve our loyalty and obedience” and urged the congregation to join him in following “a higher law than even the United Methodist Book of Discipline!”

Under the full leadership and direction of Pastor Jones, First UMC-Washingtonville has now simply been not paying any of their assigned apportionments, and redirecting those funds to United Methodist ministries around the United States and throughout the central conferences which remain faithful to our denomination’s Doctrinal Standards. Jones has been very publicly and energetically promoting his “Causes for Concern and the Time for Action” report, and urging other United Methodist pastors to lead their congregations into taking similar actions.

As a result, the bishop directed his Appointive Cabinet, the District Superintendents of the Iowa Conference of the United Methodist Church filed a formal complaint against Dr. Jones for “disobedience to the order and discipline of The United Methodist Church.”

A Just Resolution has been achieved in the complaint against the Rev. Dr. John Wesley Jones.  It was announced by Bishop Julius C. Trimble in a recent Pastoral Letter. “This Just Resolution,” he said, “is an attempt to honor our disciplinary process, maintain accountability, and seek a deeper, more prayerful, listening to each other and, most of all, to God.”

In an earlier Pastoral Letter, Bishop Trimble noted that a formal complaint against a clergyperson, when accused of violating the sacred trust of The United Methodist Church, results in that person’s membership of his or her ministerial office being subject to review. “This review that begins with the bishop…shall have as its primary purpose a Just Resolution of any violations of this sacred trust, in hope that God’s work of justice, reconciliation and healing may be realized in the body of Christ.” (2012 Book of Discipline, ¶ 363)  In that Letter the Bishop asked Iowa’s United Methodists to consider “What does it mean for us to fully claim our identities as followers of Jesus Christ during this prolonged season of disagreement regarding questions of priorities, faithfulness, and stewardship in the spending of denominational apportionments?”  He also invited people to join him in “a season of prayer as the supervisory response to Dr. Jones’s action is directed toward a Just Resolution.”

Over the course of the intervening months Dr. Jones, joined by his representative, Rev. John Fletcher met with Bishop Trimble, Assistant to the Bishop for Administration Rev. Bill Poland, and the members of the Appointive Cabinet.  The steps of the Administrative Fair Process, as outlined in the 2012 Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church were followed.  “This review shall have as its primary purpose,” according to the Discipline, “a Just Resolution of any violations of this sacred trust (ordination and membership in an Annual Conference) and hope that God’s work of justice, reconciliation and healing maybe realized in the body of Christ.”  The Discipline continues, describing a Just Resolution as “one that focuses on repairing any harm to people and communities, achieving real accountability by making things right in so far as possible and bring healing to all the parties.” (¶ 363.1)

To achieve a Just Resolution the supervisory process may include mediation to reach “an agreement satisfactory to all parties.”  Bishop Trimble noted, in his latest Pastoral Letter, “We are blessed to have leadership trained in Christian mediation in our Conference, including members of the current Appointive Cabinet.”  The statement of the Just Resolution added, “The Appointive Cabinet willingly entered into a process of discernment that is an adaption of the Washingtonville Mennonite Peace Center’s Mediation Process.”  The statement continues, “Together we, the Appointive Cabinet and the Rev. Dr. John Wesley Jones commit ourselves to a processes where persons can feel safe, valued, and heard.”

In the Just Resolution document all the involved parties said, “we are not of the same mind on the matter of how we view faithfulness, priorities, stewardship, and appropriate restrictions in the spending of apportionments.”  There is a recognition that “United Methodists as a diverse people continue to strive for consensus in understanding the gospel. In our diversity, we are held together by a shared inheritance and a common desire to participate in the creative and redemptive activity of God.” (¶105.4 – Our Theological Task)

The Appointive Cabinet and Dr. Jones made a joint commitment “to work together toward perfection in our study, leadership and engagement on the questions of connectional obligations, faithful stewardship, and best priorities related to the payment of apportionments.”

The Just Resolution includes the following:

• Rev. Dr. John Wesley Jones has been blessed to be a blessing throughout his long tenure as a United Methodist pastor.  The Appointive Cabinet recognizes that Rev. Jones led First UMC of Washingtonville in withholding apportionments out of his moral, ethical, and theological convictions and that he believes that sending offering-plate money to support the specific expenditures he listed in his “Causes for Concern and the Time for Action” report is wrong.  As an Appointive Cabinet we continue to affirm Dr. Jones as a beloved child of God;
• Dr. Jones has expressed his understanding of the harm that has been inflicted by the church by specific expenditures listed in his “Causes for Concern and the Time for Action” report.  Dr. Jones will be available for holy conversations with persons who are not in agreement with his actions related to apportionments in order to understand the feelings of those who do not hold his theological position.
• As a result of these holy conversations Dr. Jones will articulate in written form and in a fair manner the hurt that was inflicted upon those who hold that the Book of Discipline is right to impose its apportionment requirements when he chose to violate this part of Church law.  This written form will include his own understanding of the harm that has been inflicted by the church by the expenditures he wishes were not funded by apportionments.  The goal is the awareness that the grace of God in Jesus Christ can be faithfully held in opposing beliefs on the questions related to what we should or should not fund with apportionments, or opposing beliefs on whether or not apportionments should be paid.
• The Appointive Cabinet will offer their time and presence to a group, such as Fund No Harm (an unofficial caucus in the Iowa Conference that publicly advocates non-payment of apportionments), who will facilitate safe ways for them to hear from apportionment-opposing persons in general and clergypersons in particular as to:
  • What it is like being someone who objects to one or more of the specific apportionment-funded causes listed in the “Causes for Concern and the Time for Action” report;
  • How being such a person feels in the United Methodist Church and in this Conference; and
  • How they experience harm from the Church.
• The Appointive Cabinet encourages Dr. Jones to join others who seek to change The Book of Discipline by the method described in Our Theological Task, a method of faithful and passionate patience and forbearance through our ways of amending and revising our shared covenant as expressed in The Book of Discipline.
• Dr. Jones agrees to meet on a regular basis with his Conference Superintendent concerning his progress on the requests listed above.

“One of the early prayers and initial responses to the formal complaint was that we would be “perfected in Christ love” and engage, rather than ignore, the difficulties the current conflict between what Book of Discipline says and what some United Methodists want,” Bishop Trimble wrote in his recent Pastoral Letter. “The reactions to controversial apportionment expenditures and the serious subject of covenant accountability to church polity remind me, “he added, “of a Nigerian proverb: “Children of the same mother do not always agree!”

The Bishop observed, “When I was consecrated Bishop, I promised to work to uphold the unity of the Church. I believe that unity has, as its foundation, our love of God and neighbor. I also believe we can have unity of heart and not necessarily all be of one mind.”

The Just Resolution of the formal complaint against Dr. Jones “is an attempt to honor our disciplinary process, maintain accountability, and seek a deeper, more prayerful, listening to each other and, most of all, to God,” Bishop Trimble wrote, and “while this Just Resolution is a response to a specific complaint, it recognizes the division of our church on the issue of financial stewardship.”  He concluded, “I also believe we can have unity of heart and not necessarily all be of one mind.”

Bishop Trimble added, “But let it never be said that I or other bishops are more concerned about money and financial control than we are about faithfulness to Scripture and submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all areas of life, including sexuality!”

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Okay, so the above scenario never actually happened.

However, it is based on a framework of truth.

The above report is taken verbatim from an Iowa Conference web post reporting an actual “just resolution,” one that really took place for a minister in the conference who performed a same-sex union ceremony, in open defiance of our denomination’s biblical standards.

I simply replaced references to sexuality and same-gender unions with references to apportionments, and deleted some dates. Other than that, the only words that are changed are the final (fake) quote attributed to Bishop Trimble, the underlined portions, and the names of the pastor, his representative, the congregation, and the town (which are made up). The rest of the above report, beginning at “A Just Resolution has been achieved…,” is the exact words of the actual “just resolution” announcement.

To my knowledge, no such group as “Fund No Harm” exists. However, Bishop Trimble’s actual “just resolution” did effectively reward the cause of blessing sexual sin by requiring, in the language above, the Appointive Cabinet to meet with “Do No Harm,” an actual group of Iowa United Methodists that publicly urges defiance of UMC rules against same-sex union ceremonies.

This April Fool’s parody raises some serious questions: Would we expect Bishop Trimble or other covenant-undermining bishops to ensure a lack of real correction for ministers like “John Wesley Jones” as they have for ministers conducting same-sex unions? Why? What do such bishops of ours most value?