Southeastern UMC Bishops: Sexuality Disobedience “A Violation of Our Covenant”

on July 13, 2016

A group of bishops in the United Methodist Church (UMC) has criticized those acting in “nonconformity” with the church’s Book of Discipline. They said rogue clergy disobeying the denomination’s position on human sexuality have committed “divisive and disruptive” actions that were “a violation of our covenant” and outside “the bounds of our church’s polity.” In their call for unity, the bishops recognized “the pain felt both by those advocating for and those opposing change” in the UMC.

The Southeastern Jurisdictional College of Bishops wrote a “Pastoral Letter” to the Methodists under their care. The bishops affirmed that they would follow the forthcoming recommendations from the Commission on Human Sexuality. But in the meantime, they promised to continue “ordering the church” by enforcing the Book of Discipline and “shepherding” the Methodists in the Southeastern Jurisdiction. They said they would do so while “seeking unity in Christ,” despite differences of opinion over whether or not the Book of Discipline should be changed.

The bishops acknowledged that some Methodists believed that the church’s current stance on human sexuality was “exclusive, unjust and based on a misinterpretation of Scripture.” Yet they noted that these individuals attempted to bring about change “through processes our polity has in place for making such changes” rather than through open disobedience.

They also drew attention to the efforts and to the thought process of conservatives. This group of Methodists, also working “within the context of our church’s polity,” attempted to maintain the “current position on human sexuality, believing that it is grace-filled, orthodox and biblically-based.”

In contrast, the bishops chastised those who openly disobeyed the Book of Discipline. “Still others in our denomination, including some Boards of Ordained Ministry and Annual Conferences, are acting in nonconformity to our church’s legislation about marriage and ordination standards,” the bishops said. “These actions are not within in the bounds of our church’s polity.”

The bishops concluded their letter by encouraging those in the Southeastern Jurisdiction “to join us in prayer” as they sought to pursue their “covenant with God” and “to stay the course” within the UMC.

Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference begins July 13.

  1. Comment by the_enemy_hates_clarity on July 14, 2016 at 9:14 am

    Good words, but it would be nice to see action. it would be nice to see accountability.

    In Christ,

    The enemy hates clarity

  2. Comment by Skipper on July 14, 2016 at 10:58 am

    This might be a ray of hope, at least for the S.E. bishops. The bishops need to help restore accountability or get out of the way.

    Why do bishops continue to put unity over following Christ? You can’t follow Christ while living a life of debauchery. It’s better to be divided by truth than united in error.

    There is no point in their commission proposing another compromise of Christian principles on sexuality. We have chosen to follow Christ and we won’t be easily turned aside!

  3. Comment by Joan Watson on July 14, 2016 at 11:53 am

    Regardless of the issue, how do we function together after the acts of nonconformity? Those that have declared nonconformity have totally altered how the church functions–something they do not seem to understand. And theologically, there is no middle ground when it comes to same gender sexual relationships–not to mention the ever increasing LGBTQIA…XYZ which covers a lot more sexual identities/expressions than homosexuality and the UMC list is nothing compared to what is on Facebook. And even if there was someway to stay together through this particular issue, what happens when the next cause arises? A precedent for nonconformity has already been set! Up until 2012 the UMC has been a big tent morass of conflicting theologies and other understandings but everybody worked within the system. The fact that nonconformity has been allowed to gain a footing takes the problem to a whole other level.

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