bishop scott jones

Video: Bishop Scott Jones on the UMC’s Way Forward, Part 2

on December 7, 2018

In a series of brief videos, Bishop Scott Jones of the Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church explains the situation the denomination finds itself in, clarifies the essentials of the different main plans that will come before the February 2019 General Conference, and gives his opinion on how they will affect the church. We at IRD/UMAction are very grateful for Bishop Jones’s leadership in providing clear, succinct summaries of the decisions now facing the denomination.

We commend these videos to all United Methodists and other interested persons, and encourage you to share them with others. This is Part 2 of our series sharing Bishop Jones’ videos; for Part 1 post click here.

 

Real One Church Plan: Despite the name, the One Church Plan actually creates the most division of any plan. The arguments about human sexuality will continue by moving to the annual conference and local church level. If either the OCP or the Traditional Plan are adopted by the General Conference, expect significant number of United Methodist individuals, congregations, and even annual conferences to leave the denomination. In contrast, Bishop Jones describes the Connectional Plan as bringing the greatest degree of unity.

 

One Church: The One Church Plan seeks to shift the church’s teaching and rules in a progressive direction, and will cause conservative congregations or whole annual conferences to leave. It is a plan for continued conflict and is better called the Local Option Plan or Local Conflict Plan, because any congregation or annual conference with diversity of belief on human sexuality will eventually have to debate and vote.

  1. Comment by Byrom on December 7, 2018 at 5:21 pm

    Scott Bishop is my bishop, and I heard him discuss the three plans in a participatory meeting in Houston not too long ago. He did well in presenting the pros and cons of each plan in a balanced manner. And much to the disappointment of some attendees, he did not tell us which plan he favors. He also speculated that no plan, or even a yet-unknown fourth plan, could come out of the special General Conference in February.

    I support the Traditionalist Plan, but I also believe that whichever plan – or no plan – comes out of the Conference, the road ahead for the UMC is fraught with peril.

  2. Comment by Lance Thomas on December 7, 2018 at 9:32 pm

    I grew up in a home where siblings had to share a bathroom. Didn’t work. Led to lots of conflict. Can u imagine two opposing football teams trying to share one coach or one athletic director? No way. Commectional Conf Plan won’t work. Just prolongs the pain. I support the biblically orthodoxed Traditional plan. It is the narrow road Jesus calls us to follow him on.

  3. Comment by Dan W on December 8, 2018 at 12:57 pm

    Lance, I grew up in a home where two adults and five children shared one bathroom. While sometimes humorous, It worked fine. There were also frequent sleepovers with additional children. We adhered to a strict bathroom schedule and had our own color coded towels/washcloths. We were allowed five minutes for showers, baths were rare. Five + children brushing their teeth before bed was pretty funny, I wish I had some film from those days. People who love and respect each other and cherish the same things will find a way to work it out. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us!

    PS – we did put in a small “bath” room with only a sink and toilet by the time three of us were teenagers. Only one toilet for seven + is difficult, but we had only one bath/shower until we were all grown.

  4. Comment by Bryan Anderson on December 10, 2018 at 5:48 am

    You must live on some other planet. I grew up with six kids sharing one bathroom along with mom and dad. It was a slug fest EVERY DAY no matter what we tried–and mom sure tore her hair out trying to sue for peace. Don’t kid yourself. Maybe you were the one in the trillion who could make it work but ours was the far more traditional family situation–read congregation.

  5. Comment by John Smith on December 10, 2018 at 7:07 am

    Is it not sad that bathroom squabbles seem like an apt metaphor in regards to the UMC?

  6. Comment by Dan W on December 11, 2018 at 6:39 am

    LOL, I’m didn’t mean it was a perfect situation. An additional benefit was my parents never had trouble getting us to leave “the nest.”

  7. Comment by Timothy Dowell on December 11, 2018 at 5:36 pm

    I was raised in a Methodist household. My Grandfather was a Methodist Minister and my Grandmother was the organist, choir director, bazaar planning – you name it she did it.
    My question to all Christians in why is it so hard to trust God? If God tells us not to do something we shall not do it and if God tells us to do something we are to do it. We all, weather believers or not, were created in Gods image and when we are not obedient to Him we are telling God He’s wrong and we want to change God to our image(s). So what’s wrong with that picture.

  8. Comment by Bruce Willis on December 22, 2018 at 9:49 am

    Timothy as a former umc Pastor I can tell in life and especially in Christianity the absolute right thing to do is also the absolute hardest thing to do.
    The UMC has become a church led by folks who refuse to do the right thing and hard thing. Following Gods instructions is right and hard. The supposed path of least resistance is the path they seek. God’s way has become secondary ,replaced by a need to protect the institution of the umc which means protecting the money.

  9. Comment by Mat Weller on February 23, 2019 at 8:38 pm

    ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

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