Earlier this week, the executive committee of the National Chinese Caucus of the United Methodist Church (UMC) issued a press release speaking out about some apparently punitive appointment changes imposed by heavy-handed liberal bishops on several theologically orthodox United Methodist pastors in the California-Pacific, North Georgia, and Greater New Jersey Annual Conferences.
Walter Fenton offers a good all-in-one-place factual summary on the Wesleyan Covenant Association website.
For its part, the National Chinese Caucus takes note of how four of the five targeted pastors are Korean American and urges our bishops and others to do better.
As we have reported earlier: “The National Chinese Caucus includes all of the Chinese-speaking United Methodist congregations scattered around the United States (mainly serving immigrant populations), as well as a number of Chinese American clergy and laity from other congregations. It convenes a General Meeting and Leadership Training Event for dozens of Chinese-American United Methodist leaders every other year.”
The Chinese Caucus’s full statement is below:
PRESS RELEASE
May 10, 2021
We received published reports that five theologically conservative senior pastors were moved from their theologically conservative congregations to other appointments when neither party requested a change: one in North Georgia Annual Conference, one in Greater New Jersey Annual Conference and three in California-Pacific Annual Conference. Four of the affected pastors are Korean.
Subsequently, the President of the National Laity Association of the Korean UMC expressed in a letter to Bishop Grant Hagiya of the California-Pacific Annual Conference, that their theologically conservative clergy and churches were being persecuted. This matter also generates deep concerns in the ethnic minority, including Chinese, clergy and churches.
While wide deference is given to the authority and accountability of Bishops (Chapter Three, Section IV, Specific Responsibilities of Bishops), the Book of Discipline specifically states, “Consultation is a process whereby the bishop and/or district superintendent confer with the pastor and committee on pastor-parish relations, taking into consideration the criteria of ¶427, a performance evaluation, needs of the appointment under consideration, and mission of the Church” (¶426). This same paragraph continues, “Consultation is not merely notification.” Further, ¶426 (1) of The Book of Discipline states that “The process of consultation shall be mandatory in every annual conference.”
Therefore, we urge all parties involved in the process of appointment to maintain a spirit of peace and goodwill toward those who hold differing theological and ethical values, while awaiting the decisions of the General Conference on the Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace through Separation.
Executive Committee
National Chinese Caucus
The United Methodist Church
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