If You Box Traditionalist United Methodists into a Corner…

The following guest article is from Jay Therrell, Esq., president of the Florida chapter of the Wesleyan Covenant Association. It warns liberal denominational leaders of the dangers of boxing traditionalist United Methodists into a corner.

We have previously reported on the bullying and even tomato-throwing hatred with his annual conference’s liberal faction has treated him, and how Bishop Ken Carter chose to allow the harassment to escalate to the point of bullying Therell into surrendering his credentials. 

The article below was originally posted on Therrell’s blog, under the title, “Do as I Say, Not as I Do.” Reposted with permission. 

UM Voices is a forum for different voices within the United Methodist Church on pressing issues of denominational and/or social concern. UM Voices contributors represent only themselves and not IRD/UMAction.

Do as I Say, Not as I Do

When I was a l little boy, I remember hanging out with a friend and his family. We were driving somewhere, and the traffic was bad. My friend’s dad got frustrated and uttered a non-Methodist word. He then turned around and looked at both of us and said, “Boys, don’t you repeat that word. Do as I say, not as I do.”

It was the first time I had ever heard that phrase before. I got the gist of it, even at a young age. If I’m being completely honest, however, I didn’t care for the idea of the statement then, and I really don’t care for it now. On one level, it’s a way to excuse mistakes, and we all make them – me at the top of the list. On another level, however, it’s a way to excuse not having integrity. It can excuse a double standard where one party is treated preferentially over the other and often at their expense.

Trouble in Iowa

On December 3, 2021, Bishop Laurie Haller and the district superintendents of the Iowa Annual Conference released a document called “Leading Now and Into the Future.” You can read it here. Along with the document, the Cabinet issued a set of FAQs that you can read here. The long and short of the announcement is that Bishop Haller and her superintendents have decided that as of January 1, 2022, the Iowa Conference will no longer enforce The Book of Discipline when it comes to decades-old (really centuries-old) restrictions on clergy and congregations officiating and hosting same-gender weddings.

The Iowa Cabinet readily acknowledges that they are choosing to violate The Book of Discipline. In the FAQ document, one of their anticipated questions is, “What does it say about a Cabinet that is willing to encourage its clergy to violate the BOD. How can you hold us to it in any other way if you encourage violating 2702?” The Cabinet’s response is basically, “If you don’t like the policy we’re enacting, you can leave.” They then have the audacity to say that a church can only leave by following new paragraph 2553 that requires disaffiliating churches to pay multiple years of apportionments and pension liabilities that often total in the six and seven figures.

Apparently, it’s okay for the Iowa Bishop and Cabinet to choose to violate The Book of Discipline, but it’s not okay for your congregation to do so. You have to follow it. In other words, do as I say, not as I do.

The Wild, Wild West

Sadly, none of this is new. The leadership of the Western Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church has already gone down this path. Shortly after the special General Conference in 2019 repudiated the policy Iowa is adopting, the western bishops refused to comply with The Book of Discipline. On November 6, 2019, the five western bishops issued a Safe Harbor Declaration which you can read in its entirety here. In part the declaration reads:

As of January 1, 2020, when many of the actions of the 2019 General Conference of The United Methodist Church will take effect, we intend to provide safe harbor for clergy under our care who may be at risk under the new provisions, prohibitions, and punishments.

We intend to exercise our authority as bishops of The United Methodist Church to encourage and protect the full participation of LGBTQ+ persons as beloved children of God, embraced in God’s reign of grace. To do so is essential to the integrity of the Body of Christ, and the unity of the Church.

We are unwilling and unable to exercise the office of bishop in ways that harm, isolate, silence or exclude LGBTQ+ persons as they seek to be seen, understood, welcomed and fully included in the community of the Church. We do not intend to withhold or challenge ordination based solely on a person’s gender identity or sexual orientation. We are unwilling to punish clergy who celebrate the marriage of two adults of any gender or sexual orientation seeking the blessing of God and the Church for their covenanted life together.

Western Jurisdiction UMC Safe Harbor Declaration

It’s another “do as I say, not as I do” moment. Progressives were given safe harbor to openly and flagrantly violate The Book of Discipline. Traditionalist congregations and clergy in the West (yes, they exist) were not given any safe harbor. The western bishops established a double standard. Do as we say, traditionalists…not as we do. You can’t just leave. You’ll have to pay punishing amounts of money that for many are impossible to come up with.

The North Central Jurisdiction seems to be following the Western Jurisdiction’s path. Recently at their meeting from November 10-11, 2021, the Jurisdiction voted on and released a new vision and a “Covenant to Build Beloved Community.” You can read the covenant here. The covenant embraces a radical pro-LGBT agenda as well as other radical liberal issues of the day. Time will tell, but I’m willing to bet the other three jurisdictions will soon go down a similar path.

Abuse of Power

I’m noticing an alarming trend of bishops abusing their power. The five Western Jurisdiction bishops declare safe harbor for people who wish to violate our covenant. The North Central Jurisdiction encourages its annual conferences to violate The Book of Discipline. The Iowa Cabinet decides to change decades-old provisions with no authority. The North Georgia Bishop, in a drastic overreach, is trying to seize the assets of the largest church in her Conference. The bishops in the Cal-Pac and Greater Jersey Conferences unfairly target traditionalist Asian American pastors by moving them.

I guess it’s good to be king (or queen). If you’re a progressive bishop, you can now decide to do your own thing with no fear of accountability. It doesn’t matter that the global Christian church (Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox) holds that what you want to do is wrong. Just do it! If a traditionalist, however, tries to pursue the same path by withholding apportionments or disaffiliating without paying punishing costs, then harsh accountability begins. Do as I say, not as I do.

No One Puts Baby in a Corner

I hope progressives realize what they’re doing. Rapidly, they’re boxing traditionalists into the place where we will have no choice but to come out swinging. We don’t want to do that. It’s not a good Christian witness, but it’s rapidly becoming our only choice.

We simply want to be let go to pursue the vision we believe God has given us. We want to bless progressives to do the same. It’s not too much to ask that traditionalist congregations be allowed to leave with the assets we and our ancestors invested in. (And let’s be clear, our ancestors would have been overwhelmingly traditionalist.) We’re not asking for anything else.

The Protocol has already put in place a moratorium where charges for violating The Book of Discipline related to LGBT issues are held in abeyance, but that’s not enough for progressives. They always want more. They can essentially do whatever they want now without fear of reprisal. Do as I say, not as I do.

Breach of Fiduciary Duty

I’m going to put my lawyer hat on for a moment. Has no one given any of these progressive bishops or cabinets legal counsel that they’re digging a jurisprudential hole? I’d like to see an attorney argue to a judge that it’s okay for their client to violate the Discipline, but traditionalists must abide by it.

Bishops have a fiduciary duty to The United Methodist Church. In legal terms it means they owe a duty of loyalty, a duty of obedience, and a duty of care. Their recent actions violate all three. If they aren’t careful, they can expose themselves to lawsuits that pierce non-profit corporate veils and make bishops personally liable for their choices. Their personal assets would then be at risk.

Many states have high standards when it comes to enforcing denominational trust clauses. One might wonder, however, if courts will continue to uphold those standards when bishops and cabinets abuse their power and violate large sections of The Book of Discipline while requiring people that don’t agree with them to follow it. If bishops don’t make concerted efforts to stop this trend, I promise multiple lawyers will be making that argument in court.

Let My People Go!

There’s an easy way to end all of this…just let us go! Paragraph 2548.2 of The Book of Discipline allows UMC congregations to unite with another evangelical denomination and take their assets with them. It requires a comity agreement. The Council of Bishops could agree to a comity agreement and then allow annual conferences to adopt it. Conferences could adopt one comity agreement proactively for all traditionalist churches that wish to use it. The agreement could use the terms of the Protocol including allowing church councils to set voting thresholds and require pension liabilities are cared for. This could be done right now without having to wait for General Conference and worrying about the pandemic.

Bishops, end the fighting. Start living into the progressive future you want so desperately. If what you believe is truly of God, then it won’t fail. It will thrive. You won’t have to worry about decreased apportionments. Have confidence in what you believe. End the fighting and let us go!

Y’all Should Know Better

Do as I say, not as I do is not a good strategy as a parent. It lacks integrity and encourages others to create double standards. It’s a horrible strategy for Jesus’ church. Bishops and cabinets, shame on you! Y’all should know better.

All God’s love,
Jay

Editor’s Note: To avoid any misunderstanding, we at IRD/UMAction believe it is important to make clear, that (1) the comity solution Therell mentions may potentially help relieve pressure in some limited contexts but it is NOT remotely acceptable as any sort of replacement for the “Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace Through Separation,” and (2) while the Protocol’s original endorsers called for a paired “abeyance” of certain accountability processes together with a moratorium on church closures, and this has had some real-world impact, nothing related to the Protocol has established any legal moratorium or limitation on any part of United Methodist church law, which remains the Traditional Plan as adopted by the 2019 General Conference and upheld by the Judicial Council. We have discussed these two concerns directly with Therrell, who gave permission to share his agreement with these qualifiers.