Within the wider Christian family, and perhaps among all religions, Methodists traditionally have a special vocation for optimism. God offers and intends salvation for all people who are willing. All believers are called to and can enjoy sanctification and perfection. God is redeeming not just persons but also society collectively. Methodists are confident God can accomplish all things to advance His Kingdom.
Methodists are not apocalyptic and don’t expect foreordained calamity. They are historically postmillennialist or at least amillenialist. Methodists expect good news and providential progress. What will God do next? Methodists are characteristically sunny, confident, pragmatic, forward leaning. Sometimes their optimism goes too far and minimizes the darkness of human sin in persons and society. But more often Methodists are a bright leaven who shine among more dour religionists and fatalists.
Reputedly when Ulysses Grant, a Methodist whose birthday is today, took army command in Virginia he was irritated his officers kept warning what Robert E. Lee would do. He responded: “Oh, I am heartily tired of hearing about what Lee is going to do. Some of you always seem to think he is suddenly going to turn a double somersault, and land in our rear and on both of our flanks at the same time. Go back to your command, and try to think what we are going to do ourselves, instead of what Lee is going to do.” Grant’s proactive attitude was very Methodist. What will we do?
So, it’s unfortunate, although understandable, that many traditional United Methodists are gloomy and fatalistically acting more like 5-point Calvinists at the moment. The Commission on the General Conference, stacked with progressives and institutionalists, postponed the already several times postponed General conference from this year to 2024, forestalling a vote on formal division into liberal and conservative denominations. Many conservatives justifiably assume this postponement, officially faulted on the pandemic, is intended to deflate them into quitting.
But many traditional United Methodists are grimly accepting this news as an irreversible fait accompli. The last hope is gone. Liberalism has prevailed. Now local churches must scramble to buy their way out of the denomination, following the example of traditionalists in other liberal-led Mainline Protestant denominations over the last 20 years who left as refugees, often with little more than the shirts on their backs.
The difference is that in other Mainline denominations traditionalists were the minority and decisively lost key votes on church teaching about sex and marriage. United Methodist traditionalists have continuously won these votes at every governing General Conference, thanks to the unique global membership of the church. Over half of United Methodism is now in Africa. Thanks to Africa, about 60-70 percent of United Methodists are traditionalists. Committed progressives have likely never been a smaller percentage of our church. Of more than 13 million church members, likely at least 9 million are traditionalists. Probably at least 2 million of America’s 6 million United Methodists are traditionalist.
United Methodists traditionalists in America, unlike in Africa, are not typically optimistic. They are more typically modern American Evangelicals, who tend towards pessimism, apocalyptic attitudes, and the conviction that clever hostile elites are always in charge and constantly outmaneuvering evangelicals. This assumption often points towards short term bunker attitudes rather than proactive long-term plans for the future.
African United Methodists think very differently and more reflect traditional Methodist confidence. What is God going to do for us next? There are 7 million United Methodists in Africa, and they are not resigned to any dark fate. They will not surrender to revisionism, nor are they fatalistically expecting to leave their own church as refugees. They expect a bright future that God will use them to orchestrate.
American United Methodists can learn a lot on many topics from African church members. But at this time confidence and godly optimism are most instructive and needed. The Global Methodist Church (GMC) launches May 1. Congregations that cannot wait until General Conference 2024 and that can afford to buy their way out will join. Some flintily expect only a few struggling churches to align with GMC, which will become another small USA evangelical subculture denomination. The narrow vision needs to broaden. GMC can and will include many millions from around the world. And every congregation and conference that wants to align with GMC should and will be able to do so as a matter of choice, not as a limited privilege for the determined and wealthy few.
Liberal U.S. bishops and other prelates will not make any of this easy. Why should they? They have been in charge for 60 or 100 years and they have never been helpful to traditionalists. They will, as always, promote their beliefs and their interests. But we who are traditionalists can confidently make it in their interests to facilitate what the Protocol for division, to which all sides agreed in 2019, intended: a choice for all congregations and conferences.
I have been involved in United Methodist reform for my whole adult life dating to the late 1980s. Traditionalists have never had more numbers or leverage than now. The traditionalist victory at the 2019 special General Conference stunned liberal church officials who presumed they could liberalize the church’s teaching. Liberals have only lost demographic strength since then, thanks to African church growth and the pandemic, which closed liberal churches longer than others. Across the last 20 years I have observed that whatever the Africans determine to do seems to prevail. The cause is mysterious but certainly it relates to their prayers, their faith and their cheery confidence.
Whatever happens, the progressive minority that rules the fast-declining U.S. part of our denomination will not determine the future of growing global Methodism. There are great days ahead, if we are confident, cheerful, persistent and proactive. Methodists by definition are not fatalistic, passive or pessimistic. There are going to be some unexpected providential surprises in the months and years ahead, about which we should be boldly optimistic. What will we do?
Comment by Dan W on April 28, 2022 at 7:46 am
“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” (2 Cor. 6:14)
You have to know when to abandon ship. There is no shame in shaking the dust off your feet and moving on. Even General Grant had to redeploy on occasion.
Comment by Positive in spite of the Hierarchy on April 28, 2022 at 10:05 am
Great article. A solution to this problem is quite simple, keep parishioners away from the hierarchy. Don’t speak about the annual conference, make sure the district superintendent has a good impression of the local church, and teach your people to be positive and think about what they can do through the local church, not the denomination.
I used to be positive about the institutional church, until I got tired of having my teeth kicked in every year at annual conference when the far-left made sure they got everything they wanted. The last straw was one year when the new elders walking in for their ordination had to walk through a protest march that came close to blocking the entrance doors to the building.
Rejoice in the Lord: Always!
Comment by Pat on April 28, 2022 at 4:01 pm
Current believers have a responsibility to find a church where Christ is the center of the church and the Holy Bible is the focus. Staying in dying churches, waiting to see what happens in 2024 is not logical, especially for those of us, older, simply wanting to worship, serve, praise the Lord and focus on reaching others for Christ. That is no longer the mission of the current Methodist church except those churches where traditional pastors are preaching Christ’s salvation and God’s holy truth. Church members who are fortunate to be members of a Methodist church where a traditional pastor is there want to stay. The next two years will find the progressive leadership doing all they can to retire, move or force those out of the current UMC. I have no confidence in the new Global Methodist Church and no church member is going to wait for the power politics to, at some point, be resolved. Church members have a right to worship in a Methodist church where Christ is center. With the progressive USA Bishops destroying the church, it is no surprise churches are leaving and members are moving on.
Comment by Pat on April 28, 2022 at 4:03 pm
Dan W, your comments are absolutely right. Thank you.
Comment by Gary Bebop on April 28, 2022 at 7:59 pm
Coming on cusp of GMC launch, this slant surprised me. Does it signal African demurral on the GMC? Mark obviously speaks as an insider. There are riptides in play now.
Comment by Mike on April 29, 2022 at 12:14 am
Why is the leadership stacked against traditionalist churches. It seems to me that the growth of the African church could be coupled with a focused growing of conservative membership and the 2019 efforts could be replicate to change the structure. Is there something that prevents traditionalist representation from growing?
I quite don’t understand why the liberal faction has so much power
Comment by Reverend Patricia Ann Slomanski on April 29, 2022 at 6:26 pm
I don’t know how you can look at Methodism except with pessimism. A large part of the denomination has turned its back on God’s Word. I was a PCUSA Minister of Word and Sacrament and served churches. I worked ten years and earned five degrees. When the PCUSA turned its back on God’s Word in regards to sexuality and Israel. That was it. As your article titles, the PCUSA has fallen even further. This will happen to Methodist. It is all very sad. Surely our Heavenly Father must weep because of leaders who believe “that anything goes.” I therefore think that you are wrong by looking at Methodism with positivism. John and Charles Wesley would roll over in their graves. It is only when leaders and important persons as yourself water down what is happening that the situation becomes more dire. Shame on you and others like you.
Comment by Rev. Dr. Lee D Cary (ret. UM clergy) on May 1, 2022 at 1:08 pm
The unofficial obituary of the UMC comes from a news outlet at:
https://www.wkrg.com/national/united-methodist-bishops-acknowledge-breakup-is-imminent/
Here is a noteworthy quote, from the new President of the Council of Bishops:
“Bishop Thomas Bickerton…described the launch of the new movement as a ‘sad and sobering reality.’ Bickerton said he regrets any departure from the UMC and values the denomination’s diversity of thought. ‘There is no perfect church,’ he said. ‘The constant fighting, the vitriolic rhetoric, the punitive behaviors have no place in how we preserve and promote our witness as Christian believers.’ He said he prays the infighting will stop and the UMC will rediscover its mission to make disciples for Christ. He urged the UMC, even as it suffers defections, to think of May 1 as its launch day as well. ‘We are the United Methodist Church not interested in continuing sexism, racism, homophobia, irrelevancy and decline,’ he said. ‘What we are interested in is a discovery of what God has in mind for us on the horizon as the next expression of who we are as United Methodists.’ Bickerton, who heads the UMC’s New York City region, succeeded Louisiana-based Cynthia Fierro Harvey as president of the bishops’ council.”
So, Tom “values the denomination’s diversity of thought” and the says the “United Methodist Church not interested in continuing sexism, racism, homophobia, irrelevancy and decline.” Good luck squaring that circle, Bishop. Irrelevancy and decline are well underway.
Linguistic integrity requires that “United” not appear in the moniker of any religious group that subsequently evolves from this Methodist chaos.
Comment by BG on May 3, 2022 at 8:17 am
After that last official General Conference, there was a gentleman’s agreement to not pursue judicial action against LGBTQ members of the clergy as long as there was progress being made towards an amicable breakup. And this has been the case. However, it is clear that we are no longer making progress. Then the agreement should be off and traditional members should start actions to remove those that are not qualified to be in those positions. We should begin with Bishop Karen Oliveto of the Mountain Sky Conference. Judicial council has already ruled that she is ineligible because of her active homosexuality, but the Conference has refused to remove her. Judicial Council now has the power to remove her without the Conferences actions. This would get their attention and give them motivation to get the split over with.
Comment by John Smith on May 13, 2022 at 1:10 pm
Why are the US Methodists depressed?
They thought they had saved the UMC only to see the fruits of their labor tossed in the “Separation agreement”.
They see that prevailing within the system means nothing as Bishops remain unaccountable and conferences do what they want.
They see the Judicial Council reverse itself as it tries to keep assets in the coming progressive UMC.
They look to the future and see a new denomination, built on the foundations of the above and wonder what will keep it from the same fate.
You speak of “Global” methodism but it never existed. How much of the Weslyan/Methodist tradition has been outside of the “United” Methodist Church? Perhaps that hubris is finally come back to haunt?