With the additional postponement of the UMC General Conference to 2024, the Draw the Circle Wide task force wants to provide the Glenn congregation with answers to questions that this postponement may raise.
If you have additional questions, please reach out to any task force member. Their names and email addresses are included at the end of this update.
1. What is happening with General Conference? Why does it keep getting postponed?
The General Conference of the United Methodist Church is the only body that can set official policy and speak for the denomination. At the 2019 Special Session of the General Conference, a narrow majority of the delegates voted to retain the language in the UMC Book of Discipline (”BOD”) that limits the inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons in the life of the church by denying ordination to LGBTQ+ persons and by prohibiting same-sex weddings. There was hope among churches who believe in full inclusion by all persons in the rites and rights of the UMC that changes to those provisions of the BOD would grow out of the General Conference scheduled for May 2020. Due to Covid concerns, that session of the General Conference was postponed from May 2020 to Fall 2021 and then was further delayed to August 29-September 6, 2022.
The General Conference has now been further postponed until 2024. This decision was based largely on the inequitable availability of vaccines for delegates and the enormous backlog of visas that would need to be issued for delegates from other countries to attend. The challenges in holding the General Conference virtually - electricity and internet not being readily available in all areas where United Methodists are located, widely varying time zones, and others - made that an untenable option. The Commission of General Conference stated that it continues to believe that the only way to ensure that all delegates’ voices could be heard on important denominational matters was to delay the General Conference until delegates can again meet in person.
As a church that believes in and has advocated for full inclusion, this continuing exclusion raises important questions about our role in the denomination.
2. What does it mean for UM churches that it has been postponed again?
Because only the General Conference can make changes to the BOD, a further delay of the Conference means that the exclusionary language contained in the BOD will remain in place. There are some Annual Conferences in the United States that have decided that they will not enforce those provisions. The North Georgia Conference, of which Glenn is a member, has not made such a decision.
This being said, because General Conference 2020 was not canceled but further postponed (semantics matter), our largely progressive, pro-LGBTQ+ inclusion delegation remains intact in North Georgia to serve through 2024. If the Commission on General Conference had canceled 2020 and rescheduled for 2024 we would have had to reelect a new, potentially more conservative, delegation.
3. Haven’t the churches opposed to inclusion already formed a new denomination? Doesn’t that change things?
A new denomination that takes a hard line on exclusion of LGBTQ+ persons from ministry and does not allow same-sex weddings has been formed and will become active on May 1. It Is called the Global Methodist Church, and some churches are leaving the United Methodist Church now to join this new denomination. Others are joining other Wesleyan denominations including the Wesleyan and Free Methodist Churches. More still are waiting on, or hoping for, an outcome at the next General Conference that will enable them to leave the UMC on more favorable terms
4. Do we think the next General Conference will actually change anything?
That it is a good question, and one that it is hard to know the answer to. At this point, no one knows for sure what legislation will be submitted to be voted on at the next General Conference, much less what the outcomes of those votes will be. Based on the recent Judicial Council Ruling 1429, the further postponement of General Conference will invite more legislation to be written as well. It does seem possible that some versions of the Protocol* and the Christmas Covenant** will be included in proposed legislation, but beyond that it is difficult to know.
5. What is Glenn doing/what can Glenn do in the meantime?
We will continue to love, share ministry with, and worship with, all of God’s children, and we will continue to support the larger LGBTQ+ community through actions such as the gifts made by Glenn to Lost-n-Found Youth, Wellroot Family Services, and the UMC Global Aids Fund, by participating in the Atlanta Aids Walk and Pride Parade, and as a member of Reconciling Ministries Network. Glenn has gladly welcomed same-sex couples to our Sanctuary and Little Chapel for weddings, and will continue to do so. At the same time, we will continue to advocate for the change that must come to the United Methodist Church.
6. What does it mean for Glenn to be a member of Reconciling Ministries Network?
Reconciling Ministries Network (“RMN”) is an organization that works to advance justice and inclusion for all LGBTQ+ people in the United Methodist Church and beyond. Members of RMN are churches, Sunday school classes, youth groups, regional groups, campus ministries, colleges, and more that have made the Reconciling commitment to intersectional LGBTQ justice. In October of 2014, Glenn held a Church Conference during which almost 90% of Glenn members present voted in favor of Glenn becoming a member of the RMN. This vote followed an intentional learning process during which Glenn hosted speakers and lectures on the topic, held a three-week book study and offered four listening sessions as avenues for conversation and discussion.
6. Can Glenn do anything to help LGBTQ+ pastors be ordained in the North Georgia Conference?
Ordination is a process that is controlled by, and happens through, the Annual Conference. Candidates for ordination do need the formal support of their local church, and Glenn can, has, and continues to support members of the LGBTQ+ community in seeking ordination.
7. Why should I stay at Glenn if it is going to continue to follow the BOD on LGTBQ+ exclusion?
Glenn is not following the BOD on LGBTQ+ exclusion. As we have said, we as the laity of the church, are supporting LGBTQ candidates for ministry through the ordination process, we allow same-sex weddings in our worship spaces and continue to advocate against exclusion in the church by all means possible. Are institutions and churches, Glenn included, perfect? No. Are societies and communities ever perfect? No. However, we are moving on to perfection as Wesley has said. If you are committed to that vision as well, we would love to continue to have you on this journey of faith with us.
8. Why should Glenn stay in the denomination? What do we lose by leaving the denomination?
The United Methodist Church is a connectional church. In part, this means that United Methodists have a shared theology of grace and practice of ministry, such as open table communion. It also means that with 12 million members globally, we are stronger together in mission. Given our current refugee and climate crisis, war and failures in global health, we can do so much more united, than alone, to change and heal this broken world. The apportionments local churches pay go to support entities like the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), which is the humanitarian and disaster relief arm of the church already working in places like Kentucky, Afghanistan, and Eastern Europe. Through the World Service Fund we support the establishment of new faith communities and ecumenical advocacy work for peace and justice globally. We also fund scholarships at historically Black colleges, support Africa University in Zimbabwe, and finance United Methodist seminaries, colleges and universities like Emory University’s Candler School of Theology. If Glenn left the denomination, we would lose all our ties to this work.
9. What happens if one of our pastors performs a same-sex wedding?
United Methodist clergy who officiate a same-sex wedding, could, if charges are filed with the Bishop, receive a minimum one-year, unpaid suspension, and a second offense could result in removal from the clergy unless mediated with the complaint party through just resolution (BOD Para. 362).
10. Would Glenn suffer any consequences if one of our pastors performed a same-sex wedding?
The BOD does not call for any consequences for a church whose pastor performs a same-sex wedding, though one of our pastors could be suspended or defrocked.
11. What is the process for a church leaving the denomination?
At the 2021 North Georgia Annual Conference, the Conference Board of Trustees presented a process for disaffiliation that is consistent with the guidelines established by the 2019 General Conference. If a church votes to disaffiliate “for reasons of conscience”, and that vote is ratified by the Annual Conference, a church may leave the denomination and retain its property so long as it pays all outstanding obligations, including apportionments, its pro rata share of its pension obligations, and any other debts it may have. This disaffiliation process, which enables churches that leave to retain their property, is only available to churches through 2023. The deadline for churches to file with the annual conference for disaffiliation at this Annual Conference (February 15, 2022) has passed.
12. Isn’t Glenn in a different position than other UM churches because we are on the Emory campus?
Glenn’s circumstances are different than many other churches because the Sanctuary and the Little Chapel are owned by Emory. This enables Glenn to host weddings of same-sex couples when most other UM churches are not able to do so. In addition, this means those buildings are not subject to the Trust Clause (BOD Para. 2501), and thus would not revert to the UMC if Glenn chose to disaffiliate. At the same time, we cannot know how Emory would respond should Glenn move to disaffiliate from the UMC denomination and whether Glenn would still be able to use those buildings.
* The Protocol for Reconciliation Through Grace and Separation calls for a procedure for severing the UMC into two or more separate denominations.
** The Christmas Covenant calls for the creation of a U.S. Regional Conference, which would enable that body to take up matters that solely affect the U.S. church and reduce the burden on General Conference.
Draw the Circle Wide task force members
Carol Allums (theallums5@gmail.com)
Ashley Carraway (acarraw@att.net)
Bill Clark (billclark.atl@gmail.com)
Brent Huckaby (bhuckaby@glennumc.org)
Ginger Smith (virginia.smith@emory.edu)
Jay Horton (horton.jay96@gmail.com)
John Wiley (jfwiley@bellsouth.net)
Mark Westmoreland (mwestmoreland@glennumc.org)
Mary Lou Boice (mboice@umcmission.org)
Reid Mallard (rmallard@hrcatalyst.com)
Robin Clark (robinclark@gatriallawyers.net)
Robin Olson (robin.elizabeth.martin@gmail.com)
Sarah Perkins (sscantrell@gmail.com)