United Methodists choose orthodoxy

Mar 1, 2019 by Andrew Symes

Church history made before our eyes, by Albert Mohler

“Despite its basic theological liberalism, the UMC made history this week by upholding a biblical ethic on sexual morality. The General Conference sustained its biblical standards on marriage as an exclusive union between one man and one woman and rejected the LGBTQ revolution. This has never happened before and thus history was made. A mainline Protestant denomination long characterized by theological liberalism defeated the LGBTQ juggernaut and affirmed the biblical vision for marriage and sexuality. This demands our attention.”

Conservative Christians just retook the United Methodist Church, by Emma Green, The Atlantic: “There are thousands of us in churches … fiercely committed to a traditional definition of marriage: one man and one woman,” said Aislinn Deviney, a delegate from Rio, Texas. “I am a young, evangelical delegate. We young evangelicals want you to know that we are here. And we are striving to leave a legacy of scriptural holiness for generations to come.”

A win for orthodox Methodism, by Rod Dreher, The American Conservative

The United Methodist Church in the United States was selling the One Church Plan pretty hard. Which is fine. But (1) its supporters absolutely did not understand how people of more “traditionalist” conviction view the presenting issue *or* the One Church Plan, (2) they didn’t guess correctly how Methodists from outside United States and Europe would vote, and (3) they honestly thought this General Conference would somehow go differently than the last one or three.

What this General Conference showed again, although perhaps even more clearly is how deeply divided the United Methodist Church is. Not just on same-sex relations and marriage, but on Scripture, theology, even what the Wesleyan tradition is about.

African United Methodists won’t trade bible for dollars, by Mark Tooley, Juicy Ecumenism

Dr. Jerry Kulah, an academic theologian from Liberia, gave this speech over the weekend at the conference. Excerpts:

“Friends, please hear me, we Africans are not afraid of our sisters and brothers who identify as lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgendered, questioning, or queer. We love them and we hope the best for them. But we know of no compelling arguments for forsaking our church’s understanding of Scripture and the teachings of the church universal.

And then please hear me when I say as graciously as I can: we Africans are not children in need of western enlightenment when it comes to the church’s sexual ethics. We do not need to hear a progressive U.S. bishop lecture us about our need to “grow up.”

Let me assure you, we Africans, whether we have liked it or not, have had to engage in this debate for many years now. We stand with the global church, not a culturally liberal, church elite, in the U.S.”

Methodist schism, by Dale M. Coulter, First Things:

“The intense debates also demonstrated that both coalitions desire an integral church, which binds doctrine, morality, and polity into a coherent framework that supports a clear mission. However, they have diverse interpretations of Wesley’s emphasis on perfect love. Progressive-centrists see love as a mission to bring about full inclusion through social justice, while evangelical-internationals fuse it with biblical fidelity and holiness of heart.”

Also: United Methodists reject call to embrace homosexual clergy and same-sex weddings, by Joe Carter, The Gospel Coalition

How faithful Africans saved the United Methodist Church from accepting gay ‘marriage’ by Jonathon Van Maren, LifeSite