PORTLAND, Ore. (RNS) The second-largest Protestant denomination in the United States denied rumors that it is seriously considering a proposal to split over divergent views on the full inclusion of LGBT members.
Bishop Bruce Ough, president of the Council of Bishops, responded to rumors Tuesday (May 17) morning saying the bishops are only discussing “new structures.”
“We limited our conversations to pretty high level conceptual ideas,” he said, speaking at a press conference during the United Methodist Church’s General Conference.
He acknowledged that legislation has been proposed that would allow regional conferences to have an exit strategy.
But he said a number of ideas had been floated in legislation that’s before the conference now and he’s not surprised they’ve gotten attention.
“It’s quite dramatic, but there was a full range of ideas that were on the table,” Ough said.
A proposal to split the church was reported in a video posted late Monday (May 16) to the Reconciling Ministries Network Facebook page. Reconciling Ministries is a network of Methodist congregations, groups and individuals advocating for the full inclusion of the denomination’s LGBT members.
The new plan reportedly would call a special session of the General Conference in 2018 in which “a plan of separation will be moved forward,” Love Your Neighbor Coalition coordinator Steve Clunn said in the video, recorded at a gathering that night for about 300 coalition volunteers.
Coalition members, including Reconciling Ministries, are working to create a “just, inclusive and grace filled” denomination for all Methodists, including its LGBT members.
The special session would include the same delegates who are at this year’s General Conference, which regularly meets every four years, according to Clunn. In the meantime, there would be a moratorium on any church action against LGBT clergy, he said.
Coalition leaders had been alerted to the proposal just before the gathering by “friends of the movement” who want to remain anonymous, according to Julia Frisbie, coalition communicator. They have not yet taken a stance on it, Frisbie said, though the coalition has been opposed to a schism in the church.
“We don’t think splintering the church will solve its problems,” she said.
The coalition is waiting to hear details on the plan and for bishops to take leadership on it, she said. Meantime, its plans for the conference haven’t changed.
“We are skeptical about this at this point. The pieces are not planned out,” Clunn said to loud murmurs from the people present at the meeting.
But, he said, the Love Your Neighbor Coalition also would want the General Conference to table all legislation regarding LGBT inclusion until that special session.
“I think there are mixed reactions. On the one hand, how exciting would it be for church trials to stop? On the other hand, we’re fearful of any discussions that happen behind closed doors,” Frisbie said.
Delegates are set to consider more than 100 pieces of legislation regarding human sexuality.
The denomination does not ordain practicing LGBT clergy, nor does it allow its clergy to perform same-sex weddings. Its Book of Discipline calls the practice of homosexuality “incompatible with Christian teaching.”
In its first week, delegates at the General Conference voted down a rule that would have allowed them to discuss contentious legislation in small groups, which some had hoped would change the tenor of conversations about LGBT inclusion. Protests also briefly halted Monday’s plenary session, and other actions leading up to the conference brought attention to the tension in the denomination, including letters from 111 clergy who came out as openly LGBT and 1,500 clergy who pledged support for their colleagues.
A spokesperson for the United Methodist Church said there would be a response Tuesday (May 17) at the General Conference.
by Emily McFarlan Miller
