![]() ![]() ![]() One of the earliest played out in North Carolina, home to 1 out of every 13 U.S. The debate kept resurfacing-every four years at the General Conference, and in local skirmishes too. The conference did pass the measure, but only after adding a statement calling homosexuality “incompatible with Christian teaching.” That language remains in effect today. “If this in any way gives them a license to continue in their activities of preying upon the young men of our community,” said one, “I want it eliminated.” Some delegates, responding to popular stereotypes, reacted with outrage. That year, a committee floated a measure affirming the “sacred worth” of gays and lesbians and advocating for their civil rights. No modern issue has roiled the Church so much as homosexuality, which Methodists started debating at their 1972 legislative session, the General Conference. “And sometimes it’s just 40 years too late.” Amelia Stinson-Wesley, pastor at Memorial United Methodist Church in Charlotte. “Sometimes it’s prophetic,” said the Rev. It has steadfastly opposed the death penalty and maintained a “ reluctant” support for abortion rights, peppered with caveats. Church is 94 percent white) and condemned America’s involvement in Vietnam as a “crime against humanity” while supporting both resisters and enlistees. It cleaved over slavery opposed sweatshops and child labor sparred over desegregation (the U.S. The Methodist movement is sometimes called “America’s church” because of how closely it mirrors the fault lines and contradictions that permeate our culture. Regional conferences across the United States are grappling with the denomination’s stances on same-sex marriage and the ordination of lesbian and gay clergy. Here and in top image: United Methodists from Western North Carolina gather for their 2022 annual conference. He wondered that Sunday, as he wonders often, how long his flock will continue to worship in the same building-how long the “United” in their name will hold. And if we do not stay United Methodist, then I will be leaving.’” “And I’ve got those that are just as determined, saying, ‘I will not be a part of a traditional orthodox congregation. “I’ve got those who are adamant about, ‘I don’t want to be a part of an apostate church, and right now I feel like I am,’” Fitzgerald said. They are, in other words, a cross-section of Methodists, bracing for a high-stakes conversation that they managed to avoid until 2022. But Wesley Memorial’s 400 members span the gamut, the minister said, “from almost flaming progressive to dang near fundamentalist.” For theologically homogenous churches, the direction might be clear. Or they can choose not to decide, and remain in the UMC by default. A group of traditionalists made the break this spring, launching a new denomination called the Global Methodist Church.Ĭongregations like Fitzgerald’s now need to pick a side. Each side has accused the other of dishonesty and political maneuvering-a cycle of mutual recrimination.Īs the rancor dragged on, it became evident that one side needed to leave. But a sizable number of clergy and laypeople rejected the position as harmful and un-Christlike, and the long-running dispute has triggered church trials, civil disobedience, and mass arrests. The UMC reaffirmed and even toughened that stance in 2019. What began as a one-way “information session” had turned into a jagged debate over the issue that has consumed Methodists everywhere.įor decades, the United Methodist Church (UMC), America’s largest mainline Protestant denomination, has taken a hard line against same-sex marriage and the ordination of non-celibate lesbians and gay men. ![]() A debilitating stroke, he feared, could take all that off the table.įitzgerald knew the reason his blood pressure had spiked: a meeting that afternoon in the church fellowship hall that exposed his congregation’s long-standing but unspoken divisions. He thought about his plans for retirement: hunting deer, fishing for flounder, traveling to disaster zones in a tiny camper to volunteer his labor. Then he reached for the blood-pressure monitor that he keeps on a nearby table.Ĭhris, this is stroke territory, the 65-year-old pastor said to himself as the black numbers flashed against a gray background. He drove home, poured himself a glass of tea, and tried to calm himself with deep breathing. Chris Fitzgerald walked out of Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church in Statesville on May 1 feeling like he was about to explode. If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 9-8-8. ![]()
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