Any other United Methodists here?

[As The Crow Flies]

Our family is Methodist. Honestly, the church should just go ahead and split.

The One Church Plan was weird, even if it was better than the Traditional Plan. In 2019, it's hard to have a major denomination like UMC co-exist with such a major split on a huge social issue. IMHO, it would be incredibly strange in the U.S. to have some UMC churches that were "gay friendly" and some that weren't.

 

[LanceyHoward]

I think the larger threat would be a schism between the international Methodist church and the church organization in the U.S rather than individual churches leaving. I don't think it will happen, but I know a LOT of churches here in the U.S. are not happy.

The reason that the Anglican church in the U.K. is called the Episcopalian church in the United States is because the church split after the Revolution. The Americans did not want the Archbishop of Canterbury to be the had of their church and adopted a separate governing structure.

 

[LanceyHoward]

Am I confusing the Methodists with the Lutherans in each having conservative and liberal branches?

Nope. It happens in virtually every Protestant churches.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

God calls homosexuality an abomination

Potential translation error in the KJV, which should not surprise you.

http://religiondispatches.org/does-the-bible-really-call-homosexuality-an-abomination/

 

[DanOregon]

Nope. It happens in virtually every Protestant churches.

So is it/was it up to the individual churches to figure out how strict they wanted to be?

 

[Vombatus]

Potential translation error in the KJV, which should not surprise you.

http://religiondispatches.org/does-the-bible-really-call-homosexuality-an-abomination/

I thought the obamanation ran from 2009 to 2017.

 

[Regan MacNeil]

I thought the obamanation ran from 2009 to 2017.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Potential translation error in the KJV, which should not surprise you.

http://religiondispatches.org/does-the-bible-really-call-homosexuality-an-abomination/

Interesting article, thanks.

That’s the other thing about the Bible. It was first written hundreds of years after Jesus died, and has been translated and interpreted multiple times. Which version is supposed to be the true version?

 

[Driftwood]

From what I understand, most of the delegation from my area voted in favor of being more inclusive, and since returning, the majority of the preachers have said they didn't care; if someone wants to come to church, they are welcome.

I'm far from being any kind of advocate. I'm more of a live and let live kind of guy, and I enjoy calling out hypocrites.

Whenever one of the evangelical, Bible-thumping types we have around here starts quoting Leviticus and homosexuality being an abomination, I ask them if they've ever played a garden because the same book they are citing also says not to plant two types of seeds in the same field (along with a dozen or more other nonsensical things). That usually ends the conversation.

 

[Scout]

My family is, and my wife is pissed. I’m at least glad they are talking about it. Talking about it means change will come in time.

How many other churches are even talking about this? Catholics? Lutherans?

 

[Shropshire Slasher]

Interesting article, thanks.

That’s the other thing about the Bible. It was first written hundreds of years after Jesus died, and has been translated and interpreted multiple times. Which version is supposed to be the true version?

The original texts were written in Greek and Hebrew and not in the King's English, much to the chagrin of some. ADD: They were translated into Latin and existed in monasteries for centuries before they were translated again into the vernacular, with lots of opportunities in between for translation discrepancies.

 

[OscarMadison]

My mother is UMC and she is gutted.

On paper, I'm Episcopalian and will go back to church when I find one that doesn't sap my will to live. I miss church. I've seen the purple primates go back and forth on this issue for a long time. It always seems to come down to what the Eastern congregants want. It's tragic that churches in places like Uganda throw fits because a church or two hundred in the US is open to everybody. How dare we?

To that, I say, follow the money. It's a good bet the same hateful movers and shakers who ****stir in the Anglican congos are telling the Methodists over there they got trouble with a capital T.

 

[LanceyHoward]

So is it/was it up to the individual churches to figure out how strict they wanted to be?

It depends. Some Protestant churches have very centralized hierarchies while others are very decentralized. It largely depends on whether at the founding the governance was modeled upon a version of the Catholics Church governance or as a reaction against the Catholic Church. The Methodists are more centralized.

One issue is whether the congregation owns the church or if the governing body does. The governing body owns the Methodist Church so if a local congregation does not follow church policy they can be evicted. Other churches, such as the United Church of Christ, own their own buildings and can leave the central denomination.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

From what I understand, most of the delegation from my area voted in favor of being more inclusive, and since returning, the majority of the preachers have said they didn't care; if someone wants to come to church, they are welcome.

I'm far from being any kind of advocate. I'm more of a live and let live kind of guy, and I enjoy calling out hypocrites.

Whenever one of the evangelical, Bible-thumping types we have around here starts quoting Leviticus and homosexuality being an abomination, I ask them if they've ever played a garden because the same book they are citing also says not to plant two types of seeds in the same field (along with a dozen or more other nonsensical things). That usually ends the conversation.

Heh, I like to ask them if they are football fans and if so, then how can they support the touching of a dead pig’s skin. Then I point out that if they are NFL fans, that they are suporting people working for amusement on the Sabbath.

I usually get the “don’t be ridiculous” reaction.

 

[Azrael]

As is the case with so much of the bible, I'm not sure there's a clear answer in scripture here for folks.

 

[Driftwood]

Unfortunately, the clear answer for people in these parts is cherry pick the parts you like and ignore the rest.

 

[Scout]

I heard this years ago, and it makes more sense to me than anything I have heard in any church. I like the structure and the values that a church gives, but this is the first time that a value has been totally against what we stand for.

 

[TigerVols]

Anyone care to take a stab at explaining to this former Roman Catholic just what the heck the difference is between Methodist, Presbyterian and Baptist?

 

[Shropshire Slasher]

Anyone care to take a stab at explaining to this former Roman Catholic just what the heck the difference is between Methodist, Presbyterian and Baptist?

Here is a rough diagram of how the Christian denominations have branched off over the years: (Naturally there are hundreds of them, so to list them all would take pages and pages.)

 

[Vombatus]

From what I understand, most of the delegation from my area voted in favor of being more inclusive, and since returning, the majority of the preachers have said they didn't care; if someone wants to come to church, they are welcome.

I'm far from being any kind of advocate. I'm more of a live and let live kind of guy, and I enjoy calling out hypocrites.

Whenever one of the evangelical, Bible-thumping types we have around here starts quoting Leviticus and homosexuality being an abomination, I ask them if they've ever played a garden because the same book they are citing also says not to plant two types of seeds in the same field (along with a dozen or more other nonsensical things). That usually ends the conversation.

I thought that meant no interracial sex. ???