Does the Latest Plan of Separation Pass Constitutional Muster?

There's a lot of news circulating around the upcoming split of The United Methodist Church since a plan and a press release hit the internet today.  As a delegate to the General Conference of The United Methodist Church, I wanted to briefly weigh in on what is being said.

I wonder if this is what we look like to the rest of the world?

The plan is a general outline and is not legislation which should give more specifics.  Even when we see the actual legislation, it may be amended at General Conference.

This is one plan among a wide variety of plans of separation to be considered at General Conference in May.  It may gain traction to be examined first but it may not have the votes to pass.  If it doesn't pass, other plans will be scrutinized.  It is possible that no plans of separation will pass.  

This plan will be submitted to the Judicial Council of The United Methodist Church so that they can consider whether or not it is in line with the Constitution (currently paragraphs 1-61) of the Book of Discipline.  If not, it requires a greater threshold to enact:

"¶ 59. Article I.—Amendments to the Constitution shall be made upon a two-thirds majority of the General Conference present and voting and a two-thirds affirmative vote of the aggregate number of members of the several annual conferences present and voting,"

So not only would it require the General Conference to pass it by 2/3, but it would then go to all of the Annual Conferences across the globe for a 2/3 ratification.  If this is the case, it would likely not be enacted until 2021.

If it does pass as we see it outlined, what would the Oklahoma Conference do?

Would it vote to become a part of the new Traditionalist denomination or would it remain within The United Methodist Church?  It is unlikely that we would consider it at the 2020 Annual Conference in May since it would occur so soon after General Conference.  We would likely consider either constitutional amendments if needed or a decision on denominational affiliation sometime in November of 2020 at a special called session.  If Oklahoma seeks to go to the new Traditionalist denomination (assuming legislation passes as proposed), it would need a 57% threshold for approval by all of the clergy and laity members of the Oklahoma Annual Conference.

After a determination is made, local churches may then choose to vote if they don't like the way the annual conference voted.  If they largely approve of the decision of the annual conference, no vote is required.

While we wait to see actual legislation on this, we do have the proposals from other plans of separation.  Many of them try to operate outside of the constitution which is easier to pass.  However, I'm not sure any separation legislation is currently constitutional.

In the preamble to the Constitution, the Discipline states, "The church of Jesus Christ exists in and for the world, and its very dividedness is a hindrance to its mission in that world."

Article Six then reiterates this thought:

"¶ 6. Article VI. Ecumenical Relations—As part of the church universal, The United Methodist Church believes that the Lord of the church is calling Christians everywhere to strive toward unity; and therefore it will pray, seek, and work for unity at all levels of church life: through world relationships with other Methodist churches and united churches related to The Methodist Church or The Evangelical United Brethren Church, through councils of churches, and through plans of union and covenantal relationships with churches of Methodist or other denominational traditions."

While this may not be enough to keep a plan of separation from taking effect, it also could be.  It depends upon how the Judicial Council rules.

As a systems theory thinker, I don't believe it is helpful to hold someone in relationship that doesn't have a sense of mutuality about the covenant.  But at the same time, I think we should understand the seriousness of separation and stand in repentance if we acknowledge that it is the best way to move forward.  Sometimes a little space may be required for us to work together more closely in the future.

Fragmentation has been a part of church history since its inception.  It is fairly normal when considering the scope of the last two millennia.  But I don't think it is something we should ever take lightly and maybe the seriousness of separation should require a higher threshold of voting.  Maybe it should require annual conferences to weigh in on it.

I do believe that God will continue to work through the various expressions of Methodism that arise from whatever is passed.  But my hope is that we are not merely reflecting the polarization that is spreading through the United States and the world at large.  If that is the case, then we are deluding ourselves that we are separating for missional purposes when the reality is that we have failed to engage in the hard work of loving one another.

Please pray for our leadership and our process!

In Christ,

Sam


Photo by Tambako the Jaguar via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.