The Watercourse FLUME - Florida United Methodist Evangelicals in the Wesleyan Orthodox Tradition POST-CONFERENCE EDITION JULY 2016 Like Joseph of Arimathea by Rev. Mason Dorsey (Luk 23:50-53 NAU) 50 And a man named Joseph, who was a member of the Council, a good and righteous man 51 (he had not consented to their plan and action), a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom of God; 52 this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53 And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain. It was a quiet act. It had to be quiet. He knew the mood and temper of the Council. He knew how they would respond if they knew what he was doing. But still there was something that had to be done. Though a gross unrighteousness had been done, though the kingdom of God had been attacked, he could do this quiet act. He could do what was righteous and holy and good. It would at least cost him some money and some time. It could have cost him his reputation, his seat on the council, and his business and then his home. Still, he knew what he had to do and that he could not wait to do it. The practice was for those killed as criminals to be buried in an unmarked grave, away from those who were members of the Jewish people. And for one who died on a cross, there was no exception. Joseph of Arimathea knew he could not let that happen. Handing Jesus over to the Romans was a horrible decision that he disagreed with. To bury Him in a grave for thieves when He had worked to usher in the Kingdom of God that Joseph had waited for so long himself, that was something he could change. So quietly, he went to Pilate, asked for Jesus' body and placed it in the tomb. According to John's gospel, his friend Nicodemus helped. As FLUME, we are called to unite the clergy and laity of the Florida Conference around our biblical, Wesleyan heritage. As Joseph did, we will speak in the "Council" helping the Florida Conference see the kingdom of God come one soul at a time. And we are very blessed and thankful for those who have joined with us in doing so from conference laypersons to speakers at FLUME events to churches and seminaries who have sponsored events. Thank you to all of you who have supported us. The Watercourse, July 2016 1
And we will continue to do what is right and holy and loving towards those with whom we agree and those with whom we may disagree. As Joseph honored Jesus, so will we. We will honor Jesus by leading the clergy and laity deeper into relationship with one another through our biblical, Wesleyan heritage. We are thankful for the ministry God has placed before us and for how God continues to lead us deeper in unity with His church. Congratulations, Paulette! At the Spring Meeting of the Board of Lay Ministry, Paulette Monroe was nominated to be our next Conference Lay Leader and was elected by our Florida Annual Conference in June. An attempt to create co-lay Leaders was defeated. Paulette is former President of the Florida Conference United Methodist Women, has served in various offices within the UMW for many years, and still serves with them on the Jurisdictional level. Paulette is married to the Rev. Dr. Walter Monroe, District Superintendent of the South Central District. Paulette is the first African American woman to be the Conference Lay Leader for the Florida Conference! Congratulations, Paulette. We look forward to your experience and leadership over the next four years. Thanks for a great luncheon with Dr. Bill Arnold! Thanks to all of you who supported FLUME by attending our Annual Conference Luncheon on June 16 th. Dr. Arnold shared his thoughts on the General Conference in 2016, and what it might mean for the church now and in the future. It was a great conference for conservative issues, getting us out of the pro-abortion organization known as RCRC, rescinding calls for the church to join the BDS (Ban- Divest-Sanction) movement against Israel and to divest from companies doing business with them. Discussion of the Bishop s Commission and what might happen with that was shared with us as well. We had a great time and very much enjoyed the talk shared with us by Dr. Bill Arnold. Louise Short, General Conference stalwart, dies at 110 Mrs. Louise Short, widow of Bishop Roy H. Short, mother of Rev. (ret.) Riley Short, and grandmother of Rev. Phillip Short, recently passed away at the age of 110. Please see the article by Heather Hahn here. The FLUME Steering Committee passes on our condolences to the entire family. Please know that we are praying for you. The Watercourse, July 2016 2
What is a sound bite? According to dictionary.com, it is a brief, striking remark or statement excerpted from an audiotape or videotape for insertion in a broadcast news story. Over the last few decades, much of our news, interviews and opinions have been reduced to sound bites averaging less than ten seconds. Study, research and usage of impressive or ear-catching terms reduce much of our political, cultural and religious conversation to exchanges of sound bites. We have seen much of this in our current presidential campaigns in both political parties. Sound bites allow superficial thinking to prevail, often on both sides of an issue, with no possibility of resolution in a fair and balanced manner. For example, last year a successful campaign was waged under the sound bite of STAY UNITED. This fear-mongering campaign resulted in suppressing any honest discussion of what would be involved in even considering an amicable separation between wellintentioned orthodox and progressive factions within the United Methodist Church (see our article from our last newsletter, Are Conservatives Trying to Split the Church? ). Similar sound bites can be found when traditionalists call progressives UNCHRISTIAN or UNBIBLICAL. On the other hand, liberals have branded their calls for disobeying the Book of Discipline s forbidding of same-sex marriage celebrations as a BIBLICAL OBEDIENCE campaign, and occasionally refer to conservatives who cannot square same-sex practices with Scriptural authority as simply HATERS. We will try to deal with a couple of these sound bites each month. Submit your ideas to us at info@flumevangelicals.com. United Methodists Form Wesleyan Covenant Association In these times of great uncertainty about the future of The United Methodist Church, we believe it is important for orthodox congregations, clergy, and laity to work together, to support one another, and to encourage each other, said a group of 40 The Watercourse, July 2016 3
United Methodist pastors, theologians, and lay persons in a statement that announces the creation of the Wesleyan Covenant Association (WCA). We long for a church committed to sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the last, the least, and the lost. The Wesleyan Covenant Association represents the very best of our warm-hearted theology and action-oriented spirituality, and will provide support, encouragement, and resourcing for like-minded and like-hearted United Methodists, said the Rev. Jeff Greenway, lead pastor of Reynoldsburg (Ohio) United Methodist Church. During these turbulent times in our denomination, I find this association to be a source of encouragement and hope. The WCA is being launched as a member-based network of United Methodist congregations, clergy, and laity to provide the encouragement we need to stay committed to our rich heritage while standing firm on the non-negotiables that make The United Methodist Church a vital contributor to the Body of Christ, said the Rev. Carolyn Moore, senior pastor of Mosaic United Methodist Church in Evans, Georgia. The Wesleyan Covenant Association (wesleyancovenant.org) will be gathering in Chicago for a one-day conference to promote its goals and welcome new members on October 7, 2016. My fervent prayer is that we will be able to share our witness in ways that will impact the Bishop s Commission on the Future of the Church positively and contribute to the advance of God s Kingdom among the people called Methodists globally, said the Rev. Keith Boyette, pastor of Wilderness Community UM Church in Spotsylvania, Virginia. Those who choose to participate in this great endeavor will be better positioned I believe to embrace a fruitful future regardless of what ultimately occurs within The United Methodist Church. As a young orthodox United Methodist, I am excited about the creation of the Wesleyan Covenant Association as a coalition committed to the authority of God s Holy Word, our Wesleyan heritage, and Holy Spirit empowered revival, said the Rev. Madeline Carrasco Henners, pastor of Luling (Texas) First United Methodist Church. We know that many pastors in many progressive annual conferences feel isolated from their fellow orthodox brothers and sisters. This alliance will help them have their voices heard in matters affecting the unity of the Global Church. The Watercourse, July 2016 4
Clergy and laity across the nation are rightly concerned about the state of The United Methodist Church in the United States, observed the Rev. Jim Cowart, pastor of Harvest UM Church in Byron, Georgia. Although blessed with sound doctrine, a history of personal and social holiness, and a rich heritage, the church seems to have lost its way in the 21st century. The Wesleyan Covenant Association provides us with a wonderful opportunity to gather around the best of what we are with those who are of like commitment to work toward making disciples for the transformation of the world. Christianity was born in a hostile culture. We were born in the Roman empire, that tried to destroy Christianity. And so it s not the culture that s going to determine who we are, it s our faith, said the Rev. Kenneth Levingston, senior pastor of Jones Memorial UM Church in Houston. It s whether or not we re willing to stand up in the culture and love it and still call it to live in a faithful way and a faithful manner with Jesus Christ. General Conference Portland 2016 The General Conference this year in Portland, Oregon was an exciting one. For an overall wrap-up please see the article from the United Methodist News Service. A good summary can also be found on the Florida Conference website. From a conservative point of view, it was a very good General Conference, in that we withdrew from the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (an organization advocating abortion rights under any circumstances), removal of a long-standing resolution to honor the Roe v. Wade decision, defeat of motions to divest from organizations that do business with Israel, as well as an organization that advocates for the BDS movement (Ban-Divest-Sanction Israel). The Plan UMC Revised scheme to reorganize our structure was gutted by a Judicial Council just before the beginning of the Conference. The controversial Rule 44 process to discuss human sexuality was defeated. And all petitions addressing human sexuality were put on hold, pending a study by a special commission to study all references in the Book of Discipline. A special General Conference to discuss only these issues could be called as early as 2018. For reviews and wrap-ups of General Conference from a conservative perspective, see these from Good News, The Confessing Movement, and UM Action/The IRD. Bishops Commission and Schism After some very dramatic moments at General Conference, a scheme to suspend consideration of all petitions regarding human sexuality was approved, pending recommendations by a special Commission to be appointed by the Council of Bishops. Some of these petitions may have easily passed the General Conference and made language in the Book of Discipline even stricter concerning human sexuality issues within the church. It was agreed to suspend all this pending the report and a possible special General Conference. However, all provisions in the current BOD (Book of Discipline) regulating human sexuality were to remain in force and everyone was asked to abide by current rules. Nevertheless, annual conferences have since The Watercourse, July 2016 5
passed resolutions to disobey these provisions of the BOD. Conference Boards of Ordained Ministry have issued statements that they will not consider sexual preference or identification for candidates for ordained ministry. The New York Annual Conference has already ordained one elder and commissioned others who are in non-compliance with BOD ethics. The Western Jurisdiction has nominated three homosexual candidates for bishop, and there is one other candidate in the North Central Jurisdiction. How will all this end? For a good backgrounder page on these issues, see the discussions and links at http://www.umc.org/topics/topic-humansexuality-homosexuality. In the meanwhile, please pray for the United Methodist Church! Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference next week The General and Jurisdictional Conference Delegates you elected in 2015 will all be heading to Lake Junaluska, North Carolina for the Southeastern Jurisdiction Conference next week. The primary business of the Conference is to elect new bishops to replace the five bishops who are retiring. There will be a total of eleven bishops being elected in the United States this month (see this helpful article). You can find much good information on the SEJ website at http://sejumc.org/2016sejconf. The ADCA, or Advanced Christian Daily Advocate, can be downloaded from that page, and you will find links there as well for the schedule, for live streaming of the Conference, and for information on the 13 current Episcopal Nominees. Quadrennial Leadership Training This event was held for all conference leaders, clergy and lay, who will be involved with Conference ministry areas beginning July 1, 2016. Training was held at St. Luke s UMC in Orlando on June 25, 2016. We had two sessions with Dr. Lovett Weems, renowned author, professor and Director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership. He has shared with us a video lesson and PowerPoint slides for both sessions (start here, and then go here). In the first session, Connecting Leadership and Vision, he notes that Mission and Vision statements make very little difference in churches, and in annual conferences. In churches, we have different program and ministry areas, while in annual conferences, there are different departments and ministries. What we should be doing is thinking the Whole before the Parts. After all, we are the BODY of Christ, and not just the BODY PARTS of Christ. Conference Leaders should see themselves as stewards of the United Methodist witness in the Florida Conference. In the second session, Dr. Weems showed how we are declining, both in the size of our congregations and in our Professions of Faith. There are some interesting slides in that session to look over. The Watercourse, July 2016 6
However, the important thing is to remember what our Mission is all about. Our Conference Mission is simply: To increase the number of vital congregations effective in making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. We should do this utilizing our Wesleyan understanding of salvation and faith, therefore making dynamic versus static plans. If we are all tied into the same mission, basically making disciples of Jesus, and saw that percolating downward into all of our work and ministries, we might have better results. While success is not a biblical concept, fruitfulness is! Bishop Carter will be co-leading the Conference Table with our new Conference Lay Leader, and will begin to implement this understanding in the years to come. Bishop s Town Hall Meetings Bishop Carter has announced four Town Hall Meetings to be held around the state the third week of September. The purpose of these meetings is to: Call for Unity Have A Time for Questions and Answers Give Highlights of Key Future Initiatives We everyone interested in the future of our churches, annual conference and the denomination to attend one of these meetings and learn what is on the horizon for all of us. These meetings will be held during the evening hours with some light refreshments at the following dates and locations: Tuesday, September 20 > Trinity UMC, Gainesville Thursday, September 22 > St. Luke s UMC, Orlando Sunday, September 25 > Christ UMC, Fort Lauderdale Monday, September 26 > Grace UMC, Cape Coral Please register in advance at: https://florida-reg.brtapp.com/townhall. The Watercourse, July 2016 7