Statement on Judicial Council Ruling

EXECUTIVE TEAM STATEMENT ON JUDICIAL COUNCIL DECISION 1378
by Rev. Frank Wolf, chair
The Judicial Council of The United Methodist Church has released its highly anticipated ruling on the constitutionality of the so-called Traditionalist Plan passed by the 2019 Special General Conference. While many of us had hoped that the entire plan would be ruled unconstitutional, the Judicial Council took the middle road of determining that some parts of the plan conformed with our denominational constitution while other parts did not.

 In brief, the Council:

• Ruled that several of the original and amended provisions of the plan were uncon-
  stitutional (Petitions 90033, 90034, 90035, 90037, 90038, 90039, 90040, and parts of
  90045);

• Affirmed that the following petitions were constitutional and would therefore become church law:

  1. Petition 90032, which expands the definition of “self-avowed practicing homosexual;”

     1. Petition 90036, which prohibits bishops from commissioning or ordaining eldersand deacons or consecrating bishops who have been judged to be self-avowed homosexuals;

     2. Petition 90042, which mandates harsh penalties for clergy convicted of performing ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions or solemnize same-sex weddings

     3. Petition 90043, which prohibits District Committees and Conference Boards of Ordained Ministry from approving persons for certification, licensing, commissioning, or ordination, when these persons are found, upon mandatory examination, to be self-avowed practicing homosexuals;

     4. Petition 90044, which requires that information concerning the dismissal of complaints against clergy persons or bishops be shared with those who are making the complaints;

     5. Petition 90045 (in part), which requires that just resolutions to complaints against bishops and other clergy persons shall state “all identified harms” and describe how those harms will be addressed by the Church and other parties to the complaints;

     6. Petition 90046, which requires that the complainants against bishops or other clergy persons be part of any just resolution process and that every effort be made to obtain a complainant’s agreement to the resolution of the complaint before that resolution goes into effect;

     7. Petition 90047, which gives the Church the right to appeal to the Committee on Appeals and then to the Judicial Council if it determines that a trial court made egregious errors of church law or administration; and

• Affirmed the constitutionality of the Disaffiliation Petition 90066, which provides procedures for local churches to leave the denomination, as long as:

  1. The disaffiliation resolution receives a 2/3 majority vote of the professing members present and voting at a duly called church conference;

     1. The terms and conditions of the local church’s departure are established by the Conference Board of Trustees; and

     2. The disaffiliation agreement is ratified by a simple majority vote of the members present and voting at a session of the Annual Conference.

While disappointing, none of this is particularly surprising. The Judicial Council’s role is not to make law, but merely to interpret and evaluate the rules and policies passed by the General Conference. In this, the Council simply did its job. It’s clearly not an “activist court.”

The General Conference constitutes our biggest problem and our most pressing concern. Whatever decision the Judicial Council might have made, we would have still be forced to deal with the fact that the General Conference has for many decades been moving in an increasingly conservative and judgmental direction, particularly on matters related to sexual orientation and gender identity. In this regard, St. Louis was simply the next logical step in a well-coordinated and well-funded right-wing campaign to manipulate the General Conference into making the Church even more exclusive than it already was!

And yet, we must be clear that there was more to what happened at the General Conference than a mere setback in the struggle to make the Church more inclusive.

By passing the “Traditionalist Plan,” the General Conference has removed any realistic hope that LGBTQIA+ persons will ever find a safe and authentic spiritual home in The United Methodist Church, at least not in its current configuration. The powers of exclusion have effectively seized control of the Church. In spite of cynical protestations to the contrary, these advocates have made it abundantly clear that LGBTQIA+ persons and their allies will neither be welcomed nor loved in the new denominational entity they are creating.

Against this backdrop of apparent defeat, it is more important than ever for United Methodist Christians of good faith to resist the efforts of those who would substitute rigid (and ultimately unbiblical) tests of orthodoxy and purity for the inclusive gospel of transformative grace that has long served as the theological and ecclesiastical lodestone of our Wesleyan Christian movement.

As the Apostle Paul reminds us, “our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places.” (Eph. 6:12) The goal of these powers and principalities is nothing short of the evisceration of the Gospel. If possible they would commandeer even the Church in their efforts to preserve their power, wealth, and privilege.

That is why we must double down in our efforts to create a different kind of faith community... a community of inclusion rather than exclusion, of grace rather than judgment, of justice for all rather than privilege for a few, of abundance rather than scarcity, of sharing rather than hoarding and coveting, of peacemaking rather than violence, of vibrant prophecy rather than stagnant orthodoxy, of equality rather than dominance and submission, of hope rather than despair. We do this, trusting that we follow a God of resurrection, whose loving ascendancy over the powers and principalities of hatred and fear is assured.

Many around our UM Connection are gathering to discern next steps in the face of our current reality, and we encourage all of you to take part when and where you are able to do so. However, wherever you find yourself participating, we encourage you to remain strong in the faith that the God of resurrection goes with you in your struggles for justice and wholeness for all. The struggle for justice is intersectional, as Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded us: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (Letter from Birmingham Jail).

So, even as we engage in the crucial struggle for the full inclusion of LGBTQIA+ persons at all levels of the Church’s life and ministry, may we also commit to struggle for a Church that repents of its sinful participation in ideologies and structures that perpetuate injustice and oppression of any sort.

May we turn from our flirtation with the powers and principalities so that together we might build a world free from the scourges of white supremacy, racism, patriarchy, ableism, greed, poverty, classism, violence, militarism, colonialism, xenophobia, and all other forms of oppression and injustice.

It is the intention of WMJM to sponsor an event in the fall where we might pull together the many ideas and plans for dreaming a new church. Watch for more information in our newsletter and website.

Rev. Frank Wulf is Lead Pastor, Echo Park United Methodist Church, California-Pacific Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church; Chair, Western Methodist Justice Movement Leadership Team; Co-Convener, Love Your Neighbor Coalition