Last weekend, I joined our confirmation retreat along with 14 seventh and eighth graders. Our teens asked great questions like “why is our denomination splitting up?”   I felt drawn to the whiteboard and with help from Faith Friend Dr. Michael Stephens I drew a timeline of church splits: Christianity from Judaism 45AD, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox 1054, Protestant Reformation 1517, Methodism 1730, Baptist, Anglicans, Freewill, church of God,  Methodist Episcopal Church North and South 1844 (our youth shrieked with horror when realizing that Belmont’s spiritual ancestors once stood with the oppressors), Pentecostal, non-denominational, independent, and since 2019 as before the Civil War the UMC is in a slow motion schism. Since 2019, 9677 churches or about ⅓ of US churches have closed or disaffiliated. Ironically the leaders and churches that pushed for and passed the exclusionary 2019 Tradition Plan are the very churches now leaving.  

Looking towards the why, Phd Michael Stephen shared that when regional or local churches in places like Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Jerusalem, Antioch, and Rome pulled together a canon of Biblical books, the church decided to include four gospels instead of one.  Matthew, Mark, Luke and John each came from a different Christian community that loved that particular Gospel. Have you noticed how each Gospel has differences in style, emphasis, order, phrases, places and stories? Matthew begins with Joseph, Luke with Mary, Mark with John the Baptist, and John begins with “in the beginning the Word…” Each writer’s Easter differs a bit too: Joanna or Susana, Galilee or Jerusalem!  Now the church could have argued for one cleaner definitive storyline but instead decided to accept all four Gospels as authentic witnesses of the good news of Jesus Christ. That’s a really big deal. The church was saying we don’t have to see it all the same way to stay together. The early Christians began by honoring our differences.  In Philippians 3 Paul shares “but  if you think differently about anything, this, too, God will reveal to you.”  In some way each church fracture arises from our collective inability to honor differences in how we see Jesus. Sometimes we don’t look for God who might be working with “the other side”.   Still, it breaks my heart that some of the churches I once pastored, do not believe they can affiliate or share ministry with me or Belmont .  

 When the Methodist Church merged with the Evangelical United Brethren instead narrowing ourselves to one Theological statement, we accepted both the Methodist  Articles of Religion and the EUB Confession of Faith. I am glad we did, because I prefer the Confession of Faith’s statement that the Bible “reveals the Word of God”. When leaving my childhood literalism, I found a home in the UMC. I love that we open the Bible and discover the Word of God through community, tradition, reason, our experiences, and the presence of the Holy Spirit. 30 years ago the UMC made room for me when while I was unsure what I believed about infant baptism, bishops, and the Bible. I did not know what the church year was and opposed clergy deployment by episcopal appointment!  Will we make some room in our hearts for other Christians who see Jesus a little differently than we do?

On Monday 862 delegates from all over the world will gather in Charlotte NC. Many with links to Belmont, Rev Greg Berquest, John Pearce, Rev. Marie King, Rev. Jefferson Furtado, Patty Delbovi, Rachel Hagewood and others.  The 862 delegates will consider over 1100 pieces of legislation translated into 5 different official languages. They will debate, worship, hear addresses, wade through reports and pass painful budget reductions. All that needs to be done in 11 days. Let us pray that after a wave of disaffiliation the delegates can begin to rebuild trust and work together to make a way forward so that we might begin living into our mission of “making disciples for the transformation of the world”.     

Let us pray that the delegates remove the harmful exclusionary language and allow churches like Belmont to do ministry in keeping with our understanding of who Jesus is.  We look to Article 4 of the UMC Constitution: “that all persons are of sacred worth.” We understand our baptismal vows call us to resist injustice, evil and oppression inherent in treating gay members differently than straight members in regards to marriage and ordination. We need the church to allow us to live out our faith as we understand it.  But if we feel a bit theologically smug, maybe a long look at the name Methodist Episcopal Church South on our northernmost entrance might preach patience for those God has not led where we are yet.  

I am praying that our delegates adopt a regionalization plan that removes the US as the center of the church, creating equality, decolonization, and freedom for each region to contextualize ministry for their area. This would allow the US region to be as free as our African Churches to contextualize parts of our Discipline. We would be united but not expect uniform ministry.

We do not know what will happen in Charlotte over the next 12 days. But Belmont has set our course becoming A Reconciling Church in 2017.  Because we do not know what will happen in Charlotte, we can not know exactly how to respond. I am hopeful in two weeks Belmont has reasons to rejoice, but if we find ourselves lamenting let us leave room for reason, experience, tradition, the Holy Spirit, justice and Love to guide us. If we find ourselves lamenting, God may be calling us into greater ecclesiastical disobedience or even bolder options.  A global church with 862 delegates considering 1000 pieces of legislation in 5 languages in 11days may not get as much done as we wish. No matter what happens we will be okay if we stay in love with God, love each other, and keep our baptismal vows “like resisting injustice and oppression” and “surrounding each other with love and forgiveness”.    

What if our family, denomination, or state tells us we can’t be who we believe God is calling us to be? What if the denomination says, Belmont should not live into its understanding of faith and mission? I thought of some ideas and scriptures about Jesus and Love.

1. Lament. Luke writes in Chapter 19, “As Jesus came to the (capital) city (Jerusalem) and observed it, Jesus wept over it and said, “(Jerusalem, Jerusalem) If only you knew on this of all days the things that lead to peace. But now they are hidden from your eyes.” Lament- lamenting lets us get in touch with our deepest, most holy and most human feelings. Anger flashes hot- but held too long burns us up.  

2. Naming our lament and we may need to be angry. In Mark 3 Jesus faces a church that excluded and judged people Mark reports “ Jesus was looking around at them with anger, deeply grieved at their unyielding hearts.”  

3. Jesus may be calling us to flip over some tables. (Matt 21)

4. There are always reasons to raise our voices for justice. In Matthew 23, Jesus calls out church leaders for the whole chapter: “How terrible it will be for you legal experts… You shut people out of the kingdom of heaven. You won’t allow people who want to enter to enter.”  We must speak up.  

5. In Matthew 10. As Jesus sends out the 12 in groups of two to make disciples and bring healing, Jesus says “If anyone refuses to welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet as you leave that house or city.”  If we are not welcomed, if the church can’t hear our cry, then at some point we must move on. Did you notice how the disciples ritualized the moment by shaking the dust off shoes as they take a new path?   After lamenting, speaking, and flipping over tables God might lead us to shake the dust off our feet.  But if we do so without deep prayer and honest discernment we may simply add one more splinter to a fractured church and sew division into our divided nation- that likely needs us to stick together.  

No matter how we respond to the next 12 days or this election year , Paul cautions “If possible, to the best of your ability, live at peace with all people… (and) Don’t be defeated by evil, but defeat evil with good.” (Romans 12) Rev. Dr King loved this verse, and referenced it while speaking about the ends not justifying any means. King argued the means are the ends in the making. If we depart in anger instead of peace, we will plant the seeds of anger wherever we go.  If we demonize our opponents, we may find the demons follow us home.  If we judge others severely, we become judges separated from grace and compassion. So let us be people who practice love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control so that wherever God plants us the seeds of grace grow up around us. (Galatians 3)

I often think of the words of Paul, I am grateful for my childhood literalistic denomination for that. Paul knew something about rejection, once being left for dead after a crowd tried to stone him to death. (Acts 14)  I hope we do not need this encouragement from 2 Corinthains 4 in the next 12 days, but they are here for us:  “We have this treasure in clay pots so that the awesome power belongs to God and doesn’t come from us. We are experiencing all kinds of trouble, but we aren’t crushed. We are confused, but we aren’t depressed. We are harassed, but we aren’t abandoned. We are knocked down, but we aren’t knocked out. We always carry Jesus’ death around in our bodies so that Jesus’ life can also be seen in our bodies… We have the same faithful spirit as what is written in scripture… we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus, and God will bring us into God’s presence along with you. …So we aren’t depressed. But even if our bodies are breaking down on the outside, the person that we are on the inside is being renewed every day…”

Carrie Underwood put it like this

Sometimes it takes a lot of faith

To keep believing there will come a day

When the tears and the sadness, the pain and the hate

The struggle, this madness, will all fade away, yeah

I, I believe you and me are sisters and brothers

And I, I believe we’re made to be here for each other

And we’ll never fall if we walk hand in hand

Put a world that seems broken together again

Yeah I, I believe in the end love wins

God is with us;  we know Who loves, holds us and forgives us- So be faithful, do not be afraid, and know in the end Love wins. Amen