What’s Going To Happen in the United Methodist Church? | Looking Forward
From April 23rd through May 3rd, United Methodists from all over the world will converge in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the 2024 General Conference. General Conference is a space where delegates come together to vote on policies that will govern the denomination until they can meet again, shaping the lives of United Methodists worldwide. This is a gathering that has been postponed for the last four years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a lack of equitable internet access for all voting members worldwide. This upcoming conference is the first meeting since the called 2019 General Conference, where the UMC last had a vote about LGBTQ inclusion within the denomination.
While the vote in 2019 left many heartbroken at the outcome of LGBTQ+ inclusion being denied within the UMC, we also recognize that a lot has changed in five years. Since then, the UMC in the United States has seen about a quarter of churches leave and join other denominations due to the anticipation of LGBTQ+ inclusion, including the Global Methodist Church, which is a new non-affirming church split from the UMC. We have also seen LGBTQ+ clergy be ordained in some parts of the country, including the installation of the second openly gay bishop within the denomination.
As you can imagine, there are a lot of mixed feelings about this upcoming conference. From sadness for those who have seen their churches torn apart from these ongoing conversations to celebrations for LGBTQ+ persons who have been ordained despite harmful language in the denominational rules. However, maybe most importantly, there is a flame of hope that maybe this time things will go differently than they did in 2019.
So, for the next few weeks, we will be uplifting the stories of LGBTQ+ United Methodists as they share their experiences, thoughts, and hopes through our Looking Forward Campaign. We invite you to - Read. Pray. Share. - in support of our LGBTQ+ siblings as they look forward to the future of the United Methodist Church and what that may mean not only for the church but also for other LGBTQ+ Christians as they also seek inclusion in other non-affirming spaces.
We launch this campaign today by highlighting the story of Rev. Kipp Nelson, a long-time QCF community member and a United Methodist pastor in Miami, Florida. You can hear his take on the question, “What’s going to happen in the UMC?” by reading more below.
While I do have great hope for what is possible in the upcoming General Conference of the United Methodist Church, the truth is that none of us have any idea what will take place in Charlotte, NC in the coming weeks. We don’t know if the exclusionary rules of our Book of Discipline will be changed or if they will stay the same. There is so much up in the air and so much that remains unpredictable.
And while I do believe the chances of something better happening this year than previous ones is much greater, I continue to hold a deep amount of cautionary discernment for the weight of those changes. If there is anything I have learned throughout my journey in ministry as an openly gay man in the Florida Conference, it is that this work of inclusion and justice is lifelong work. There is no singular conference or meeting that can simply change the landscape of our church and culture. What happens in one General Conference may have great implications on our landscape, but it is up to the people on the ground for how that becomes lived out in real life.
I serve as a pastor in Miami, Florida, and I know the grains of our culture continue to run against us at every angle. I have experienced firsthand the harm of homophobia within the church and know that it isn’t going away in the flip of a switch. The forces of prejudice, ignorance, and hatred continue to live all around us. And although we continue to make strides forward in time, the cultures of prejudice simply don’t disappear even when rules might change.
So, what’s going to happen? Well even though I cannot predict what legislation will come out of this 2024 General Conference, what I can say is that our work remains the same regardless. Our calling continues to be in the work of justice, cultivating inclusive spaces where LGBTQ+ people and all marginalized groups might experience the transformative and healing power of God’s love in community. It is our work to be stewards of the Spirit breathing life into our communities and resisting the forces of harm and division. This is what happens. The work continues. We plant our feet strongly, and we love courageously.
Let us pray:
Eternal God, you are LOVE. We know that you have made us each in, by, and for the sake of love. So, help us to be stewards of your love in all that we do. May we resist all the forces that seek to strip us of that love, and may we do everything in our power to increase and multiply your love in our midst. Let us not be discouraged but be ever renewed in the calling you have bestowed upon us. Holy One, let your love reign in the United Methodist Church and our Christian community at large. Bring about your justice and inclusion in, though, and among us. Amen.
