The General Conference (GC) met in a plenary session today to take action on the work of the legislative committee of a whole from yesterday.
The short story is that the body passed the timeline for Central Conferences for the implementation of the decisions made and the petitions submitted by Wespath Benefits (the retirement group for UMs) concerning ministerial pensions.
We heard a report from the Judicial Council on the constitutionality of the petitions passed in yesterday’s legislative session. It was a mixed bag, and several provisions of the Traditional Plan were deemed unconstitutional. These will need to be adjusted.
The One Church Plan (OCP) was presented as a minority report, and a motion was made to substitute this plan as the primary plan, which was defeated.
The Traditional Plan was finally discussed and passed after a lengthy debate and amendment process.
The biggest takeaway for me was the spirit that prevailed in the GC. This is the first General Conference I have observed, and I come away with a very heavy heart.
Once the debate started today in earnest, progressives and centrists (supporter of the OCP) criticized traditionalists of being mean-spirited and lacking in love. From what I witnessed I didn’t understand this accusation. A delegate from the Oklahoma conference mentioned similar experiences.
I can’t speak to everything, I didn’t hear the speeches the foreign delegates who spoke in their native language, I understand the live-stream audience heard the translation. I also do not know what was said in some Twitter threads or Facebook feeds.
Many OCP supporters were sitting in my area, and they openly cheered and booed and shouted at various times signaling their relative mood. It was kind of like experiencing a live and in-person Facebook thread filled with rants and negative emojis.
At this point, I felt physically ill and left the conference. I hold to a traditional view of Scripture and do my best to live in that manner, I don’t consider that to be mean or unloving, but in the eyes of some, I am. Why is it when I voice my convictions I am branded as mean, but when those who disagree with me do the same, they are merely stating their opinion. I confess I don’t understand.
Many people who support the OCP or other similar plans wore rainbow stoles, and many wore buttons touting the OPC along with another button which had the word Schism on it in a circle with a red line through it. No doubt this was to criticize the Wesleyan Covenant Association which had begun working on a contingency plan for withdrawing in the OCP passed.
It was amazing to me, that those who supported the OPC talked of leaving the UMC if the Traditional plan passed. That seems a little hypocritical to me. Even two centrist pastors of very large churches (one a retired pastor) mentioned they would lead their church in that direction.
Right now, my emotions are all over the map, I am sad, disgusted, angry and hurt and what transpired today. I am sure that many who witnessed the events online experienced some of the same emotions. Maybe this is just what happens in large organizations when important issues are discussed, I just never saw how the sausage was made before – don’t think I want to again.
I want to commend our Alabama – West Florida delegation for the work they did. I could leave when things turned ugly, they could not. They will be in my prayers as they try to decompress after this conference.