The news from Portland at the recently concluded General Conference of our denomination is mostly good, from the perspective of orthodox, biblical United Methodists! Here is a short list of the notable decisions made.
- We successfully completed the “Imagine No Malaria” campaign, raising over $75 million to eradicate this deadly disease in Africa.
- The denomination made decisive moves toward a more pro-life stance, withdrawing from the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, and voting down an attempt to reaffirm support for Roe v Wade (the federal court decision legalizing abortion).
- The denomination withdrew from an anti-Israel lobbying group and refused to divest or boycott companies that do business with Israel.
While none of the legislation to strengthen our stance for a compassionate, biblical position vis-a-vis homosexuality made it to the floor of the conference, many petitions were approved by legislative committees by strong majorities. In an effort to avoid a division of the church, the General Conference approved a suggestion from the Council of Bishops to form a commission to discuss and study the matter and return with legislation at a special called General Conference in 2018 or 2019. But with the growth of the UMC in places like Africa (where UMs are conservative and evangelical), our denomination will continue to become more orthodox and evangelical. Whatever is suggested by this special commission will have to be passed by a more conservative General Conference, so the likelihood for a liberalizing of our positions is extremely unlikely.
Our own Karl Baumgardner was there in Portland for the first week, helping with the prayer ministry, so if you have any questions, see Karl for his perspective!
Our prayers have been answered, but we need to continue them! The coming few years are critical for restoring the United Methodist Church to its orthodox, Wesleyan roots.
Blessings,
Pastor Glen