Due to COVID-19, the United Methodist Church has put itself on hold during what was already a tense situation. The 2016 General Conference of the UMC established, for the first time, that the Council of Bishops would propose ways of dealing with the issue of homosexuality and same-sex marriage in the church. Several plans for rejection, acceptance, and dual-conferencing options were created, and a special session of the general conference was set for 2019. That conference voted very closely to reject same-sex marriage in the UMC. The vote was split almost evenly between the American representatives who were in favor of blessing same-sex couples, and international representatives, particularly from Africa, who support traditional views on marriage.
It seemed strange to many why, then, conservative Methodists would be the ones to propose splitting from the UMC in its wake. There was an announcement made at the beginning of 2020 about a mutually agreed upon plan from various parties to allow conservative congregations to leave the UMC with their properties amicably and form a new denomination – nobody wanted the UMC to become The Episcopal Church (TEC) embroiled with battles against the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) over property. This plan was set to be discussed and voted on at the 2020 General Conference, which was canceled because of the pandemic. For the first time in its existence, the UMC had to postpone the general conference, initially for only a year, but as 2021 continued on, the general conference was postponed again to late 2022.
The reason for this proposed split, and the reason why conservatives were the ones to push for it, is due to very wide theological and cultural differences within the UMC. It had been a joke for decades that the United Methodist Church is not very united at all in reality. There have always been groups at opposite theological ends and groups at opposite liturgical ends. Those two, interestingly, can often be connected. Part of the result has been that there is not much in the way of doctrine in the UMC and there is an increasing sense that there is also a lack of discipline, ironic for the denomination that calls its principal book, The Book of Discipline. Annual Conferences (similar to dioceses) of the UMC have begun to officiate same-sex weddings and ordain openly homosexual clergy, including bishops, in direct contradiction to The Book of Discipline. There has appeared to be very little appetite to punish these measures, perhaps because doing so might ostracize entire conferences of the denomination. It has also become clear that the more liberal factions have no interest in giving up their fight, leading conservative groups to want to separate.
The groups leading this effort to break away and form the proposed “Global Methodist Church” fit into a more evangelical and often low-church category. This is actually in keeping with many of the denominations who have broken away from the Methodist Church in the past, like the Church of the Nazarene, Wesleyan Church, and Free Methodist Church, for example. Perhaps one difference is that the groups pushing this effort, like the Wesleyan Covenant Association, are not necessarily driven by a “newer” spirituality, like the sort of Holiness or Pentecostal spiritualities that propelled the previously mentioned churches out of Methodism. The current movement instead wants to preserve what it sees as being the Methodist Church from theological liberalism.
I assess that the result will leave a lot of Methodists around the world feeling left out or spiritually homeless. The new Global Methodist Church may adhere to more consistent doctrine and enforce discipline more strictly, but it is also very likely to embrace low-church Evangelicalism as the primary route of worship and belief. In this regard, it may not come to look very different than Baptist or perhaps Presbyterian churches. The United Methodist Church will continue on with its current hymnal and Book of Worship, but its theological trajectory will be unhindered in its path on theological liberalism. Yet the likely geography of where the UMC will continue probably means that it will maintain liturgical elements of the Mainline Protestant tradition. It will begin to look like The Episcopal Church.
Problems will arise, mostly for the laity, but also for congregations and clergy. Unlike the Episcopal/ACNA split, the UMC's split will also carry liturgical as well as spiritual differences along with its theological differences that will not fall neatly for Methodists. What happens to those Methodists who are neither spiritually evangelical nor progressive? What happens to those Methodists who appreciate both liturgy and sound doctrine and discipline? What happens to the Methodists who actually want to pursue John Wesley’s Method? Who have high Sacramental and Eucharistic theology but disagree with same-sex marriage in the church? What happens to the Methodists who simply want to be Methodist? That’s where the Ordinariate can help.
No doubt, the majority of the Methodists in this situation will be individuals and families who will (maybe only slowly) realize that they do not fit in with either post-separation Methodist denomination. This may be true for some clergy. This may also be true for entire congregations, particularly congregations that will struggle with finding a new pastor who can be both liturgical and not progressive. Admittedly, given Methodism’s dynamics in the US, the Ordinariate may not be an appealing option; but the Ordinariate may be a surprisingly appealing option to United Methodists in the Philippines, South Korea, Continental Europe, and Africa. The Ordinariates will have the opportunity to grow internationally and perhaps even break into the continent of Africa.
Ordinariate communities can begin working toward this by building friendships with local Methodist churches by working together on community projects and sharing non-Eucharistic worship services based on common prayer. Ordinariate members, or even members of the Anglicanorum Coetibus Society, should make a showing at the 2022 General Conference to spread awareness, particularly to the international representatives. Members of the Ordinariates should also consider making friendships with the Order of St. Luke, a religious order within the United Methodist Church that is dedicated to a growth in awareness and practice of liturgy, the daily office, and the sacraments.
The vast majority of United Methodists have no idea of the existence of the Ordinariates, but knowledge of the Ordinariates has the potential to change many of their views about Catholicism. Particularly in our testimonies and love of our Anglican patrimony. We offer to them Wesley’s Methodism ensconced in the safe, consistent doctrine and discipline of the Catholic Church.
Paul Caleb Roland is an Ordinariate Catholic and former Methodist. He writes from Oklahoma.
Read more by this author:
What Methodist Patrimony Brings to the Ordinariate Mission
Wesley’s Method Part I: Frequent Reception of Communion and the Love Feast
Wesley’s Method Part II: Frequent Prayer and the Daily Office
Wesley’s Method Part III: Form a Bible Study, Go Make Disciples
Wesley’s Method Part IV: Fasting Wednesdays, Fridays & Other Times for Sanctification
Wesley’s Method Part V: Forming Small Groups for Discipleship
Wesley’s Method Part VI: Following Christ by Works of Mercy
Wesley’s Method Part VII: Singing and a Hymnal in Every Home
Wesley’s Method Part VIII: How Field Preaching Equips the Laity to Proclaim Jesus Christ
Wesley’s Method Part IX: Holy Conferencing, Revivals, and their Ordinariate Potential
Wesley’s Method Part X: How Lay Servant Ministry Can Grow the Catholic Church