The United Methodist Church & Upper New York Conference

General Conference Recap

May 9, 2024

Dear PYUMC Family,

As I promised last Sunday, I will attempt to give you a very quick summary of some of the major legislation that passed during United Methodist General Conference in Charlotte, NC, these last two weeks.  At the bottom I will share some links which are from different perspectives, and let you explore as much as you want.

Regionalization

            This is the development of a new form of church governance which allows different regions of the world to adopt their own rules and policies around a variety of issues including those related to marriage, sexuality, and ordination of clergy. Previously, the Book of Discipline (BOD) was the same for the whole world. Now it can be adapted to different regions of the world. The goal here is to allow the United Methodist Church to still be connected, but to allow for different contexts in which people live.  The approved legislation on regionalization will now go before all Annual Conferences around our worldwide connection for a vote to ratify this decision before it can be implemented. Upper New York will have the ratifying vote in 2025.

Removal of Restrictive Language Related to Human Sexuality

            The language that had said “the practice of homosexuality . . . is incompatible with Christian teaching” has been removed from the BOD. As well, pastors are now allowed to perform same-sex marriages, and churches are allowed to host same-sex marriages. Language prohibiting “self-avowed, practicing homosexual” persons from becoming clergy has been removed. The same petition also includes protections that prevent punishment if a pastor or church chooses not to perform or allow a same-gender wedding on church property.  The “celibacy in singleness and faithfulness in marriage” requirement for clergy was changed to “social responsibility and faithful sexual intimacy expressed through fidelity, monogamy, commitment, mutual affection and respect, careful and honest communication, mutual consent, and growth in grace and in the knowledge and love of God.”

Disaffiliation

            The rules by which churches could more easily withdraw from the United Methodist Church have been removed. The processes by which a church could leave while not having to pay for its buildings or bank assets are no longer available.

Cost-Saving Measures

            The overall budget of the UMC was reduced, which means there will be significant reductions in General agency ministry budgets, bishop’s assignments, and clergy retirement plans.

Those are the big categories. There are many other decisions and many sub-categories of these larger decisions. You can read all about these things in the links listed below. One of the links views the changes as a positive thing. The other views the changes as a negative thing. It will be interesting for you to explore how much you agree or disagree with each of these perspectives. I strongly suggest that you read both posts. It will give you MUCH to think about.

There is a LOT more information available if you start looking around. You could spend hours reading it all. I have tried to connect you in a simple way with the two main approaches that cover most people’s responses. I have not tried to be comprehensive because it’s just a huge amount of material.

The first link below is to our Bishop’s video with his response to the changes made at General Conference.

https://vimeo.com/942499709 – Bishop Héctor’s response to General Conference

https://www.resourceumc.org/en/content/general-conference-legislative-recap – more supportive of what happened at General Conference

https://peopleneedjesus.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/what-happened-at-the-united-methodist-general-conference-v15.pdf – less supportive of what happened at General Conference

Finally, I want to affirm that I believe God is continuing to call me to be the pastor of Penn Yan United Methodist Church. As long as God wants me to be here, we will navigate these waters together. We will need hearts of wisdom and love, as these are very deeply-felt issues that touch many people and families very personally.  God can be trusted to help us in every circumstance.

Please feel free to talk with me about anything that you have questions about. As you read, you might find things that you would like to chat about. I’d be happy to do that with you.

Following Jesus with You,

Pastor Kristen