United Methodists talk more about potential split over same-sex marriage, gay clergy

As Methodists in Western Pennsylvania consider the future of their denomination, a group that has proposed an amicable split explained the proposal in more detail Monday.

Known as the “Protocol of Reconciliation & Grace Through Separation,” the proposal allows for the formation of a new “traditionalist” Methodist denomination that would not sanction the performance of same-sex weddings or the ordination of openly gay clergy, and the continuation of a presumably smaller but more liberal United Methodist Church.

Questions having to do with human sexuality, LGBT persons and biblical authority have roiled the United Methodist Church for decades but, until now, have not led to formal divisions within the global Protestant denomination — the second-largest in the United States.

After a 2019 special session of the UMC General Conference reaffirmed the Book of Discipline’s ban on same-sex marriage and openly gay clergy, Bishop John Yambasu of Sierra Leone invited five people representing three constituencies — traditionalist, centrist and progressive — to a meeting in Chicago to discuss a way forward.

Sixteen clergy and lay people representing diverse viewpoints served on the mediation team and, after signing the Protocol, promised not to support any other separation proposals. Assisting with the negotiations was attorney Kenneth Feinberg, a mediation expert who served as special master of the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund and oversaw compensation funds for Catholic clergy sex abuse cases in five Pennsylvania dioceses, including the Pittsburgh diocese.

On Monday, 10 days after the Protocol was announced, Yambasu said he anticipates 100% support from the African delegation for the Protocol when it comes up for a vote at the 2020 General Conference, to be held May 5-15 in Minneapolis.

Failure to pass the Protocol “would be a catastrophe for the church. It would be total disaster. It would mean more pain and more harm to the entire church,” Yambasu said.

Yambasu said it became apparent to him that the 2019 vote to enforce the Book of Discipline bans was worsening the divisions within the church and that something had to be done to break the impasse.

It also was apparent that centrists and progressives within the church were digging in their heels, said the Rev. Keith Boyette, a conservative member of the mediation team.

“Traditionalists made the decision to choose the most fruitful alternative available to us, which was to engage in a pathway of separation that would enable us … to move forward unhindered by the other. In this way, traditionalists have chosen to set the church free from this conflict,” Boyette said.

Boyette, president of a traditionalist body known as the Wesleyan Covenant Association, noted that the idea of an amicable separation was first discussed at the 2004 General Conference in Pittsburgh.

“We recognized that we needed to find a way for the church to move forward, to provide a pathway for a hopeful future,” he said.

Jan Lawrence, executive director of a pro-LGBT group known as Reconciling Ministries Network, said the purpose of the Protocol process was to “de-escalate the conflict” within the church and to avoid the acrimony of other denominational separations.

“Our job was to get to ‘yes,’ ” Lawrence said, adding, “We had the opportunity to write the narrative. If we didn’t write it, someone else would.”

Under the terms of the Protocol, the new, traditionalist denomination will get $25 million from the United Methodist Church, and congregations that vote to join will be able to keep their buildings, property and assets.

What’s more, individual churches that choose to stay in the United Methodist Church will not be required to perform same-sex weddings or accept openly gay clergy, said Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey of the Louisiana Episcopal Area.

“My prayer is that the post-separation United Methodist Church will continue to be a big-tent church — a place where everyone can be the best that God has called them to be,” Harvey said.

‘Sit back and pray’

Methodists in Western Pennsylvania are mostly taking a wait-and-see attitude toward the Protocol, which is one of several separation proposals expected to be considered at the 2020 General Conference.

The Rev. Andrew Spore, pastor of Grace United Methodist Church in Natrona Heights and Freeport United Methodist Church, said he has mixed feelings about the prospect of the denomination splitting.

“I just counseled my churches to sit back and pray, because there’s no way to predict what will happen,” Spore said.

“The people I serve are mixed on the issue,” he said. “No matter what would happen in the event of a split, there are people who will be hurt, and that breaks my heart.”

Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi of the Western Pennsylvania Conference said in a statement that the Protocol deserves careful consideration and should be read “with a prayerful spirit.”

“This document does provide, for me, a real hope that we can, through mutual respect for our diversity, find a way toward reconciliation, so that we can move forward and focus on making disciples of Jesus Christ so that the world might be transformed,” Moore-Koikoi said.

The Western PA Conference, a regional governing body, has 800 United Methodist congregations and about 170,000 baptized members. It is divided into 10 geographic districts.

The Rev. Dr. Eric Park, superintendent of the Butler District, counseled compassion and patience with regard to the Protocol.

“In most, if not all, of our United Methodist congregations in the Butler District, there is a spectrum of thought that includes a variety of perspectives. Be intentional about seeking out those voices and hearts that might reflect a minority viewpoint that runs counter to your church’s dominant opinion,” Park said in a statement.

The Western Pennsylvania delegation to the 2020 General Conference will include six clergy, six lay people and two alternates.

The United Methodist Church was formed in 1968 by the merger of the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church. It has about 6.7 million members in the United States and 5.5 million members overseas, mostly in Africa.