On Sunday, June 21, the Virginia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church cast an historic vote that will move the practice of the people called "United Methodists" closer to their advertising.
By a vote of 989 to 868, the members voted to petition the 2016 session of the church's General Conference to eliminate from the denomination's
Book of Discipline the sentence: "The United Methodist Church does not condone the practice of homosexuality and considers the practice incompatible with Christian teaching."
The
Book of Discipline is the binding guide for United Methodist churches, and the quadrennial General Conference will vote whether to adopt this and similar measures at its meeting in Portland, Oregon next year. The General Conference alone determines, among other things, what it means to be a United Methodist Christian.
The denomination has long been convulsed by sharp differences of opinion concerning LGBT issues.
Other articles on this website have dealt with the church trials and other sanctions imposed on those United Methodist clergy who have violated the letter of the
Discipline, insisting instead that they must follow their understanding of Jesus' life and teachings . . . as the
Discipline itself requires!
We will not repeat that here.
Rather, let's reflect on a different dimension of this long struggle.
Prior to the congregation reciting the "Modern Affirmation", which is sometimes used in United Methodist worship services, the worship leader says the following as a preface:
"Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is the one true Church, Apostolic and Universal, whose Holy Faith let us now declare."
That's a
revolutionary statement, for it greatly enlarges what is meant by "church."
According to that statement, it is not the attractive church building, not the soaring oratory of the pastor, nor the glorious choral anthems of the choir that describe what is meant by "church." The definition is not to be found in the liturgy, the decisions of church councils, or even the benevolent behaviors of church members. In fact,
nothing that is human defines "church."
The church is defined as "
where the Spirit of the Lord is." Whether to you that means the "Holy Spirit" or the "mind of Christ", the Spirit of the Lord is
unconstrained by church walls, "cares not for the noise of solemn assemblies" (
Amos 5:21), and is usually about inviting into relationship precisely those whom all the "good" people have rejected. You cannot read the gospels nor the authentic letters of Paul and not be struck by that time and time again.
The church is constituted by the presence of the Spirit. It is the job of the church to be an instrument of the Spirit. The Spirit of the Lord aches to work through the church.
Very often it does . . . and often in ways that do not attract the headlines they deserve.
But the Spirit is not limited by the openness of church people to its agenda. Just as water will find a way to flow where it will . . . detouring around and under every barricade put in its path . . . and just as wind cannot be constrained . . . so the Spirit of the Lord shows up anywhere it wishes and it keeps on flowing and blowing until it finds
someone to say "Yes!" to its promptings.
Very often . . . more often than some would like to imagine . . . the Spirit works through the least "churchy" of people. Such people may not recognize the Spirit as such. They may call it just an intuition, a powerful and insistent urging within them to take a frequently unpopular course of action. They may not consciously be aware of saying "Yes!" to anything.
So the Spirit has worked through the LGBT communities, the younger generation, and not a few who are long in tooth and grey in hair. Often they have been the "nones" . . . those who write "none" when surveys ask them "What religion do you claim as yours?" Or they say they are "spiritual but not religious." On this issue, many of them have, usually unknowingly, been instruments of the Spirit of the Lord. They have been the ones where the Spirit of the Lord
is.
For many years, the Virginia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church has been an obstacle in the path of the Spirit of the Lord on this issue. Just like me . . . and perhaps you . . . it has needed help coming from outside itself in order to change.
Perhaps it is
those beyond the "church" who have helped enough members of Virginia's United Methodists to open their hearts, and open their minds. Perhaps
they have helped some of God's people to finally find a way to publicly say "Yes!" to the Spirit of the Lord and to open the church's doors as well.
Thanks be to God.
