Homosexuality Debate from United Methodist Congregation's Over Church
A worship service at Asbury United Methodist Church of Wichita, Kansas in December 2016.
A satellite campus of a United Methodist congregation in Kansas has left
the mainline denomination over the church body's homosexuality debate.
Asbury
United Methodist Church of Wichita's west campus, which had an average
350 regular attendance, decided to cut ties with both the main campus
and the denomination.
The vote came at a meeting held last
Thursday which featured Asbury Church Senior Pastor Rick Just and West
Campus Pastor Aaron Wallace.
Noting that at the
meeting Pastor Wallace "acknowledged his struggle with some of the
conflict that has been occurring in the life of the denomination." Delegates pray before a plenary session at the United Methodist Church's 2016 General Conference in Portland, Oregon."He
was very clear that the decision to leave was a calling for him, and
him alone, to do so. However, the leadership and the congregation of the
West Campus affirmed that calling for themselves as well," noted the
statement.
Regarding the vote to leave the UMC, Asbury UMC Pastor
Just said that while "we are sad that they have chosen to leave, it is
our desire that God will bless them in their endeavor to continue to
minister in Christ's name, whatever that looks like in the future."
"Lives
have been transformed because of their faithful and intentional witness
to share Christ with others. We see no reason why that will not
continue," said Just.
"We will now work diligently with the parent
leadership team to discern the next steps as it relates to the building
and property and how we as Asbury Church can continue to be a vital
congregation whose mission it is for people to experience 'The
transformation of the whole person through the love and power of Jesus
Christ.'"
Over the past several years, the United Methodist Church has experienced much internal debate over its position on LGBT issues.
The
UMC's Book of Discipline states that homosexuality is a sin, that
marriage is only between one man and one woman, and that clergy are
prohibited from being involved in same-sex relationships.
"We
recommend that the General Conference defer all votes on human
sexuality and refer this entire subject to a special commission, named
by the Council of Bishops, to develop a complete examination and
possible revision of every paragraph in our Book of Discipline regarding
human sexuality," read the recommendation.
"We will name such a
commission to include persons from every region of our UMC, and will
include representation from differing perspectives on the debate. We
commit to maintain an on-going dialogue with this commission as they do
their work, including clear objectives and outcomes."
In October,
the United Methodist Council of Bishops announced the names of the 32
people who would be members of the Commission, noting the "theological
diversity" of those selected.
Asbury UMC's West Campus is not the first United Methodist body to leave the denomination over the debate on homosexuality.
In
2015, Wesley Church of Quarryville, Pennsylvania, voted to leave the
UMC, paying the denomination approximately $100,000 to keep their
property.
Chris Lenhart, associate pastor at Wesley Church, told
CP in 2015 that congregational leadership saw a "considerable chasm
forming between what Wesley believed and affirmed about the nature of
God's Word and what the denomination believed and affirmed about the
nature of God's Word.
"The primary issue for us leaving revolved
around biblical authority. Wesley Church believes and affirms that God's
Word is fully inspired and inerrant and fully authoritative on all
matters pertaining to our lives," said Lenhart.
"We
were indeed disappointed by the, 'peripheral' decisions coming from the
denomination, but saw them as symptoms of a greater issue."
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