The 2024 United Methodist Annual Conference is in process in Charlotte NC. They are ramrodding through the Woke Agenda. -If you wish to speak, you have to announce your name, race, gender, sexual preference and pronouns. -25 percent of the voting African delegation could not attend because the UMC intentionally delayed sending the invitations required to obtain a visa to come to the US and attend to vote. (The African UMC Church is considered the most conservative and evangelical of the whole denomination, so is not on board with the new leftist agenda.) -The UMC discipline is being re-written to include gay clergy and marriage. -A preacher can now commit adultery and not worry about being dismissed. -They have prayed for Gaza and mentioned nothing of their Jewish brothers and sisters. I wonder how this will unfold. The 3 small churches I was a part of will not disaffiliate, which blows my mind in this rural area. But as I mentioned before, the pastor cannot afford to lose his retirement pay. And some of the core congregation have gay family members. Some local UMC churches have converted to the new GMC (Global Methodist Church.)
Sounds like they won’t be teaching Romans 12:2 any time soon and if they do, it will be some progressive teaching that has nothing to do with actual Biblical concepts and interpretations. To me, they’re testing God and are fully convinced of eternal salvation as opposed to loss of salvation. They know what the truths are but are willing to sacrifice truth for butts on pews and the “almighty dollar”.
I have not been able to find out exactly how much theological training Methodist ministers are required to have/are given. We were in an evening Bible Study class, and one of the women made reference to Satan by one of his Old Testament names. Our pastor said "I've never heard that word." She and I just looked at each other. This guy was a pastor long enough to have retired from it, and they brought him out of retirement to lead this church. The previous UMC pastor--also in a Bible Study class--told us that the only unforgivable sin was rape (and maybe murder.) She also made some goofy statement about the "only word that never appeared in the Bible." It struck me as wrong, and an online word search found hundreds of occurrences in the Bible. I really think these folks are only trained in the populist "Jesus loves us all, and we're all going to Heaven" New Testament misinterpretations that there is no more sin (hence what we see going on today.) But what's most concerning is that it seems that pastors have not even read the Bible on their own.
Methodist ministers once had extensive theological and Biblical training. That may not still be true. Denominations who have female clergy seem to go down this path. I know there was a time here when the District Superintendent tried to take Lord out of all services and any references to God as male. She was removed by the Bishop after many complaints. The church I once attended was led by a female who would have been a Catholic priest had they allowed it, and she tried to pattern all her services after Roman liturgy. She was transferred into Anchorage and eventually died of breast cancer. She was replaced here by a female lesbian pastor from Tennessee who had once been married to a man and had one daughter. She tried to make the UMC church here a center of lesbianism in Alaska. She nearly destroyed the local church (I had already left the UMC denomination by then) before she was removed by the pastoral committee of the church. She was replaced by a male with a family and he rebuilt everything. He was then replaced by a married couple--he led the church and she was the youth pastor. They seemed to work out okay. I totally lost contact with the local church after that and I have no idea what is going on there now. I know I have posted much of that before, so sorry if I repeat too much. I am sad to see the church denomination I grew up in fall to ruin. I once thought it was the perfect denomination and I even served in the mission field for a short time for them. That is all gone now.
We, too, went to the Methodist church when I was a kid. I don't know what the reasons were. My mother was British and my father's parents were German, and I believe my mother had a falling out with the Catholic church (something to do with the burial of her mother when my mother was young.) I'm not sure if either had any history with the UMC or if it was a matter of location, but we attended the UMC when we lived in Indiana and briefly when we moved to Virginia. I'm sure that others here are more familiar with the history of the Methodist than I am. This is not their first split. And it's not the only UMC that's being vandalized. I understand there are similar factions of the Lutherans, the Presbyterians and the Southern Baptists that are headed this direction.
I’m uh….soooo completely lost for words. I can’t see how anyone who has had a true salvation experience could possibly grieve the Holy Spirit so much by deliberately misleading those who depend on their leadership for foundational teaching. Are the teachers and pastors not afraid? They obviously haven’t studied (II Tim. 2:15) Biblical scripture because I can quote at least a dozen verses that deal specifically with false teachers and leaders. To me, they are the epitome of what II Peter 2:12-22 is all about.
The Lutherans have long been splintered. The different synods are almost like different denominations. I was unaware of the Southern Baptists going through this. Presbyterians are congregational churches, as are the Baptists (my standard of reference). Each church can have their own standards regardless of what the main church says.
So so glad I SPLIT from all religious "cults" years ago...Took Common Sense and some yrs of struggling to Split
This thread doesn’t have anything to do with your catapult into Atheism but…… I do humbly submit that your statement is somewhat erroneous in that faith based people far outnumber Atheists making the majority’s idea of “common sense” far more reasonable ergo your application of what you deem to be common sense is only opinion. Alas, and…it would seem that on many fronts, common sense has little to do with the splitting of Denominations into factions.
He doesn't state that he is an atheist, merely that he no longer needs organised religion. The very fact that there are so many denominations shows how divided people are. There is a huge difference between Christianity and the Christian church. Some people are able to practise their faith without the need for ministers 'guiding' them.
Celia, Joy is a She and has previously stated her position on many occasions. So far as the rest of your post, I heartily agree provided that one has the wherewithal and temperament to study so as to make sure that what one is convicted of is the truth. II Tim. 2:15. Example: There are many well meaning and financially “ would be” well off people who believe that it’s almost impossible for a rich person to enter the gates of Heaven. Had they studied a little more or seeked guidance, they might know what the actual truth is. My grandfather was one.
The UMC formed sometime in the early 20th century I think. There were a number of Methodist denominations that all claimed to be followers of the Wesleyan Methods. Only a few of the churches didn't join in the Union--AME (African Methodist Episcopal), Free Methodist, Wesleyan Methodist, and perhaps a few others. If the church splinters, it will just go back to the way things were prior to the union possibly. I think some Nazarene Churches also claim Methodism as their roots.