What Just Happened In The Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference?
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- Опубліковано 11 жов 2024
- The Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church just held their annual conference meeting that last week. We go over some of the more surprising things that happened during the meeting and respond to them.
Show Notes:
www.bwcumc.org...
www.bwcumc.org...
peopleneedjesu...
Thanks so much for your ministry. I go to a small UM church in West Virginia, but unfortunately, we're part of the Baltimore Washington Conference. The vote to disaffiliate was unanimous, but we figured the 50% of our property value would cost over $200k cash. We joined the lawsuit and are hopeful we will prevail, but I'm not holding my breath! We were also told we would have to go through the church to make sure we had NO materials with the United Methodist name or logo. No signage, no hymnals, no Sunday School materials, nothing - it all adds up quickly. There was even a question of Cokesbury material. I've been thinking we'd be better off to lock the doors behind us and start anew in a school or firehall. Forty years ago I went through a divorce. As painful as it was, my ex and I were more civil and gracious than this situation.
Just to make you aware, any property bought by the church, such as hymnals, does not need to be replaced. Most churches no longer use them anyway. As for signage, there is no time limit to remove that I am aware. However, as part of a disaffiliated church, I would want it removed as soon as possible. Prayers for your church and others who are trapped in the UMC and are trying to disaffiliate but do not have the funds to disaffiliate.
I was there and have 2 small churches in the same boat. We too are part of the lawsuit and I told my congregations that if we lose, tough decisions will have to be made. As for me, I can't stay. Totally disgusting
Run, don’t walk away from the “loving” UMC. The way the behavior of the progressive clergy has been expressed shows their true colors. God bless all those who are stuck.
As one of your featured cases, I can verify that this was fair and balanced - it conveyed both the events and their meaning reasonably from my perspective. Thank you.
I retired from the UMC this past June as a LLP because I was fed up with the churches compromising of the book of discipline and the scriptures. Plus the stress of being a pastor of 2 churches was taking a toll on my physical health. I just want to say that I really commend you for what you are doing and keep up the great work. Since retirement, the stress related health issues have subsided PTL. Blessings and I will continue to hold you up in prayer. As of our last annual conference, the East Ohio AC lost 1/3 of its churches this past June.
Thank you for shedding light on what we/ I went through at the BWC annual conference 👍
I’m sure you’ve heard about the clergy in East OH who called for a “holy hex” on those disaffiliating.
Yup. Will be talking about that soon, I think.
As always, thank you.
Thank you for revealing what is going on in other conferences! My heart aches for all of those who want to leave but can't! I am a lay leader in a church in Wisconsin that just disaffiliated, alongside the other 2 churches in our charge. When we started the process of discerning disaffiliation, we were not entirely sure if it was for us. However, as we dove deeper and saw how our conference was acting and behaving AND treating us for even exploring the possibility of disaffiliating, we knew we had to get out. There was no love there. They really only cared about our financial support. They didn't care about us at all. They didn't care about Scripture or even what our Book of Discipline stated.
At our Annual Conference in June, 43 churches were allowed to disaffiliate, half of which came from our district alone. Sadly, several individuals from other churches spoke up wondering if their churches could still explore disaffiliation and it was revealed that the door was now shut for them. They never heard a peep about the process until it was too late. Now they're trapped and my heart aches for them and what they will likely go through down the road. Our church barely made it as we found out about the application process during the final few weeks of August 2022 and the deadline to signup to even explore was 1 September 2022. We barely made it, but I am so glad we did! Now we're working on finding a new pastor because our Conference scared our previous pastor and his wife into staying with the UMC. Honestly, you can say they blackmailed him, but that's an entirely different story. The road ahead for us is bumpy, but it definitely looks brighter!
I’m a progressive pastor in the WNC Conference here listening for other perspectives. I have to admit I’m shocked, I didn’t know that the annual conference could add other fees. Our bishop has been gracious to all those disaffiliating. We had a called annual conference for those disaffiliating and having another in the fall for those who couldn’t get it done in time. I’m shocked anyone on the conference floor would physically threaten another. We’ve had tense votes, but never that kind of action. I love my conservative brothers and sisters, I wish those who felt the need to go well. And I stand with those that stay that they can have differing opinions. Thanks for letting me know how bad things have gotten. Prayers for all in hurtful situations ❤️
I appreciate your reflections here, Lisa. Please keep urging fellow progressives to have the same spirit you show here.
Thank you pastor much love from me to you I am a life long Methodist I refuse to let the Devall ruin the church with this mess the church should be neutral and not judge and try to bring all to Him and let Him do his grace and blessing 😍😍😍😍😍
Thank you for sharing. I serve as an elder in the Peninsula- Delaware Conference. Our conference is small and we cannot afford a bishop on our own so we have been yoked with the Baltimore Washington conference and bishop Easterling. We just finished our annual conference and on June 9. There were 92 Churches approved for disaffiliation which is about a quarter of the churches within our conference, some of those churches were able to disaffiliate without having to pay the 50% while others were not. Thank you for all that you do to keep us informed.
I am in the BWC and being held hostage with the 50% payment which we cannot afford. How did those churches in your conference get around the 50%?
Thank you so much for your videos, I have really enjoyed them. I am Presbyterian and our church went through this same procedure about 10 years ago. We voted to leave the PCUSA and join the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. However, I have been attending a church in the Presbyterian Church in America denomination which is even more conservative.
Rusty, I have been wanting to interview someone in the Presbyterian theological family about what transpired in the PCUSA in order to forecast what we will be seeing in the UMC. If you know of someone who would be able to do that, please connect us!
Thank you SO MUCH! Your videos have been SO informative and helpful as well as therapeutic. I subscribed. But, I was afraid to like or comment. And, I’m still afraid. So, that’s all for now. But, I just needed to say I thank God for PlainSpoken.
✝️🛐💟
I witness this in person. What an embarrassment. They claim the conference is a big tent with room for everyone. I guess this put that fallacy to bed. Totally disgusted
Another example of using the word ‘love’ against those who love one another but who do not love that which stands in stark contradiction to the Bible and the Book of Discipline and who do not want the same celebrated by their denomination.
Yes, there is a directionality that I meant to speak to in this segment. Either we define God by what we understand love to mean, or we define love by who we understand God to be. Based on where one starts, the answers one comes to can be very different. As for me and my tradition, we define love by who we understand God to be, as revealed in the Holy Scriptures.
I just had a seasoned pastor ask me when I was going to take off my rose-colored glasses. I keep expecting the leadership of the UMC to be reasonable, but they adeptly dismissed our resolutions to have a November special session and restore retiree health benefits. Instead of Bishop, maybe a more accurate title would be Chief Bureaucrat.
Oh wow, was this in the Dakotas AC? That's hateful, man. Well, I'm not sure it is a sin to provide opportunities for our enemies to do the right thing. It isn't a sin to look like a fool or be taken advantage of. I certainly don't want to shame anyone for looking at things through rose-tinted glasses. I just wanna speak truth while we are here and potentially help folks to see more clearly, if even in a pink hue, than perhaps they were. But it really is sad to see how consistently forces of institutionalism and liberalism unite to disinherit conservatives.
I don't think they have been reasonable or honest for 30 to 40 years.
@@plainspokenpod This was Dakotas. Kind of the craziest thing...I almost feel like I'm their Voldemort. They would never mention my name...just "Previous Treasurer."
I do follow you Jeff Pospisil. Keep up your good work. Hope your new venture into the GMC will bless you…and all of us
@@mikehunter6975 Thank you!
The Methodist Church has been going through a leadership crisis for a while now, praying for the church from the Kaaga synod in Kenya.
Look into annual conference in PA on Saturday June 10th
Great video, small black church can't afford to come out UMC. Older congregation can barely keep up with upkeep of our property. How you can own property not take care of it and own property you never put a penny in the purchase. This is the UMC.
What is it about Bishops who are former lawyers
How can I find out what happened at the SC conference?
That woman should have been arrested on site for her threats.
That sort of conduct is unacceptable under any circumstances
Eh, I dunno, buddy. I'd like to turn the temperature down in the room. I wish there were a more common way that we could collectively assert that some forms of speech are out of bounds while also remaining calm and somewhat dispassionate. The high level of drama and anxiety is what makes most folks wanna tune out on all this stuff. I'm more fond of a posture that's somewhat irritated and intolerant of bad behavior, rather than escalating to the point of looking to worldly law enforcement. I'm glad we have a shared sense of how improper her language and tone was, though.
@@plainspokenpod - it would be nice if we could all get along but making threats like she did isn’t acceptable
It’s sad the UMC is shattered like it is
I can only imagine which DS it was that didn’t like the camera.
I used to attend a UMC church. I left decades ago. At this point, just write "Ichabod" over the door and leave. Apparently the UMC is now run by "Karens".
Has it become a requirement that to be a Bishop in the UMC that you have to be a Lawyer 1st?
Oh and save the BS! Ignoring the BOD and Holy Scripture is wrong.
Unfortunately we have one in Virginia, Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson, formerly of North Georgia where she shut down disaffiliation
I have seen interviews of Bishop Sue when she went to Virginia. She talked about the drag queen and what he has been through and his family. Why did the UMC put him in this position in the first place? She blames everyone but the UMC. It should have never happened to begin with. And I also saw a sermon…I will say no more.😡
I'm wondering if her little brother is in counseling...
Yeah it is hard not to ask personal questions about people who behave badly. It is even harder when such people are volunteering their personal info.
Kin-dom
Yeah I meant to pick on that…