I've been intending to write something about Iowa United Methodists and the trials and tribulations they face because of LGBTQ+ folks like me since May 24, the day after a special Iowa Conference session approved the disaffiliation petitions of 83 congregations, or roughly 11 percent of the 750 or so parishes in the state. Here's a link to the official news release about the session, should you wish to read it yourself.
But only two of the 83 departing congregations --- Trinity United Methodist in Albia and Faith United Methodist in Centerville --- are anywhere near Lucas County, so I've kept putting it off.
Albia, with 526 professing members in 2021, is one of the region's largest protestant churches. Centerville Faith, a newer congregation that grew out of a knock-down drag-out several years ago in its home city over whether to restore or replace an historic downtown building (still home to Centerville First United Methodist), had a healthy 171 members.
By way of comparison, Chariton First United Methodist had 418 professing members in 2021; Russell, 129; and Norwood, 20.
So for the time being, the great majority of United Methodists in the south of Iowa remain in the Iowa Conference fold --- although another round of leave-taking will take place in November. Congregations that still wish to officially consider a disaffiliation vote have until June 30 to declare and if disaffiliation is approved, will depart at the end of the year. After that, disaffiliation procedures will be reset during the 2024 General Conference.
Disaffiliation is expensive. United Methodist properties are not owned by congregations, but held in trust for the church as a whole and Iowa Conference rules require --- before deeds are handed over --- payment of unpaid apportionments for the current year, anticipated apportionments for an additional year, and a congregation's unfunded share of pension obligations.
For Trinity, $122,241 is due by June 30; and for Faith, $34,194. First United Methodist Church of Marion, one of the largest departing congregations in Iowa, will be required to cough up $362,312 in order to leave with keys to the front door.
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So how long has the current situation been developing? Well, I had just returned from a year in Vietnam back in 1972 when well intentioned United Methodists attempted to add the following to their Book of Discipline: "Homosexual persons no less than heterosexual persons are individuals of sacred worth."
Now United Methodists in general are nice folks, but not all are that nice. So delegates declined to approve this line until after the period had been turned into a comma and the following added, "though we do not condone the practice of homosexuality and consider this practice incompatible with Christian doctrine."
The incompatibility clause still is found in the Book of Discipline, although "teaching" has replaced "doctrine," and has been enlarged upon to forbid the ordination of non-celibate gay clergy and the participation of United Methodist clergy and congregations in same-sex marriage.
And that clause has remained the principal bone of contention year after year as progressive United Methodists, conservative United Methodists and global United Methodists, most from conservative conferences in places like Africa, butt heads.
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As the years passed, progressives gained ground among U.S. United Methodists --- as they did in other "mainline" denominations. Within recent years, my own Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (USA) and others --- after considerable drama and substantial leave-taking --- dropped restrictions aimed at LGBTQ+ people.
But for United Methodists, U.S. and global conservatives generally teamed up to tip the balance toward conservative stances when LGBTQ+ issues came up.
And so it went, general conference after general conference.
Finally, at the 2016 General Conference, delegates voted to defer action on LGBTQ issues pending further study, and the denomination created the Commission on a Way Forward to do that work.
Three plans resulted. Progressives favored a plan that would have removed incompatibility language and allowed pastors and congregations to follow the lead of conscience when dealing with LGBTQ+ people and issues. But delegates to a special conference in February 2019 favored the "Traditionalist Plan" which affirmed the denomination's harsh teaching on homosexuality and hardened its approach to rulebreakers.
Then the pandemic, postponed general conferences, considerable confusion and lots of politics, including the formal launch of a new denomination, the Global Methodist Church, very anxious indeed to provide a home for disaffiliating United Methodists.
In Iowa, the Annual Conference Appointive Cabinet and then-Bishop Laurie Haller put in place, effective Jan. 1, 2022, something quite similar to the progressive plan defeated during February of 2019. Decisions about ordaining LGBTQ+ clergy and performing and/or hosting same-sex marriages were left to individuals and congregations.
Also put into place was the disaffiliation procedure followed by the 83 congregations, now scheduled to become independent (among them, Trinity Church of Albia) or to join the Global Methodist Church or another denomination.
The curious thing about that disaffiliation procedure --- it was set up originally for use by progressive congregations which, it was thought, would want to leave because the traditionalist plan had been adopted. As it turned out, it's been used most often by traditionalists.
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I'm not quite sure how much of a future these newly disaffiliated congregations have. It's probably the end of the line for some smaller congregations, once current members have kicked the bucket.
Even larger congregations may struggle. There are plenty of evangelical churches already out there that are specialists in homophobic branding, so refugees from big-tent United Methodism are going to have to toughen up and be prepared to get down and dirty in order to survive and thrive in the religious right marketplace.
"Open hearts, open minds, open doors" just isn't going to cut it.
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