UMC: Council of Bishops President Issues Statement on Same-Sex Marriage Ruling

have made a statement or two about same sex marriage:

http://goodnewsmag.org/

David R. Brumbelow

Seems that by describing the decision as “marriage equality for all people”, the good bishop telegraphs his real position on the subject. People who hold to the Biblical truths championed by the Wesleys need to seriously consider whether they want to continue fighting this battle, or whether they need to separate and join with a Bible-believing church.

I left Methodism about 27 years back…..I’m sad for the degradation of what God did through Wesley, but I don’t regret the move at all. The difference between Biblical Christianity and the UMC was just too strong.

I am glad to see that some are, per David’s comment, objecting to this, but in any episcopal church like the UMC, what matters is what the bishops and the seminaries are doing. A friend of mine from college wanted to be a Methodist pastor, but learned very quickly that she could not maintain a degree of Biblical fidelity and get appointed to any pastorate by the bishops. The only place where this rule is bent is for very small churches that cannot pay the salary demanded by a typical seminary graduate—so those “lay pastors” are typically evangelical. My grandmother attends such a church in rural Illinois, and that’s not too bad. College churches and big city churches in the UMC? Watch out, it gets really, really ugly.

And yes, my friend in college that wanted to be a pastor is a “she”, and of course I think she is incorrect about her interpretation of 1 Tim. 3 and other passages. But otherwise, she maintained a decent degree of Biblical fidelity.