Dear Northaven Friends and Members,

The General Conference Response Team and I are providing this update on how we are navigating the denominational chaos resulting from the passing of the Traditional Plan at General Conference in February 2019. 

A few things are clear:

  • We reject the general church’s ban on same gender weddings and will continue to welcome LGBTQ+ persons into the full life of our church. We will continue to do weddings for all persons.  

  • We reject the current stance of the UMC that denies ordination to qualified and faithful LGBTQ+ persons.  

  • We reject the Traditional Plan that goes into effect January 1, 2020. Along with like-minded churches, we are considering our response so that we continue to live out our God-given mission of inclusion and welcome to all who enter our doors. 

  • We continue to escrow 100% of our church apportionments until the Leadership Council determines otherwise.  

General Conference will be held again in May of 2020. Several plans are being proposed, and all plans must be submitted by September 18, 2019 to be considered for this next General Conference. Two plans are worth noting:

The Indianapolis Plan dissolves the current denomination and replaces it with two or more new denominations. ( read more )

The UMCNext Plan seeks to remove harmful language and policies, while also allowing for groups of churches to leave and form new expressions of Methodism. The foundational commitments that inform this plan are here .  
An overview of the proposal is here .

Additionally, Dr. William B. Lawrence (a clergy member of Northaven) is proposing a plan that could be accomplished outside of the General Conference. This plan would create a new, fully inclusive Annual Conference; a Jurisdictional Conference has the power to do this without the approval of General Conference. This path is of particular interest because of the more progressive delegates just elected from our South Central Jurisdiction, which meets in July 2020. Read more here.   

As frustrating as this is, we remain steadfast in our commitment to reject the enactment of the Traditional Plan while keeping our eyes, ears and hearts open to a new form of Methodism with “like-minded” congregations who wish to remain in some form of a Wesleyan connection.

In related news, the Commission on General Conference has determined there was improper voting at the General Conference in February. This could invalidate the disaffiliation process that was approved at that time, which allows a church to exit with their property. The Council of Bishops has asked the Judicial Council for a declaratory decision on this matter when they meet in October 2019.  

An informal congregational meeting will take place on September 29 at 2:00pm to provide the latest information, answer questions and seek the will of the Northaven community. Please continue to hold our church and its leaders in your prayers. Until that time, please know that we value your comments or suggestions. Any member of the Response Team is available to answer questions (Bill Kirby, Julie Reeves, Elaine Wiant, Michael Bobbitt), email them at gcresponse@northaven.org.


Blessings,
Marti



Note: You can find more details at our General Conference Resource site (click here) .