Pastor’s Newsletter: Conference Update
June 14, 2024
Dear Glen Moore United Methodist Church:
As you probably know by now, the United Methodist Church has completed their 2024 General Conference Session held this year in Charlotte, NC. Major decisions were made in the conference. One such decision was made concerning the definition of marriage as well as allowing for openly practicing homosexuals to be ordained in the UMC. By about a 93% vote, the 2024 General Conference has radically restructured the global church by the lifting of restrictions on same-sex wedding ceremonies and the deletion of language in the UM Book of Discipline that the practice of homosexuality is “incompatible with Christian faith.”
We formed a Vision Committee in 2023 that included several meetings both informational and conversational in which to study and discuss these changes and attempt to chart a course of action for us that was based on our understanding of the scriptures and 2000 years of orthodox Christian beliefs. We also looked at the possibility of joining a gathering class action against the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference due to the arduous financial and procedural demands placed on a church that was interested in the possibility of disaffiliating from the UMC. Our Vision Team agreed to wait until the General Conference 2024 session was completed to see what would come out of this as it relates to possible compromise and God’s leanings for us a church.
Here is what I do know. Jesus calls us to love. There is no question about that. What is also not in question here at Glenmoore Church are the bonds of love, friendship, and common commitment to doing mission and ministry which we all share and are committed to here at 1920 Creek Road.
I am in the process of re-gathering our Vision Team and also trying to schedule a speaker to explain all the decisions that were made at the 2024 General Conference session. In the meantime, I ask of you two things:
1) First, to commit to a discipline of prayer and petition to our Lord over the next couple of months.
2) To hang in there. These changes are large and historical and neither I nor we as a small, unified church are equipped to handle these changes in a haphazard way. We also do not want to be rushed into anything.
Though I am troubled by all that has happened in the last few years in the UMC, I am not disheartened. Scripture reminds us that it is He, God, that always has the last word and that He has a knack for bringing new life and new possibilities out of the messes we create for ourselves. I am trusting Him with all of this and I am praying you do as well.
In Christ,
Pastor Dan