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Dear
Friends,
We have much to be thankful
for as we witness the move of the Holy Spirit in our Conference
and enjoy His refreshing.
Bless you all.
Jane Bonner, EPEC
email me if you have any
questions.
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Just Resolution achieved, dialogues continue
http://epaumc.org/news/stories/2014-october-resolution-dialogues
Bishop responds to Judicial Council ruling
on Rev. Frank Schaefer's reinstatement
http://epaumc.org/news/stories/2014-bishop's-response-judicial-council-ruling-schaefer-reinstatement
Judicial Council hears arguments on Schaefer case
http://epaumc.org/news/stories/2014-Judicial-Council-hears-appeal-of-Schaefer-reinstatement
MethodistCrossroads.org: Integrity and Unity
http://www.methodistcrossroads.org/?p=1/#menu-integrity-unity
Update: Schaefer case appealed to Judicial Council
http://www.umc.org/news-and-media/schaefer-case-appealed-to-judicial-council
Complaint received for Philly same-sex union
http://www.umc.org/news-and-media/complaint-received-for-philly-same-sex-union
Sister believes in Jesus’ love for lesbian sibling
http://www.umc.org/news-and-media/sister-believes-in-jesus-love-for-lesbian-sibling
Minister's defrocking remains an issue for United Methodist bishop
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20140216_Priest_s_defrocking_remains_an_issue_for_
United_Methodist_bishop.html
Scars and hope emerging from Schaefer trial, struggle
to resolve United Methodist same-sex wedding laws
http://umcconnections.org/2014/02/10/pain-felt-around-schaefer-trial/
As Eye See It: WAYNE, PA:
Rev. Frank Schaeffer's Marriage of His Son Brought about Own Demise
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=18443#.UvjvLvldUfV
A Response to the December 16, 2013 Petition to
Bishop Peggy Johnson of EPA Conference
Today, a number of clergy of
the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church
are presenting a petition to our bishop calling upon her to make
certain public statements and commitments on the subject of
sexuality and church discipline. This petition is a direct result of
the actions of 36 members of our conference on November 9, who
co-officiated at a same sex wedding, contrary to our United
Methodist doctrine and discipline, and in violation of their own
ordination vows.
- We agree with the
petitioners that persons who self-identify as LBGT are, as our
church teaches, “persons of sacred worth,” and affirm our desire
to be in ministry with and for all persons, without regard to
how they may define their sexuality.
- We deny that
statements in our Book of Discipline are discriminatory. The
Discipline identifies practices, not persons, as incompatible
with Christian teaching. Behavioral standards for those who seek
ordination in our church apply equally to all persons, however
they may define their sexual preferences. Nor is it
discriminatory for the overwhelming majority of United
Methodists worldwide to believe that God designed marriage to be
between a man and a woman.
- We also desire to
avoid costly and painful judicial processes, and yearn to avoid
further church trials. But this will require, at a minimum, that
those who have willfully broken their ordination vows publicly
confess that they should not have done so, and pledge to refrain
from doing so again as long as our rules remain as they are.
We call upon Bishop Johnson to
use her authority as an episcopal leader to hold these colleagues
accountable to their ordination vows, modeling the gracious and
transforming love of Christ, which both invited all people into his
flock, and challenged all people to the highest standards of holy
living in a fallen world.
The Eastern Pennsylvania
Evangelical Connection.
December 16, 2013
To download a doc file of
this statement, please click
here.
A Statement from the Evangelical Connection of the
Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church
A Call to Accountability
Recently it was announced that 31 local United
Methodist clergy are planning to conduct a same-sex wedding in our
region this month. Such a ceremony is contrary to the stated
position of our global United Methodist Church, and is specifically
prohibited by church law as outlined in our Book
of Discipline. Our Church’s declarations that
"the practice of homosexuality… [is] incompatible with Christian
teaching," and that "sexual relations are affirmed only with the
covenant of monogamous, heterosexual marriage" (161F), are
consistent with the definition of marriage offered to us by Jesus
Christ in Matthew 19, and with the worldwide consensus of the
Christian Church for 2,000 years.
The immediate question before us, however, is not that of
sexuality but of accountability, community and integrity. In
ordination, every United Methodist minister enters into a solemn
covenant with fellow clergy and the laity, and vows to abide by our
rules. The right to dissent from those rules and work to change them
is unquestioned. But those entrusted with ordination have no right
to break those rules unilaterally in their official roles, or seek
to do so without consequence.
We have a process we call "holy conferencing," in which
representatives and leaders of our church meet regularly at the
local, regional and global levels to prayerfully discuss and debate
difficult issues, set policies, and enact rules that govern our
common life. This process is public, democratic, and always open to
revisiting questions previously decided. This process represents the
common covenant that binds us together, and holds us accountable to
one another.
Having failed thus far to persuade our church
through its process of holy conferencing to change its teachings,
these 31 clergy have chosen to break their covenant with fellow
clergy and the laity of the United Methodist Church. They have also
made it clear that their intended action is designed to paralyze our
system of accountability, and render our Book
of Discipline inoperable,
by placing impossible strains on the financial and human resources
of our community. We grieve over the potential of this intended
action to threaten the very fabric of our unity.
We implore these colleagues to reconsider their intended course;
to consider the grave harm it will inflict on the covenant that
binds us together as United Methodists; and to reflect on the
irreparable damage it will render to trust, community, and
collegiality among us.
We further call upon our bishop and all our fellow United
Methodists in Eastern Pennsylvania to reaffirm their commitment to
our common covenant, to pray for these dissatisfied brothers and
sisters, and to work to maintain both the unity and integrity of our
beloved Church.
November 1, 2013
To download
a pdf file of this statement, please click
here. |
