Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Religion
Related: About this forumStop the trials..........(UMC)..........
http://unitedmethodistreporter.com/2013/11/13/um-polity-expert-asks-council-bishops-stop-trials/ In an Open Letter to the Council of Bishops (COB) released today, Wake Forest University professor and United Methodist polity expert the Rev. Dr. Thomas E. Frank asked the council for the sake of the unity of the church, to stop the trials. We need to engage our differences through Christian conversation within our conferences and particularly within our orders of elders. Church trials are an expedient of last resort and are not the way forward, Frank wrote.
"Your servant leadership of the church does not and cannot mean that you are simply servile to the actions of General Conference. The 2012 session in Tampa failed to acknowledge our lack of consensus and refused a legislative path forward. The Council of Bishops now must act, and can do so under its constitutional powers. The episcopacy is established in our constitution as a constitutive body alongside the General Conference and the Judicial Council. When you as a Council see the unity of the church at risk, you have a constitutional duty to act."
*************
dimbear: hopefully the Methodist Bishops listen to this voice of reason.
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
8 replies, 1223 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (0)
ReplyReply to this post
8 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Stop the trials..........(UMC).......... (Original Post)
dimbear
Nov 2013
OP
trotsky
(49,533 posts)1. Voice of reason?
Chill, dude, reason is just your personal way of looking at the world. It's no more valid than anyone else's, including the religious folks whose faith tells them to judge and ostracize homosexuals.
cbayer
(146,218 posts)2. What trials is he talking about?
I know I could research it, but I'm not sure I'm that interested.
Would be grateful if you gave a short synopsis on what this is about.
rug
(82,333 posts)3. This one is forthcoming.
http://unitedmethodistreporter.com/2013/10/26/bishop_follows_through/
There have been a series of church trials against ministers who have conducted same sex weddings on the ground that they violated Methodist doctrine.
There have been a series of church trials against ministers who have conducted same sex weddings on the ground that they violated Methodist doctrine.
cbayer
(146,218 posts)4. Thanks. If I read about that earlier, I forgot.
I'm doing Lumiosity daily, but the sad deterioration of my memory seems to be progressing.
dimbear
(6,271 posts)5. In the latest twist to this sad foolish story, the council decides to charge one of their own:
http://www.religionnews.com/2013/11/15/methodist-bishops-asked-charge-one-performing-gay-wedding/
dimbear:
Really? The former Bishop of San Francisco? Guys--get real.
*****************
The United Methodist Churchs division over homosexuality grew heated Friday (Nov. 15), as the denominations Council of Bishops called for charging retired Bishop Melvin Talbert with presiding at the Oct. 26 wedding of two men, which the church forbids.
Bishop Melvin Talbert joined 13 other United Methodist bishops at a gathering on May 4 outside the 2012 United Methodist General Conference in Tampa, Florida, where they showed their support for clergy in the denomination who choose to officiate at religious weddings of same-sex couples. Doing so is a violation of church rules, but Talbert said he preferred Biblical obedience even if it meant ecclesiasical disobedience. Photo by Paul Jeffrey/courteys UMNS
Bishop Melvin Talbert joined 13 other United Methodist bishops at a gathering on May 4 outside the 2012 United Methodist General Conference in Tampa, Florida, where they showed their support for clergy in the denomination who choose to officiate at religious weddings of same-sex couples. Doing so is a violation of church rules, but Talbert said he preferred Biblical obedience even if it meant ecclesiasical disobedience. Photo by Paul Jeffrey/courteys UMNS
...
The council asked its president, Bishop Rosemarie Wenner, and Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett of the North Alabama Conference, to file a complaint accusing Talbert of undermining the ministry of a colleague and conducting a ceremony to celebrate the wedding of a same-gender couple at Covenant Community United Church of Christ in Center Point, Ala.
Talbert, who served as bishop of the San Francisco area, ignored a request not to perform the ceremony.
**********
dimbear: It's the 21st century.
dimbear:
Really? The former Bishop of San Francisco? Guys--get real.
*****************
The United Methodist Churchs division over homosexuality grew heated Friday (Nov. 15), as the denominations Council of Bishops called for charging retired Bishop Melvin Talbert with presiding at the Oct. 26 wedding of two men, which the church forbids.
Bishop Melvin Talbert joined 13 other United Methodist bishops at a gathering on May 4 outside the 2012 United Methodist General Conference in Tampa, Florida, where they showed their support for clergy in the denomination who choose to officiate at religious weddings of same-sex couples. Doing so is a violation of church rules, but Talbert said he preferred Biblical obedience even if it meant ecclesiasical disobedience. Photo by Paul Jeffrey/courteys UMNS
Bishop Melvin Talbert joined 13 other United Methodist bishops at a gathering on May 4 outside the 2012 United Methodist General Conference in Tampa, Florida, where they showed their support for clergy in the denomination who choose to officiate at religious weddings of same-sex couples. Doing so is a violation of church rules, but Talbert said he preferred Biblical obedience even if it meant ecclesiasical disobedience. Photo by Paul Jeffrey/courteys UMNS
...
The council asked its president, Bishop Rosemarie Wenner, and Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett of the North Alabama Conference, to file a complaint accusing Talbert of undermining the ministry of a colleague and conducting a ceremony to celebrate the wedding of a same-gender couple at Covenant Community United Church of Christ in Center Point, Ala.
Talbert, who served as bishop of the San Francisco area, ignored a request not to perform the ceremony.
**********
dimbear: It's the 21st century.
cbayer
(146,218 posts)6. I saw another story today that said they were charging a minister who
officiated over the marriage of his own son to another man.
dimbear
(6,271 posts)7. That's the chap in the OP.
He has 3 gay sons.
What a mess, Methodists. Smell the coffee. It's 2013.
cbayer
(146,218 posts)8. Ah, did not make the connection.
Will be interesting to see the outcome of this.