On my live stream yesterday, I said a couple of things wrong. Cynthia Astle doesn't own UM Insight, but she does seem to be the primary founder. It is underwritten by a church. Also, she never worked for UMNS. It was the UM Reporter she came out of. I honestly forgot that those two were different organizations. My brain had them in the same compartment. With respect to the author of the hostage/terrorist piece, I said he came from Western North Carolina Conference. Wrong. Just the North Carolina Conference. I originally got that right in my first segment, as I directed folks to his bishop. I don't know why the brain fart yesterday except to say my mind has been on Western North Carolina because they have that special called conference coming up and there seem to be some shenanigans going on around at least one large church that has tried to disaffiliate.
For her part, Cynthia Astle has corrected her original reporting that my segment was 'vicious' and that Rob Renfroe had anything to do with it.
I'll always appreciate the friendly correction to my mistakes, and I'll always be happy to publish corrections. I wish there were a way to make sure everyone sees the corrections. In this case, I'm not sure any of the mistakes amount to much of substance. It seems to me, at least at this point, that the ethical and theological reference points and developments I cited still pretty obviously stand uncorrected. The analysis I did points to a very real concern of bad actors poisoning the discourse around a denomination that is still trying to discern a way forward that is gracious and fair to all parties. Despite my imperfect delivery, I think people would do well to heed my warnings.
I'm publishing this here first to convey my thanks to those of you who have supported my work. Thank you.
Episode 1 takes up marriage, divorce and remarriage. Going into Johannesburg, our Book of Doctrines and Discipline told the world who could marry and never once used the word "divorce." On the last morning of General Conference, in about fifty minutes of floor debate, that changed. I walk Petition 1020 through its whole life: the language we inherited, Jonathan Lee's petition, the committee's 35–1 vote, and Saturday on the floor. That meant Rich Hoffman's amendment, Matt O'Reilly's rewrite, a motion to send the whole thing away for six years, and a final vote of 329–41.
Then we open Matthew 19 and 1 Corinthians 7 and ask what the church said, and what it chose not to say. I land somewhere between grateful and uneasy, and I want to hear where you land. The free discussion guide sets the old and new texts side by side, gives both sides in the delegates' own words, and has ...
I don't know why the live stream didn't work today. Here is what I did:
Update: I know I said I would start back up this week. I could easily start the morning live stream back up, but I have been feeling like I need to do some wrap-up on General Conference. It just took me some time get clear on what I would feel good about doing. And I finally got some really good thoughts together after a lot of percolation. Early next week, I should be publishing some very decent work on explaining some of the more impactful developments in Johannesburg. For right now, I'm aiming at eleven episodes dealing with:
1. Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage: how the church put words about divorce into our Book of Doctrines and Discipline on the final morning
2. Sex and Gender Identity: the rewriting of ¶302.8
3. Protecting the Unborn and the Mother: our new language on abortion
4. The Racial Theology Resolution: Resolution 1466, adopted and then defeated on a revote
5. The Articles of Faith: a new doctrinal standard for the Global Methodist Church
6. Restrictive Rules and the ...
