Several people have asked me to take the time to summarize what took place over the last week in San Jose, Costa Rica as delegates from all over the world met to build the official structure of the Global Methodist Church. I spent a couple of dozen hours watching all of the proceedings, messaging people onsite, doing analysis on watch party live streams. Even so, my brain is so scattered after spending a full week this way that I am pessimistic about my ability to do a good job.
Anthony McPhail has previously made himself available to me on the topic of lay ministry. It turns out he also played a big role in facilitating the gathering in San Jose. He was there, coordinating a lot the whole time. In fact, he is still there.
He agreed to speak with me and my audience today to take questions and offer his own distillation of what took place. If you are one of the many who would be interested in such a conversation, you should probably make it a priority to join us in a few hours. Share this with anyone else that you think might similarly benefit.
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 ...
