To some degree, Methodism has always been a lay-led movement. Without the proactive engagement of laity, clergy never would have gotten very far. In an early colonial setting in America, with circuit riders giving intermittent care to congregations, it was lay leadership that kept churches afloat. More than that, discerning lay leadership kept Methodism spreading and growing. Growing in numbers and in depth, for a couple of generations.
It was only the professionalization of clergy, requiring a graduate degree, and the rapid deceleration of itinerancy, that allowed for ordained leadership to take the reigns to the degree that they did. What followed? Liberalism and decline. In our last denomination, it was the laity who held the liberal rot at bay for several general conference sessions.
On today's panel, we are talking about the current role and status of laity in the GMC, as well as the legislation before the General Conference that might impact the standing of laity around the world. Join me as I learn from these two:
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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 ...
