United Methodist Faction Calls for Condemnation of Homosexuality

A group of prominent United Methodist evangelicals, taking aim at their church’s upcoming General Conference, has issued a statement calling on the church to uphold “Christian sexual morality” and affirm that a “personal decision to accept Jesus” is essential for salvation.

The statement, which specifically condemns homosexuality, includes a seven-point “call to action” for conference delegates. The document is intended as a blueprint to help stem what evangelicals see as a rising tide of liberalism in the 8.9-million-member denomination.

The conference, the policy-making body of the denomination, will meet May 5-15 in Louisville, Ky. Homosexuality is expected to be among the most divisive issues.

Entitled “The Memphis Declaration,” the three-page statement was approved at a meeting of evangelical pastors and lay people at Christ United Methodist Church in Memphis, Tenn. The church’s pastor, the Rev. Maxie Dunnam, is a well-known evangelical leader.

The declaration is similar in tone to a statement issued by many of the same evangelicals before the last General Conference in 1988. But that statement, called “The Houston Declaration,” focused on principles rather than specific conference actions.

“It’s really the same kind of thing, except, I think, we’ve gone further in this declaration,” Dunnam said. “This time we have lifted up several issues we think face the church.”

Dunnam said the approximately 80 representatives at the Memphis meeting appeared to be “very excited” about their statement. He said they felt it could help move the church from what he called a “maintenance” mentality to one of “growth.”

Taking aim at one of the most divisive issues before the 1992 conference, the relationship of homosexuality to the Christian faith, the Memphis Declaration says, “Scripture plainly identifies adultery, fornication and homosexual practice as sins of the flesh, signs and consequences of the fallen condition of humankind that needs redemption.

“Let us cease to debate homosexual practice as if the witness of the Scripture and the tradition of the church were not clear from the beginning.”

At the May conference, delegates will be asked to vote on a report on homosexuality that presents opposing points of view on whether the church should abandon its stand that homosexual practice is incompatible with Christianity.

The statement’s action plan calls on delegates to reject the report and call a halt to any further “official study” of homosexuality.

On another front, the Memphis Declaration identifies the local congregation as the primary unit of mission and ministry and calls for “curtailment, reordering and reduction” of the church’s national bureaucracy so that more funds are kept at the local level.

The Memphis Declaration also takes aim at formal conversations aimed at bridging gaps within the Christian community or with other faith groups as long as those conversations neglect to acknowledge Jesus as “the only way” to salvation.

“We must not surrender the uniqueness and centrality of Jesus Christ and our Christian heritage for the sake of an easy dialogue with those who are not yet Christian, or a false ecumenism with those who do not profess the fullness of Christian faith,” the paper says.

Among specific proposals, the action plan recommends:

* Mandating the traditional Trinitarian formulation of “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” in liturgies and publications and rejection of “alternative language.” The mandate is apparently aimed at churches’ growing use of gender-neutral references to emphasize the inclusive nature of Christianity.

* Establishing a separate Board of Evangelism to take over the church-planting functions of the denomination’s General Board of Global Ministries. The New York-based agency has long been a target of conservatives who believe the board has emphasized social action at the expense of evangelism.

* Reducing the “number, size, staff and costs of general church boards and agencies,” including a complete dismantling of the denomination’s General Council on Ministries, the agency charged with overseeing programs.

* Approving the recommendation of a study committee that calls for relocation of the General Board of Global Ministries. Conservatives contend that New York City, where the board is based, is a hotbed of liberalism and is too costly.

* Affirming that “a personal decision to accept Jesus Christ as savior and Lord is essential for salvation and for full membership in the church.”

Dunnam said the planners of the Memphis meeting included the Rev. William Hinson of First United Methodist Church of Houston, the largest congregation in the denomination with a membership of more than 13,000; Dr. James Holsinger, a lay leader in the church’s Virginia Conference and a high-ranking executive in the Veteran’s Administration; and the Rev. John Mathison, pastor of Frazer United Methodist Church in Montgomery, Ala., which Dunnam identified as the fastest-growing congregation in the denomination.