Homosexuality Issue Creating Most Sparks for United Methodists : Convention: Officials worry that it will overshadow other subjects viewed as critical to the church.

Controversy over homosexuality is causing the most sparks as United Methodists gear up for their May 5-15 General Conference in Louisville, Ky.

Petitions, letters and speeches have fed arguments over whether the church should reverse its position that Christianity and homosexual practice are incompatible. Polls of delegates place homosexuality at the top of the agenda of the General Conference, the church’s top policy-making body.

The delegates will discuss a committee report that recommends abandoning the denomination’s stand condemning homosexuality as “incompatible with Christian teaching.” A minority report of the same committee, which studied homosexuality for three years, calls on the church to retain its position.

While the issue clearly has the highest profile, the church--which frequently is viewed as the most mainstream of the mainstream denominations--is also confronting other, less-publicized problems that many United Methodist leaders see as critical to the health of the church and society. They include financial problems, evangelism and racism.

The Rev. Janice Riggle Huie, senior pastor of Manchaca United Methodist Church outside Austin, Tex., worries that homosexuality will overshadow some of those broader questions.

Huie said: “I think it’s real important that we don’t get misdirected.”

She rated stewardship, sometimes viewed as a code word for survival , and the church’s ability to reach people in need as extremely important.

“We really need to do something about the loss of members in our churches,” said John Shettle, a lay delegate to the conference and director of security for Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.

Like other mainstream denominations, the United Methodist Church has experienced a sharp decline in U.S. membership over the last 25 years, losing about 4 million members. And United Methodists, like other mainline church members, are giving smaller and smaller percentages of their income to support national church agencies.

“The whole issue of how to do evangelism in an increasingly secular society may be the most crucial issue for the church,” said Bishop Leroy Hodapp of Indianapolis. “I don’t think we’ve dealt realistically with that yet at all.”

But, he added, “If you don’t have any people, what do all the other issues mean?”

A recent national survey, conducted by the Gallup Organization, shows low confidence among United Methodists in their leaders and national church meetings. Only 14% of the survey respondents said they expected the meeting to have a major effect on their congregations. The survey polled United Methodists on their views toward the General Conference, as well as their priorities for the denomination’s mission.

“This is a time when leadership is under suspicion,” said Bishop Joseph Yeakel of Silver Spring, Md. “I think it’s part of the milieu we’re in.”

United Methodists responding to the survey gave top ranking to community service when asked to name a priority for the denomination’s mission. Service, cited by 34%, ranked higher than proclaiming the Gospel, the choice of 26%, or changing society, selected by 5%.

Church finances will also be a top issue for the conference’s 998 lay and clergy delegates.

Facing what they fear could be a substantial grass-roots revolt against their proposed budget, the denomination’s financial officers appealed directly to delegates recently. In what one church announcement called an unprecedented move, the lead fiscal agency, the General Council on Finance and Administration, issued an “urgent message” April 15 to all delegates justifying the call for a 4% increase in the national church budget in each of the next four years.

The recommended budget of $496 million falls far short of churchwide agency requests. United Methodists will be asked to provide $7.5 million for special programs, including American Indian and Latino ministries, campus ministries and anti-drug and anti-violence projects.

Among the other issues expected to take center stage in Louisville:

* A committee recommendation to move the church’s missions agency, the General Board of Global Ministries, from New York City. Although the stated reason is to save money, most observers see it as an attempt to rein in the liberal tendencies of the board.

* A recommendation that calls for creation of a lay order of deacons. Historically, the order of deacon has been a steppingstone to becoming an elder, or a fully credentialed minister in the church. Under the recommendation, deacons would be assigned to permanent ministries of service.