“Is Schism the best future of the UMC? Why or Why Not?”
Okay so I'm going a little off script on my answer. The simple answer is it doesn't matter. Right now a split in the UMC doesn't matter any more than whether the pastor wearing a robe or suit/dress affects how many people fall asleep during his/her sermon. As I read Rev. Coleman's post on the topic it touched on some of the many ideas I have. You seem I think the split doesn't matter, because right now we are dead. I'm not a biology major but I've never heard of a dead cell splitting. Everything I've ever heard is about how the body removes dead cells or creates new cells to replace the dead ones. So you say Shawn what do dead cells have to do with the UMC? I'm glad you asked. John Wesley once wrote;
I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid, lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case, unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out.
You see from where I stand, we are already a dead sect. We have the form of religion but not the power. When was the last time the United Methodist Church was on the forefront of theological or social change?The Civil Rights movement? When was the last time the United Methodist Church was growing Disciples at an alarming rate? Well that one's easy about the same time men were joining Freemasonry at an alarming rate. The difference being, that Freemasonry is now experiencing the type of growth in the US that the UMC could only hope for.
So maybe that's a little melodramatic. Maybe we're not quite dead yet, but we are definitely on life support. So from here on out there are really two options. We can keep dying or we can make some new cells. You see the issue isn't really about whether we make new cells together or separate, but that new cells have to be made. The main question isn't about whether the UMC needs to split, but how do we get the UMC off life support and back to healthy growth in Christ. We all have different ideas on how to do that. Maybe a split is best. If a split allows cells to grow and us to be revived from the dead sect we currently are then great. If it allows us to reclaim the power of Christ's redemption as living, breathing, life-saving grace and not simply something that makes us feel warm and fuzzy then outstanding. John Wesley went on to say that whoever has their mind in Christ that same person is our brother, sister, and mother. That's what it's about. I don't believe a split is necessary, but to keep that from happening we have to focus on the (and i'm low balling here) the 60% of things we agree upon and move forward. At this stage we are simply discussing if we can continue or will we allow the minority of things we disagree upon become the majority that causes us to split. I still think a split is inevitable but with Christ all things are possible. We must ask ourselves what can we do to reclaim the power and rise up as a Lazarus of Christianity and change this world again? We've done it before. Let's do it again.
