HERE ARE MY “ REVOLUTIONARY “ THOUGHTS :
We need to take a leaf out of the UNITED METHODIST CHURCH playbook.
They successfully dealt with women’s ordination issue decades ago — they have been ordaining their clergywomen since 1956 !
My Methodist conference president is an ordained clergywomen as is my bishop ( equivalent to Union Conference President )
My current pastor, whom I adore, the Rev Donna Pritchard, the lead pastor for the large First Church In Portland Oregon, tells me that if the Methodist vote to ordain women were taken today, it might not pass.
Why ? Because in the sixty plus years since ordination was voted there have been huge numbers of new converts in tribal Africa and third world countries,
who by cultural heritage are misogynistic and patriarchal.
In our own Adventist denomination this WO debacle is not theologically based but CULTURAL.
My Pastor Donna has been a leading member of the world wide Methodist Committee ( 18 members ) THE WAY FORWARD —
a committee to encourage more inclusivity and love for the LGBT children of Methodist families.— and a committee which I heavily funded.
Last year, their Methodist General Conference voted this down to great consternation to the congregations who favored love and acceptance of their gay children.
Now a new development:
There is suddenly an AMICABLE accord between the homophobic haters and the accepting loving inclusive crowd.
An AMICABLE split is suggested
,
whereby the more conservative, traditional churches who despise LGBT people, will be permitted to leave the denomination, taking their church properties with them. There is even a proposed multi million dollar inducement for them to do just that.
This will enable the egalitarian, LGBT accepting congregations to proceed with their agenda —- performing same sex weddings for monogamous gay couples and allowing gay / lesbian clergy.
What is not to like about this amicable arrangement ??—
A divisive, discordant, disruptive problem mired in cultural taboos, will be settled by the Methodists in peaceable fashion.
My revolutionary idea is to flollow this splendid Methodist example to settle our own disruptive, discordant, divisive WO ISSUE.
——allowing the traditionalist misogynist congregations to go their own way, and permitting the egalitarian pro women churches to gleefully ordain their clergywomen.
Problem is I cannot envision our intransigent GC President being AMICABLE— there is not an amicable bone in his body!
Nonetheless this is a “ revolutionary” suggestion —-probably
resisted to the hilt by TW because the progressive congregations are the most affluent — they will take their money with them !!
KUDOS TO THE UNITED METHODISTS FOR A RADICAL SOLUTION TO A DIVISIVE DISCORDANT DISRUPTIVE PROBLEM IN THEIR DENOMINATION ,