Kennetha Bigham-Tsai (standing left) facilitated discussion at the Connectional Table meeting in Maputo, Mozambique on February 10. ~umns photo/Heather Hahn KENNETHA J. BIGHAM-TSAI
United Methodist Connectional Table*
It was Friday, January 16, 2015, and we were walking from our hotel to the United Methodist Building on Capitol Hill. Every time we walked that route, we passed the Supreme Court. On that day, there was a protester outside who held a sign with two interlocking rings in rainbow colors. While our Connectional Table (CT) Legislative Writing Team gathered in Washington, D.C. to write legislation to make our church more open to LGBTQ persons, the Supreme Court made the decision to take up the case on same sex marriage. We were at a historic time for our country, and perhaps for our church. Prior to that meeting in D.C., I had asked some district pastors for their prayers for our process. One of the pastors on my district responded, “I am praying that you find a third way.” Our work that January weekend in D.C. has resulted in this “Third Way,” which has become the moniker that describes the compromise that the CT is offering. Parallel paths Our work in Washington and our work in Maputo, Mozambique on human sexuality began with CT’s April 29, 2014 meeting where we approved a motion that read: The CT affirms parallel paths through dialogue and e-mendment (change it from within) of the Discipline to fully include LGBTQ persons in the life and ministry of the church. Dialogue has been facilitated by our Human Sexuality Task Force, which has planned and hosted three conversations about human sexuality, the last of which took place in Maputo. Those conversations were historic. Never had a body at the level of the CT hosted such dialogues. The second half of the motion, however, called for changes in disciplinary language. And that is what brought our Legislative Writing Team to the Methodist Building in January and what occupied some of our time at our recent meeting in Maputo. I was blessed with the opportunity to facilitate our writing process and our discussions in Mozambique. We began both discussions with Scripture. We focused on Matthew 28:20b, which assures us of the presence of Christ. Surely we need such assurance in the midst of the anxiety that almost always comes with conversations about human sexuality. Defining values With the reminder that Christ was with us, we began by articulating the values that would undergird our work. First and foremost was the centrality of our mission. Why the mission? Because the mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world has always been at the center of what we do as United Methodists. Indeed, our Book of Discipline states, “Whenever United Methodism has had a clear sense of mission, God has used our church to save persons, heal relationships, transform social structures, and spread scriptural holiness, thereby changing the world.”* We affirmed that our ability to get past the impasse over the issue of homosexuality is crucial to our ability to focus on our mission. And, we insisted that whatever solutions we might find must place at the center the mission of reaching out to all people with the transformative Gospel of Christ. The second value we articulated was unity for the sake of mission. There are some who believe that our denomination should split because of our differences over homosexuality. But, we affirmed the importance of unity for the sake of mission and for the sake of the witness of the church. Indeed, Scripture calls us to such unity. As the writer of Ephesians states, “Make an effort to preserve the unity of the Spirit with the peace that ties you together. You are one body and one spirit just as God also called you in one hope. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all who is over all, through all, and in all,” (Ephesians 4: 3-6, CEB). The unity Ephesians talks about does not depend upon us being in agreement about homosexuality or any other issue. Instead the unity of the church depends upon Christ and is affirmed in our baptism—that holy sacrament that makes us one in Christ.
Finally, we talked about identity. It is often from a clear sense of identity that we make our best decisions. Therefore, we affirmed that our identity as Christians and as United Methodists is based in the sacrament of baptism and in a theology of grace. We are, through the sacrament of baptism, incorporated into the family of Christ and into the Church. All are incorporated by baptism into Christ’s family despite differences of race, gender, ability, culture, class or sexuality. All are recipients of God’s grace. Indeed, at its core, United Methodism is not a doctrinal faith. It is a faith that is grounded in an understanding of the prevenient, justifying, and sanctifying grace of God. Because we are the recipients of God’s grace, we are called to extend that grace to others. As well, we were called to create spaces for grace—spaces in which differences in belief, culture, context, and identity might co-exist by the grace of God and by the gentle power of the Holy Spirit. Winds of the Spirit With these values of mission, unity and grace at the forefront of our thinking, the CT Legislative Writing Team crafted its “Third Way,” which we presented to the full CT at our meeting in Maputo. At that meeting, we did not take a formal vote. (We will do that in May). Instead, we asked the CT to discern and affirm an approach. And in the process of our discernment, something happened. The winds of the Spirit moved through that room in Maputo as surely as they had moved through the upper room on the day of Pentecost. No, I did not see tongues of fire. But I did witness United Methodists with stark differences of opinion in animated and respectful conversation. I heard people speaking, not for the microphones, but from their hearts.
And, yes, CT overwhelming affirmed the “Third Way” as a way to get past our impasse over homosexuality and focus the church on its mission. We affirmed the “Third Way” as a way to hold the church in unity for the sake of that mission and for the sake of our witness to the world. We affirmed a compromise solution that would create spaces for grace where all could be invited into the life and ministry of the church.
This “Third Way” has some similarities to approaches already being discussed within our connection. It is different in that it does not make any structural changes to our denomination. Thus, it does not change the basic structure or functioning of central, jurisdictional, annual or charge conferences. It removes language that prohibits, but it maintains our basic polity. Contextual ministry
It would allow the contextual practice of ministry and the exercise of conscience amongst clergy. Therefore, in those contexts where same sex marriage is not legal, clergy would not perform such marriages. In those cases where a clergy person, because of reasons of conscience, culture or belief, does not wish to perform same sex ceremonies, the clergy person would not be required to do so. But in contexts where the mission of the church is clearly served by being more open or in situations in which a clergy person has searched his or her own heart and found a calling to offer all of the church’s ministry to LGBTQ persons, that clergy person would (if in accordance with civil laws) be able to perform such ceremonies. This “Third Way” also would allow annual conferences to make determinations about ordination, which is already their Constitutional right. Is this proposal perfect? Of course not. The church is going on to perfection. We are not there yet. But, this is a big step. There is much yet to do and many more reasons to pray—for the mission of The United Methodist Church, for its unity, and for grace. *Book of Discipline, para.121, The Mission and Ministry of the Church
~The Rev. Kennetha Bigham-Tsai is Vice Chair of the Mission Administration Group for the General Conference; a member of the Human Sexuality Task Force; and serves on the Legislative Writing Team. She is the Superintendent of the Lansing District here in the Michigan Area.
Last Updated on February 2, 2024