Holy Christian Conferencing” is a term used in United Methodist circles. It is hoped that as Christians prayerfully come together, this means of grace will help discern the will of God through the movement on the Holy Spirit. As United Methodists met for General Conference, were hopes for holy Christian conferencing expressions of naivete or affirmations of faith? I don’t know.

What I do know is that whatever I witnessed in at St. Louis was not holy Christian conferencing. The two factions came to St. Louis with a gap between them and left separated by a chasm.

The pre-conference gap existed because the two groups read the same Bible and quoted the same Wesley sermons and made polar opposite points. Both sides claimed to be fighting against principalities and powers, but Satan never fights against Satan. “If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?” (Matthew 12:26 ESV) Satan no doubt enjoyed the fight. Both sides claimed the guidance of the same Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit never leads in contradictory paths. “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.” (1 Corinthians 14:33 ESV)

While human sexuality was the presenting issue, the divide in the church is much deeper than that. It includes the divine-human nature of Christ, the doctrine of salvation, the authority of Scripture, the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, and other doctrinal issues. The church is also divided by social issues which mirror the political divide between the left and the right.

In this midst of this disagreement, a hermeneutic of humility was never espoused. Hermeneutics is the method of interpretation of scriptures. Humility means that one might possibly be wrong. Instead there was name-calling, demonization of motives, charges of unethical behavior, and the use of parliamentary procedure to stall, derail, and delay.

Since the presenting issue had to do with human sexuality, the LGBTQIA+ community was deeply wounded and left with indescribable pain.

The tactics and wounds excavated the chasm between the groups.

What will the future hold? I see only three possible outcomes:

1) Our church is terribly broken and can only be miraculously healed by Jesus Christ, the head of the church. However, that being said, I do believe in a miracle-working God.

2) The leaders of the church, progressive, centrist, and traditional, can come together in holy Christian conferencing and agree to amicable separation with an equitable distribution of assets. While this idea seemed abhorrent prior to the 2016 General Conference, it has become my preferred future. “Divide to multiply” is a leadership strategy that proposes that two groups can grow faster and healthier than one. Two energized Wesleyan movements may be able to reach more people with the love of Jesus Christ and accomplish more mission projects separately than they might do combined.

3) The Smack-Down in St. Louis was just a preliminary warm up to the Blood-Sport, Death-Match in Minneapolis. While this is my least favorite option, I fear it is the most likely. The world doesn’t need to see that. No one wants to see that. I take that back, Satan and the principalities and powers are rooting for this one.

People with power and opinions that mean a lot more than mine will decide between these paths.

While they are doing that, here’s what I’m going to do: I will tell everyone I meet that Jesus loves them. I will continue to love and follow Jesus and to find ways to serve others. I get to be a pastor.

You are still called to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength; and love your neighbor as yourself.

And please #Pray4UMC