re: United Methodist Church special session this week

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Talked to my pastor and he believes the one church plan will not be adopted. I don't know if that's wishful thinking or not, but one informed man's view.

He also said his plan should it pass is to not address it for a bit of time then decide how the church moves forward. So not committed to any approach.

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I have been following this very closely since the Commission on a Way Forward was created because the last General Conference was afraid to address it. Through email updates from our Bishop, following the Council of Bishops recommendations and the Judicial Council saying the Traditional Model was the least constitutional of all the measures, I am pretty sure I know which way it is going to go. I follow the Wesleyan Covenant Association and Good News updates, which are both conservative and support the Traditional or Modified Traditional model, I have already decided what I am going to. If they go with the One Church Plan, I am done as United Methodist. I chose my Church 28 years ago and I will only attend a Church that I believe represents my beliefs. I think my Church, one of the largest in Mississippi, is a conservative Church and I think of my fellow congregants are like minded. I don't know what we will become but I don't believe the One Church Plan is a viable option for our congregation.

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I think the Methodist leadership has underestimated the membership of the church. The conservative Methodist and Episcopal members need to team up and start from scratch and follow the scripture - not the SJWs.

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I’m confused as to why y’all won’t just switch to Baptist.

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This is an interesting story. Can you share with us the heresy?

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They were teaching Reformed Theology a/k/a Calvinism. Which, as I said, I consider heresy (since it essentially IMHO turns God into a sadistic bully, picking some to be saved and others to be damned, but blaming the damned for His choice).

They were subtle, but I noticed quotes on their board from Calvinist teachers and they were using books written by modern day ones. Finally put it all together and went my own way.

I recognize that there are those on this board who will not agree with me, I respect your differences on the matter.

Because I like the consistency a governing body provides. I grew up Baptist. We had one preacher who was crazy. Cheating on his wife, etc. One hired his buddy for the child ministry, and he had a relationship with one of the girls in his class. I am not also super conservative relative to Baptist, so UMC has been a great fit for me. And we don't sing 47 mins of hymns before the pastor speaks.

This is what I have also been hearing. The American NE/NW pockets are the vocal minority but when it comes to a vote of the entire general conference the traditional has a better chance. I wonder if instead of the One Church plan passing and conservatives leave, the Traditional plan passes and the progressives leave?

That seems to make more sense. What I can't understand is that apparently in the Traditional plan, the progessives can leave and keep their pension & property; but in the One Church plan, there is no comparable 'gracious exit' for conservative churches.

Now a lot of that probably has to do that most of the mega UMC churches are conservative so the UMC wouldn't want them leaving, but tough shite.

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I’m confused as to why y’all won’t just switch to Baptist.

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I'm sure every church is different, but mine was heavy emphasis on anti-alcohol. In and of itself, it's fine, but returning to the church after being away for years opened my eyes. The Sunday school lesson that day was essentially in praise of Jimmy Houston, for refusing to participate in a fishing tournament because it was sponsored by Budweiser.

Then the memories of being taught as a child that the wine drank in the Bible was not alcoholic, and the steering away from Bible verses about drunkenness. Then the biggest memory from my teenage years, where we had our very own Footloose in my home town. I was the senior class vice president, and there had been no senior prom at my school for decades, just wasn't allowed.

Of course, we were destroyed by the combined forces of the Baptist Church, and the Church of Christ. Ended up having a drunken free-for-all in a classmate's barn, which essentially turned into an orgy, instead of having a prom with teachers, administration, parent chaperones etc. Brilliant!

Baptists allow doctrine to lead them to dumb shite as much as any denomination. I do think they do a better job of sticking to the Bible than most though.

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Both models have the exit methods the same.

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Are you sure of that? We've met with one of the pastors and our bishop who have said the "gracious exit" is only being offered under the traditional plan at this time.

*I've also word searched the 93-page commission report on it, and it only appears under the Traditional plan. I hope you are correct, but I haven't seen that in writing anywhere.

When is this vote taking place? This week?