The United Methodist Church has come to a tentative agreement to split over the issue of gay marriage. The Hill reports that an agreement was reached in mediation just as the Methodist bureaucracy was about to impose sanctions for any ministers who violate the Church’s official position on the sanctity of marriage.
Friday’s announcement comes as sanctions were about to be put into place that would have severely punished Methodist ministers for presiding over same-sex marriages, with a yearlong ban without pay for the first marriage and then removal from the clergy for any subsequent marriage.
The agreement, which was facilitated by mediation expert Kenneth Feinberg, reportedly gives $25 million to the “traditional” denomination that will be formed. That group will include churches in the U.S. as well as most of the churches in Africa, the Post reported.
In return, the new denomination will drop all claims to any assets of the United Methodist Church, but they will reportedly be able to bring certain assets with them.
The agreement also earmarked $39 million “to ensure there is no disruption in supporting ministries for communities historically marginalized by racism.”
The issue of same-sex marriage has been driving a wedge between traditional UMC congregations and the rise of left-wing progressive UMC congregations across North America.
But that’s really just the tip of the iceberg here. The larger issue at hand is much, much more serious. It is about race, colonialism, and the lies liberals tell themselves about tolerance and diversity.
You see, this isn’t a split between the tolerant church and the homophobic church. This is a split between the white American UMC and the African UMC. Colonialism established the UMC in Africa. Colonialism made it one of the most powerful faith institutions on the continent. As long as the African church was staying in line with their white American overseers, everything was fine.
Everyone loves “multiculturalism” until it rears its ugly head and shows you a face you weren’t prepared to deal with. White liberal UMC congregations love black worshippers…until those worshippers no longer toe the liberal line. Which is pretty much always.
The African continent is still steeped in what we call “traditionalism”. Throughout their diverse array of nations one can still find traditional views on everything from marriage to parenting to schooling. Some cultures on the African continent still cling to distorted views of women and freedom, but those are views that were perverse from the beginning. The African “church” (Christian church in general) has actually been the beacon that has pulled many nations into modern times. The message of solidarity in Christ and being adopted into the same Holy Kingdom is persuasive. It changes entire cultures.
