Thread by @BrianFelkJones

Many have asked me: What lessons can the #UMC learn from the conflict between @revjody of @mtbethelumc & General Superintendent @SueHaupJohn of @ConnectNGUMC? So many, but one is lost and overlooked (alluded to here vimeo.com/556425900) so I made a context 🧵to help folks. /1

It is important because if the Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace is passed, each new branch from United Methodism will have to deal with it. Put simply: there is a lack of accountability for the power of General Superintendents (@UMCBishops). /2 #UMC

This conflict highlights not only the power of the General Superintendents (@UMCBishops), but the lack of sufficient #UMC ecclesial mechanisms to hold such power to account and in check. /3

@umcbishops No matter what part of the theological spectrum one finds oneself, the unchecked power of the General Superintends is something with which every #UMC person should be concerned. /4

@umcbishops In @ConnectNGUMC, issues of a lack of transparency in @revjody ‘s appointment from @mtbethelumc have come before General Superintendent @SueHaupJohn. The General Superintendent seeks to answer them here vimeo.com/556425900 /5 #UMC

@umcbishops @ConnectNGUMC @revjody @mtbethelumc @SueHaupJohn General Superintendent @SueHaupJohn, in response to a question by Dr. Tom Jackson (02:44), states there are two “things that can challenge where you are appointed” for #UMC clergy in @ConnectNGUMC. The first one is “failure to pay connectional giving.” /6

@umcbishops @ConnectNGUMC @revjody @mtbethelumc @SueHaupJohn I’ve never had a District Superintendent or General Superintendent tell me (in my entire life) that a pastor’s appointment is subject to the congregation’s giving to #UMC “Apportionments” (more on Apportionments w/ this🧵

https://twitter.com/BrianFelkJones/status/1386845700441452553

). This is a new development. /7

@umcbishops @ConnectNGUMC @revjody @mtbethelumc @SueHaupJohn The amount a congregation gives to #UMC Apportionments is not determined by clergy. When I was pastor at my first appointment, I pleaded w/ the Committee to pay our full Apportionments. They nodded their heads sympathetically, then voted to pay less than half. This is common. /8

@umcbishops @ConnectNGUMC @revjody @mtbethelumc @SueHaupJohn Thus, #UMC clergy do not control the financial decisions of a congregation. For General Superintendents to hold pastors responsible for a lack of Apportionment giving from a congregation, by moving said pastor, is misguided in my opinion. /9

@umcbishops @ConnectNGUMC @revjody @mtbethelumc @SueHaupJohn This heavy-handed tactic and policy (not original to Rev. @SueHaupJohn) by the #UMC General Superintendents (@UMCBishops) is unwise. It will destroy clergy morale as well as cause congregations to resent the Annual Conference and pay even less in the next or following years. /10

@umcbishops @ConnectNGUMC @revjody @mtbethelumc @SueHaupJohn However, if #UMC clergy are encouraging congregations NOT to pay Apportionments, that is just as disconcerting. Yet, withholding Apportionments for theological reasons is happening across the theological spectrum and connexion, even for Annual Conferences. /11

@umcbishops @ConnectNGUMC @revjody @mtbethelumc @SueHaupJohn Yet, if this is the policy for pastoral appointment evaluations, it seems curious no one uses it for evaluations of the #UMC General Superintendents (@UMCBishops) when it comes to their presiding over an Annual Conference and that Annual Conference’s Apportionment giving. /12

@umcbishops @ConnectNGUMC @revjody @mtbethelumc @SueHaupJohn The second of “things that can challenge where you are appointed” for clergy in @ConnectNGUMC according to General Superintendent @SueHaupJohn in the above video (03:15) is “to have a heart at war . . . and not represent the #UMC.” /13

@umcbishops @ConnectNGUMC @revjody @mtbethelumc @SueHaupJohn For more on #UMC “Appointments” follow this🧵

https://twitter.com/BrianFelkJones/status/1384602630895423491

. Nonetheless, it seems @revjody and @mtbethelumc did not have a problem with representing the #UMC itself, but with a policy enacted by General Superintendent @SueHaupJohn. /14

@umcbishops @ConnectNGUMC @revjody @mtbethelumc @SueHaupJohn Some helpful background, @mtbethelumc is a theologically evangelical #UMC congregation. They and @revjody were vocal opponents of General Superintendent @SueHaupJohn’s recent policy
toward ordination and sexuality (find it here northga-email.brtapp.com/files/fileslib…). /15

@umcbishops @ConnectNGUMC @revjody @mtbethelumc @SueHaupJohn The #UMC is in the midst of a larger conversation about human sexuality and ordination. Faithful Christians, per their reading of scripture, have come to varying conclusions. However, @mtbethelumc and @revjody felt this policy by General Superintendent @SueHaupJohn was /16

@umcbishops @ConnectNGUMC @revjody @mtbethelumc @SueHaupJohn in direct violation of the teaching of the #UMC
& the Judicial Council’s (UMC Supreme Court) decision against the One Church Plan, which would have allowed each congregation or Annual Conference to make their own independent policies regarding human sexuality & ordination. /17

@umcbishops @ConnectNGUMC @revjody @mtbethelumc @SueHaupJohn One can certainly disagree with @mtbethelumc and @revjody, but it doesn't seem their posture was “at war” or not representing the #UMC. Soon after this @revjody was reappointed from @mtbethelumc by General Superintendent @SueHaupJohn. Her reasoning starts at 03:40. /18

@umcbishops @ConnectNGUMC @revjody @mtbethelumc @SueHaupJohn The disagreement seems to be between two conflicting ideas of what it means to be “faithful” to the #UMC. @mtbethelumc and @revjody seem to view this about doctrine. General Superintendent @SueHaupJohn sees this as being willing to go where she directs. /19

@umcbishops @ConnectNGUMC @revjody @mtbethelumc @SueHaupJohn Both can be right and neither need be mutually exclusive. Yet, if General Superintendents (@UMCBishops) and Rev. @SueHaupJohn interpret #UMC clergy and congregations disagreement with their policies as a “heart at war” and worthy of reappointment ...it is deeply problematic. /20

@umcbishops @ConnectNGUMC @revjody @mtbethelumc @SueHaupJohn Yet, there is almost no place or body to whom @mtbethelumc and @revjody can appeal if they feel they are being punished for their public disagreement with General Superintendent @SueHaupJohn’s policy (which they believe is inconsistent with #UMC teaching). /21

@umcbishops @ConnectNGUMC @revjody @mtbethelumc @SueHaupJohn In recent years, General Superintendents (@UMCBishops) have taken more & more power. They are running their Annual Conferences with more autonomy, in multiple areas, with no check on said power. And General Conference’s delay only reveals the flaw in the system. In the #UMC, /22

@umcbishops @ConnectNGUMC @revjody @mtbethelumc @SueHaupJohn unlike other traditions, the Episcopacy (a.k.a. General Superintendents or @UMCBishops) does not make Church doctrine or policy. General Conference, which meets every 4 years, is the only body that can determine doctrine. The General Superintendents only enforce doctrine. /23

@umcbishops @ConnectNGUMC @revjody @mtbethelumc @SueHaupJohn Without General Conference, the General Superintendents (@UMCBishops) feel more empowered than ever. There should be, in all new future branches from the #UMC, an established body which meets regularly, whose purpose is to oversee and keep accountable episcopal powers. /24

@umcbishops @ConnectNGUMC @revjody @mtbethelumc @SueHaupJohn If not, any pastor or congregation can be deemed “at war in their heart against the #UMC” by a General Superintendent (@UMCBishops) and reappointed/punished . . . without due process or by the flimsiest of evidence. It is a flaw in the #UMC connexion that must fixed. /25 & end 🧵