Allegheny West Global Methodist Conference Holds Inaugural Session in Reynoldsburg, Ohio

The Allegheny West Provisional Annual Conference of the Global Methodist Church held its inaugural session October 12-14 at Reynoldsburg Community Church outside Columbus, Ohio. The conference covers Ohio and the western third of Pennsylvania, and pastors and lay members from hundreds of Global Methodist congregations attended. The Rev. Dr. Jessica LaGrone, Dean of the Chapel at Asbury Theological Seminary, said, “So many have been working and yearning for this day for years.” The source reports that the session concluded with what was reportedly the largest group of Methodist ministers ever ordained in North America, and perhaps the world.

The writer, who attended, said the session was unlike any official United Methodist conference the writer had attended. Pastors the writer interviewed described the experience as refreshingly different when compared with conferences in the United Methodist Church. The Rev. Dr. Jeff Greenway, the conference’s President Pro-Tempore, said, “Not everything in our former connection was bad,” and cautioned against “throw[ing] the baby out with the bath water.” Greenway said the main goal was never disaffiliation, but rather to move forward as a movement of Christians he described as like-minded, evangelical, orthodox and Wesleyan, committed to offering the whole Gospel to the whole world. Other speakers emphasized recovering the Methodist theology of sanctification and practices of highly accountable small groups.

On doctrine, the writer reports that speakers and participants expressed unity on core teaching. The Rev. Dr. David Watson, Academic Dean at the United Theological Seminary of the United Methodist Church, said Global Methodists would disagree about secondary issues but that he did not think they would debate basic doctrine. Greenway said that “none of us have our fingers crossed behind our backs” when reciting the Apostles’ Creed. During the ordination of a class of candidates, Bishop Mark Webb paused at John Wesley’s question about whether ministers were “in debt so as to embarrass you in your work” to stress honesty in ordination vows. He said sincerity on that question calls congregations to help relieve ministers of burdensome debt, a call to honest dealing (Proverbs 11:1). The writer notes that the same questions have long been asked of United Methodist candidates, but that the moment highlighted a culture of ministers meaning their vows.

The writer recalled only two brief mentions of homosexuality in plenary sessions. Bishop Emeritus Mike Lowry preached that intra-Methodist disagreements over such matters were “just the tip of the iceberg” and that the issue uniting the Global Methodist Church is the basic creed, “Jesus is Lord.” LaGrone said the church “does not hate or exclude LGBTQ persons” and offers them the same welcome into repentance and new life that it offers everyone else. The writer reports that this statement drew enthusiastic applause.

Organizationally, the source describes a leaner bureaucracy with a focus on empowering local congregations as the center of mission. Webb spoke of accountability as a two-way street between bishops and congregations. The conference plans for congregations within each of its circuits, which the source describes as smaller versions of United Methodist districts, to jointly support one international mission partnership, one national mission, one local mission and one new church plant. Speakers said the Global Methodist Church uses “a modified appointment system” with “no forced marriages.” Pastors and congregations may decline a suggested match, though “there’s not an unlimited number of NO’s.” The Rev. Leah Hidde-Gregory, President Pro Tempore of the Mid-Texas Global Methodist Annual Conference, cited a clergywoman who was the first choice of three congregations seeking a pastor. The business session was brief, and the writer reports that no one offered debate or floor speeches on the short agenda.

Breakout workshops covered congregational renewal, church planting and spiritual mentoring. Hidde-Gregory led a session on revitalizing existing congregations, addressing discipleship, welcoming demographically diverse visitors and overcoming a “scarcity mentality.” Church-planting pioneer Steve Cordle encouraged every congregation to help plant new ones. The Rev. Dr. Kevin Watson, Director of Academic Growth at Formation at Asbury Seminary, stressed the role of spiritual fathers and mothers in congregations. David Watson’s workshop addressed what he called “the consensual tradition” of historic Christian orthodoxy. He also said early Methodism’s rules forbade members from owning slaves, yet within 60 years of John Wesley’s death Methodists had their first slave-owning bishop. He warned the Global Methodist Church could lose its Methodist heritage without intentional preservation, and he said Wesley’s use of the phrase “social holiness” referred to communal discipleship. The writer reports that he noted Wesley used the phrase only once in his writings.

LaGrone acknowledged that not everyone would want what this expression of Methodism offers. To those eager to join the movement, she extended a welcome, in words the source leaves unfinished: “Welcome to the Global Methodist Church, where”

Source: Read the original report