Brothers & Sisters in Christ -
As of today, there are only 55 days remaining until the beginning of the 2020 UM General Conference in Minneapolis on May 5. We pray that you have found our new website useful for facilitating the discussion in your church, as well as for providing a basis for connecting and having discussions with those in other churches, as we all move towards the future together!
We believe that having resources from all perspectives is most helpful to the conversation, so we wanted to feature a couple resources today. From the liberal point of view, Rev. Roger Wolsey, an ordained United Methodist pastor who directs the Wesley Foundation at the University of Colorado at Boulder, writes in his article “It’s Time for Progressive Christianity”:
“Friends, Jesus isn’t God. Jesus didn’t die for our sins. Jesus wasn’t killed instead of us. God isn’t wrathful or vindictive. There isn’t a hell (other than ones that we create here on this earth). Going to heaven after we die isn’t what the faith or salvation is about. God didn’t write the Bible...Jesus’ resurrection didn’t have to be understood as a physical one…”
Many progressive UM clergy, including some in Iowa, believe (and teach) the same as Rev. Wolsey does on these matters. In stark contrast, the Wesleyan Covenant Association stands with the teaching of the universal Church for all time, agreeing with the apostle Thomas (yes, even “Doubting Thomas”) in saying that Jesus is “my Lord and my God”.
Unbiblical beliefs espoused by Rev. Wolsey and other progressive UM clergy, in Iowa and elsewhere, further confirm what we have been saying since the inception of the WCA - that the division in the United Methodist Church is NOT about sexuality issues. It is about much deeper differences - regarding the person of Jesus Christ, the authority and interpretation of Scripture, the nature of creation, sin, salvation, and reconciliation, and so on. Unbiblical teaching on sexuality practices are only “presenting” issues that flow from a worldview that celebrates the creation instead of the Creator, and where “salvation and deliverance” are brought by political action and social engineering, rather than by Divine grace and the Cross of Jesus Christ.
The simple truth is that diametrically-opposed beliefs cannot co-exist with any integrity in a “united” church, and more than 40 years of conflict confirms this.
And so, we STRONGLY encourage you to utilize the resources available and engage in these very important discussions. More great resources will be added - and speaking of great resources, we invite you to check out THIS great testimony!
In Christ’s love,
The Communications team of the Iowa WCA
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