It has been announced that the matter involving Bishop Talbert of the Western Jurisdiction performing a marriage ceremony for a gay couple in another Bishops area over the objections of that Bishop who requested that he not perform the service has been resolved without any charges being filed or corrective actions being taken should be concerning to every pastor and local church no matter what position one holds on the issue of gay marriage. When another clergy member interferes in the ministry of the local church over the objections of the pastor in charge and appointed to that charge it is a chargeable offense. However, the precedent calls that principle into question. When Bishops can do as they please and ignore the The Discipline of The United Methodist Church it call into question the whole system. I am a former district superintendent. I had to enforce the whole book or none of The Book of Discipline. I know what is it is like to have a former pastor or a retired pastor undermine my ministry. It was difficult in the past. This makes it almost impossible to address or control. This also opens the door to ignoring every other part of The BOD. It weakens the role of DS and local pastor. It is one more step down the road from a connectional to congregational church. As I said, no matter your stance on GBLT rights, this issue is about respecting the authority of pastor or Bishop in charge and further erodes The BOD. It seems to me that we have no opened the door to any pastor, any local church rejecting any portion of The BOD they choose and have given them precedent to do so.
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 23:21:59 +0000
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