It’s “no secret” the Wesleyan Covenant Association is an “advocate for and an ally for theologically conservative churches to depart the United Methodist Church for the Global Methodist Church,” he said — that’s part of the updated mission it adopted at its meeting earlier this year. But the new president of the organization sees that working “in concert” with the protocol, which always had the creation of a new, traditionalist expression of Methodism as its goal.
Pulling support for the protocol now is “just another ploy to send the denomination deeper into chaos,” trapping traditionalist churches, according to Therrell.
“They say that they want a big tent, but the reality is they want a tent that is big enough to take money from theologically conservative churches but not honor our theology,” he said.
Bickerton, who was part of the protocol negotiations, said he’d place himself somewhere in between those two views.
“I don’t think that we’re in a state of chaos, but neither do I think that everything’s just fine,” the president of the Council of Bishops said.
The seven bishops who had been on the mediation team released their own statement after the Protocol Response that affirmed the work that had been done on the plan. But, Bickerton said, when bishops signed the protocol, they essentially turned it over to the General Conference to decide its fate.
“It’s legislation that’s in the hands of the delegates, and we trust that,” he said.
Bickerton isn’t sure what will come next for the United Methodist Church.
But, the bishop said, he hopes churches won’t wait to find out.
“I’m not willing to allow the denomination to be paralyzed until General Conference,” he said.
Even without the protocol, there already are provisions in place that allow churches to leave the denomination with their properties.
In addition to the Traditional Plan, the 2019 special session approved a measure allowing churches to disaffiliate from the denomination by Dec. 31, 2023, “for reasons of conscience” related to sexuality. Those churches must pay off any loans from their annual conferences, as well as two years of apportionments to the denomination and a share of what their conferences will owe retirees.
