Dear Central Family,

Last night our Church Council voted to authorize our congregation to enter into a period of prayer and discernment regarding the current state of the United Methodist Church and Central’s place within the Body of Christ. The motion that passed overwhelmingly last night was this: “I move that Central United Methodist Church of Fayetteville, Arkansas commence exploring a discernment process to last no longer than 60 days, requiring multiple meetings of the congregation (either in-person or virtually) and ultimately culminating in a survey of the congregation where we gain input from our congregation on the church’s future.” At the end of this process, the Council will reconvene and consider options, including whether we are ready to take more formal steps that would include an official process that could ultimately lead to a vote of the entire church family regarding these matters.

I know that you as a congregation have been discussing the issues related to the struggles in the United Methodist Church since 2019, just as I was in my previous appointment, but since we all had to hit “pause” on most things during COVID, I thought it might be helpful to catch us up to speed.  I also recognize that some of you are more informed than others.  For those of you who have very little information on the developments in our denomination, I want to share below some important things you need to know:

• The United Methodist Church is in turmoil. Almost since its inception in 1968, the theological position of the United Methodist Church regarding sexuality, marriage, and ordination has not changed. Here are some of the pertinent statements from our Book of Discipline:

“We affirm that all persons are individuals of sacred worth, created in the image of God. All persons need the ministry of the Church in their struggles for human fulfillment, as well as the spiritual and emotional care of a fellowship that enables reconciling relationships with God, with others, and with self. The United Methodist Church does not condone the practice of homosexuality and considers this practice incompatible with Christian teaching. We affirm that God's grace is available to all. We will seek to live together in Christian community, welcoming, forgiving, and loving one another, as Christ has loved and accepted us. We implore families and churches not to reject or condemn lesbian and gay members and friends. We commit ourselves to be in ministry for and with all persons. Ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions shall not be conducted by our ministers and shall not be conducted in our churches.”

Although this is the official position of the denomination, there has been struggle, disagreement, and even disobedience to this position over the years. After General Conference in 2016, The Commission on the Way Forward was created by the Council of Bishops to assist it in leading the denomination forward. This diverse and representative group offered the Council of Bishops three options: The One Church Plan, The Connectional Conference Plan and The Traditional Plan. At a 2019 Called Session of General Conference, the “Traditional Plan,” which further strengthened the denomination’s long-standing position on matters of human sexuality, was enacted by a 53% - 47% margin. It did not solve our issues, however, many pastors, churches, Annual Conferences, and Bishops spoke of their disagreement with the adopted plan and expressed their intentions to not implement it in their ministry settings. Because of this turmoil, in January 2020 a theologically diverse group of nine bishops, members of the LGBTQIA+ community and conservative renewal group leaders unveiled a plan called, “The Protocol of Reconciliation & Grace Through Separation”. This plan proposed allowing churches desiring to do so to separate in an easy and orderly manner. The Protocol assumed that the remaining United Methodist Church would become more inclusive of LGBTQIA+ individuals, thus the need for a new denomination that would maintain the current standards. Support for the Protocol was offered from across the theological spectrum and conventional wisdom held that the 2020 General Conference would enact it. However, COVID overwhelmed the world beginning in March 2020 and General Conference was postponed. It was rescheduled for 2021 and then for 2022.  Both of these were ultimately postponed. The next General Conference is now scheduled for 2024. The future of the Protocol Plan remains uncertain.

• We have options. Last month the Arkansas Conference Bishop, Gary Mueller, held meetings with pastors and lay leaders in every district to talk through what he called, “Our Current Landscape.” What he shared in those meetings is that there are many options before churches, and that is certainly the case with Central. Once all our churchwide gatherings have been completed and everyone in our church family has had an opportunity to be better informed and heard, as well as listening for the leading of the Holy Spirit and has spent time in prayer for guidance and direction, the Church Council will then make a decision about one or more of these options. Last night’s decision by the Church Council will give us an opportunity to explore the options together; to have the whole church meet about these matters, with nothing done behind closed doors but all out in the open, putting all the information before everyone so that everyone can have an informed voice prior to any potential churchwide vote.

 

• We will be transparent every step of the way. In the coming days you’ll be receiving another email with details on the plan for our gatherings. We’ll be offering different formats of meetings, both in-person and online, both on the Dickson St. and Genesis campuses. We will also have a landing page on our website with all the information you’ll need. If you are not currently signed up to receive churchwide emails, now would be a good time to do that, either on our website or by calling the church office.

 

• This process should be one of peace and prayer. Bishop Mueller has invited everyone in the Arkansas Conference to “Embrace a heart of peace and treat each other with the grace and respect that sisters and brothers in Christ owe each other. Assume the best intentions of others; avoid the temptation of attacking those ‘on the other side’ and respect the decisions congregations and individuals make about their futures.” These are important words, and ones that I will certainly be encouraging all of us to follow as we move through the coming months. We must also cover ourselves, our church, and this journey in prayer. The devil would like nothing more than to use this process to keep us from making a Kingdom difference in our community and beyond as we sort all this out. Let’s not allow that to happen!

 

• Wherever we end up, we will always be a church that seeks to Make Christ Central to Life for the People of Northwest Arkansas and Around the World. Our mission will not change, our purpose will not change, and our vision will not change. We will always be a church that loves all, welcomes all, cares for all, equips all, and sends all; we will always be a church with passionate worship, strong discipleship, compassionate service, relational evangelism, and deep prayer. We will always be a church that is full of both grace and truth, “growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church” (Eph. 4:15).

I am so grateful to be your Senior Pastor. I consider it a great honor to walk with you through this process of discernment and exploration of our future. I know we will have lots of opportunities to talk this through as a church, but please know that if you want to talk it over with me personally, or with any of our pastors, we would love to do that. Until then, take care and God bless!

Together on the Journey,

 

Carness Vaughan
Senior Pastor