Southern California United Methodist congregations on the brink of schism over national church’s stance on homosexuality

 

When Molly and Dawn Molt moved to Laguna Hills in 1993 the biggest challenge they faced was finding a church that would accept a lesbian couple and their child.

“I called 11 churches and all of them rejected us,” Dawn Molt said. “Some said they’d accept our son, but not us. But, we wanted a church that would take our whole family, not one that would tell our child his parents were going to hell.”

Laguna Beach United Methodist Church was the 12th phone number Molt called. And she found acceptance right away.

“You will not only be welcome here, you will be loved here,” she was told by the pastor who answered her call.

The church kept its word. The couple’s son, now 25, grew up in the United Methodist Church. He was baptized, confirmed and was part of the church’s youth ministry. Dawn Molt taught Sunday school for nine years and still serves as a lay leader. The church became a connective tissue conjoining this family to their community, helping them forge lifelong bonds and feel accepted in a world which, in many ways, wasn’t ready for them.

An inevitable schism?

For the Molts and many other progressive members of the United Methodist Church, the national church’s strong stance — one recently solidified by church leaders’ resolution to strictly enforce ecclesiastical laws prohibiting the denomination’s clergy from conducting same-sex weddings and banning the ordination of practicing homosexuals — has dealt a devastating blow.

In February, delegates from around the world attending the church’s General Conference in St. Louis, by a vote of 438-384, reinforced what has become known as the Traditional Plan, a policy that enforces penalties for disobeying its rules pertaining to homosexuality. An orthodox group within the United Methodist Church called the Wesleyan Covenant Association has been pushing for this plan.

Delegates rejected an alternative known as the One Church Plan, which would have allowed individual churches to decide whether to welcome gay and lesbian clergy members and perform same-sex marriages. Under the One Church Plan, the statement that homosexuality is at odds with Christianity would have been eliminated.

The Rev. Lynn Munson Francis, senior minister at the Molts’ church, said the delegates’ action has broken the hearts and spirits of many who had hoped the church would move toward acceptance and inclusiveness. But now she sees little possibility for reconciliation and an increased likelihood of a separation.

“It’s like they wrote us a ticket and made it easy to leave the denomination,” said Francis, whose son is transgender. “It’s like we’re back in the civil rights movement. We’re not rallying in the streets, but we’re fighting and we’re resisting this obsession with people’s sexuality.”

Progressive jurisdiction

About a third of Francis’ congregation in Laguna Beach are members of the LGBTQ community, she said. Francis takes solace in the fact that the California-Pacific United Methodist Conference, which has jurisdiction over her church, is largely progressive, with bishops who have allowed LGBTQ ministers to lead congregations and permitted clergy to conduct same-sex marriages.

Church officials in the west hope to move closer to decisive action during the 35th Annual Session of the California-Pacific Conference at the University of Redlands from June 13 to June 15. Bishop Grant J. Hagiya, who leads this jurisdiction, said the Traditional Plan won’t work in California.

“We just cannot go back to a more repressive church in the west,” Hagiya said.

The delegates’ decision in February has significantly tarnished the church’s reputation in the west, with some churches even covering up their logos or dropping “United Methodist” from their names, the bishop said.

However, that doesn’t mean traditional clergy and congregations will not be accepted, Hagiya said.

“They have as much right and protections as anyone else,” he said. “This is a big tent where each of us can follow our own wishes and values. That means everyone is accepted. No one will be singled out. We’re committed to live and let live.”

The traditional minority

Those in the church who favor the traditional approach say they cannot tolerate “disobedience” on the part of progressive churches within the denomination, which they say violates church doctrine.

“With this increased disobedience, we’ve added more accountability steps to make clergy adhere to the church’s teachings,” said Glen Haworth, lead pastor of The Fount in Fountain Valley and president of the California-Pacific chapter of the Wesleyan Covenant Association.

Haworth believes the progressives and traditionalists in the United Methodist Church have drifted too far apart. He sees an “amicable separation” as the only viable solution.

“There’s no way we can stay together, we’re so far apart,” he said. “One church is doing gay marriages and another church is saying that’s a sin. You can’t hold the two together. There needs to be some kind of separation.”

While the traditional arm of the church doesn’t condemn homosexuals, it will not accept the idea of clergy members who are gay or lesbian because it is contradictory to biblical teaching, Haworth said. He said his congregation will likely dissociate from the progressive California-Pacific Conference and join another jurisdiction that is more in line with traditional doctrine. If the national church goes progressive, his congregation will leave the denomination, the pastor said.

“A schism is inevitable,” he said. “We need to bless each other and go our separate ways.

A majority of the Korean-American United Methodist churches in Southern California also lean traditional, said Helena Kim, co-chairwoman of the California-Pacific Conference’s Korean Caucus. Kim, a Rowland Heights resident, said a survey earlier this year showed about 86% of Korean American clergy in this jurisdiction supports the Traditional Plan.

“I would personally leave the denomination if the One Church Plan passes,” Kim said. “Even if you say it’s up to the individual church, I don’t want the denomination’s money going toward promoting same-sex weddings. That goes against my principles and it goes against the Bible.”

The Rev. Young Chung, who leads Holliston United Methodist Church in Pasadena, said the issue makes him “angry.”

“I can’t believe they are so hung up on this issue,” he said. “They should be talking about the gospel and how to evangelize our communities, not homosexuality.”

Chung said the denomination’s declining membership is not because of the controversy over homosexuality, but because pastors no longer “care enough about the word of God.”

The fate of LGBTQ clergy

The Traditional Plan will prove devastating for gay members and clergy, of whom there are many in Southern California, said the Rev. Kathy Cooper Ledesma, senior pastor at Hollywood United Methodist. About 60% of her congregants are members of the LGBTQ community.

“We’ll need to have some tough conversations in the coming months about how to move forward,” she said. “I see the potential for a peaceful separation where those of us who feel called to an inclusive church are able to be that church without fear of retribution or fear of being defrocked.”

When the Traditional Plan goes into effect in 2020,  a minister who performs a same-sex marriage, for example, could face suspension without pay, reassignment and even defrocking, Cooper Ledesma said.

“No one wants a split,” she said. “At the same time, we can’t live in this untenable situation.”

Breaking away from the denomination will be difficult, but it’s also exciting, said the Rev. Denyse Barnes, associate pastor at Hollywood Methodist.

“We have the opportunity to create something new that is built not on exclusion, but inclusion,” she said. “I’m excited for what’s to come.”

Barnes has been traveling all over the region in recent months helping congregations have difficult conversations about this issue and how to be more inclusive, through a program called Rainbow Havens.

“I’m optimistic, but I see a lot of people struggling with it,” she said. “Many have left the church because they don’t feel valued.”

A new way forward

For other long-time United Methodist ministers who have fought this issue for decades, it’s getting exhausting. The Rev. Frank Wulf, senior pastor at Echo Park United Methodist Church, was asked to leave the church in 1992 when he came out to his bishop as a gay man. He was asked to surrender his credentials. Wulf refused.

A judicial process initiated against him stalled and Wulf remained in the church.

“For a while, it looked like the church was poised to do something different,” he said. “We allowed ourselves to hope that a new space was going to be created for us. But, they’ve clearly told us we don’t have a place in the church.”

Like Barnes, Wulf doesn’t believe his livelihood is threatened — not in California.

“I can’t imagine we’ll stay together,” he said. “We can’t continue to be in fellowship with those who are pushing a punitive, anti-LGBTQ agenda.”

Laguna Hills residents Dawn and Molly Molt have decided to stay with their church of 25 years, despite the anger and heartbreak.

“We’ll have to see how to fight as a group,” Dawn Molt said.

But, she said, the way forward won’t be easy.

“The United Methodist Church is a huge organization,” Molt said. “It’s going to be like turning the Titanic.”