THE DIVIDED METHODIST CHURCH
The biggest news in American Christianity in the last year, or so, was the decision announced in January 2020 by the United Methodist Church (hereafter UMC) that it will split in two, amicably, over the issue of the LGBTQ agenda. The UMC is the largest mainline denomination in the United States, presently numbering 12.5 million members. The news was announced here: https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2020/january/united-methodist-church-umc-plan-protocol-split-plan.html Commentary by Dr. Gene Veith, an LCMS retired professor and author, can be found here: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/geneveith/2020/01/methodists-will-send-their-conservative-congregations-away/.
What does this mean? First, the meaning of the term "mainline." The largest mainline churches are sometimes referred to as the "Seven Sisters of American Protestantism": the United Methodist Church (UMC), Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Episcopal Church (TEC), Presbyterian Church (USA)(PCUSA), American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA), United Church of Christ (UCC), and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). These are the biggest, wealthiest, and most-widely distributed denominations in the USA. As of 2020, all of them approve or embrace the LGBTQ agenda. The ABCUSA follows its polity in allowing each congregation to make its own doctrinal and moral decisions. So on this issue, ABCUSA will let each of its congregations decide what to do.
Second, the meaning of the term "LGBTQ agenda." In the realm of American religion, this does not refer to "civil rights," i.e., the rights that LGBTQ people have under the civil law. It refers specifically to whether denominations and congregations will ordain ministers who are LGBTQ, i.e., lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, trans-gender, or queer and whether they will bless the LGBTQ marriages of such persons. In denominations or congregations where they do not ordain, it refers to whether they allow LGBTQ persons to serve as ministers of religion in some capacity.
Third, you might be thinking, "How can they approve of LGBTQ behavior and lifestyle when the Bible is against it?" Good question. It can only happen in Protestant denominations that have rejected the normative authority of Scripture. All of these denominations rejected the normative authority of Scripture in the 20th century. The normative authority of Scripture was what our Missouri Synod's big "civil war" was all about the 1960s and 1970s. By God's grace, we retained our original view that all of Scripture is God's Word and that the Bible is the "only rule and norm according to which all doctrines and teachers alike must be appraised and judged" (Formula of Concord, Epitome, Rule and Norm, 1; Tappert, 464).
Fourth, what about the other Lutherans? The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has approved the LGBTQ agenda, as noted above. How they got there is explained in my essay "Gender Theology and the Splintering of the ELCA," which you can pick up in our Free Literature rack in the church hallway. The new NALC and LCMC synods are former ELCA congregations that rejected the LGBTQ agenda. The Wisconsin Synod (WELS), the Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS; the smaller Norwegian synod), and other smaller Lutheran denominations, synods, and groups agree with the Missouri Synod in rejecting the LGBTQ agenda.
Fifth, does this mean that churches that are opposed to the LGBTQ agenda are in favor of harassing or denying civil rights of LGBTQ persons? No. There are a few individuals, and a very few "nut-case" congregations, which harass LGBTQ persons and argue for denying them civil rights. But our synod does not do that, nor do I know of any Lutheran synod that does that. Of course, we believe, teach, and confess that LGBTQ behavior is wrong, because the Bible tells us so. But that is not "harassment." That is a religiously-grounded moral norm, which has four thousand years of solid precedent and New Testament sanction. We also have civil rights under the First Amendment to believe, teach, and confess that moral norm, which is also not an irrational moral norm.
Sixth, what does this mean for your friends, neighbors, or relatives who are LGBTQ? It means, on the one hand, that they can find plenty of churches, of different types, that will bless their behavior and bless their marriages. But if also means, on the other hand, that God is against that behavior and will punish it, if they do not repent, are baptized, and believe in Jesus. Luther's Small Catechism says:"God threatens to punish all who transgress these commandments. We should therefore fear his wrath and not disobey these commandments" (Close of the Commandments).
What we hope and pray for, when it comes to people of LGBTQ behavior and lifestyle, it that they will eventually see that it is contrary to God's will, and that they will submit to God's will by avoiding that behavior. I have seen many cases of people who were caught up in that behavior and lifestye in their youth and middle-age, and as they grew older, they had a change of heart and mind about it, and abandoned it. We hope and pray that everyone who is alienated from God, through their rejection of God's will, will someday have that change of heart and mind, which the Bible calls "repentance."
Yours in Christ, Pastor Martin R. Noland
