01
November 2004
Dear Bp.
Gwinn:
St. Peter’s
United Methodist Church prays and hopes that your transition
into The Raleigh Area’s episcopal residence and office has
been a smooth one for your family and you. Along with
thousands of other United Methodists across our conference, we
warmly welcome you to eastern North Carolina. The same honor
and love that we had (and have) for Bp. Marion Edwards are now
yours as well.
You should
know that, in recent years, St. Peter’s United Methodist
Church has not paid her annual apportionments in full. For
reasons of congregational conscience that have been annually
communicated to our bishop, St. Peter’s Church has withheld a
percentage of apportioned monies and redirected that money to
significant ministries throughout the Church universal.
However, we
believe that we have entered a new era in American Methodism.
This new era requires a new response from St. Peter’s Church.
The obvious disregard of The Book of Discipline found
in The United Methodist Church’s Western Jurisdiction --
illustrated especially by the decision rendered in the church
trial of Rev. Karen Dammann -- has caused St. Peter’s Church
to reconsider her response to apportionments. We have clearly
seen that ours is not a time to take covenant and discipline
lightly. Therefore, over the past several months, our
Administrative Council has studied and discussed our baptismal
covenant and denominational discipline to discern what God
requires of St. Peter’s Church in this new era. What follows
is a brief summary of our findings.
First, we
considered the baptismal covenant. As “The Baptismal Covenant
I” declares, “Through the Sacrament of Baptism we are
initiated into Christ’s holy [C]hurch. We are incorporated
into God’s mighty acts of salvation and given new birth
through water and the Spirit. All this is God’s gift, offered
to us without price.” (The United Methodist Hymnal, p.
33) So the baptismal covenant is the means by which we are
not only graciously received into Christ’s Church but also
generally instructed how to live faithfully in the Church and
in the world. Testing our readiness to enter, make, and keep
the covenant, the Church requires us to “renounce the
spiritual forces of wickedness...,” to “accept the freedom and
power God gives [us] to resist evil...,” to “confess Jesus
Christ as [our] Savior...and promise to serve him as [our]
Lord...,” and to “remain faithful members of Christ’s holy [C]hurch
and serve as Christ’s representatives in the world.” (p. 34)
In addition, the baptismal covenant includes: a declaration of
the Church’s faith as articulated by The Apostles’ Creed; a
promise to “be loyal to The United Methodist Church, and do
all in [our] power to strengthen its ministries;” and a vow to
“faithfully participate in [the congregation’s] ministries by
[our] prayers, [our] presence, [our] gifts, and [our]
service.” (p. 34) In summary, the baptismal covenant -- which
is made possible only by God’s justifying and sanctifying
grace -- securely binds us to Jesus Christ, to the Church
catholic, to The United Methodist Church, and to a particular,
United Methodist congregation.
And second,
we reviewed The Book of Discipline to find
congregational responsibilities. Constituted by the baptismal
covenant, a congregation of The United Methodist Church is
“subject to its Discipline.” (Par. 203) A part of
being subject to the church’s Discipline is the payment
of annual apportionments: “The apportionments for all
apportioned general [c]hurch funds...shall not be subject to
reduction...by the charge or local church.” (Par. 811.5)
Furthermore, the “[p]ayment in full of these apportionments
[that is, the World Service Fund] by local churches...is the
first benevolent responsibility of the [c]hurch.” (Par. 812)
Therefore,
our investigation concluded that: all United Methodist laity
and clergy are charged to be obedient to the baptismal
covenant; and all United Methodist congregations are subject
to The Book of Discipline, and this includes the full
payment of annual apportionments.
But in the
course of life in the Church, the following questions are bound
to arise. Is it possible that obedience to the baptismal
covenant might, in a particular case, conflict with the
congregation being subject to the Discipline? For
example, might United Methodist leaders and/or general boards
engage in activities blatantly opposed to the denomination’s
Discipline? Under such circumstances, are not United
Methodists, out of obedience to the baptismal covenant, required
to resist such activities? And as a last resort, after all
other possible responses have been attempted to no avail, might
a congregation, motivated by covenantal obedience, refuse to pay
apportioned monies that would support continuing, undisciplined
activities by denominational boards? So, might it be truthful
to claim that lay and clerical faithfulness to the baptismal
covenant can, in the event of denominational disobedience,
override a congregation being subject to the Discipline?
The
Administrative Council of St. Peter’s United Methodist Church
answers all the aforementioned questions with Yes. Our Yes’s
are not speculative and theoretical, for they are based on a
particular case in point.
The
Administrative Council of St. Peter’s Church believes that the
General Board of Church and Society (GBCS) and the Women’s
Division/General Board of Global Ministries (WD/GBGM) have
blatantly acted against the Discipline of The United
Methodist Church. By co-sponsoring the March for Women’s Lives
on April 25, 2004 in Washington, DC, these two United Methodist
institutions joined a pro-choice -- actually, a pro-abortion --
political rally that boldly contradicted our denomination’s
teaching on abortion (The Book of Discipline, Par. 161J),
stained our denomination’s name and witness in the public arena,
and contributed to the further coarsening and demoralization of
our general society. Out of obedience to the baptismal
covenant, we are compelled to register with you our profoundest
protest against GBCS and WD/GBGM for their participation in this
pro-choice March.
Even so,
for the time being, St. Peter’s United Methodist Church will
remain subject to our denomination’s Discipline.
Therefore, St. Peter’s
Church will strive to pay our 2005 apportionments in full. At
the same time, St. Peter’s Church encourages you, as our bishop,
to do all you can, whenever you can, to address this egregious
violation of the church’s Discipline in the Council of Bishops
and in other appropriate venues.
You are the
bishop of our conference and our congregation. You have been
sent to us by the Lord of the Church to lead and oversee not
only the North Carolina Conference and St. Peter’s United
Methodist Church, but also the larger denomination. Therefore,
we stand ready, willing, and able to support you, in your
episcopal ministry, in whatever ways you may deem best.
As St.
Peter’s United Methodist Church seeks to be obedient to the
baptismal covenant and subject to the church’s Discipline,
we humbly ask you to do the same. We urge you to challenge The
United Methodist Church -- including the Council of Bishops, the
General Board of Church and Society, and the Women’s
Division/General Board of Global Ministries -- to become
increasingly faithful to the covenant and Discipline by
which all United Methodists are bound.
May God’s
grace and peace continue with you.
In Christ,
(Mr.) Patrick Mann, Chair/Committee on Finance
(Mr.) Larry H. Miller, Chair/Administrative Council
(The Rev.) Paul T. Stallsworth/Pastor
