A Glimpse into the Future of the UMC

The Annual Conference of the Mountain Sky Conference

As I wrote last week, we spent Thursday evening through Saturday night in Colorado Springs attending the Annual Conference of the Mountain Sky Conference of the United Methodist Church . Held in First UMC of Colorado Springs, it was an interesting mix of bureaucratic business, advertisements for various camps and church agencies, some devotional thoughts, and actual petitions or resolutions that might come to bear on the next General Conference in May of 2024.¹

There were a little over 300 voting members, representing clergy and laity. The Mountain Sky Conference is made up of the four states of Colorado, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming plus a slice of Northeastern Idaho. A strong sense of state loyalty was present, made even more present as a result of a redistricting proposal reducing the MSC from seven to six districts. This group was both smaller and younger than the annual conference I attended in Michigan pre-COVID.

The clergy present appeared to be disproportionately millennials in their 30s and 40s. There were clergy near retirement as well, but my sense was that they weren’t the dominant group (unlike what I saw in Michigan).

There was a strong sense of Wesleyan identity present. John Wesley was invoked frequently (including a Wesley quiz from the bishop toward the end of the session). Numerous speakers made use of Wesley’s “pressing on towards perfection” line. Reverend Janet Wolf had come from Tennessee to provide some remarkable Bible exposition on Wesley’s blend of personal and social holiness.²

Bishop Karen Oliveto proved an excellent moderator, combining humor, spirituality, and a deft hand at lessening conflict. She gained a national reputation in 2016 when she was the first gay Bishop elected in the UMC.³

The Conference began Thursday night on a somber note. Delegates had to vote to approve the disaffiliation of over 40 congregations from the WSC. Each district superintendent presented the churches from that district that were disaffiliating. Each time, the motion read “Does the Mountain Sky Annual Conference ratify the disaffiliation of [Church name] as a local church of The United Methodist Church?” When the motions for all of the churches for that district had been completed, the district superintendent led the delegates in prayer celebrating the past and future ministry of those congregations.

In order to disaffiliate, a congregation was required to have a vote of the church, have paid all prior “ministry shares”, and paid into the retirement and pension funds for 2024. Discussions with the Conference trustees determined that these criteria were met.

Before Thursday night, there were 376 churches on the MSC which dropped to 318 on Friday (a loss of 16%). Membership went from 60,792 to 48,068 (a loss of 21%). On the other hand, worship attendance went from 32,339 to 34.432 (an increase of 6%). Other regions fared far worse — one clergy representative told me that Oklahoma lost 40% of its congregations including its four largest churches.

Given all of the national news about congregations leaving the UMC over LGBTQIA+ affirmation, one might have expected a celebratory stance even bordering on “good riddance”. That wasn’t the case. There was a clear sense of sadness that the separation had come to pass even though the denomination had been on that trajectory since before the 2019 General Conference. Thursday evening closed with a service of lament.

There were some fairly pro-forma motions passed: language changes in church camp constitutions, approval of the annual budget, approval of nominations, setting of compensation levels for clergy and other leadership, and approval of some small churches that had voted to close.

I learned that anyone could make a petition to the Annual Conference. Resolutions that went on record require a simple majority. Petitions to the upcoming General Conference required passage with an 80% threshold.

Three petitions stood out to me. The first, put forward by a congregation in the Denver area, argued that the UMC mission statement — “To Make Disciples for the Transformation of the World” — needed to be revised. They argued that the verb “make” inferred coercion.⁴ Those gathered didn’t agree. Not only did it not meet the 80% threshold, it was the only petition at the meeting that failed to receive a simple majority.

Two other petitions dealt with LGBTQIA+ issues. One simply called for a statement of support for removing the discriminatory language from the Methodist Discipline that has been the center of contention for the last 50 years. The other called for forbearance from investigating gay clergy or those officiated at same-sex weddings. While these two actions are not binding on the General Conference at this point, they both passed with over 90% of the vote.

So what did I learn about the future of the United Methodist Church in more that 25 hours of meetings over two and half days? First, the young (to me) clergy and district and conference leadership have a deep commitment to the Wesleyan identity of the United Methodist Church. I would argue that they are committed to translating John Wesley’s vision of ministry into the contemporary age. Second, for all of the past fights over LGBTQIA+ acceptance in the church, moving to affirmation will enhance, not inhibit, that pursuit of mission. Third, as a “connectional church” the Methodists in the Mountain Sky Conference see themselves as fellow laborers for Christ, albeit also having a strong sense of regional pride.⁵

All in all, the trajectory of the meeting said a lot about the trajectory of the Conference. We moved from loss on Thursday night to new districts on Friday to hope for the future on Saturday. That’s almost theological in form and suggests some exciting possibilities going forward.

In spite of what the critics like to claim, the UMC isn’t losing its way. It’s imagining what is needed for its vibrant future.

1. Which I learned is actually the 2020 General Conference. COVID really has altered time.

2. Her use of a poetic style of descriptive series in her talks was infectious.

3. Not the last — we also heard from Bishop Cedrick Bridgeforth of the Pacific Northwest Conference.

4. I found myself thinking of a UMC church we were part of in Portland, OR that was quite concerned about language like this (including worrying about those who might be offended by line in the Apostles Creed).

5. The announcement that the 2024 annual conference will be held in Casper, Wyoming was enthusiastically received.