Just days before the opening of the COVID-delayed General Conference, Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton told his fellow bishops that he sees the possibility for big changes coming out of The United Methodist Church’s top policymaking body.
Those potential changes include what many General Conference lay and clergy delegates have taken to calling “the three R’s.” Those are regionalization, the Revised Social Principles and removal of the denomination’s longtime restrictive language against LGBTQ people — including the end of the 52-year-old statement that “the practice of homosexuality …. is incompatible with Christian teaching.”
In his final address as Council of Bishops president, Bickerton said if any of these changes receives approval, or any combination of them, “this will represent one of those seismic shifts in who we are as a denomination.”
He called on episcopal and other church leaders to use “this seismic shift” to further the denomination’s mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
“If we can, we stand a very good chance of being able to see the next expression of United Methodism beginning to emerge,” Bickerton said to a pre-General Conference meeting that brought together about 95 active and retired bishops from around the world.
“Needless to say, this is a moment in time when we will not only see some of the dust settle, but we’ll also see new dust storms arise,” he said.
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