UM Regionalization - Is it Fair?
In a recent editorial Rob Renfroe stated, “ Our friends in Africa with whom we work closely have told us they cannot remain in a church that allows for a contradictory, “contextualized” sexual ethic.” (for the whole piece see https://www.umnews.org/en/news/traditionalist-caucus-president-speaks-to-criticism_ ) This provides his rational for remaining politically active in the UM General Conference. He's working to guarantee the rights of these "friends" to disaffiliate. Renfroe doesn't tell us exactly who these friends are, the basic idea here is that by allowing regional decisions on same sex marriage and ordination of LGBTQ persons the UMC is saying that sexual ethics are a matter of cultural context rather than universal divine mandate . And this gets to the core of the Good News and WCA critique of the UMC. They maintain that there is a universal, biblical mandate for human sexual relations that is not subject to historical change and cultural evaluation. Renfro