Episode 2 - Part 1 - 3 Conservative Bishops Depart the UMC, Local Church Disaffiliation Options, & Other News w/ James Lambert

How should we interpret the words and actions of the UMC's bishops? Which bishops are leaving? To which other bodies/denominations are churches and people leaving to? What is the reaction from left-leaning persons to those on the right who are trying to lead the way? And let's hear a testimony from someone who grew up in the church and her reasons for leaving...

CHAPTERS

0:00 - Intro

1:03 - Wesleyan Reflection

3:00 - Introduction of James & Asbury UMC Status

6:24 - Departing Conservative Bishops

14:17 - GMC vs FMC vs Nondenominational Options

22:38 - Current Functional Role of Bishops

30:30 - Mark Tooley & the Institute for Religion & Democracy

47:10 - Mindy Dennison's Good News Magazine Piece

LINKS

Three conservative UMC bishops have left the UMC in the last few months:

- Mike Lowry - https://firebrandmag.com/articles/crossing-the-rubicon-a-bishop-says-goodbye-to-the-united-methodist-church

- Scott Jones - https://www.txcumc.org/newsdetail/bishop-jones-announces-retirement-16528832

- Jones stood against other bishops - https://michiganumc.org/13783/

- Mark Webb - https://www.unyumc.org/images/uploads/Retirement_letter_to_Conference.pdf

- Bishops getting raises again - https://www.umnews.org/en/news/inflation-and-salaries

- Denominational income up from last year - https://www.umnews.org/en/news/grappling-with-mixed-news-on-giving-church-exits

- 32 active bishops in the US, plus 1 Karen Oliveto. Are any conservative, or are the rest institutionalist or liberal? President is Thomas Bickerton. Portraits of all bishops - https://www.unitedmethodistbishops.org/bishops

GMC vs FMC vs Nondenominational

- Jay Therrell’s “Holy Boldness” - https://wesleyancovenant.org/2022/08/30/holy-boldness/

Breakdown of the Degradation of the Bishopric

- John Lomperis wrote “Liberal Bishops Have Redefined United Methodist Polity” https://juicyecumenism.com/2022/08/29/bishops-redefine-united-methodist-polity/

IRD Conversation

- Exposees on seminaries

- Iliff - https://juicyecumenism.com/2022/02/14/united-methodist-iliff-paganism/

- Duke - https://juicyecumenism.com/2022/04/05/queer-god-duke-divinity/

Death Fantasy of Mark Tooley Posted Online

- It began with anger at Tooley’s article in the Wall Street Journal: “A Messy Methodist Schism”

- The Original Post from Stan Copeland, the “Pickling Parson” of Lover’s Lane UMC in Dallas, TX

- Mark Tooley published a commentary on the mindset behind the post “Death by Bologna Sandwich: https://www.christianpost.com/voices/death-by-bologna-sandwich.html and https://juicyecumenism.com/2022/08/26/death-by-bologna-sandwich/

- Copeland removed the original post when it got attention

- Tooley followed up with an article in The Gospel Coalition, in which he corrected the faulty numbers on conservative denomination split-offs: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/methodists-path/

Mindy Dennison’s “Sinking Sand: Why I’m Leaving United Methodism” - https://app.donorview.com/Communication/View?prm=FXGWJE8IKbpJdlwOgBRdzv_wb4aoSY5hM0ECQaDWLTPzXSwmkb7DB49tKGzbZn5SMvcsXbZpMc67IrmvsQ2tHM3Bvc00rqgzynjuYs6oKrRjMio5mVw2BKP8w_baRCYh3qy7PN79TxJoKtmt0WEJx5WvpdkFJ-TTdZqaJcvzwUwZStLd9Eb1TMo6k9MUZIxaeirrgQ_XmA-qMNdhkL4ZqNpMd8w6bnjLnwEFndhuD341

- What do United Methodists really believe? Article - https://www.umnews.org/en/news/what-do-united-methodists-really-believe

- 2019 General Conference Report of Cara Nicklas - https://peopleneedjesus.net/2019/03/04/cara-nicklas-a-lay-delegate-perspective-on-gc2019/

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