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Information
Stay United FUMC wants to share information with you that has been carefully researched and evaluated for accuracy and truth. We have beliefs that direct our decisions about the future of our congregation. We have responded to assertions that some have made that might need further explanation or refutation. We have tried our best to answer honestly and completely the questions that you've asked. We have prepared and/or selected articles with information we think you should consider. Finally, we have collected a number of internet sources that we feel might be of interest if you feel like delving further into these issues. Please use any or all of this material to help develop an informed position on the future of FUMC Montgomery.
What We Believe
Affirmation: The Global Methodist Church is a new denomination subject to potential change in its formational document. The Global Methodist Transitional Book of Doctrines and Discipline is a blueprint which is subject to change whenever the first Global Methodist General Conference occurs. There is too much uncertainty and too much potential damage to FUMC to leave stability and move to the unknown.
Affirmation: Those of us who want to stay United Methodists are not comfortable with the divisive atmosphere than can accompany a potential denominational split. We intend to honor our pledges made when we became United Methodist members, to err on the side of compassion, and to maintain unity in Christ.
Affirmation: There are no guarantees that preparation of ministers from the Independent Methodists, the Free Methodist Church, or the proposed Global Methodist Church will be at the level of academic and experiential preparation required for ministers who prepare under the guidelines of the United Methodist Church.
Affirmation: This schism is reminiscent of the kind of split that occurred in the 1960's over the dissolution of the central Jurisdiction which separated African American and white Methodist churches. Those events did not end well for churches that split or for new churches that were formed, many of which do not exist today.
Things You Need to Know
What Some Assert
Assertion: Our local church’s pro-disaffiliation group asserts that ultimately there will be changes made in the United Methodist Book of Discipline that will allow the ordaining of gay ministers or bishops and the performing of same-sex marriage in the church. The assumption is often referred to as “the big tent has collapsed” in favor of liberal thought and away from conservative and centrist thought.
