WEDNESDAY—The Methodist Church has become the largest religious denomination in Britain to permit same-sex marriages. A vote to change the definition of marriage at the Methodist Conference on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed by 254 in favor with 46 against.
According to the BBC, “the Methodist Church is Britain's fourth largest Christian denomination with about 164,000 members across more than 4,000 churches.” (British Methodism is a totally separate denomination from The United Methodist Church.) Methodists represent only about two tenths of one percent of the British population, whereas United Methodists in the U.S. represent about two percent of the entire population.
In offering same-sex marriage services, Methodism aligns with other relatively small denominations in Britain, such as the Scottish Episcopal Church, the United Reformed Church, and the Quakers.
The two largest denominations, the Church of England (more than 16,000 churches) and the Roman Catholic Church (3,700 churches), do not accept same-sex marriage. Methodism will also be out of step with other British denominations, such as Baptist, Pentecostal, Orthodox, House Churches, Seventh-day Adventists and independent congregations.
In a compromise reminiscent of Pilate, the Methodists adopted a new definition of marriage:
“The Methodist Church believes that marriage is given by God to be a particular channel of God’s grace, and that it is in accord with God’s purposes when a marriage is a life-long union in body, mind and spirit of two people who freely enter it.
Within the Methodist Church, this is understood in two ways: that marriage can only be between a man and a woman; that marriage can be between any two people. The Methodist Church affirms both understandings and makes provision in its Standing Orders for them.”
The BBC reports, “Church officials hope the dual definition will persuade conservative churches not to leave and protect ministers from discrimination claims if they refuse to marry gay couples.”
The Rev Sonia Hicks, newly elected as the Methodists’ first black female president at the weekend, said it was a “historic day for our church”. She urged people “to support each other respecting our differences”.
Observations
This tactic in attempting to maintain some sort of unity is common across the world among liberal denominations that are changing their standards on marriage. Most see it as an interim step to allow the “conservatives” to eventually change their minds, leave the church, or die off, until the church can unify around the more progressive marriage stance.
There are elements in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America who agitate women’s ordination with this same strategy. This is what they are doing:
Ignore GC Session decisions, ordain women in violation of Church policy.
Normalize the idea of women’s ordination by appointing many female pastors throughout the Division. (Dan Jackson and Alex Bryant want 1,000 female pastors to help accomplish this goal.)
As the older, conservative (biblically-based) members in North America leave or die off, a younger demographic (many of whom have received a left-leaning education in our colleges) are free to impose their cultural views upon church doctrine. It will be done under the rubric of being “inclusive, or relevant.”
While the Church is being conditioned to accept female ordination, liberal vanguards of the church (such as the PUC, La Sierra, Andrews, and Walla Walla, will expand the new inclusive relevance to include homosexuality.
Having failed to bring any meaningful discipline to rebellious Unions and Divisions over WO (women’s ordination), the church will be utterly powerless to prevent the next un-biblical onslaught. Chronologically it will be homosexual membership, same-sex marriage and eventually ordination for homosexuals. If you haven’t seen this wave forming, then your eyes aren’t open.
What is needed? Resist un-biblical re-definitions of gender roles, including WO and LGBTQ affirmation. Stand, friends. God will use this trial to build a unique Godly character in His people who resist evil and speak the truth in love. “Therefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day and, having done all, to stand” (Ephesians 6:13). We are unquestionably in that “Evil Day”.
Reach out to people who are deceived by sin and error. Love them enough to speak and live the truth in a winsome way (Ephesians 4:15).
Many of us understand that the pre-Fall creation order included gender-specific role differentiation. Such differentiation would not be modified by redemption since it is innate within the created order. Hence, it continues, divinely intended for our happiness as God’s creatures today. Resistance to this order, or our setting it aside, would be a rejection of our Creator, just as rejection of His created order with regards to the week and the Sabbath is a repudiation of divine truth. The fundamental truth claims of the Christian faith are unchanged and unchanging.
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“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather [c]expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are [d]exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says:
“Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light” (Ephesians 5:11-14).