Church may split from denomination

The Logan United Methodist Church likely will split from that denomination if the members vote at its general conference in May to diverge from that sect’s Book of Discipline doctrine and allow gay marriages and gay ministers.

The Rev. John Barrett, pastor of that church and Center Street United Methodist Church in Tucumcari, also said last week he would leave the denomination, as well, if the main, 52-year-old domination adopts more of a pro-gay stance.

The United Methodist Church will hold its general conference in Minneapolis on May 5-15 to decide on at least three proposals that could determine whether the denomination will stay together or split.

Barrett said he’s aware of three proposals for the United Methodist Church’s general conference. One is where the church stays in the hands of “progressive” and pro-gay members, thus prompting the conservative churches to leave. The so-called Indianapolis Plan, he said, provides a more amicable split. The third option maintains the traditional plan and, thus, no split.

The church has wrestled with the issue of same-sex relationships for decades, and some members believe such behavior remains incompatible to biblical teaching. Others believe the church needs to be more inclusive to gay people.

Barrett said he held special meetings with congregants at his churches in Logan and Tucumcari in January. The Tucumcari flock hasn’t made up its mind, he said, and will hold another meeting to discuss it in February.

About 10 members of the Logan congregation, however, voted unanimously to separate from the United Methodists if the main church doesn’t uphold the Book of Discipline, Barrett said, that maintains a ban on gay marriages and gay clergy. The Book of Discipline, published every four years after the general conference, has contained the denomination’s laws and doctrine for more than 230 years.

He added the Logan members who voted are “very representative” of that church.

“The Logan church was a little more expressive about it” than the Tucumcari church, Barrett said.

David Irwin of rural Nara Visa, who described himself as a lifelong Methodist, has been a member of the Logan church for more than 40 years and is chairman of the pastor parish committee for the two churches. He said the Logan congregants have a strong affinity for the Book of Discipline.

“The Logan church takes a pretty conservative voice about some of these issues,” he said. “The people there are very strong Methodists, and they’re very familiar with what the Book of Discipline says.

“The Methodist church has lived under the guidelines of the Book of Discipline ever since it’s been started. That is the rules, so we ought to live by them. If they want to live outside that, that’s an issue we have to face.”

Barrett, who said he’s been part of the United Methodists for 46 years and has led the Tucumcari church since 2012, said he sides with the conservative wing.

“I will stay as long as we are traditional,” he said. “If we vote to be nontraditional, I’ll have to come up with another plan for myself and my family.”

Barrett elaborated on his misgivings with the main church.

“People are not abiding by the Book of Discipline,” he said. “When I took my vow as an ordained pastor, I made an oath I would uphold the Book of Discipline. I’ve tried to do that to the best of my ability. Even with parts I’ve not agreed with, I’ve upheld it.

“We’ve got a lot of pastors and even bishops that have tried to go their own way, be politically correct, that sort of stuff. That’s their business, but there’s other places where they can go do that besides violating their own oath of office. They have become a liar.”

Barrett said the Tucumcari and Logan United Methodist churches never have hosted same-sex weddings he’s aware of.

Barrett noted the denomination’s general conference still is months away, and there’s no guarantee how its members will vote on the proposals before them. Anything the general conference passes also must be examined by the church’s Judicial Council, which acts much like a Supreme Court to affirm a proposal’s constitutionality.

Though he said he’s steadfast on being a traditionalist, Irwin said he hopes the denomination remains unified.

“I hope the church doesn’t split,” he said. “You can’t make anything stronger by cutting it down.”