Now, the question is, will the counsel for the Church have the integrity to appeal this up to the Judicial Council, which is sure to uphold the trial court's verdict? I'm not willing to bet either way. There's just too many people willing to make up their own reality for those with integrity to keep pushing this rope. Of course, this was the NE Jurisdiction, which is almost as whacked out as the Western Jurisdiction, if not as moribund.
But I'm too tired for outrage. I just wonder if there'll be a UMC worth belonging to by the time I reach maximum retirement age. (And you wonder why I want to retire early.)
At some point, we will stop fighting this battle. Either the rules will be followed (and enforced, if need be) or the liberals will redefine the rules to suit themselves, but we can't go on like this. We could split up our assets, of course, and go our separate ways, the traditional/orthodox and the radical/heterodox that is. But nobody wants that. So, to paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, I do not think we will continue to be divided on this subject; either we will be all one way or the other. Either we will be a Church where homosexuality will be fully accepted and honored in every congregation and Conference, or we will be a Church where homosexual practice is understood as "incompatible with Christian teaching," as the Discipline puts it. (That doesn't mean we go bashing people, just that we have another standard to call people to.)
Oy.
