Reverend Robinson shares insight on the United Methodist Church schism
In 2019, 16 leading members of the United Methodist Church created a plan to split up the church over LGBTQ rights in the denomination. The plan will be voted on at the coming UMC conference in May of 2020, according to NPR.
“We’ve always welcomed people,” said Reverend Ron Robinson of the college. “And we’ll continue to do so.” Robinson, Wofford’s college chaplain, is a fully ordained minister in the Methodist Church. “We have a Non-Discriminatory Statement here at Wofford. It took a little while to get sexual orientation in it because until recently it was not a legally protected category.”
In 2015, the Supreme Court removed all bans on gay marriage, and many churches and colleges have been forced into a decision regarding their openess. According to a CNN article, there haven’t been “so many church schisms” since the 1800s, when the topic up for discussion was slavery.
At the heart of the issue is permitting homosexual marriage within the Methodist Church. It also includes whether or not clergymen and women are allowed to be openly LGBTQ. In addition, the rights of transgender denomination members have come into question by long-term members.
“It’s likely there will be a church that will ordain LGBT members and one that won’t,” said Robinson. “One will be more progressive, the other more traditional.”
The separtists would assume a “traditional” stance by continuing to marry only same-sex couples, and ordain only heterosexual clergy. The remaining churches would open up their worship and related practices to all people, regardless of gender identity or sexuality.
The split goes beyond the issue of LGBTQ rights, and has led to questions regarding funding and church resources, a common problem among many churches who have split over similar arguments. According to the Washington Post, both Episcopalian and Presbyterian churches are stuck in a cycle of lawsuits over resources, a problem that could soon arrive on the church steps of many Methodist chapels. The current plan, signed by a group of clergy officials, would give about $25 million to the traditionalists, said NPR.
Robinson says the plan will help make the split easier.
When asked about how the change in the church might affect the campus, Robinson said, “Higher education in this country champions diversity and openness and our Methodist colleges are among those. Wofford is no exception.” Robinson said that Wofford will continue to be open to all students.
The Office of Diversity and Inclusion has made a concerted effort to make the campus a more open space for all Terriers, including diversity meetings and training for both staff and students, as well as a Non-Discriminatory policy.
While the Methodist split may seem inconsequential to some Wofford students, it raises questions and awareness about tradition: when to break away from old molds and about what keeps us together.
“I think there are a lot of people who find themselves in disagreement with the people they love most,” said Robinson. “Negotiating that is tough. But we’re going to keep living with each other.” Robinson believes that, now more than ever, people have to work in unison “There’s so much in our society that’s polarized. But we’re not going to demonize each other. That’s not a very good model for the rest of the world.”