(Here are remarks of Dr. Jerry P. Kulah, Dean of Gbarnga School of Theology, United Methodist University in Liberia, to the Reform and Renewal Coalition Breakfast at the United Methodist Church Special General Conference Session in St. Louis, Missouri, Saturday, 23 February 2019.)
Brothers and sister of The United Methodist Church from all around the world, I humbly greet you in the strong name of Jesus Christ!
We thank God for all who have participated in observing a
sacred season of fasting and prayer as we have prepared for this special
General Conference session. And we praise God there are thousands upon
thousands still on bended knees interceding on our behalf as we make a defining
decision regarding the future of The United Methodist Church.
I thank God for His precious Word to us, and I thank him
for you, my dear sisters and brothers in Christ.
As the General Coordinator of UMC Africa Initiative
I greet you on behalf of all its members and leaders. We want to thank the Renewal and Reform Coalition within the United Methodist
Church for the invitation to address you at this
important breakfast meeting.
As I understand it, the plans before us seek to find a
lasting solution to the long debate over our church’s sexual ethics, its
teachings on marriage, and it ordination standards.
This debate and the numerous acts of defiance have
brought the United Methodist Church to a crossroads (Jeremiah 6:16).
One plans invites the people called United Methodists to
take a road in opposition to the Bible and two thousand years of Christian
teachings. Going down that road would divide the church. Those advocating for
the One Church Plan would have us take that road.
Another road invites us to reaffirm Christian teachings
rooted in Scripture and the church’s rich traditions.
It says, “All persons are individuals of sacred worth,
created in the image of God,” that “All persons need the ministry of the
Church,” and that “We affirm that God’s grace is available to all.”
It grounds our sexual ethics in Scripture when it says,
the UM Church does “not condone the practice of homosexuality and considers
[it] incompatible with Christian teaching.”
While “we commit ourselves to be in ministry for and
with all persons,” we do not celebrate same-sex marriages or ordain for
ministry people who self-avow as practicing homosexuals. These practices do not
conform to the authentic teaching of the Holy Scriptures, our primary authority
for faith and Christian living.
However, we extend grace to all people because we all
know we are sinners in need of God’s redeeming. We know how critical and life
changing God’s grace has been in our own lives.
We warmly welcome all people to our churches; we long to
be in fellowship with them, to pray with them, to weep with them, and to
experience the joy of transformation with them.
Friends, please hear me, we Africans are not afraid of
our sisters and brothers who identify as lesbian, gay, bi-sexual,
transgendered, questioning, or queer. We love them and we hope the best for
them. But we know of no compelling arguments for forsaking our church’s
understanding of Scripture and the teachings of the church universal.
And then please hear me when I say as graciously as I
can: we Africans are not children in need of western enlightenment when it
comes to the church’s sexual ethics. We do not need to hear a progressive U.S.
bishop lecture us about our need to “grow up.”
Let me assure you, we Africans, whether we have liked it
or not, have had to engage in this debate for many years now. We stand with the
global church, not a culturally liberal, church elite, in the U.S.
We stand with our Filipino friends! We stand with our
sisters and brothers in Europe and Russia! And yes, we stand with our allies in
America.
We stand with farmers in Zambia, tech workers in Nairobi,
Sunday School teachers in Nigeria, biblical scholars in Liberia, pastors in the
Congo, United Methodist Women in Cote d’Ivoire, and thousands of other United
Methodists all across Africa who have heard no compelling reasons for changing
our sexual ethics, our teachings on marriage, and our ordination standards!
We are grounded in God’s word and the gracious and clear
teachings of our church. On that we will not yield! We will not take a road
that leads us from the truth! We will take the road that leads to the making of
disciples of Jesus Christ for transformation of the world!
I hope and pray, for your sake, that you will walk down
that road with us. We would warmly welcome you as our traveling companions, but
if you choose another road, we Africans cannot go with you.
The vast majority of we Africans support the Modified
Traditional Plan for two very important reasons.
First, we believe it is clearly rooted in Scripture and
the teachings of Christians in all times and in all places. It reaffirms our
church’s belief that “marriage is defined as a sacred relationship between one
man and one woman,” not between any two consenting adults.
Second, passage of the Modified Traditional Plan will
keep far more United Methodists united as one church than any of
the other plans.
I want to be united with my sisters and brothers in our
global connection. I hope you want that as well. Let us all walk together in a
church steeped in Scripture and the life transforming teachings of our church.
Finally, I trust you will support a gracious exit
petition.
Some Africans have been told that if a gracious exit
petition is passed our evangelical friends in the U.S. will go their own way
and no longer support efforts in Africa. That is not true.
Many of us in Africa have developed deep and long lasting
friendships with our brothers and sisters in the U.S. Those relationships will
not be severed if a gracious exit petition passes.
Unfortunately, some United Methodists in the U.S. have
the very faulty assumption that all Africans are concerned about is U.S.
financial support. Well, I am sure, being sinners like all of you, some
Africans are fixated on money.
But with all due respect, a fixation on money seems more
of an American problem than an African one. We get by on far less than most
Americans do; we know how to do it. I’m not so sure you do. So if anyone is so
naïve or condescending as to think we would sell our birth right in Jesus
Christ for American dollars, then they simply do not know us.
We are seriously joyful in following Jesus Christ and
God’s holy word to us in the Bible. And in truth, we think many people in the
U.S. and in parts of Europe could learn a great deal from us. The UM churches,
pastors and lay people who partner with us acknowledge as much.
Please understand me when I say the vast majority of
African United Methodists will never, ever trade Jesus and the truth of the
Bible for money.
We will walk alone if necessary, and yet we are confident
the ties of Christian fellowship we have with friends here in U.S. will not be
severed even if they too must walk apart from a church that would adopt the One
Church Plan.
We believe all local churches should be treated fairly
and so we strongly support a gracious exit plan.
Friends, not too long ago my country was ravaged by a
terrible civil war. And then we faced the outbreak of the Ebola virus. We are
keenly familiar with hardship and sorrow, but Jesus has led us through every
trial. So nothing that happens over the next few days will deter us from
following Him, and Him alone.
We will persevere in the race before us. We
will remain steadfast and faithful. And some day we will wear the victor’s crown
of glory with our King Jesus! Come walk with us!
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
Amen!
The African Methodists choose Jesus Christ over Mammon:
Full text above)
What
a bold and admirable man of God! God will bless those African churches for
their faithfulness and bless their nations through them. Those
enlightened liberal American churches will die, for they have forsaken Jesus
Christ in the name of sin and worldly approval.
