THIS ONLINE DISCUSSION IS PROVIDED BY THE STUDY COMMISSION ON DOCTRINE – SCOD. In the life of the church there are three levels of authoritative documents. Within the Free Methodist Church we define the three levels in this way: First Level is the BOOK OF DISCIPLINE: Official documents approved by the delegates at the General Conference. Second Level is the STUDY COMMISSION ON DOCTRINE: Guidance provided to the church by those assigned the task. These are not personal opinions, but are vetted by scholars who have various expertise. Though not binding on the church, they are meant to be helpful scholarly works. Third Level is this FREE METHODIST CONVERSATIONS. This online discussion is where various individuals express their own opinions about a variety of issues. These are not authoritative, nor are they necessarily meant as guidance, but God may use them to do so. There are SCOD documents on this site and the members of the SCOD will be participants. We are inviting the entire church to join the discussion. Our intention is not to limit discussion but to elevate it by assuring that God’s love and respect is always expressed. We will therefore post those comments which further our mutual understanding and assure that every person is being treated with dignity even when disagreement is being voiced. Specifically: 1. The SCOD encourages respectful, intelligent and impassioned discussion and debate. 2. The SCOD encourages a Wesleyan method of looking at the topic from a Scriptural perspective as well as that of Reason, Tradition and Experience. We recognize the Revelation of God in Scripture is our primary source of truth, with Reason, Tradition and Experience serving as supportive resources. 3. Any personal attack will keep the entire comment from being posted. This includes not only attacking others within this SCOD conversation but anyone within the larger secular or Christian world. 4. Any libelous, defamatory, profane, vulgar, threatening, harassing abusive, hateful, racially or ethnically objectionable comments will not be posted. 5. Any invasion of another’s privacy or any post that emulates or pretends to be someone else will not be posted. 6. This online conversation is not to be used to solicit or advertise personal blogs. 12. The SCOD, in our sole discretion, retains the right to remove individual posts or to revoke the access privileges of anyone who we believe has violated any of these standards. For more informal conversations with Free Methodists: LIGHT AND LIFE CONVERSATIONS – Facebook page LIGHT AND LIFE MAGAZINE – Facebook page – Online Issues FM RADIO – Facebook page or iTune episodes If there are any questions contact our moderator, Dr. Denny Wayman: dwayman@fmcsb.org.
The systemic racism of our culture is reinforced by the media. In a Washington Post article this was reported:
“…a research team at the University of Illinois that studies media patterns to examine what an average news consumer might have “learned” about black families (and white families) during the last election cycle.
All of us in dominate positions within any given culture, whether it is by race, gender, economics, education or some other distinction, are often unaware of how that privilege harms both us and those who are the “least of these.” And yet as Jesus clearly teaches,
The economic inequality between white and black families is not only a grave injustice but it is not perceived by the whites. Here is an article in the NY Times that says in part:
Psychologists at Yale recently asked hundreds of Americans these two questions:
For every $100 earned by an average white family,
We rely on our Free Methodist Universities to provide wisdom and guidance to our denomination. The religion department of our university in Seattle, Seattle Pacific University has done just that in this statement. This has been affirmed by our Free Methodist Schools of Theology of our Universities:
The Statement on Racial Justice has been signed by the Theology faculty of five Free Methodist schools:School of Theology at Seattle Pacific University and Seminary
School of Theology at Azusa Pacific University and Seminary
Bastian School of Theology at Greenville University
School of Theology at Roberts Wesleyan College and Northeastern Seminary
Department of Theology at Spring Arbor University
In cooperation with SPU’s John Perkins Center and Office of University Ministries our theologians give this guidance:
Statement of Solidarity and Commitment to ActionAs Christian leaders,
The Free Methodist Church in Southern California has an initiative led by a group of three excellent leaders: Rev. Colleen Hurley-Bates, Rev. Cheri Coleman, Lillian Johnson They titled the initiative W.E.L.L. You can find their work here.
This is the official explanation (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) of the events during the 1930’s when hundreds of thousands of Mexican people were coerced into returning to Mexico. The reasons were racist and economic. It reveals the complexity of the situation in which the “official proceedings”
The Center for Faith and Sexuality has created a short film presenting first person accounts. It is 20 minutes long. It is presented here to begin a conversation about how we can love and care for those with same-sex attraction.
Understanding privilege is far more difficult for those for whom it is a daily experience. This causes systems, (church, economic, justice, social, educational) to remain systemically unjust. Thus when those without privilege step up and ask for justice,
In the fall of 2016 The New Atlantis published a study introduced by the editor as:
“Editor’s Note: Questions related to sexuality and gender bear on some of the most intimate and personal aspects of human life.
Throughout history and throughout the world the subjugation of women has been a reality. In this article in the New York Times the situation in Afghanistan is explained as “the violence had its roots in tribal feuds and the pervasive practice of marrying off girls at a very young age for large dowries.”