(RNS) — Bishop Scott Jones isn’t the primary United Methodist bishop to hitch the International Methodist Church for the reason that theologically conservative denomination launched in Might, however his exit from the UMC has arguably precipitated the best stir.
That’s partly due to the distinctive place his household holds in Methodism and the “excessive middle” place he had staked out inside the United Methodist Church.
For some, it additionally casts a distinct gentle on his retirement, simply days earlier than he joined the GMC, as head of the Texas Annual Convention the place about half of its church buildings — greater than every other convention within the United Methodist Church — likewise left the denomination.
“The Jones household is actually one of many first households of Methodism in our church,” stated Will Willimon, a retired United Methodist bishop and a professor of the follow of Christian ministry at Duke Divinity Faculty in Durham, North Carolina.
Will Willimon. Picture by Les Todd/Duke College
Willimon added, “This household has been a household of leaders of our church, and it’s such a shock to have one of many family members main church buildings out of our church.”
Jones’ late father, S. Jameson Jones, Jr., was president of the Iliff Faculty of Theology in Denver after which dean of Duke Divinity Faculty — two United Methodist faculties.
His brother, L. Gregory Jones, now the president of Belmont College, beforehand served as dean of Duke Divinity Faculty, arguably Methodism’s premier seminary.
And one among his three kids, Arthur Jones, is senior pastor of a United Methodist Church: St. Andrew United Methodist Church in Plano, Texas, which is at the moment negotiating to go away the UMC.
Each Arthur Jones and Greg Jones declined to be interviewed for this text.
“So once you speak about household involvement, there’s quite a lot of that,” Bishop Jones stated, who after seminary bought his Ph.D. in non secular research from Southern Methodist College in Dallas.
He wrote his dissertation on the historical past of biblical interpretation and John Wesley, one of many founders of Methodism, as a result of, he stated, “I acknowledged that how Christians interpret the Bible is probably the most controversial query in Christianity immediately.”
That query is on the coronary heart of an issue that has haunted the United Methodist Church for many years and has led to the present cut up: whether or not to ordain and marry LGBTQ Christians.
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In 2020, delegates to the worldwide UMC’s Normal Convention had been anticipated to think about a proposal to separate the denomination, however the assembly was subsequently delayed 3 times as a result of pandemic. After the third pushback to 2024, the International Methodist Church, which is towards ordaining LGBTQ clergy and marrying same-sex {couples}, cut up from the United Methodist Church earlier this 12 months.
Logos for the International Methodist Church, left, and the United Methodist Church, proper. File pictures
Jones — who pastored a number of congregations in Texas and taught on the Perkins Faculty of Theology at Southern Methodist College earlier than he was elected bishop in 2004 — had beforehand positioned himself in what he calls the “excessive middle,” a phrase he stated he first encountered in “The Economist.”
He needed to convey how Methodist doctrine holds in pressure issues different Christians might even see as contradictory, reminiscent of evangelism and social motion.
After reaching out to the journal to verify it wasn’t trademarked, Jones stated, he wrote it into the title of his 2002 guide “United Methodist Doctrine: The Excessive Heart,” his social media presence and his web site.
Methodist doctrine is “conservative in some methods and liberal in different methods; it occupies the intense middle and is completely against the lifeless middle,” he defined in his 2008 guide, “Staying on the Desk: The Reward of Unity for United Methodists,” through which he argued homosexuality was “a symptom of deeper disagreements,” together with Christology, ecclesiology and authority of Scripture.
Alongside essays from a various group of United Methodist leaders, he wrote that he believed the denomination mustn’t cut up.
“Now, years later, I spotted that my hope and my dream turned out to not be attainable as a result of the church has the truth is, cut up this final 12 months,” Jones informed Faith Information Service. “But it surely was a want to attempt to do no matter I may to carry it collectively and level the best way ahead. It simply didn’t work.”
Bishop Scott Jones. Picture by way of International Methodist Church
It didn’t work, he stated, as a result of some church leaders and regional conferences have taken motion to oppose the denomination’s official stance barring LGBTQ members from ordination and marriage.
“These doctrinal and ethical disobedience questions have made it onerous to maintain the concept we actually are a church following the identical E book of Self-discipline,” he stated.
In June, after greater than 18 years as a bishop, he introduced he was retiring from the United Methodist Church. However, Jones stated, he thought he may need a number of extra years of “good service to Christ” and needed to go the place he was most wanted.
Within the meantime, he stated, he continued serving to church buildings within the Texas Annual Convention discern whether or not to stay United Methodist or be part of the International Methodist Church, recording movies, writing articles and main decision-making processes. Both was an amazing possibility, he stated.
“I believe God has an amazing future for the United Methodist Church. God additionally has an amazing future for the International Methodist Church, and other people wanted to determine which place may they greatest serve Christ,” he stated.
On trip for the previous couple of weeks of December, he stated it was time for his personal discernment.
On the final day of 2022, 9 days after his retirement, he joined The International Methodist Church as an elder and bishop within the fledgling denomination.
The transfer touched a nerve with Methodists.
The Rev. Keith Boyette, who heads the International Methodist Church as its transitional connectional officer, stated in a press release on the time that the GMC was “rejoicing over God’s good grace to us,” calling Jones a “great blessing” to the brand new denomination.
Boyette informed RNS he commends Jones for making a “honest taking part in discipline” for church buildings and clergy to discern whether or not to remain in or go away the United Methodist Church, although he understands others is perhaps essential.
The Rev. David Donnan — pastor of Glennville Methodist Church, a International Methodist congregation in Glennville, Georgia — penned a weblog submit titled, “Why Scott Jones is a Greater Deal than You Suppose.”
“By transferring he’s demonstrating how his views align higher within the International Methodist Church. This (is) greater than any individual transferring. That is the intense middle poster baby himself transferring out,” Donnan wrote.
Others had been skeptical of the timing.
The Rev. Stan Copeland speaks through the “Pricey Bishop: What Took You So Lengthy?” video on his Picklin’ Parson YouTube web page. Video display screen seize
In his personal submit, which got here within the type of a satirical video on his Picklin’ Parson YouTube web page titled “Pricey Bishop: What Took You So Lengthy?,” the Rev. Stan Copeland of Lovers Lane United Methodist Church in Dallas stated he wasn’t shocked.
Copeland had already raised the alarm about Jones and two different bishops he stated had supplied “promotion and help” to the International Methodist Church, all of the whereas being paid by the UMC.
The Texas Annual Convention, as soon as one of many strongest conferences within the UMC, has misplaced 302 of its practically 600 church buildings since 2019, in response to United Methodist Church information. That doesn’t occur if a bishop is presenting impartial data, Copeland stated.
Jones then retired — with advantages, Copeland pressured — earlier than becoming a member of the brand new denomination himself.
“I believe when he wrote these books, he actually believed in an excessive middle, however he’s excessive proper of middle now,” he stated.
The Rev. Keith Boyette. Picture courtesy of Wesleyan Covenant Affiliation
Boyette stated Jones had been a part of the 2020 gathering that produced a press release outlining a imaginative and prescient for what grew to become the International Methodist Church, however they’d not mentioned any potential function for the bishop inside the denomination till after Jones retired.
The bishop was “very insistent on observing these acceptable boundaries,” stated Boyette.
Jones maintains he supplied a course of that allowed clergy and native church buildings to make “a real discernment.”
“And I supplied prime quality, correct data that helped folks see what was happening,” he stated. “For instance, I stated the United Methodist Church goes to be transferring in a progressive path over the subsequent a number of years. The one query is how far will it go and how briskly? I used to be criticized for telling those who, however I imagine it’s the reality.”
The International Methodist Church’s 9 provisional annual conferences and districts are actually holding convening gatherings. By the point its three Texas conferences — Mid-Texas, Nice Plains and Japanese Texas — completed assembly earlier this month, Jones stated they’d ordained about 120 new clergy and obtained numerous United Methodist clergy, who can switch their credentials to the brand new denomination.
It’s troublesome to construct one thing from scratch, the bishop stated, however he believes the International Methodist Church has quite a lot of potential.
“It’s thrilling to be in a neighborhood of people who find themselves targeted on worshipping passionately, loving extravagantly and witnessing boldly. I like that mission assertion and stay up for being part of it,” he stated.
On the identical time, he needs the most effective for the denomination that was his residence for thus lengthy.
“They’ll attain those who the International Methodist Church won’t ever attain, and that’s a great factor.”
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