A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF THE PROTOCOL AND THE CHRISTMAS COVENANT LEGISLATIONS AND THE CONTRAST BETWEEN AFRICA VOICE OF UNITY (AVU) AND AFRICA INITIATIVE OF THE UMC IN AFRICA

 

By: Rev. Ande I. Emmanuel 

Grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. I hope my African brethren are doing well wherever you are in this great continent of Africa. I am putting this presentation together to help our African brothers and sisters understand clearly what is going on in the United Methodist Church as we face the uncertainties of our next General Conference. 

Currently, there are two major petitions before the United Methodist General Conference which when passed will determine our future together or apart. One of these petitions is called "Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace through Separation" this is the plan that is calling split in the United Methodist Church. The other petition is called "Christmas Covenant" this is the plan that is calling for unity of the United Methodist Church that allows contextual and regional ministry in the United Methodist Church.

At the moment in Africa, two advocacy teams are working among Africans to promote the above petitions. One is called the "Africa Initiative" which is promoting the Protocol to split the United Methodist Church among Africa to join a new denomination. The other advocacy team is called "Africa Voice of Unity" (AVU) which is promoting the Christmas Covenant to keep the unity of the United Methodist Church.

In this article, I will present a comprehensive analysis of the two petitions and the two advocacy groups in Africa with the sole aim of allowing the United Methodists in Africa to understand and make informed decisions.  

I am a founding team member of the Africa Voice of Unity (AVU), an emerging evangelical, transparent, and Bible-based advocacy team founded by the Africans for the Africans to ensure the sustainability of the United Methodist Church in Africa beyond the next General Conference.

AVU was formed because of the failures of the Africa Initiative in many areas, few are listed as follows:

1.       Africa Imitative has failed to be a transparent group in many faces. It has become too dependent on what is coming from WCA, Good News, Confessing Movement, and other American traditional groups. 

2.       Africa Initiative has failed to initiate anything African since its inception but depended on what comes from the traditional groups in American including easy things like voting at the General Conference.

3.       Africa Initiative is trading Africans for the interest of few individuals. It lacks collaborative tactics in networking with different people across Africa. That is why these few individuals have been taking unilateral decisions at the expense of every one of us.

We need to understand that African United Methodism has the capacity, power, and the right to remain in the United Methodist Church and maintained its definition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman even if entire America chooses to change its definition of marriage. There is nowhere in the Bible or our Book of Disciple that suggested otherwise. Marriage is indeed a divine institution rooted in the Bible that is a theological fact and those of us who are saying we do not need to leave the United Methodist Church are not saying anything different. Our remaining in the United Methodist Church means maintaining our name, logo, current position of the church on homosexuality. As United Methodists in Africa, we can set our barrier on human sexuality without any foreign interference and that is what we are looking for in the Christmas Covenant.

I know there is no petition submitted to the General Conference that is in it every form 100% perfect but, to be honest with you the Christmas Covenant in its present form is 75% better than the Separation agenda promoted in the Protocol. I disagree with the statement that the Christmas Covenant is a window to accepting homosexuality in Africa. Though our understanding of regional contextualization may differ, I think it is an exaggeration to say that the Christmas Covenant is opening a window for Africa to accept homosexuality. Africa Voice of Unity is not in any way contradicting itself.

Nowhere in the Christmas Covenant is allowing Africans to legalized same-sex marriage as purported by some individuals in Africa. What we are looking at at the Christmas Covenant is an opportunity to make the United Methodist Church more global by removing issues that are US-centric and allowing for a complete focus on truly global issues. To be honest, leaving the United Methodist Church for an issue that is more American for some of us is not a justifiable reason. Homosexuality at this given time is a US-centric problem. That does not deny the fact that there are homosexual in Africa but means despite their existence, they have not come up openly in our churches to request an official endorsement why because homosexuality is a taboo in Africa, that even in beer parlors people do not talk about it talk less of the Church. This is the same way we have fornicators, adulterers, thieves, and robbers, etc., in Africa who have not come to receive church blessing in such abominable acts and their presence in our church is not causing us to leave the Church.

In African, we can set our barrier to homosexuality and continue our ministries in the United Methodist Church without changing our name and logo to satisfy the demands of some Americans. We can have unity as United Methodist Church in Africa without accepting to change our definition of marriage and without changing our name and logo.

On the Christmas Covenant, the Central Conference Outreach team who are writers of the Christmas Covenant founded this just after General Conference 2019 as a way to push back on the American neocolonialism agenda, which is always exhibited by both American Conservatives and Progressives. Whilst generally the so-called southern Conservative Americans are racist the progressives are generally bully.

Those of us who follow the events in the denomination know that the plan to split the United Methodist Church was crafted by Good News in 2004 and then no Africans were involved in crafting that plan. If the African Initiative was part of that plan then some of us have more questions for them to answer.  In the 2004 document, you can read the plan is clear; to cause chaos in the UMC make it ungovernable until the denomination is divided.

The Christmas Covenant is not seeking to amend the section in the BOD on homosexuality. If you see anywhere in this legislation where it is amending any section on homosexuality please point it out. The point I am making clear is the Christmas Covenant is not in any way allowing Homosexuality in Africa or anywhere because that is not the intent of the legislation. The intend of the legislation is to restructure the denomination. To create a structure that is connectional but acknowledging contextual differences in different parts of the world.

In the Christmas Covenant proposal what will happen is the General Book of Discipline will be addressing theological, doctrinal, articles of religion, general rules, and General administration issues, etc. It will be up to each region to take a position on moral-ethical issues like polygamy, homosexuality, divorce, witchcraft, etc.

In contrast, let me draw your attention to the New Global Methodist Church (GMC) Book of Discipline and Doctrine. GMC is very silent on the issue of homosexuality, go and read their Book of Discipline and Doctrine. I am wondering why the African Initiative failed to push for the traditional plan adopted at the 2019 General Conference to be shoplifted and made the bedrock of the Book of Discipline and Doctrine in the New GMC denomination. 

Now to those who are arguing about being a connectional church and different standards. When you read the Global Methodist Church book of discipline and doctrine it is clear that you are not a connectional church but a regionalized church. The GMC is more of a One Church Plan structure if you read their book of doctrine and discipline. Because in the GMC decisions are mainly made by local churches that even include decisions about the hiring of pastors the local church is the one that hires pastors that means there is no itinerancy and no connectional relationship in the GMC. The GMC is more of a congregational denomination please read their Book of Discipline and Doctrines.

Now back to the facts on the future of UMC in Africa. The Christmas Covenant is not seeking to have UMC approve homosexuality. When the Christmas Covenant is passed at GC 2022 that means the General conference will never again have to debate about homosexuality because we in Africa will always say that issue does not belong to General Conference business. That will be a debate to take place in the regional conferences. What that means is the debate will be done in Europe and the USA. since in Africa, we are very clear that homosexuality is incompatible with the Christian teaching.

Here is a fact. The progressives have founded their denomination Liberation Methodist Connexion. The conservatives have founded their denomination Global Methodist Church. Both of these denominations are Methodist denominations and both are coming out of the protocol agreement. The United Methodist is remaining and going forward.

Of recent, the protocol has become mute as we speak because the separation has already happened the two denominations which are negotiated in the protocol have already been formed and functioning, The two groups are now only waiting for the General Conference to get two things, 1. 25million dollars and 2million dollar. Properties that is church buildings and having to leave without having to pay for pension liabilities. I do not know how the African Initiative was involved in these negotiations and agreements as well as formations. Someone suggested that the African initiative has proposed some amendments to the protocol agreement but that is not possible because the agreement was signed with a clause that, will not be amended, and if any part of the agreement is changed the whole agreement is rendered null and void. That is why at this moment the Renewal and Reform Coalition is pushing the protocol to be on May 8, 2021, special GC agenda to be passed on the NO/Yes vote without amendments, I do not know why the African Initiative is agreeing to that without having their proposed amendments considered. The point being the protocol cannot be amended once that happens the agreement falls apart and a lot of changes will start to happen. The conservatives in America are not willing to take that risk.

 Now to the relationship of the protocol and CC, the protocol is the rearview mirror showing us our past and where we are coming from. The Christmas covenant is our windscreen showing us about the future where we are going. Those who have read the protocol agreement know that there is regionalization in that agreement and the Christmas Covenant is simply providing details of how that regionalization will be like in the UMC. The GMC have their regionalization in their book of doctrine and discipline.

 I am a signatory and an organizer of the Africa Voice of Unity statement. This statement is clear, that we are advocating for remaining in The United Methodist Church. We are not against the protocol but we are clearly and strongly supporting the Christmas Covenant because we see it as the future of The United Methodist Church in Africa. The Christmas Covenant is giving The United Methodist Church in Africa's voice, authority, and power to make our own decisions and take the positions of our conservative, and to maintain our biblical position on marriage. we are not against the African Initiative but we are not in support of it either. There are points we agree with the African initiative but we simply do not agree on supporting the neocolonial separation agenda. We are our people putting forward an African agenda. Whoever, from other parts of the world who wants to engage with us, should engage with us on our terms our agenda, and our positions. We are clear to the connectional church that we are African United Methodists we will not be pushed from the UMC and we will not accept homosexuality we are very clear on that.

We are not standing in the way of those who want to leave and join either GMC or LMC. It is your right and anyone can recruit for their new denomination. We are simply stating the fact that we are United Methodists in Africa we are not leaving. We are the stay group. Our message is clear stay with The United Methodist Church. We are supporting the majority of our African Bishops in staying in the UMC. For those who want to leave it is their right to do so, let us just not spread misinformation about things we do not understand. Those of us in the AVU do not talk much about the African Initiative we talk about The United Methodist Church in Africa that is why we support the Christmas Covenant because we support regionalization and we are against homosexuality in The UMC in Africa. We are Africans and United Methodists. We are staying in the UMC that is our message as AVU.

Those who are staying with The United Methodist Church let us work together for a stronger United Methodist Church in Africa that will be African in nature and spirit. Those who are going to join the GMC or LMC we bless you and wish you well as fellow Methodists brothers and sisters. We hope you will be able to maintain your African identity in those denominations.