A few days ago, my erudite compatriot, Alex Parker, penned a great piece about this, as usual beating me to the punch. He succinctly lists out all the options The Church is considering. So, I won’t bore you by repeating them. He also poses some great questions. I’d strongly urge you to read his article.

In another recent article in “First Things,” by Dr Dale M. Coulter, associate professor of historical theology at Regent University, describes what appears to be a significant risk to the Church; From the article lede (emphasis, mine)

On February 23, the United Methodist Church will hold a special General Conference in St. Louis to decide how to move forward in the debate over ordaining practicing homosexuals and blessing same-sex unions. It is a precarious moment that will spell out the future of the largest sister of Mainline Protestantism.

“…that will spell out the future of the largest sister of Mainline Protestantism. What. An. Understatement. The article goes on to describe the ongoing sturm und drang within the Church, from the bishoprics, through the pulpits and into the pews, as it on the surface at least, attempts to deal with an ongoing hostile takeover, by the supposed “shepherds of the flock.” This hostile takeover is being orchestrated by a tiny minority of our population that wishes to force not only acceptance, but official sanction and celebration of a deviant, disordered and flat out unhealthy lifestyle; a lifestyle specifically prohibited by biblical teaching in both The Old and New Testaments.

As stated in the article (full disclosure here, Her Majesty & I are attendees of our local UMC and have watched this play out over the past couple years) the February conclave is the culmination of years of meetings, seminars and rewrites, all lurching towards what would appear to be a preordained conclusion, although on the surface, it might not seem so.

Many of us have attended this opera before. One example, was the inclusion of women in Combat Arms. The pre-ordained conclusion was that women were suitable for close combat and Special Operations. The Military then conducted “studies,” that would help them justify reaching that decision. Already we are seeing the degrading effect on our military and it’s ability to do violence on behalf of this great nation.

BREXIT, is another example—and more applicable here. The Mandarins at the top of British Government and Society oppose BREXIT. Despite the popular referendum that mandated it, these Mandarins have done nothing but delay and delay, in hopes of either getting a “do-over,” vote, or negotiating such a BREXIT “deal” with the EU, that the voters’ referendum would be defacto, negated.

I can see this happening inside the Methodist Church deliberations. Today, the General Conference of the United Methodist Church (to the great surprise of the leftist Bishops) voted to advance the Traditional Plan (maintaining and strengthening prohibitions against Clerical homosexual practice) and set aside the “One Church Plan,” and the “Simple Plan,” which would have allowed each local Church to decide its own rules as to the whether or not to allow avowed homosexuals into the pulpit. On the surface, this looks like a “win,” for traditional mores.

Tomorrow is the Plenary session—the one that counts. The numbers say that the Traditional Plan will triumph. But look for the Church Mandarins to do what they can to dilute the language, delay implementation, or if both of those fail, like leftists everywhere, state that “settled law,” is only settled, when it’s settled in their favor. If defeated this time, they’ll be back. Look for updates as I get more insider info.

Hat Tip to (Sergeant, Reverend and) Doctor C, who not only provided true insight to the internal workings of this process, but who has also been an invaluable mentor as I learned (albeit slowly) how to effectively communicate via the written word.

Mike Ford is a Member of The United Methodist Church and recognizes that no organization can hope to increase membership, by lowering standards for its leadership.

Follow him on Twitter: @MikeFor1039458

You can find his other Red State work here.