One of the recurrent suggestions about how to resolve the impasse in the United Methodist Church, which is now getting a great deal of consideration as something to be proposed to the General Conference in 2016 is the two jurisdiction proposal. This particular post will not deal with some of the merits of the proposal (yes there are some), but with the serious flaws in any such proposal.
POINT ONE: Two jurisdictions will of course require two different Disciplines, not only on the presenting issue of gay marriage and gay ordination, but on a whole host of related issues, including ones that have not been carefully thought through, because they have not surfaced yet. Whenever you change a massive structure, there are always unintended consequences. The most important practical point is this proposal absolutely destroys the connectional system which is one of the distinctive and most important features of our church. Then too, two jurisdictions with two Disciplines will require, necessarily two Judicial Councils since there will be two sets of church laws for the two jurisdictions.
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