The United Methodist Council of Bishops concluded its fall meeting at Lake Junaluska, NC, on November 5. In a most unusual development, the 13 African bishops (plus one retired) issued a public statement. They called the UMC to stand in solidarity with people who suffer from unjust political systems, wars, famine, and poverty. The African bishops registered alarm at the rise of terrorist organizations such as ISIS, Boko Haram, and Al Shabab.
The African bishops also deplored the tendency of many in the UMC to give “a warm embrace to practices that have become sources of conflict that now threaten to rip the Church apart…One of such practices is the LGBT (agenda).” The bishops added: “We are deeply saddened that the Holy Bible, our primary authority for faith and the practice of Christian living, and our Book of Discipline are being grossly ignored by some members and leaders of our Church…” They also noted that church teachings “only affirm sexual relations in monogamous, heterosexual marriage, and not in same-sex unions or polygamy.”
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