A Covenant for Unity in The United Methodist Church

(This is a modification of the Unity Covenant produced by and for concerned members of the North Georgia Annual Conference.  It has been placed here to provide a way for United Methodists around the world to join in taking a stand against schism.  The original Georgia document is found here.)

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As members, lay and clergy, of The United Methodist Church we acknowledge the difficult issues facing the Church we love and serve. We affirm that there appear to be no simple solutions to the issues of polity and theology that face us. The presenting issue may be our different understandings of human sexuality, but the challenge is deeper than this one issue. While our disagreements are significant, we confess our faith in a God who creates out of nothing, makes a way out of no way, and holds the power to bring the dead to life.

Though there are some issues about which we profoundly disagree, we are united in our opposition to schism in The United Methodist Church. We do not believe, as some have argued, that splitting the church into separate, theologically like-minded denominations will solve the issues surrounding The United Methodist Church in our time. We reject the notion that this sort of denominational split is the answer to the many difficult disagreements we have seen played out at the local church, annual conference, jurisdictional, and general church level.

We do not believe that the status quo is entirely sufficient; we simply believe that without diverse voices at the table—including those traditionally considered conservative and those traditionally considered liberal—we will lose much of what makes The United Methodist Church an authentic expression of the Body of Christ. In short, in the interest of aligning ourselves around specific ideological viewpoints, we stand to lose John Wesley's grand catholic spirit and fall short of Jesus’ own prayer “that they may be one.”

We confess to God and each other that we have sometimes failed to watch over one another in love. We have, at times, failed to keep true to our covenant as United Methodists, preferring the easy work of disruption and covenant-breaking to the difficult work of discipline. Likewise, we have, at times, failed to recognize the sacred worth of each of God’s children. We ask forgiveness when we have sought to pursue our own understandings of God’s will without considering the perspectives of those with whom we disagree.

We commit to intentionally finding times to gather during the coming year so that United Methodists of all persuasions—conservative and liberal, clergy and lay—may engage in holy conferencing and wise decision-making about the important witness of church unity in a fragmented world. We commit to renewing focus upon reaching a generation skeptical of the church, creating new places of worship, increasing morale across the denomination, adjusting church structures to ensure a sustainable future, and recruiting young people for a lifetime of vital ministry in The United Methodist Church. We refuse to be bound by the fear that often stifles these conversations and stands in the way of the Great Commission.

We further commit to respecting the differences of belief and opinion present among us, for unity does not require complete uniformity. Our diversity gives us strength and resiliency; we are convinced that the things that unite us—particularly our call to discipleship and mission—are stronger than the things that divide us.

Claiming one Lord, one Faith, and one Baptism, we pray that the Spirit will renew our longing for common life in the church, heal our fragmentation, and strengthen our witness to the world so that we might better tend to our fundamental, common mission: making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.