Although the members of the jury that handled DeLong’s trial are generally silent, there is one name that participates actively in news articles and blog posts. He is juror Bill McBride, a pastor and a blogger. The following are glimpses of his comments.
“The word ‘penalty phase’ really has no place in a church that should always have its mind and eye toward restoration and reconciliation.”
“… the goal of the ‘trial court’ was to rebuild covenant, seek to ‘Do no harm’ as Wesley stated.”
There is perhaps a misunderstanding of Wesley’s “Do no harm” rule.McBride seems not to realize that his version of doing no harm also collides against Wesley himself when the latter wrote, “After diligent inquiry made, I removed all those from the congregation of the faithful whose behaviour or spirit was not agreeable to the gospel of Christ; openly declaring the objections I had to each, that others might fear and cry to God for them.” And again, “I met the classes, but found no increase in the society. No wonder, for discipline had been quite neglected, and without this, little good can be done among the Methodists.” It is known that Methodism in the west is decreasing rapidly. If McBride would ask Wesley why, he would receive an answer that would shatter his own “Do no harm.”
Bill McBride’s blog, is here, if you want to read about his experience of being a juror.
I am a part-time local pastor serving 
The doctrine of original sin is surely more humbling to man than the opposite: And I know not what honour we can pay to God, if we think man came out of His hands in the condition wherein he is now.
There is no doubt that this jury did GREAT harm to the Church and to millions of Methodists worldwide.
GOD bless you, John, for re-posting. I never thought that my words would be quoted by someone like you.
For the supremacy of Christ…
Thank you for your blog.
Thank you for sharing this John. I really value hearing voices from the global United Methodist Church.
I am a proud progressive member of the Anglican Communion and have been so saddened over the years by members of both the Filippino and African branches of Anglicanism. They are so homophobic and intolerant of other people but yet are increasing
in influence and numbers all the time. The same can be said of the United Methodist
Church. I am sure John Wesley, being a proper and respected Anglican Priest that he was, would have been approving of gays and lesbians to serve as clergy and to allow
gays to marry within the church. The church is always evolving and views change as well
over time. Your Book of Discipline is a living document that is not permanently stuck in the
past, just like our Book of Common Prayer! Doing what is right is not always easy and I am
so proud of my faith for tackling head-on the issues of the day! The United Methodist Church, if they approve of these measures next year, can take great pride in wiping out the
final bigotry and prejudice that exists in your church today. For those people who are so intolerant and disrespectful of equal rights and justice for all members, GET OVER IT! If its
to hard to accept, I’m sure the Southern Baptists would love for your to come on board!!!
Just saying that progressive views of the faith is what is causing the UMC to shrink doesn’t make it so. In fact I’ve read a number of recent articles which suggest just the opposite. Young people view the whole church as judgmental, out of touch, and behind the world when it comes to questions of justice, civil rights, and inclusion. The church was behind the world in being open to women’s leadership, we were behind in dealing with issues of civil rights for African-Americans in our churches, and now I fear we are lagging behind again.
If you look at more conservative denominations such as the Southern Baptist Convention, they are now beginning to lose members as well. The flight which many said was from mainline to conservative churches is becoming a flight by many people away from any organized church.
We aren’t reaching enough people for the gospel. And internal theological infighting, blame gaming, and finger pointing certainly won’t bring more people to Christ.
Its to bad that Rick strongly feels the jury in the DeLong trial did a grievous injustice and that millions of Methodists will be upset-how absurd!!! [...]* I don’t recall the UMC going to hell when it came out against slavery and opened its doors to African Americans… I also don’t recall the church having any trouble when it allowed women in 1956, to be ordained, despite opposition from conservatives. Gays have “no hidden agendas”, Rick, we just want to be treated with respect and have the same rights as the rest of the membership. There is strong support among many of your conferences as well as in South Africa, for equal justice! From what I’ve read, there is majority support among Methodists, for ordaining gays and lesbians now, and among the clergy as well. I predict that if your General Conference doesn’t reverse its homophobic language next year, there will be a major fallout, with thousands of progressive United Methodists, leaving your church. At a time when over 24,000 congregations have less than 200 members, and only around 45 people show up on any given sunday for worship, the Methodist Church faces a terrible dilemna. Your church has lost millions of members since 1968, and is becoming more irrelevant as the years go by. The Methodists have a proud history and have championed equal rights and justice for hundreds of years. It will be a compelling tragedy if the church fails to extend justice and full inclusion towards gays and lesbians next year.
*COMMENT EDITED BY BLOG OWNER.
While I disagree with you, I pray that your prediction comes true. I believe that “thousands of progressive United Methodists leaving our church” will strengthen it mightily.
I was also an Episcopalian until that Church changed so drastically that my beliefs no longer matched theirs. The Episcopal Church places authority in scripture, tradition, and reason. I joined the Methodist Church because it places authority in scripture, tradition, and reason (we add “experience” by the way), but in the Methodist Church *SCRIPTURE IS PRIMARY*.
So in the Methodist Church you can’t simply ignore what the Bible says about homosexuality and make up any rules you want – or at least you couldn’t until last week!
Where we agree is that God calls us to treat all people with respect. No argument there.
But I oppose homosexual marriage and ordination because I love God and I believe God speaks to us through His Holy Word. I will not “GET OVER IT”.
I feel sorry for you Rick and wish your heart wasn’t so hard and cold towards other people. God made me gay and in HIs image. I didn’t wake up one day and decided to be gay so I could be openly discriminated against!!! God doesn’t make mistakes and accepts me with the same love as straight people. The Bible has never condemned homosexuality. Both the Methodists and the Episcopal Churches do not take the Bible as literally true. If homosexuality is not a choice, then why is it so sinful and wrong to allow us to marry and serve as clergy? Makes no sense! Gays represent absolutely no threat to the institution of marriage. Straight people have done a great job over the years in committing adultery and divorce. Half of all marriages in America end in divorce!
We have a senator from Louisiana that had sex with prostitutes in Washington while married. He also has been so hypocritical in preaching “traditional family values”, while at the same time, cheating on his wife and family!!!! You need to relearn what true love is all about and accept all of God’s people! I suppose at the end of the day, I’d rather see you believing in your homophobic garbage in the Methodist Church, then in the Episcopal Church!!! I find it interesting that both the UMC and the Republican Party are going down similiar path towards exclusion and intolerance. I used to be a Republican until I realized I wasn’t welcome any longer, as a progressive. People like you would love to purge the church of all those disagree with you, just like the GOP has done!!! I
still think you should consider joining the Southern Baptist Church!
Paul,
You have appealed twice to Wesley in your comments – once here and one time in another thread. I am curious on what basis you think that John Wesley would be in the “progressive” camp were he participating or leading the UMC today?
The temperature is going up quite a bit here.
I’m going to close comments on this post. I welcome debate and conversation and dialogue, but I see this comment thread falling into increasingly acrimonious and personal back-and-forth.
You are welcome to continue these exchanges in private.