Last week, the United Methodist Church (based in the United States) lifted its long-standing ban on gay clergy, which had already begun in practice. What does this mean for Methodists in Singapore? The following is a statement from The Methodist Church in Singapore to the Methodist community.
上周，美国联合卫理公会（UMC）解除了长期以来对同性恋牧职人员的禁令。该禁令已经开始实施。对于新加坡基督教卫理公会，这意味着什么？以下是新加坡基督教卫理公会对卫理公会信心社体发表的回应。
English:
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
The United Methodist Church’s (UMC) General Conference was adjourned on 3 May 2024. Held in Charlotte, North Carolina, the twice-postponed General Conference deliberated on over a thousand petitions over two weeks. The delegates voted to institute significant legislative changes to their polity and their Book of Discipline (BOD), including:
- The removal of the ban on the ordination and appointment of “self-avowed practicing homosexuals”, which was a prohibition dating back to 1984;
- Making sexual orientation a required category for mandated diversity on church commissions and agencies; and,
- The revision of the UMC Social Principles on marriage, which broadens the definition to include “two people of faith, an adult man and woman of consenting age, or two adult persons of consenting age into union with one another”.
Let us all, as fellow Methodists, continue to keep the UMC in prayer.
The Methodist Church in Singapore (MCS) has been autonomous from the UMC since 1968. We have our own BOD which embodies and preserves our core Methodist beliefs, order and rules. Since our founding, the MCS BOD has been based on biblical, spiritual teachings and values exemplified by John Wesley, the founder of Methodism.
Our views on marriage remain unchanged from our clarifications previously published in 2021 and 2022. For example, the MCS BOD, which includes our revised Social Principles, expressly states that:
- “Since the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching, self-avowed practicing homosexuals are not to be accepted as candidates … or approved to serve in the Methodist Church in Singapore.” (¶535)
- “We affirm the sanctity of the marriage covenant which is expressed in love, mutual support, personal commitment, and fidelity between a man and a woman.” (¶84.1)
The MCS BOD thus articulates a biblical, theological, ethical and historically well-framed Christian practice. This practice is derived from Scripture and from the wisdom of our Wesleyan forebears. The examples cited show that in practice, our moral stance is not merely exclusionary. While it forecloses certain acts, it simultaneously upholds a vision that exemplifies the fittingness, goodness, and beauty of Christian morality in promoting true human flourishing.
This Christian morality cannot simply be theorised. It must be lived.
John Wesley’s reminder that all holiness is social holiness means that we all, without exception, need each other in the lifelong journey of being perfected in God’s love. It is precisely in a capacious and hospitable Church that we learn the rhythms of sacrifice, bearing one another’s burdens and through which, we present an open invitation to abundant communal life to all around us. We take comfort that salvation does not rest finally in human ingenuity but in the fact that
“The Lord is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in love.
The Lord is good to all;
he has compassion on all he has made.”
~ Psalm 145:8-9 (NIV)
May the people called Methodists forever emulate the Lord, who is “all compassion, pure unbounded Love!”
This response has been endorsed by the Bishop of The Methodist Church in Singapore and the Council of Presidents comprising Presidents of the Trinity Annual Conference, Chinese Annual Conference and Emmanuel Tamil Annual Conference. For enquiries, please write to communciations@methodist.org.sg.
Last updated 9:28pm, 13 May 2024.
MCS official post: https://bit.ly/MCSresponseUMC
中文：
亲爱的主内弟兄姐妹，
美国联合卫理公会（UMC）总议会于 5 月 3 日休会。总议会在北卡罗来纳州夏洛特举行，两次延期的总议会在两周内审议了一千多份呈请书。代表们针对政体和《法规》（BOD）进行投票，决定重大的立法改革，其中包括：
- 删除对 “公开承认的同性恋者 “的按立和委任的禁令，这一禁令可追溯到 1984 年；
- 将性取向作为教会委员会和机构强制多样性的一个必要类别；以及
- 修订了UMC关于婚姻的社会准则，扩大了婚姻的定义，使其包括 “两个有信仰的人，一对达到法定年龄的成年男女，或两个达到法定年龄的成年人相互结合”。
作为卫理公会信徒，让我们继续为UMC祈祷。
自 1968 年以来，新加坡卫理公会已从UMC出来，是独立自主的议会。我们有自己的《法规》。它体现并维护我们卫理公会核心信仰、秩序和规则。自创会以来，新加坡卫理公会的《法规》，一直是以卫理公会创始人约翰.卫斯理（John Wesley）所活出来的圣经真理、属灵教导、和价值观为基础。
我们对婚姻的看法与我们之前在 2021 年和 2022 年发布的声明保持不变。例如：我们的《法规》，以及我们修订的《社会准则》明确指出：
- “既然同性恋不符合基督教教导，那些自称同性恋者不可被接受为候选人……或被批准在新加坡卫理公会事奉。” (¶535)
- “我们肯定婚约是神圣的，它表明男女之间的爱、互相支持、终身托付与忠贞的美德。”(¶84.1)
新加坡卫理公会《法规》阐明了一种符合圣经、神学、伦理和历史的基督教实践。这一实践源于圣经和我们卫理宗先辈的智慧。所举的例子表明，在实践中，我们的道德立场并非全然包容。我们限制某些行为时，也同时坚守一个异象。这异象体现了基督教道德于促进人类繁荣的合宜性、美和善。
这种基督教道德不能简单地理论化。它必须是活出来的。约翰.卫斯理提醒我们，所有的 “圣洁都是社会性的圣洁”，这意味我们在上帝爱中，终生迈向完全的旅程时，需要彼此，无一例外。正是在一个广阔友好的教会中，我们学会了牺牲，分担彼此的重担，并向周围所有的人，公开发出邀请，加入我们的丰盛集体生活。我们感到欣慰的是，救赎最终并不取决于人类的聪明才智，而是取决于以下事实
” 耶和华有恩惠，有怜悯，
不轻易发怒，大有慈爱。
耶和华善待万有，
他的怜悯覆庇他一切所造的。”
(诗篇 145:8-9）
愿卫理信徒永远效仿我们的主，祂是 “万爱结晶，怜悯慈悲的集大成者”！
这个回应是新加坡基督教卫理公会的会督和会长理事会（包括三一年议会、华人年议会、以马内利年议会的会长）所认可的。如有询问，请电邮至 communciations@methodist.org.sg。