GRAND RAPIDS, Mich — Rev. Steve McCoy, Senior Pastor of Grand Rapids First United Methodist Church, has only been at the Downtown Grand Rapids Church for around 18 months.
"Grand Rapids first has a long history, we've been in Grand Rapids since 1834, one of the first Protestant churches actually in the city," McCoy said.
But the legacy the church has in the community spans centuries beyond his tenure.
"This church made a decision years ago, to be an inclusive congregation, one that's welcoming of all people and being a positive influence in the downtown community here in Grand Rapids," McCoy said. "Part of this rift was that was unacceptable to another group"
Rules within the United Methodist Church forbid ordaining LGBTQ Pastors or performing marriages for LGBTQ+ members, something the denomination has been moving away from.
"We have LGBTQ pastors, one of which is appointed here as our associate pastor," McCoy said.
In 2019, the United Methodist Church opened up a window, which closes on Dec. 30, that allowed individual churches to leave the denomination. In Michigan, the deadline to disaffiliate was on Dec. 15.
Over 7,600 have left nationally, about 25 percent of churches. Here in Michigan, around 120 churches have left, or 16 percent of churches. In November, about 60 churches chose to leave. At least a dozen have left in West Michigan.
Some churches who have left joined the Global Methodist Church, and others have decided to become non-denominational.
Rev. Brad Bartelmay has been overseeing the disaffiliation process here in Michigan, and he spoke to 13 ON YOUR SIDE at Georgetown United Methodist, one of the churches that has chosen to stay.
"Do we want to reach out to each generation and to all people? Certainly," Bartelmay said. "My hope is that whomever a person is, whatever their age, whatever they're bringing, they understand that when they arrive at the doorstep of a United Methodist Church here in Michigan, they'll be warmly welcomed, accepted as they are."
Is there a chance that the denominations' official rules and views against same-sex relationships could change? Bartelmay said it's possible.
"The next general conference, that's the global meeting of United Methodists, does occur in 2024," Bartelmay said. "I imagine there'll be a strong inward reflection and ultimately outward activity to make some changes that allow us to continue to reach out to all persons."
As a church that has even attended Pride events to be more welcoming to all, McCoy said there's a reason why their church has agreed to stay.
"From our perspective, we all have different interpretations of the Bible," McCoy said. "The other thing is, is when we get too deep into the weeds of biblical literalism, then we can lose the main point, which is, how is God's grace working in the lives of our people? If we choose to focus on who we're excluding, based upon one particular Bible passage, while ignoring other provisions in the Bible, what does that say about us? I think it says that we're picking and choosing rather than following where God's leading."
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