Recommended Reading: Germans Elaborate Plans to Stay Together

In the wake of General Conference 2019, the Germany Central Conference made an interesting resolution: They would reject the Traditionalist plan but stay together as a denomination, despite varying opinions on sexuality. This resolution led to an ongoing roundtable process that produced, in January of this year, "a system for preserving the connection" in Germany that would eliminate Book of Discipline language prohibiting gay ordination and gay weddings but also create a new association for German United Methodists with traditionalist views on homosexuality. On July 17th, the roundtable members held their first meeting since releasing the framework of this plan. As news coverage of, including an abridged report from, this meeting make clear, Germans are continuing to move forward with both parts of this plan, with the intention of granting provisional approval this November at a short meeting of the central conference, with full approval at the postponed regular meeting of the central conference in 2021. The work at the July meeting focused mostly on elaborating the new structure for traditionalist German United Methodists. More details are available in the full report of the meeting and the theological foundations for the new traditionalist association. All links are in German.