The legitimate heirs of Methodism

Bermuda’s Supreme Court rules that
the UCC has abandoned its doctrinal foundations

The Community of Concern, a conservative ‘renewal’ group in the United Church of Canada (UCC), has won a few small moral victories since the ordination of homosexual minister began in 1988,but has lost all the institutional battles. Until June 10, that is, when the Supreme Court of Bermuda found that the UCC, having abandoned its doctrinal foundation, has no claim to the property of a Bermuda congregation that wanted to leave the Synod of the Wesleyan Methodist Church of Bermuda. That synod is governed by the Maritime Conference of the UCC.

After the UCC decided to ordain practicing gays, many conservative congregations considered leaving. Legally, however, church property is held in trust by the denomination. Thus the people could leave, but the building would stay with the UCC. Most felt it was too traumatic to leave the church where they were married or their parents buried, and so only a few congregations left, despite the increasingly liberal bent of the UCC leadership.

But some Wesleyan Methodists in Bermuda became increasingly unhappy over gay ordination, gay marriage and the erosion of the authority of Scripture, notes Madam Justice Norma Wade-Miller of the Bermuda Supreme Court. The Wesleyan Methodists of Bermuda are part of the UCC because in 1930, five years after the Methodists, Congregationalists and some Presbyterians merged to from the UCC, the Bermuda churches were looking for ties to a larger body that could provide support, train clergy, and so on.

In 1993, in response to the liberal Declaration of the 32^nd General Council of the UCC, the Bermuda synod voted on UCC membership but decided to stay. However, at Grace Methodist in Hamilton, where the members voted 83% in favour of leaving, the church elders decided that if the synod would not leave the UCC, they would leave the synod. In 1995, led by church elder Willard Lightbourne, they informed the synod that the church intended to leave and were told that the property belonged to the UCC. With acrimony building, the synod announced that it would take over Sunday services beginning July 1, 1996.

This led to a rather chaotic incident when Rev. Victor MacLeod, secretary to the synod, showed up to conduct the July 7 service. Rev. Mr. MacLeod had lined up a piano player for the service, but the usual organist also showed up, took her seat, and announced that she would be playing the organ – but not for the synod. "I proceeded to attempt to conduct the service with disruption from Mr. Lightbourne." recounts Rev. MacLeod. "We announced one hymn, Mr. Lightbourne called another, and the organist, being the louder, was disruptive. We gave communion, but it was a disruptive service."

The synod changed the locks on the church, but the congregation managed to change them back ‘and thereafter remain in possession, worshipping every Sunday up to the present time,’ noted Madam Justice Wade-Miller. The Lightbourne faction and the synod subsequently filed lawsuits against each other over the property. Eventually, the suits wound their way to the Supreme Court.

Madam Justice Wade-Miller noted that the property was deeded to the church in two parcels in 1885 and 1899. Both deeds specified that the land be used for worship ‘and for other religious and moral purposes in accordance with the doctrine, rules and usages of the Methodist church and for no other uses, intents or purposes whatsoever, "The Lightbourne faction contended that the UCC had departed from the teachings of Methodism, its founder John Wesley, and in particular from the church’s own 1925 Basis of Union. Therefore, it argued, the congregation was the rightful heir to the property.

To prove the point, Grace Methodist’s lawyer, Ian Outerbridge of Mississauga, called an expert witness: Victor Shepherd, pastor of Streetsville United Church in Mississauga and Chair of Wesley Studies at that city’s Tyndale Seminary. The 32^nd General Council’s inability to affirm that homosexuality is a sin ‘is in fact a blatant denial of the authority of Scripture," testified Dr. Shepherd. He cited various Scripture passages and John Wesley’s commentary on Romans 1: "Receiving the just recompense of their error, their idolatry, being punished with that unnatural lust, which was as horrible a dishonour to the body, as their idolatry was to God."

Mr. Shepherd also noted the denomination’s ultra-ecumenical assertion that "all authentic religions can mediate salvation" and its refusal to discipline its moderator, Rev. Bill Phipps, who last year denied the deity of Christ and the bodily resurrection. After noting with surprise that the UCC declined to call its own expert theological witness, Madam Justice Wade-Miller ruled for Grace Methodist. Mr. Shepherd says that the UCC did not call such an expert because it knew that claiming it upholds traditional Methodism is like saying the Pope is not Catholic.

Mr. Shepherd points out "how ironic it is that a secular court has to decide that a church is violating its own doctrine." Gordon Ross, an associate of Mr. Outerbridge, admits that the Bermuda decision not binding on Canadian courts but, as the ruling of a ‘court of competent jurisdiction’ within the Commonwealth, would be influential. "Our view is that property is held by way of an expressed trust for the purpose of the founding doctrines, in this case the Basis of Union of the UCC," says Mr. Ross. "If a Canadian court were to conclude that the UCC has so evolved its policies and doctrines that it is no longer in sync with the Basis of Union, then its claim to the property goes up in smoke."

Such a ruling would spark a mass exodus of churches from the liberal, mainline denominations to more conservative break-away groups, according to Rev. Chris Jukes, who recently left the Anglican Church of Canada over theological differences with his superiors. Rev. Mr. Jukes, now in the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches, adds that if a denomination can theologically forsake its members and then keep the property that they spent decades paying for, "it’s tantamount to theft."

The affects of the Bermuda ruling could ripple into the U.S. James Heidinger is president of Good News, a renewal movement within the 8.5-million-member United Methodist Church. He says the denomination is still reeling after a Nebraska pastor who performed a lesbian marriage was acquitted in a March 13 church trial. About 200 United Methodist pastors have now said they will perform their own lesbian weddings. "All this has rocked the church like nothing else I’ve seen," says Mr. Heidinger. Even before the Bermuda decision, "there has already been some talk of whether [evangelical United Methodists] might challenge the trust clause at the point of who is the legitimate heir of Methodism."

So far, no conservative congregation in Canada or the U.S. has stepped forward to launch a test case, and this is unlikely until the appeals are finished. The UCC has already notified Mr. Outerbridge’s office that it will seek permission to appeal to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, which is the ultimate court of appeal for the British dependency.

A church that filed the case and lost could be held liable for the costs, adds Mr. Ross, but the worst legal consequence is that the status quo would continue. Although the UCC might be tempted to argue that its theology has ‘evolved,’ Mr. Ross points out that the UCC has, one small step at a time, fundamentally changed its belief and practice but has ignored proper amending procedures for the Basis of Union. Therefore, as a defining theological document the Basis of Union should still be paramount. UCC representatives were unavailable for comment.

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