What Happened When Other Denominations Passed Their Own “One Church Plan”? – Juicy Ecumenism

Recent history is abundantly clear – liberalizing church teaching and practice on human sexuality brings division and not unity, it limits ecumenical work on global missions, it creates a smaller, older, and less diverse membership, and promises of respecting traditional biblical perspectives and members are almost never kept.Not one mainline Protestant denomination has experienced the renewal and vitality that was promised by those selling the liberalizing plans, some of which were rather similar to the “One Church Plan,” although none went nearly as far.The sheer size of the exodus of people from these denominations, within just a relatively short number of years, after they adopted such policies is rather remarkable. The PCUSA lost nearly 40 percent of its people, the Episcopal Church lost 26 percent, the ELCA lost 24 percent, the UCC lost 33 percent, and the Disciples of Christ (with less time for the full fallout of their more recent decision to become clear) has already lost 17 percent. Behind these numbers are very deep human and missional costs.United Methodists could expect the same kind of bait-and-switch, division, and continued pushes for further liberalization that these other churches experienced with less radical plans. History’s lesson is unambiguously consistent – the “One Church Plan” would be disastrous for the UMC.

Source: What Happened When Other Denominations Passed Their Own “One Church Plan”? – Juicy Ecumenism