call for resignation

May 20, 1998

STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Bishop Melvin Talbert Breaks Covenant of Bishops'

Pastoral Letter. Should Step Down. Says Good News

WILMORE, KY - The following statement is issued by the Executive Committee of Good News, an evangelical renewal movement within the UM Church. It is made in response to a letter written by Bishop Melvin Talbert (California/Nevada), to the clergy and lay members of his area. The substance of his letter was reported in a May 14 CM News Service re/ease.

Good News is stunned and deeply disappointed that just two weeks after the release of the Council of Bishops' "Pastoral Letter" in Lincoln, Nebraska, Bishop Melvin G. Talbert has written the clergy and lay members of his conference saying he does not consider a pastor's performing a "holy union" (for same sex couples) to violate church law, His letter violates both the spirit and substance of the Council's recent pastoral letter and is sure to leave United Methodists wondering if statements from the Council of Bishops are anything more than posturing We feel betrayed, and the Council must as well.

The UM News Service story also reported that Delta District Superintendent Dave Bennett "revealed in a district newspaper column that the cabinet had gone on record to support the decision by Bethany United Methodist Church, San Francisco, to allow same-sex unions in their facility." Bishop Talbert's cabinet is now officially on record giving approval for same-sex covenants to be performed in one of their churches.

By his actions, and that of his cabinet, it is apparent that Bishop Talbert is unwilling to "live in covenant with one another," and that he is unwilling to "uphold... the statements on homosexuality and all specified issues contained in the Social Principles including the prohibition of ceremonies celebrating homosexual unions by our ministers and in our churches." Therefore, we believe the honorable move for the bishop, as an act of personal integrity and for the wellbeing of the church, is to resign from his episcopal office and take early retirement.

Furthermore, it would seem appropriate that the other members of the Council of Bishops. having assured the church of their intent to hold one another accountable in their responsibilities, should exercise that accountability now in tight of Bishop Talbert's public action? which is such a blatant denial of both the spirit and substance of their pastoral letter, The Book of Discipline, and biblical teaching. The Council should urge him to step down.

Talbert noted that performing same-sex unions "does go against the spirit" of the UM Social Principles (where such are specifically forbidden), but the Social Principles 'are not law," he said.

However, just two weeks ago, Bishop Talbert and the other active bishops present approved a statement to the church - in a rnuch-heralded unanimous vote--that said, "In covenant with one another, we are committed to uphold the General Conference's action on the theological, ethical, and polity matters defined in The Book Of Discipline, including the statements on homosexuality and all specified issues contained in the Social Principles including the prohibition of ceremonies celebrating homosexual unions by our ministers and in our churches " (emphasis ours).

Bishop Talbert acknowledged in his letter that the Council of Bishops' pastoral letter was unanimous, and was one with which he agreed. But achieving such a consensus, he reported, was "a very painful effort," and "there is disagreement within the council as to how various parts of The Book of Discipline are interpreted."

Many United Methodists have wondered how the bishops' pastoral letter could have been unanimous, knowing the strong differences represented among Council members Bishop Kenneth Carder, chief architect of the statement, said in a news conference just after the release of the statement, "No one said they stood outside this statement." Obviously, Bishop Talbert stood "outside this statement" and has indicated that publicly now' to the clergy and lay members of his annual conference. Regardless of what Bishop Talbert will say about differing interpretations, the fact is that neither he nor his cabinet is in compliance with the carefully prepared pastoral letter released by the Council several weeks ago in Lincoln. His action does great damage to the credibility of statements coming from the Council of Bishops.

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