Valley conservatives seek to split from liberal Methodists

Five pastors ask to separate parishes from regional conference.

By John G. Taylor

The Fresno Bee

Hot-button words such as ``heresy" and ``schism" loom large in a potential showdown between a conservative faction of the United Methodist Church and what the group views as overly liberal church leadership.

But the controversy also includes less-stern terms such as ``loving separation" and ``matter of conscience.

At least five Valley pastors are among more than 70 ministers and lay people who signed an April 1 statement asking to separate their parishes from the California-Nevada Annual Conference.

The conference includes 375 churches and 93,000 members. The conference's Fresno District, which covers the Valley, has 62 churches and 13,510 members.

Those who signed the declaration are members of the Evangelical Renewal Fellowship, a decades-old group of conservative Methodist ministers and lay people in the conference.

Valley pastors who signed the declaration include the Revs. James F. Garrison of Dinuba, Vince Mixie of Laton-Armona, Donald H. Roulsten of Porterville, Raymond L. O'Neil of Selma and Edward Ezaki of Kingsburg.

Fellowship members are scheduled to meet May 20 in Sacramento with Bishop Melvin G. Talbert, leader of the California-Nevada Annual Conference. A spokeswoman for Talbert said he would have no comment until after that meeting.

The Spokeswoman and fellowship members said it was unclear how such a separation, if it were to happen, would unfold. Issues of property ownership, compensations, names and affiliations would be part of the puzzle.

The event that brought headlines to the long-standing discord occurred in March. Although official church policy holds that homosexuality is incompatible with Christianity, a church court declined to discipline the Rev. Jimmy Creech

of Nebraska for performing a union ceremony of two lesbians. The verdict outraged conservatives.

At the same time, churches in the San Francisco area said they would continue performing same-sex ceremonies. Conservatives insist the controversy over sexual orientation is just a symptom of deeper divisions.

``This isn't about homosexuality. It's  about orthodox Christianity, the authority of the Scripture," said Ezaki, pastor of Kingsburg's First United Methodist Church. ``We have a very large impasse on this issue."

The April 1 document said, in part:

``Our differences with a liberal conference are insoluble... Evangelical theology is incompatible with the dominant values of tolerance and inclusion held by conference leadership... Separation will allow both sides to pursue their vision for ministry without the distraction and injury of an ongoing war of ideas."

Joe Meredith, a member, of Fresno's St. Luke's United Methodist Church, also signed the document, which he compared to the Declaration of Independence.

``The huge war is over the lordship of Jesus Christ," he said.

Conservatives said that although they're open to dialogue with Talbert, they wouldn't be surprised if the conference splinters.

If such a schism occurs, Ezaki said he hoped it would be seen as a ``matter of conscience."

He said he would want it to be a ``loving separation" that avoids a court fight over property ownership.

Ezaki drew support from a Fresno Methodist minister who describes her congregation as ``lively, liberal" in advertisements.

``Their proposal is well thought out and reasonable," said the Rev. Janet Everhart, pastor of Wesley United Methodist Church. ``I'm not sure whether unity at any price is good."

Conservatives are weary of fighting, Ezaki said.

``I'd rather be teaching little kids about Jesus,..." he said.

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