Buncombe Street Legacy Communications

Our church is currently in conversation about our future. You are well aware that we are being asked to decide if we want Buncombe Street to remain a part of The United Methodist Church. You are receiving information encouraging a split from our denomination. Some  of your fellow Buncombe Streeters have a different perspective that we  feel needs to be considered as you discern your way forward. 

Many  of us received an email in early April this year from a self-appointed  group calling themselves the “Friends to Preserve Buncombe Street." The  email invited us to sign a petition that would “help us begin the  process of determining our future” though many of us doubted then, or now, that our future was in jeopardy. They stated that it “is not a vote to determine our church’s  theological preference at this time” but rather “a formal request  seeking approval for full consideration of the issues,” implying that  there would be forthcoming balanced presentations about the various  issues with which we should be familiar. 

This tactic resulted in some 400 people signing this petition to "learn" more about these  threatening “issues” we face. Within  three weeks “this petition” had unexplainably morphed into calling for a  vote for Buncombe Street to disaffiliate from our historic connection  with the United Methodist Church!  Many didn’t understand how the  "Friends"  group decided that the decision had already been made to  hold a vote to disaffiliate …without the promised “season of communal  prayer and conversation.” 

In the weeks since we have been receiving from the “Friends” multiple communications that have presented only one perspective of the issues.

In response, another group of long time Buncombe Streeters intend to share with you additional resources that  will hopefully give you broader perspective on our Methodist theology,  factual information on Methodist polity, the difference we make around  the world, Buncombe Street history, the good that we do through our  Connectional Church, the real differences between the United Methodist  Church and the new Global Methodist Church, as well as an opportunity to  hear from other United Methodist leaders in our connection. 

On  August 30th, the “Way Forward Task Force” presented an informative  synopsis comparison of the “traditional” versus the “progressive”  theological beliefs. However, the official stance of the United Methodist Church on these important matters was not included which led to confusion regarding what we United Methodists believe. 

Here are our stated beliefs, as found in our Discipline, related to topics presented on August 30th :  

From the 2016 United Methodist Discipline :

The Articles of Religion of the Methodist Church

Article I — Of Faith in the Holy Trinity

There  is but one living and true God, everlasting, without body or parts, of  infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; the maker and preserver of all  things, both visible and invisible. And in unity of this Godhead there  are three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity—the Father, the  Son, and the Holy Ghost. 

Article II — Of the Word, or Son of God, Who Was Made Very Man

The  Son, who is the Word of the Father, the very and eternal God, of one  substance with the Father, took man's nature in the womb of the blessed  Virgin; so that two whole and perfect natures, that is to say, the  Godhead and Manhood, were joined together in one person, never to be  divided; whereof is one Christ, very God and very Man, who truly  suffered, was crucified, dead, and buried, to reconcile his Father to  us, and to be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for  actual sins of men.  

Article III — Of the Resurrection of Christ 

Christ  did truly rise again from the dead, and took again his body, with all  things appertaining to the perfection of man's nature, wherewith he  ascended into heaven, and there sitteth until he return to judge all men  at the last day.  

Article V — Of the Sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures for Salvation

The  Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation; so that  whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be  required of any man that it should be believed as an article of faith,  or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation. In the name of the  Holy Scripture we do understand those canonical books of the Old and New  Testament of whose authority was never any doubt in the church. 

Article IX — Of the Justification of Man 

We  are accounted righteous before God only for the merit of our Lord and  Saviour Jesus Christ, by faith, and not for our own works or deservings.  Wherefore, that we are justified by faith, only, is a most wholesome  doctrine, and very full of comfort  

Article XX — Of the One Oblation of Christ, Finished upon the Cross 

The  offering of Christ, once made, is that perfect redemption,  propitiation, and satisfaction for all the sins of the whole world, both  original and actual; and there is none other satisfaction for sin but  that alone. Wherefore the sacrifice of masses, in the which it is  commonly said that the priest doth offer Christ for the quick and the  dead, to have remission of pain or guilt, is a blasphemous fable and  dangerous deceit. 

Our  group is working to Save the Legacy of Buncombe Street and we will  provide more information in the coming weeks to give you a greater  perspective before we are called to vote on the future of our church. 

We ask that you receive this information with an open heart and prayerfully consider ALL information. 

The  latest message from the “Friends” to Preserve Buncombe Street makes the  point that the United Methodist Church has transformed into a “big  tent” denomination. As if that’s a bad thing. There’s another side to  this argument. The UMC is open, and inviting, to all. Our “Open Hearts.  Open Minds. Open Doors” invitation welcomes all who want to be and to  make disciples of Christ. And our communion table is open to all who  “love him, earnestly repent of their sin, and seek to be at peace with  one another.” After all, it is the Lord’s table. 

Yes,  we are a big-hearted, big-tent church. Isn’t this openness, this  inclusiveness, a blessing and a strength? Isn’t this welcoming attitude  what has allowed our denomination to prosper, to minister to its members  and to God’s people throughout the world? To be a force for both social  justice and faith formation?  The United Methodist Church is not stuck  in the past. We continue to evolve to meet the needs of the times and  our people. The UMC has met change, and will continue to meet change,  with confidence: 

• When we first ordained women in 1956 

• When we accepted divorced people and when we welcomed divorced pastors in the 1960s and '70s 

• When we abandoned racism in 1968 and when interracial marriage became legal in the U.S. in 1967 

We’re  a “big tent” church with room and appreciation for different opinions,  ideas and styles:  We’re traditional and contemporary worshipers. We  find community in various Sunday School classes and small groups. We’re  young and old and in-between. We’re Republicans and Democrats and  Independents. We’re for Clemson, and the University of South Carolina;  Wofford and Furman, and many other schools. None of these differences  matter. We’re many, but one, when it comes to our love of Jesus Christ.  It’s our wonderful diversity that makes us strong, vibrant, and capable  of forging a bright future. 

We  urge our fellow members of Buncombe Street United Methodist Church to  stay united. To stay in the United Methodist Church.  Our founder John  Wesley reminds us:  “Though we cannot think alike, may we not love  alike? May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion?  Without all doubt, we may. Herein all the children of God may unite,  notwithstanding these smaller differences.” 

Stay  at the Table with other United Methodists who know that God has a  blessing in store for those who cling not to fearful judgment, but to  the open, loving arms of Jesus Christ. -- 

Dr. Charles Michael Smith, Retired UMC Minister

John A. Redmond Coleman Shouse

In this mailing we explore another reason to "Stay United." 

BSUMC  is nearly 200 years old! Our heritage is rich, and our accomplishments  are many. Our church was established in 1834 as Greenville Methodist  Episcopal Church in a frame building on Coffee Street. Later, Greenville  Founding Father Vardry McBee deeded land to establish a church, a  heritage we share with three other downtown congregations: Christ Church  Episcopal, First Presbyterian and First Baptist. We've been a partner  in Greenville's and the Upstate's development ever since.

In  1873 our current property was dedicated and the name was changed to  Buncombe Street Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The name of the  church again changed in 1939 to Buncombe Street Methodist, and in 1968  to Buncombe Street United Methodist Church. We take great pride in our  Methodist heritage and in our history in Greenville. Some in our  congregation represent generations of family members who have worshiped  at BSUMC. Just think of all the weddings, baptisms, confirmations and  funerals that have occurred within our walls!

Throughout  our history, we have responded to the needs of our growing and thriving  congregation with evolutions in our ministries and at least seven  significant expansions and renovations to the facilities at 200 Buncombe  Street. In 2017, we expanded in a new way when we adopted the former  Trinity United Methodist Church at 2703 Augusta Street and made it a  campus of Buncombe Street.

Buncombe  Street has consistently reached out in ministry to our greater  community. We have helped create several suburban congregations such as  Northside UMC and Disciples UMC. We also have  provided leadership in  the establishment and growth of agencies that serve our community, such  as United Ministries, the Rescue Mission, and Triune Mercy Center, as  well as the Crisis Ministry at Buncombe Street. Buncombe Streeters  helped start  the first Community Chest in Greenville (now the United  Way). In the early 1960s, Buncombe Street began the Child Development  Center with the stated purpose of providing quality child care for all  working families, as there were no "affordable" options in the downtown  area at the time. Buncombe Street partnered with Mrs. Lila Brock in  founding the Southern Side Partnership for supporting the homeless  community with sustenance, affordable housing and employment. Mrs. Brock  always said that "Buncombe Street is the main source!" BSUMC also  partnered with Christ Church leaders 30 years ago to found and support  the Greenville Free Medical Clinic, which now serves thousands of people  annually. And Triune Mercy Center would not exist without the vision,  leadership and support of Buncombe Street UMC. 

A  commitment to growth, outreach, inclusion and stepping out with leaps  of faith is evident throughout our history at Buncombe Street. We hope  to follow where God leads us and to carry on that legacy into the  future.  

Isn't  an effective track record as part of the United Methodist Church better  than hopes of an "ideal" future in a new denomination? 

John Redmond Coleman Shouse 

Attend the Oct. 30 church meeting. Vote to remain in the United Methodist Church.

"Do  all the good you can, in all the ways you can, to all the souls you  can, in every place you can, at all the times you can, with all the zeal  you can, as long as ever you can."                      -- John Wesley

 Charles  Michael Smith, a distinguished leader of United Methodism in North  Carolina, a composer of the United Methodist Hymnal, former District  Superintendent and a Duke trustee, wrote this plea to his home church to  remain in the United Methodist Church. His hope is that it will give  United Methodists the conviction “to be better than this” in the present  moment. We share it with you as food for thought.

  John Redmond                                         Coleman Shouse

"The  Church’s One Foundation," a favorite hymn written in England while the  US Civil War raged, was written in a church fight over Scripture.  Scholars were calling on us to take the Bible seriously, not literally  as it is not inerrant or infallible and is holy because it reveals the  true Word of God, Jesus Christ, the lens through which we read the  entire Bible, and some ministers got excommunicated for doing just that.  The battle over the Bible still rages here in the Bible Belt regardless  of which denomination you call home.

Samuel  Stone put his 1866 Anglican Church’s distress in what is now verse 3 in  our United Methodist, Episcopal, & Presbyterian hymnals right in  the middle of his beloved hymn. We Methodists left it out for decades  but put it back in when I had the good fortune to help edit our current  hymnal 35 years ago. My pastor had us omit it recently when we sang  verses 1,2,4,and 5. Here’s what verse 3 says: Though with a scornful  wonder we see her sore distressed, by schisms rent asunder by heresies  distressed, yet saints their watch are keeping; their cry goes up, “How  long?” And soon the night of weeping shall be the morn of song.            

My  home church, First United Methodist, the one that baptized &  confirmed me, raised me in its Sunday School classes, MYF, & Choirs,  blessed my becoming one of Methodism’s pastors, affirmed and celebrated  my 43-year ministry, has a reported membership of over 1,400, not all  of whom keep their membership vows to support it with their prayers,  presence, gifts, service, and witness, is being led by a 22-member  Church Council who overwhelmingly want to have the whole church vote  soon on whether to remain in The United Methodist Church, dating back to  Christmas Eve, 1784, or to go with a dissenting offshoot, The Global  Methodist Church, falteringly begun May 1 this year.            

This  new church has been forming over the past 50 years really, the same  amount of time Methodists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Lutherans,  Disciples, United Church of Christ, and some others have been fighting  over whether or not to fully include gay Christians in their membership,  their clergy, and in the ranks of the married. Our Supreme Court okayed  same-sex marriage seven years ago, 71 % of Americans support this  according to a Gallup poll taken in June, 2022, and the aforementioned  denominations have settled the matter with dissenters having mainly left  or hanging in there and trying to love everybody, like our Lord  commands us to do (John13:34-35). Sadly, evangelical Christians and  Jehovah’s Witnesses are most against gay marriage at 58%. Republicans  favor it by 55%, Independents by 68%, Democrats by 82%.           

A  friend and former pastor of my former church in the Research Triangle  Park, who is now the new Senior Pastor of New Bern’s Centenary UMC, and  also a Park Scholar (like the Morehead) while at NC State, penned an  appeal to his former church members to stay with The UMC. Here’s my  condensed summary of what he said:           

You  stayed when we first ordained women in 1956; many of you have been  blessed to have a female pastor. You stayed when we accepted divorce and  even when we started letting divorced people be our pastors in the  1960’s and 1970’s, and they have blessed you. You stayed when we  abandoned racism in 1968 and when interracial marriage became legal  across the US in 1967, and we haven’t come as far as we’d hoped in  burying Jim Crow, but we’re trying. “This (current) situation is exactly  like those. To divide our denomination over the inclusion of LGBTQ  persons is to reveal a hatred for them so deep that it compares only to  the dehumanization of African-Americans the church expressed when it  divided over slavery in 1844. I know you. I know that you are people  with open and loving hearts.” You may be temporarily uncomfortable with  change, but “you’ve never let your discomfort become a revulsion so  strong that it led you to separate from your fellow Methodists. YOU’RE  BETTER THAN THAT. 

As  for the accusations floating around that the UMC is planning to abandon  the authority of Scripture, the Divinity of Christ, the Virgin Birth,  and the bodily Resurrection—they’re vicious lies being used to shore up a  weak case for dividing the UMC over sexuality… Please don’t let  disinformation and fear-mongering infect your hearts. YOU’RE BETTER THAN  THAT. 

Stay  at the Table with other United Methodists who know that God has a  blessing in store for those who cling not to fearful judgment but to the  open, loving arms of Jesus Christ.”         

Pray for us as we’ll probably  be voting in early October on staying or going. Consider that old  question often asked: What would Jesus do? Or more properly for us as  his disciples: What would Jesus have me, you, our church, do? 

                                          Another reason to "Stay United"  

We're Connected in Ministry 

• Our ministry is enriched and magnified by our United Methodist connections. 

• The United Methodist Church is the second largest protestant  denomination in the United States (after Southern Baptist). It is  recognized and respected around the world. We have more than 12 million  brothers and sisters in 55 countries throughout the world, with about  half of them in the U.S. 

• We're part of a "connectional" system of 54 Annual Conferences  throughout the country, as well as additional Central Conferences for  geographic regions in Africa, Europe and the Philippines.

• There are 93 United Methodist colleges and universities in the U.S. and  13 United Methodist seminaries. Not one has made a move to disaffiliate  from the UMC.

• Our proven system of clergy appointments assures that small and rural churches have qualified clergy.

• United Methodists affirm: "The ministry of all Christians consists of  service for the mission of God in the world" (United Methodist Book of  Discipline 2016, ¶133). Together we seek to live lovingly and justly as  servants of Jesus Christ by healing the sick, feeding the hungry, caring  for the stranger, freeing the oppressed, being a compassionate  presence, and working to develop social structures that are consistent  with the gospel."

• The General Board of Global Ministries is the worldwide mission agency  of The United Methodist Church, working with partners and churches and  677 missionaries  in more than 130 countries to equip and transform  people and places for God’s mission. 

• The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) offers disaster  recovery both domestically and globally with more than 550 relief and  refugee workers. Most recently more than 29,000 UMC churches and members  have contributed $23.2 million to UMCOR to assist the people of  Ukraine. An estimated 574,000 Ukrainian people have been helped so far  with almost $17 million in aid. UMCOR also has responded to famine in  Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya due to a severe drought, and has assisted in  flood relief in Kentucky. Every penny contributed to UMCOR goes  directly to serve the designated beneficiary since administrative and  overhead costs are covered through the apportionments funds each church  gives. 

• The United Methodist Church does not have a central headquarters or a  single executive leader. Duties are divided among five major program  agencies and eight work areas that mirror the typical United Methodist  Church structure. These "administrative" bodies are populated and led by  a balance of clergy and laity elected at each Jurisdiction Conference.  The work of the connectional church is overseen by people like you and  me. These entities are required by our Constitution to be part of our  structure. Each plays a significant role in the life of the church. 

As  stated by our brothers and sisters in the North Alabama Conference who  wish to "Stay United": "The UMC is not perfect, and like all  denominational groups in America, we have suffered decline. We are  praying for revival and renewal ... and we believe it is coming by the  work of the Holy Spirit ... We believe  that by separating from the main body of the denomination we would  reduce our capacity for shared ministry and mission ... Dreams can be  formed quickly, but are they the same as a proven track record of  effective ministry?" 

John Redmond                                   *  *  *                 Coleman Shouse